I should have added I like my cars to behave like my bikes and drive them in a similar manner. All opinions are subjective etc...

That said, Autogrips really are $8ite. :D

I've had some really poor tyres in the past... But had some cheap ones on the '8 that did OK (Nangkangs were actually OK). It's Accellera Iotas that's on the XC90 at the minute (at the rear anyway, just replaced the fronts), and they were decent.

You'll always get differing reports on most tyres, many slated the Nangkangs, but they seemed to suit my driving style, though my D3 has pilot sports on all round, and they're good, but are they 3 times the price good?

forgot to say
just put a set of accelera's on my 58 plate vw sharam
215-50-17
handles great

I prefer buying second hand premium brands over new cheap brands. You can get 20" starting at £50 each with 6-7mm tread.

Personally I won't touch tyres that are made by Chinese manufacturers, or are designed for climates very different to our own - on the former I've seen far too many tyres in a professional capacity that fail to pass the testing that should be carried out for them to have a valid e-mark, or where they fail spectacularly not far above that minimum level. The quality of construction is usually shoddy unless there's a European manufacturer's quality control process in place to monitor the repeatability of construction.

Tyres designed for hot climates have a different mix of materials designed to still give long life when used on worn smooth roads. They generally offer inferior grip/wear rate on European roads with much more variable temperatures. Whether they make economic sense depends on how long they last and if you are happy to drive within their lower limits.

I've made a set of Michelin's on our A6 last over 16k miles and counting, at a cost of £450 for 4. I've opted for Continentals as the replacements when they are due as they're a little cheaper than Michelin at the moment and we had good results with them on our old Passat.

Christ knows what I'll do when the 20" Michelins wear out on the S8 - probably sell the car :ROFL:

I had Dunlop SP Sport 01's fitted to my old D2. They had done 26000 miles and still had 3-4mm on them when I changed them. I only pulled them off as I had destroyed the inner edge of the front tyres with my enthusiastic antics at the Nordschliefe and Castle Combe, otherwise they would have easily done 30k miles.

Personally I like Conti Sport Contacts, always very quiet and long lasting. I fitted a set of these when I finally threw away the Dunlops.

I agree with you Jethro - I have the Conti-sport sport contact 3's on my A8 (there are more limited choices on 21" wheels" but I keep trawling the net looking for bargain new ones of those. managed to pick up my new set all around for £165 each even on the 295 x 25 rears. Conti sport recently introduced the sport contact 5's which are a horrendous price but perform even better than the earlier 2's and 3's and this has meant you can pick up the 2's and 3's out there for much better money than normal. I was originally quoted £350-400 per tyre for my back tyres so £165 each wasnt too shabby all things considered +++