<Tires> D60 vs RE930 vs SH30

[Herman Chan <hermanc2@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a decently sporty (but cheap and long lasting--I want my
cake and to be able to eat it too) all-season tire for the impending rainy
season here in CA and would appreciate any feedback.  Their primary purpose
will be to enable me to navigate the wet/wild yahoo roadcourse that is my
commute; I've got another set of wheels for play time.

The candidates (205/60-15):

- - Dunlop D60 (320AA; $53)

people seem to have a love/hate opinion on these;  early bliss seems to
turn into hate when they lose their grip after 20k miles or so;  others
don't like the 'mushy' feel from the start; very old complaints say
roundness is a problem

- - Bridgestone RE930 (300AA; $58)

the tests and surveys on the Tire Rack site seem to give this tire a slight
edge over the D60, yet not many people actually admit to using them.  Tire
Rack calls them the 'sportiest' of the hp all-season category.

- - Firestone Firehawk SH30 (460AA !!; $59)

This looks like it may be a sister tire to the RE930, in the same way that
the SZ50 is to the S-02; anyone know?  However, I think it may be a newer
tire, touted as the 2nd tire w/UNI-T following in the footsteps of the SZ50
in the rebirth of the Firestone performance tire line.

- - Yokohama AVID H4 (360AA; $54)

I'm only considering these based upon Yokohama's reputation.  Quite
unremarkable except for a directional tread pattern.

Step ups (if hp all-season tires are really so horrible, I might opt for
these):

- - Dunlop SP4000 (300AA; $69)
- - Yokohama AVS S4-V (300AA; $72)
- - Micheline Pilot XGTV4 (300AA; $109 !!)


I'm leaning toward the RE930 or SH30 -- they seem to be a decent
compromise.  As a bonus, the RE930s has a 30-day MBG if I don't like them.
I just can't get over the notion that Firestones are tires that you put on
your mother's Olds.

TIA,
Herman
92 318is

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