Looking for good balance between performance and wear and price. (Aren’t we all LOL).
My wife is a cautious driver who would panic if the tire blew out and not know how to handle the car. So definitely need sidewall protection so tire doesn’t throw her off the road if it blows out. (think 99lb Asian woman who got her license in her late 30s). No tires that would follow grooves in the pavement. You get the idea.
I’m ADHD so tire noise is my enemy LOL. Impatient driver who drives too fast and passed on the right. 70 to 80 mph (~110 to 130 kph) on the highway. For you Europeans, Americans forget the concept of “keep right except to pass” (The opposite for countries that drive on the left I guess?) the second after they hear it. Avoid driving in Puerto Rico. Even drivers from continental U.S. are driven nuts by them). Not having fun with the car so good performance but not the fun level of performance. I have a 1995 BMW M3 for that, which I mostly drive the same anyway
Sticking with original tire size 235/50 R18
–All season, due to global warming we haven’t gotten much snow the last few years but we do get some. Not like the 1970/80s when you could go snowmobiling sometimes.
–Looking for good tire wear.
–Good wet and light snow performance as well as good dry driving conditions. Not in need of high performance though. “Touring” tire most likely.
–Low road noise, no vibration at higher speeds up to 80mph (~130kph) on highway.
–Sidewall protection, run flat option would be a bonus.
–Tire made with crossover type vehicles in mind. i.e. not too heavy on the drivetrain, able to handle more weight than a typical sedan.
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The “CrossContact LXSport” tires that came with the car are garbage. 28K miles, in need of 3rd tire replacement. Original owner was a 70+ year old doctor and conservative driver. My wife put most of the miles on the car and drives the speed limit in the right hand lane. Even got accolades from something that monitors how the car is driven before we got it from the original owner (They had her use it as a work car and daily driver for a while as a nanny for the family). Then it became ours. I do tend to drive over the speed limit but don’t do the fun stuff. From me maybe 2k miles, mostly highway or major route 2 lane road. 3rd friggen tire replacement on that car! That plus horrible reviews. No mileage warranty (the first red flag of a crappy tire).
Looked at other Continental tires for my car. The only one worth considering when I search by vehicle is “PureContact LS”. But think I should defer to people who know cars better than I do.