Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06. Fantastic all-around tire.
Something I can personally recommend is the Hankook Ventus v12 Evo2. Great tire and around the same price as the firehawks. Going to perform a little better than the firehawk but not supposed to last as long. TireRack has the Hankooks listed as a "Max" summer tire with a life at ~20k miles(Firehawks tire life supposed to be around 30k). I've put just under 15k miles on them with 2 auto cross days and wouldn't be surprised if they lasted longer than 20k. Got them for $460 mounted and balanced, out the door.
Conti DWS 06. Fantastic tire, helluva bang for the buck. Grippy, communicative, great in rain or dry, quiet, rides great. Running those on both my Passat, and on the wife unit's Fusion.
I am running Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 in size 235/40ZR18 95Y X on 18" Omanyt (18"x7.5" ET51 5x112) R32 rims. My speedometer off by a few - I usually cruise at 74 MPH actual speed (GPS) while my speedo and cruise is set for 77 MPH.
My continentals are hands down the best tires I ever bought. They ride better than other tires with two to three times the side wall height. They also are the best handling tire I've ever driven on. Would highly recommend.
Ventus V12 EVO2 is the sleeper tire in this category. A few buddies run them, they are a lot like the PSS, in that they are a summer performance tire with consideration to tire life. But at an even lower cost.
I have had the Continental DW tires for between 25-30k miles. I have nothing but high praise for my DW's. Great wet and dry grip, not very loud, I've got nearly 30k miles on them and they still have plenty of tread left... I would guess another 10k. Predictable as well. I've literally tried to break them loose in rain while driving my CC, and it's very hard to do so. I've even slammed on the brakes in medium rain to try to slide from 35-40mph, and they just gripped to a stop. I love them... my wife even appreciates how quiet they are. I will point out though that most of my driving is pretty calm...It's rare that I really push them, but I have, and they were great. I'll be buying the Conti's when I get my new R in a few weeks. Edit: Let me also point out that I use mine year round. Even in the winter they've been great. I live near Nashville, TN...not much snow, but plenty of below freezing air.
I have run both .the Continental and Michelin you mention. I think the Continentals last longer and can take more abuse--at least they did on my STI
My MKVI came with the Continental Procontact tires. I have 37k miles on them and found that after 30k miles, the noise, especially on concrete got pretty loud. The ride was relatively good and not too stiff though.
The biggest tire buying mistake I've made was a set of Hankook V12's(not the newer evo2 version, which should be better). Honestly had them off my car in three weeks, the only good qualities being comfort and noise level. Feedback was awful, overall grip in both dry and wet was just adequate, and the sidewalls seemed non-existent at a variety of pressure settings.
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