I'm looking around for tires for my wife's 1998 Legacy GL wagon, and I'd love some suggestions for stable, reliable and quiet tires for the car. We're in Arizona, so no snow, but we do get enough rain several times a year to get deep puddles of water that need to be forded as well. My wife doesn't drive in a "max performance" manner (not like the 2.5l wagon is meant for it in any case) but that's the only kind of tire I know anything about. Contis? Goodyears? Where do I start?

Oh, and cost isn't an issue -- I don't go cheap on the tires that carry my two young daughters and my wife.

 

Several of my track-hound friends have gone to Falken Azenis ST-115s on their "street" wheels. They're inexpensive, good in the rain (though not M+S) and extremely quiet. The UTQG is something north of 400 I believe. Aside from those, check out the tires listed under "high performance all-season" in the sticky.

 

That was of course my first step; the reason I posted here is that I was hoping to get comments based on personal experience, not numerical ratings.

 

I'm not a fan of the user reviews on TireRack myself. Too many people just don't know anything about tires, or are simply grading on a different curve than everyone else. TireRack's own testing is useful info though.

 

TireRack is a great company and a great web site, but I agree BAN -- the reviews by customers are all over the place. When you have someone saying "best tire I have ever driven" and right next to them someone saying "total junk, would never buy again" it is difficult to take either opinion seriously. I'm going to read through their official reviews, but right now I am leaning towards the Goodyear ComforTread or TripleTreads, followed by the Conti Extreme Contact.