There really isn't a "best" tire per se... I think it really is personal preference. There are some factors that you should consider when purchasing tires. For example, what kind of weather will you be doing most of your driving in? If you live in Southern California, you could easily get away with just summer tires with good wet traction as it rarely gets colder than 50 degrees there but it can rain occasionally. Here in the Pacific NW we get a lot of rain and it can get pretty cold so I opted for some tires that were great all around, wet, dry or snow, which is why I got the Continental DWS. IMO, it's the best bang for your buck. That's the other factor, budget. I did most if not all of my research on tirerack.com before making the purchase. Read all the reviews, there's a lot of good feedback on that site.