Tires: Tires for 2007 Avalon, kelly tires, wet traction

Question
I have a 2007 Avalon with around 30K miles, tires are original. I want new tires before winter. Am I better off buying a tire that provides a softer ride but wears out faster or a harder rubber tire that lasts longerbut gives a harder ride? I have Kelly Navigator Gold tires on several other cars and they seem to do well. What is your opinion of the Kelly tires? What others would you recommend?

Thanks

Answer
Bob,

The tradeoffs for tires are:

1)  Treadwear, Traction (especially wet traction), and fuel economy

2)  Ride quality and Handling crispness

These are separate tradeoffs.  

What this says is that you can get tires with good wear, and good traction, but not good fuel economy.

- OR -

You can get tires with excellent fuel economy, but treadwear and / or traction is sacrificed.

This also says that hard ride and treadwear are NOT related to each other.  Soft riding tires are going to feel sloppy, but the treadwear on such a tire can either be great or poor, but it isn't controlled by ride.

And as far as recommendations are concerned.

My expertise is in the engineering part.  I can not keep up with the latest offerings from the literally hundreds of tire brands available today. Plus, I work for a major manufacturer of tires and I just don't think it would be right for me to make recommendations.