Michelin don't come anywhere near the top tyre buys yet everyone who has/had them raves about them. Vredestein are always near the top but not many people have them as not many places stock them. Continental's on my old Leon fr were brilliant but I've had bridgestones twice and they were fine when new but got worse with age (more than you'd expect).
My Bridgestones seem to be getting better with age - not massively so, but they're less sh!te than they were. Most of these OEM fit tyres that are obsolete for the end user come with a reduced tread - 6mm instead of the 7 or 8mm that we're used to on our bought tyres. My Bridgestones are at about 4mm at just under 5k miles - I doubt they'll see 12k miles on the fronts.
Aren't Dunlop and Goodyear the same company?
With wheels like ours, I'd be very careful of where you get bought in tyres fitted - some backstreet fitter will be wrecking the finish on the wheels using old tech equipment to get the old tyre off and the new tyre on. Paid the price on my Scirocco - luckily though, the wheels are painted and so it wasn't much of an issue to get them looking pristine again.
