....I'm very much in agreement with what others have posted: Tyres are your only point of road contact and very important. I've had Conti's, Bridgestones, and now Goodyear Eagle F1's. I find the F1's streets ahead of the others for grip and traction in both dry and wet - I heard their good reputation but didn't expect them to be quite as good as they are. They're a little noisier on the road but who cares about that?
You surprise me with your comments on the Goodyear F1s. The whole point of directional tyres is that they are supposed to be much more quite, compared to standard or assymetric tread patterns. One big problem with all directionals is they suffer from aquaplaning much more dramatically as the tread wears.
....Definitely not quieter but not noisier to the point where it matters. However, my car has all sorts of wonderful sounds going on

. I've read elsewhere that the F1's are noisier and I wouldn't be surprised if I'm influenced by the placebo effect.
....I best watch out for aquaplaning though I am very conscious of never touching my brakes when on visible water, though an emergency is an emergency.
I personally don't get it when people use the F1s - as they have never had any OEM approvals. They are now obsolete too! If you are after ultimate performance tyres, then look at an ultimate performance road car - Porsche, as they ONLY use Michelin and Continental as OEM boots.
....The guy who runs Drivetrain (whose opinions I greatly respect) recommends the Michelins but I wasn't especially impressed by the Contis originally supplied on my GTI.
Wheelspin is avoidable if you learn how to feed the throttle progressively and I have an extremely throttle-responsive car which has taught me how to do it if I want to avoid wheelspin.
Yeah, that gets me too! Why do some people not understand that the accellerator pedal is much more than a simple "off-on switch" !!!
....Yep, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to understand that one! I find it far more rewarding to make a fast getaway without wheelspin.
