Tire advice Atlanta area

[churchx]

Woah. MPS4S finally available in usable sizing? That's great news!

[OfficeWorker]

For those with the A/S 3+...

For comparison purposes in terms of what I can relate to, I've ran the original Pilot Sport A/S, and the Continental DWS and DWS 06 all seasons on a FWD car, as well as the PS2 and S03 PP summer tires (also on FWD). I've driven the DWS/06 in relatively deep snow on a FWD car an am extremely satisfied with their winter performance (i.e., I am more satisfied with their winter performance than most all-season touring tires I have driven in winter conditions with.)

I do not like the OEM Michelins...I do not feel nearly as confident with their dry or (especially) wet performance as I did with any of the above rubbers (although this is probably partly because I am also newer to the car)...and obviously I don't feel as confident with their snow performance as the above all seasons given this isn't an all season tire. Comfort I really can't compare because the last cars were not in the same class as the BRZ/86.

I recognize the benefit of separate summer and winter tires, but it's not really practical for my situation currently. The most I would need to drive in is getting home in lighter snow that starts while I am out somewhere. Because my snow driving is limited, I figure I can favor an AS that favors non-winter performance. The most I would ever do in terms of track use is some cone killing for my own sheer amusement, so I do not see any logic in changing up from the factory 215/45/17 sizing.

To my understanding, the A/S 3+ represents a pretty substantial dry/wet gain over the DWS (which I am already extremely satisfied with - at least on the FWD cars I have had.) I am not expecting the A/S 3+ to provide PS2 performance, but for those who have also run the DWS, what are your thoughts in comparisons? I've gotten 60k+ from the DWS and snow performance that I consider more than acceptable (I realize on a RWD car this would be less than on the FWD cards I've had before.) Do you feel the performance gains of the A/S 3+ justifies the pricing premium? With similar wear ratings, are you getting comparable tread life? Do you feel you get similar snow performance? (i.e., the DWS' snow performance kind of defies logic in the sense that an UHP AS really should not have this sort of winter capability.)