Damn... I mean... seriously. Are you guys retarted? What data is your NITTO bashing based on? I've been through 3 sets of them. 450's, 555's and 555R extreme drags. ALL of them have worn extremely well. They have a high-silicone content that makes them extremely quiet in hard cornering, a stiff-as-bricks sidewall design that makes your crappy suspension give more than the tire (except for the 555R Extreme Drags which have recently been updated), and a staggered tread design that makes them very comfortable on the highway. They maintain excelent traction in ALL conditions and surfaces, though I've never pushed them off-road (I'm sure that's not one of your concerns). They have BY FAR been the best street-performance tire I've ever used. When I finally get my performance car running again, you can bet they'll be the brand that gets put back on it. I pulled a 1.7 60' time on 555R's and a 1.8 on 450's! That speaks for itself.

I've also had Toyo's Yoko's Pirelli's Kumho's and GoodYear, none of those hold a candle to a NITTO. Kumho's don't wear as long, and they're noisy. At least they're cheap. The Pirelli P7000's don't grip even as good as a Nitto 450 (the touring radial) and cost twice as much, the Toyo's slipped belts causing them to be a balancing nightmare, and the Goodyears didn't grip past 10k miles even though they were supposed to be a 40k mile tire, they got progressively shittier with age.

Please tell me what your idea of a performance tire is based on, and then remember that the guy starting this thread is trying to put rubber on stock 14"s. Performance tires are easier to find in larger-than-14" sizes anyway. A 65-series sidewall is SHIT for performance. Don't blame the tire if it sucks.