Buying new tires...

In My Humble Opinion
1

What should I look for when a smooth quiet ride is the goal? Road conditions are not an issue. Car is a Honda accord.

2

Tire Rack lets you look at reviews/ratings for tires bought by people who own your same vehicle.

3

I’d say that 22" rims are right out.

4

There are really 3 options to most tires- treadwear, ride quality, and traction. In practice, it tends to be the first one vs. the second two, because the typical way to make a tire wear longer is to make the rubber harder/more resilient, which lowers the traction and makes the tire less comfortable. Performance tires may have softer tread compounds, but usually have stiffer sidewalls, giving them a harsher ride as well.

So you’ll probably be best served by looking at standard all-season or “Grand Touring” style tires.

5

From personal experience -

Comfort/Ride Quality:

  1. Continental ExtremeContact DWS
  2. Micheline Pilot Sport A/S 3
  3. Bridgestone Potenza RE970 AS

Performance in dry:

  1. Micheline
  2. Bridgestone
  3. Continental

Performance in wet:

  1. Micheline
  2. Continental
  3. Bridgestone

Performance in snow:

  1. Continental
  2. Micheline
  3. Bridgestone

Pirellis are good but don’t last.
Kumho are cheap and loud.
Yokohama also sub-par.

  • The usual warnings about switching to a winter tire and steel rims if you have to regularly drive in real winter conditions including snow and ice.