New tires for a 2002 Volvo s-40

My local shop has offered the following tires: General Altimax, Goodyear Eagle, Yokohama Avid, Pirelli P6, Continental Pro Contact and Michelin Pilot Exalto. Which is the best value for the money?

Based on their tested qualities vs price, the General Altimax is the best value.
It is a very good tire for a reasonable price.

First, you need to tell us what you have in mind for peformance. You’ve mentioned cost, but what about treadwear? Traction? Fuel economy? Ride / handling? These are all attributes that will vary and will affect our recommendations.

The Continental Pro Contact’s are a decent all around tire and are recommended by Consumer Reports. The General Altimax and Yokohama Avid(good) weakness is winter traction if that matters to you.

Michelin is decent but is an old design and likely not worth the extra $$$ now. Skip goodyear.

Go to tire rack’s website (http://www.tirerack.com/) and read reviews of those tires. There will be plenty including a summary of survey responses rating the tires. Those reviews are from people who have actually purchased them.

Cost and traction are the most important factors to us

There is more than one Yokohama Avid. Which one did they recommend? I would guess the Avid ENVigor; I have them on my 2005 Honda Accord. They are quiet and have good wet (and dry) road traction.