to put it simply..I need 4 (looks like the previous owner had already swapped his fronts with the back so they are all evenly worn)

its on Dunlops at the moment and they have lasted 18000 miles

I am erring to the sport contact 2's as they seem reasonably priced but wear ok whilst having decent dry and wet grip..I dont really cane my car and my wifes drives it during the week commuting to work...any other choices in 205/50 17

and is w rating enough or should I be looking at Y or Z?

Switch to 225/45/17 like every other car in the VAG group (SEAT Leon, AudiTT, GolfIV etc etc).

Cheaper and much wider choice.

Continental seem pritty good to me for the money. I take it is an Octaviayou have instad of a Fabia but I have just had new tyres on my car put Conti Eco Contacts 3 on and for

yeah its a 'tavia vRS

My missus drives it during the week..mainly motorway miles. I get to play at the weekend when I go fishing so I was looking at something that was more hard wearing then ultra grippy.

I can get the michelin pilot primacy cheaper than the Continentals locally ( i had the pilots on my focus previously and they served well..not the best in everything but a good all rounder) How hard wearing will the pilots be do you think? More than the Dunlops? how do they compare generally with the dunlops...noisier?

Pilot Primacy are hardwaring, I know that a good number of miles can beachieved from them. Bit noisy (can't compaire with Dunlops) but good never the less.

I found the conti sport contacts to be good had these on my 106 and the toyo 610's, however the toyo's are utimate and quite cheap, some say they wear quick but if ya don't cane it then that shouldn't matter. I personally have never come across much better than the toyo proxies T1-S they just grip and grip and grip.... even in the wet, had some fitted to my volvo recently. When I drive SHMBO renault 5 on pram wheels it makes you think just how much difference tyres make!

Had the Dunlops from new, now have the Conti's.

There's no comparison, go for the Contis unless you want to go for something like Pirelli Rosso's etc. They are also a lot quieter than the Dunlops

The Conti's took a real hammering at Bruntingthorpe and are still going nicely