The sumitomo HTR Z III are another tire to consider. Not as grippy as Star Specs, but should last longer.

 

I rocked the crap out of those tires. Absolutely loved them. Cheap too. I think mine were $427 shipped from tire rack for 225/255 for my AP2 wheels. I only got about 8-10k out of the rears, but that's due to my driving style, various mountain trips, and my first autocrosses.

 

+1 for the Star Specs. I'm on my 4-5th set and I won't turn back. I can get about 7-10K out of a set and that is with 2-3 track days and very spirited driving. Like any other sticky tire don't expect them to last long or be quiet near their wear limits. The grip will be worth it though.

 

The Kumho XS is another very cheap option that will provide high levels of dry grip. Wet grip is not great. I have tracked them in the rain and the car is raceable, but don't expect anything great or try racing with standing puddles.

The life of high grip street tires is pretty much solely dependent on alignment settings and driving style. I would say they will all last 20K plus if you align to stock settings with toe zeroed and drive normal on them. But, what is the point of buying high grip tires for a maximum of 0.3g lateral acceleration?

 

sumitomo!

 

Yokohama S.Drives if you want them lasting more than 15k miles - you'd be lucky to get 10k out of some of those, especially the star specs.

 

I like the BF Goodrich g-Force Sports. Great grip and great treadwear. Should be able to get 15k miles out of them, if not more, even with agressive driving (I take my corners hard and haven't had any issue whatsoever). They go for a decent price, around $120 a piece for the rears in a 255/40/17 size.

I have 215/45/17 on my fronts and 255/40/17 on my rears. The rears are brand new but the previous rears were the same brand. Bought the car used almost a year ago, put 10k miles on them now and the tread was around 5/32 when I first bought the car (so 15k is an easy goal). The fronts have been on the car since I bought them and still have abundant tread left, way more than 5/32.