Well just got done reading this months Superbike magazine (its a european sportbike mag) and they did a pretty good tire test.
Now Im not trying to change anybody's mind one way or the other, just thought Id report what they said FYI
Two riders, same bike, blind test, rated in 8 areas;
ride quality, braking, turn in, corner grip, steering precision, flickability, exit grip, and confidence. (in that order) Scale of 1-10
Pilot Power 9/9,9/9,8/8,9/8,8/9,7/8,9/9,8/9 - 136pts total
Pirelli Diablo 8/9,8/9,8/8,9/8,9/8,8/8,8/8,9/9 - 134pts total
Bridgestone BT014 8/9,9/8,7/8,8/8,7/9,8/8,8/9,9/9 - 132pts total
Dunlop Qualifier 9/8,7/7,7/9,9/8,8/8,7/8,9/8,8/8 - 128pts total
Metzler M3 8/8,8/7,9/8,7/8,8/8,8/7,9/8,9/8 - 128pts total
Avon Viper Sport 7/8,7/7,9/8,9/8,8/8,8/8,8/8,9/7 - 127pts total
Conti Sport Attack 6/8,9/9,8/8,6/8,8/7,8/8,6/8,6/8 - 121pts total
Lap times:
Power 1:40.42/1:21.46
Diablo 1:38.70/1:20.87
BT014 1:40.92/no data given
Qualifier 1:40.99/1:23.28
M3 1:40.91/1:21.49
AVS 1:39.75/1:21.79
CSA 1:41.41/1:23.32
Worthy of note is that the best rated tire (Power), did not give the best lap times (Diablo).... so take from it what you will.
Also the one rider rated the Avons 6th, but got his 2nd best times on them.
All this goes to prove that when you think youre really haulin ass, youre probably not.