Running plus size tires? If so, which ones and why?

[grampi]

Since I don't have my Yari yet (and won't have for quite some time), I have plenty of time to research the best overall tire for my particular application.

While I believe I have made my choice as to what size tire I'd like to go with (I think I'm going with a 205/50/16), I haven't been able to determine exactly which brand of tire yet.

Tires I want to stay away from are those made of the ultra-high performance compounds that only last for 25K-30K miles. For me, these are the exact opposite of what I want. I also want to keep the price down to $80 or less per tire. I want a tire that's as close as I can get to an all-season touring tire, with the longest treadwear expectancy as possible. So far, I haven't been to find anything in a 50 series or lower profile with longer than a 60K mile treadwear warranty. I'd prefer an 80K mile tire, but I don't if any tire company makes one. So far, the two best candidates I've found are the Kumho Ecsta AST (it has a UTQG rating of 400) and the Yokahama H4S (which has a UTQG rating of 500). Both tires are under $80.

However, I have noticed the UTQG rating can be misleading. The treadwear warranty on tires of various brands and types can vary greatly even if they have the same, or nearly the same UTQG rating. What's up with that? Isn't the UTQG rating supposed to indicate how many miles you can expect to get out of a particular tire? Are there any other tires out there that fits this catagory?

What tires are you running, and why did you choose them?