Originally Posted by JCL

I am referring here to brands, more than tire models.

I determined it for myself by monitoring returns, customer satisfaction, amount of weight required to balance, etc. Any other mechanic or service shop employee can do the same thing, if they sell a wide variety of tire brands and aren't tied to only one or a few brands. I have friends in the industry, who aren't tied to one or two brands. I ask their opinions as well.

It doesn't mean that every Michelin (for example) is better than every Kumho, but those in the industry will have a general sense of which brands are in their own top two or three, ie which are generally higher quality. Ask lots of those individuals, and you will find a few brands consistently in the top. That is my definition of the top three.

Coincidentally, those tires will generally not be amongst the cheaper tires around. I buy tires so rarely that I choose quality over price point.