As some of you may know.. I am a tech at discount tire and i probably know more about tires and have more experience than any of you may ever have ... a lot of people talk about tires and wheels like that have dealt with it their whole lives but they really have no experience at all...
Federal , Kumho , and 90% of falken tires are the worst tires you can possibly buy for 17 inch and larger wheels... they are CRAP.
the bubbing you are talking about is from hitting a curb or pot hole and it separates the nylon cords in the sidewall thus creating a bubbling ... if any of your tires have this it is very dangerous to drive on , if you hit another pot hole or put too much pressure on this bubble it will EXPLODE...
Just remember when you buy tires you get EXACTLY what you pay for...
DO NOT buy tires based on the tread wear rating ... there is no standard test for this and the test is done on only ONE set of tires on the same car. there is no true way to tell how long your tires will last....
there is not one set of 17 inch or larger tires that you will get more than 25k miles out of. most will be lucky to hit 20k miles on 17's
i have had many sets and have tested many sizes of tires on the stock mp3 wheels.
i have found that basically the well known companies make the best tires for 17's .... such as Michelin... though expensive they are basically the best....
Dunlop Sp9000 and SP9090 are in my mind the best for all around driving and performance... if you autocross and daily drive in the same tires SP9000's are the best.
Goodyear makes crap NEVER buy a goodyear.
Bridgestone S03 Pole Position tires are great.. Probably the 2nd best dot legal performance tire...
the best street legal performance tire is the Falken Azenis Sport (the only good tire made by falken that is worth spending money on.) is the best dot legal tire on the market... though keep in mind it is stiff and sticky and you will be lucky to get 12K miles out of them. 6-8k miles if you autocross on them.
I personally run Dunlop SP9090 's in a 225/45/17 in the summer.
and 225/45/17 Dunlop SP winter sport M2's in the winter.
I just sold a slightly used set on Pirelli P7000's because they didnt offer a good grip compared the the stock dunlop sp9000's.
so i bought the sp9090's for this year.
i hope this info helped you...
if you have anymore questions feel free to ask... i am the best person on the forums that can help you on tire wheel questions...