I have researched this quite extensively. I have found while the sp 9000 are good tires, there are BETTER tires for less money. Long story short, I now have Yokohama Parada spec 2 215/40 17
This size looks and fits great. Grip is quite better in the dry and slightly better in the wet. Tire rack has them for about 100 bucks. Nittos look nice but do not hold up well at all. Do not buy nittos! Kumho 712 are nice but not quite the dry grip of the sp 9000 or the parada spec 2. The only other tire I would get would be The toyos (expensive) or the new kumho mx.
Just my theory as I looked into every tire that would fit themp3.
Overall, The parada spec 2s grip better than any other tire short of BF Goodrich G-force KDs. And anyone who knows tires knows how much those cost!\
Later