Its just as much about what suits a particular car than brand (some tyre manufacturers often associate themselves with premium car brand and/or sporty cars and so jack up the price because they know most gullable owners will pay for them), so a good previous experience is often a good place to start from.

I would personally more associate Pirelli's involvement in F1 as a general marketing tool, as Bridgestone was before, and not just in relation to high performance car tyres. F1 is generally associated with cutting-edge technology, and to me such brands get involved so that they 'show' the motoring world that they provide 'quality' products, a bit like Ferrari do for their road going cars.

Going back to the OP's question, I would agree that high price doesn't necessarily equal the best driving experience on the road, as often the most expensive tyres are geared to high performance and not comfort or durability. I suppose it all depends on your driving style, mileage and other requirements. Unless you're going to take your car on regular track days, then a more comfortable, durable and mid-range tyre might suit you.

Check on www.tyrereviews.co.uk or similar review sites for reviews of your car's tyre size, and see if you can find individual reviews of those with the same model of car (with a reasonable mileage behind them) on those tyres. Its not perfect, but it gives you extra information (more than just the 'tests' which rarely give similar results from magazine to magazine [often because they test using different cars, on race tracks, as well as any personal bias from the journalists themselves] - at least with lots of reviews, the review sites can give a better view across a large group of drivers on real roads).

I would, though, avoid the 'cheapie' budget brands (including 'own label') from tyre suppliers/fitters as they have a reputation for being very poor in the wet compared to the 'estiablished' brands.

Edited by Engineer Andy on 26/07/2015 at 11:41