My car came fitted with a new set of Michelin Energy E3a's when I bought it second hand. The fronts lasted approx 30,000 miles and the rears nearly 40,000 before needing replacing (with approx 2 mm tread depth left). For a car like mine (standard Mk3 Golf) these tires are more than good enough. The grip in the dry allows the door handles to scrape the road before progressively breaking away. The tires are not the limiting factor for making good progress (more the lack of power, poor brakes and barge-like handling!). In the wet, grip is obviously compromised. However, the tires still provide sufficient feed back to warn you when they are going to give up, and even when they do this happens progressively. I did have one scary moment aquaplaning in torrential rain on the A303 but think this was not the fault of the tire but more the shear quantity of standing water combined with slightly excessive speed for the conditions. The car in front of me also was going sideways.
On balance, when it came to replace my tires I chose the same again as I was impressed with the wear rate and minimal road noise combined with adequate grip. In my opinion they are well suited to the car.