I ran metz for 60k miles front and back, then switched to avons. The metz are better in the rain but not enough to make up for the better handling and mileage of the avons. The avons look better too. The different handling of different tires is hard to describe, but you know when one tire feels better than another, and the avon feels better than the metz for everything except heavy rain.
I am a cheap bastard, I would love to buy the cheaper metz, but after having the avons I just can't do it.