I agree the KDW2's were my choice before I got the nitto's, the only reason I went with the nitto's was the price, it was going to cost me $200 more for the same size KDW's. It is a great tire, just pricy.
if u research the Kuhmo MX tire ull see its one of the best for the money, along with the falken azenis rt615. i believe the wet performance is great while the tires are not too worn. people daily drive with nitto drags in rain so as long as u keep in cool in the rain like i do you be fine....when it rains im usually one of the slowest cars on the road but i dont care because i make it from A to B everytime.
On all the tire websites the number one complaint on these tires is the road noise, all have said the performance is outstanding, but they were loud as mofo's.