IMO tyres are about the most important component on the car in terms of handling.
I'd much rather have a car on boat suspension, and top quality rubber, than lowered/upgraded suspension, arbs, coilovers and whatever else but on budget ditchfinders.
Years ago, I had an old mk3 Astra 1.4 Merit that i fitted 16" alloys and good rubber too (Uniroyal Rainsport 1s iirc), on the standard 4x4 spec tractor suspension, and even though it looked ridiculous and used to corner on its door handles it stuck to the road like glue, come rain or shine. I later lowered it with konis and the ultimate limit of grip remained the same, it just became far more composed and FELT better to drive.