Tires BRIDGESTONE or SUMITOMO

I chase PNW storms in a FWD econobox w/blizzaks. No reason to go with studs.

Blizzaks or x-ice 2 are the way to go IMO. They will wear faster but provide superior performance compared to a cheaper studded tire.

I have bridgestone winterforce. I like them. They may be a bit aggressive and therefor a little more noisy then other winter tires. But depending on how deep of snow you drive in it makes a difference. Some other winter tires are geared for better on road winter performance. But overall I like them and I have definitely taken them in deep snow on unplowed dirt roads.

I've had Blizzaks, the WS60 that are out of date now, but they were pretty great. Awesome snow traction, great dry handling considering they were snow tires, and very quite.

So far (300 miles) I have noticed the following; 1. Bridgestone tires seem to have more wet grip than the Kuhmo's

My car came with the Toyos and they lasted one summer, in the winter I run Blizzaks. Summer 2012 and 2013 I ran Potenza RE-11s. These has spent 3 weekends at Tail of the Dragon in that time and still have tread left on them to get me into next season and they are stickier than the Toyo Proxes and about $100 per tire cheaper.

The Sumitomo HTR Z III gets a lot of crap for being cheapbut performance is a very solid performer

Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport. I had a set on my previous car. Low noise and great handling.

I almost totalled my RX-8 when my HTRZIII's were not even that bad. Don't get me wrong, they're okay for the price (actually a great drifting tire), but I can't but help think you get what you pay for in terms of how quickly they wear, and especially how bad traction is when they get near the end.

My first snow tire purchase was a set of Blizzak WS-50s and I just couldn't deal with the squirmy feel for the amount of true snow/ice driving I encounter in a season.