Tires Nexen or BRIDGESTONE

Just get Blizzaks, by far the best bang for your buck winter tire, they will need to be swapped for your regular tires every year, but they are awesome in anything this state will throw at you. I have used them for years through several iterations on multiple vehicles.

I've run everything from the cheapest of cheap to high-end and can tell you there is a difference in performance. I drive a lot, so i now by all weather tires (Bridgestone currently) that are 4 season (incl snow rated).

We use Nexen Winguard Sport 2 on our Focus RS AWD... they work very well... they are good tires and punch well above their price level in terms of performance and longevity.

I whole-heartedly recommend the Nexen N5000 Platinums... They are not the best tires out there by any means, but punch way above their price category in quality.

I have these, from Sams Club - using on a 07' Saab 9-3. No complaints.

Their tires do tend to ride a little soft, like you say... but that doesn't seem to affect handling at all. They are not the best tire, they are a good tire, but they are a better tire than the price you pay for them.

Compared to all previous sets they a very quiet and drive very smooth, they feel kind of spongy if that makes any sense.

I will say they are a bit hard for an autocross tire (even at 200 tw), I would go Kuhmo instead.

I have found it quite hard to predict, but Bridgestone were extremely noisy for me. Then I had Michelin which were slightly quieter but still didn't satisfy me completely.

The problem is that the more aggressive the snow [tires] the noisier they were. After 4 seasons on Blizzaks I was ready to burn them.