We have our fair share of snow here in Michigan as well. I am a National Ski Patroller on the weekends and as such I tendto drive in the snow when it gets heavy. Snow tires are nice, but not mandatory. Slow and steady wins the race, leave plenty of room between you and the person in front, and start slowing down for a stop WAAAYYYY before you need to stop and you'll be just fine.

I was running a 225/45R17 Toyo Proxes FZ4....your 15's should be even better (narrower and taller)

I put them on my wife's car for my piece of mind with her driving herself and the kids around, but I didn't feel like investing in any for my car. I definitely notice the difference when driving her car in the snow, that's for sure.

 

That may be all well and true, but you are talking to a 17 yr old driver here who's experience in snow is equivalent to how fast he and his friends could fall of their bicycles in a snow storm... if you get my meaning.
It's easy enough for an experienced driver to lose control in snowy/icy conditions, even doing as you suggest. I slid into a curb once doing less than 5mph in a Volvosedan I owned, and they are/were supposed to be among the best in snow. AND , I had snow tires on it.
Would you intentionally want to be on the road when a new driver were trying to figure out how to slide in a more controlled fashion?

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO STEEL WHEELS BAAAAAAAAAAAD. i hate steel wheels. i got the GS model which gives me 15" alloys 5 spoke. they look good. yea we get alot of snow here. i just gotta find the best price for snow tires. but im seriously considering sticking with my alloys because i HATEEEEEEEEEEEEEE with a passion steel wheels. but if i do decide to do that i will end up buying Canadian Tire Spinners . btw look at my car pictures and then you will know what the car i own is

 

I see you've caught on to my Frankenstein's Monster imitation.
Now, having said that... Steel wheels w/snow tires... GOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!
Alloy wheels and snow... BAAAADDDD!!!
Look into Kleber, Semperit, Vredestein snows. I know you guys in Ca still have access to Kleber's and they were one of the best kept French/Holland made tire secrets I'd ever found back in the '80's. We in the States can't get them anymore.
I ran Vredestein snows on my Datsun pick up (YES!! I said D~A~T~S~U~N, not N~I~S~S~A~N) and loved 'em. They were cheap too.

 

haha yea i know what a datsun it is... 240 SX back when they were sexy.... and bruce almighty drove one :P. but as you said yea alloys and winter baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. however i dont like steel wheels WHATSOEVER. THEY AER SOOOOOO UGLY which is why i bought the GS (I Touring)

 

Somesay thebest tire to cut through deep snow is a narrow one (as has been stated in this discussion). The worst is a wide one, because it will "float". Case closed right?

Fact is, the best tire for lateral traction is a wide tire. In other words, going around an icy bend,a wide tire is your friend.With anarrow tire, you have less tread contacting the road, and you'll have less gripping surface working in your favor.

The main reason you buysnow tiresis fora tread design that is designed to grip the ice and snow (not get clogged with ice or slush), andto geta rubber compound that remains soft/pliable (and thus grippy) when its very cold. If it were all about cutting and nothing else mattered, you would in theory wanthard rubber (given something hard cuts more effectively than something soft), but snow tires are in fact the opposite, the rubber compound is specifically designed to stay soft in the extreme cold.

In the end, I don't think there is a pure right answer ... if narrowness was so clearly advantageous, I suppose we'd all have tires 3 inches wide specifially for winter.

 

Going back to what I said earlier..Every tire is a compromise.. For snow; thinner, hard rubber compound with large tread block spaces for clearing slush & snow is best. For ice ;wider ,soft rubber compound when cold with closer tread blocks (more rubber surface) is best. Snow tires (soft rubber compound) melt off very quickly on mostly bare highways, all seasons last longer but not as good on straight ice. Larger tread block spaces (like on snow tires) cause a lot more road noise on bare roads.. etc..etc..
FYI jaimie08mazda3 you may not like the look of steel wheels but just wait until spring and have a look at your beloved alloys and you'll cry ,also in very cold temps you're much more likely to BREAK an alloy on an unseen pothole than damage a steel wheel.[]My 2.5 cents.

 

yea true buuuuuuuuuuuut. my dad has always kept his alloys on in the winter and they still look brand new and he has been doing that wellll since he has had alloys. now yes im a 17 year old kid. but i keep my car up always. it is clean every week inside and out and i make sure that my oil change gets done at 5000KM or 3 months whichever comes first. i basically baby my car because i know that i have a beautiful car. i got my friends that ride around in escorts and civics and grand prixs and i got my mazda3. haha. buttttt i am really considering the steel wheels and snow tires.... but will wait till i see a price i like

 

Take a look at the tires that rally cars run in the snow/ice. They are thinner than what they run on pavement or on dirt.

For the handling of a car in the snow, wider is not better. Otherwise the WRC guys would be running the big fat rubber they run in the other races (just with a winter rubber compound and tread pattern.) They don't do this, they run skinny tires that give you directional control. If you are floating on top of the snow surface, you slide...If you can cut down through it the forces exerted on the sides of the skinny tires give you added directional control


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+1 What he said... ^ ^ ^