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Just about any dedicated snow tire will outperform an All season tire in bad weather.
Blizzaks are common, also Dunlop Wintersports and Goodyear Ultra Grip GW3's
I have had Michlelin X-Ice for one winter and they worked great and we get lots of snow up here. Pretty inexpensive from tirerack.com as well. I got 235/55/18
A tire place that I trust told me to go for the Nokian Hakkapellita 5s. I got a set of 17" wheels from Craigslist, and had the tires put on.
Now, unfortunately, I haven't run them yet, but I'm putting them on this weekend...
I'm jealous! Hakkapellitas are the best.
I got Winterforce M+S tires last year (225x45x17, got em from sears, they had to special-order them). Drove thru whole winter in michigan with no problem. And they are quite a bit cheaper than blizzaks (I think about $110/tire). If you like to drive over 60mph in 4"+ deep snow, you might want to consider some extra weight in the back.
I have the Dunlop winter sport M3's which is the older version of 3D's I believe. Anyways, I Have them on my 96 T-bird and even with RWD it gets through any snow or ice I can throw at it. The biggest thing for me was sacrificing handling which is common with snow tires, they tend to have a softer sidewall. The winter sports are basically a sport snow tire, they have a stiffer sidewall so the car won't feel mushy around corners but is still extremely capable in the snow.