I have to give my opinion here. I do a lot of driving in the winter, (well actually all year round but I digress
) Anyway, I am partial to a traditional snow tire. They are usually cheaper than the "performance snow" tire and they seem to be better in bad driving conditions. In my opinion, I think the type of tire that you want will depend on the areas you will be driving in. If I lived and worked in the City I would probably not go with the traditional tire but since I don't I feel more comfortable with them. I will say however that they are definately noisey but I dont really care about that. I am looking for safety. Now as for size I do think if you can get away with a 15 you may be better off especially price wise most times anyway. The bigger they are the more expensive they get. But everyone has their own views on snow tires and I can only give you my opinion based on my experiences.
BTW, I am only going to to my second set of snow tires for this car since I bought it. So keep that in mind too. I was running Hercules Snow tires. They were cheap and I loved them. This time around I am buying a set of used tires from a friend so I don't get the choice of tires but they should last me a couple of years anyway.
Good luck with choosing a tire.
