I was so happy I bought winter tires last year. As anyone who has bought a Mazda 3 (probably half the board) will know that the stock all seasons are poor performers in the winter. The first two winters I had a heck of a time. Got stuck quite a bit, would be slow getting started at lights with ice, didn't make it up a couple hills and could easily get in stuck in snow parked on the road. Last year got some inexpensive winter tires (Firestone I think) and steel wheels for $750 mounted, balanced and installed. Totally worth the cost. I was much more confident in my cars ability to get going and more importantly stopping.
Getting moving on poor roads was improved, but not as much as stopping was. My stock tires would lock up and slide on the ice very easily and I had adjusted my driving to allow for this (not good in emergencies obviously). So I was shocked how much better I could stop in the winter tires. Much harder to slide on ice and the stopping distance was reduced greatly. I am very happy that I bought winter tires last year, but mad at myself for being too cheap to buy them for the other two years I have owned my car.
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