Purchased from The Tire Rack, as recommended size.
Overall, good tires for the winter. No flats, no wierd wear, dependable. The best part about them is the confidence level. The breakaway on them is very gradual in the snow or slush. It's very easy to catch, you would have to try to get something silly to happen. The bad part: I expected the higher noise and lowered dry pavement performance, but I did expect more traction in the white stuff. It was very easy to spin the rears, more so than I expected. They never left me stranded, and a light rear wheel drive isn't exactly optimal for traction, but still suprising.
I seemed to be spinning my tires while most other people weren't. I live in Ohio and we get a fair amount of snow some winters.
The Tire Rack was very professional, although they did try to steer me towards the vaughted "Blizzaks", higher commission? I bought these tires for the lower price, around $200 for all 4. Tire Rack says they should last about 4 seasons. Overall, for the cost, they have lived up to expectations, I would recommend them as a good second set of tire for winter use.
Snow/Ice tire similar to Blizzak.
I bought 175/65-14's and mounted them on stock steel wheels thinking they would be ever so narrower without affecting the overall diameter. Skinnier tires work better in snow right? Yeah, but they aren't worth a **&$!! in the dry. When the temperature dropped and the roads got slick, they were great. But dry pavement was sheer terror. I felt like I was driving on marshmellows and ball bearings. I don't know if it was the size change or the sidewall softness, but they just had to go! The good news is that they work GREAT on my Civic and now 15" of snow can't stop it. Bottom line - if you feel the need for "winter tires" in a mild climate like ours, go with an aggressive all season tire.
Tire Rack was great on the pricing/delivery, and they even recommended sticking with the stock tire size, but I didn't listen.