09 Base winter tires - 175/65/15 replacements

[cargun]

My plan when I bought my Base Fit was to get some aftermarket aluminum wheels and summer tires and run the base steelies and rubber in the winter.

I've quickly figured out that's a bad plan. The stock "all-season" tires are not actually designed to grip the road, but for low rolling resistance on greenie cars like the Insight. I started doubting my plan to use them in the winter when I found out these are the worst tires I've every driven in the rain... and that's with less than 400 miles on them! I checked tire rack today and found the tires rated 22nd of 23 all season tires with very bad marks for winter grip.

I'm looking for some winter tires that will still put up with spirited driving on dry days and won't be hurt by thousand mile road trips on dry roads during the winter months (all 6 of them here in NY).

Looking at Performance Snow tires, I'm looking at the Eagle Ultra Grip GW3 or Blizzak LM25 in 195/55/15. Anyone have experience with those tires? Or know of other performance snow alternatives for 15" Fit wheels?