Nokian has a new Hakka tire... The R3. Supposedly it's as good or better in snow than the R2, but much improved in the dry.
http://www.tractionnews.com/nokian-u...3-winter-tire/
I'm thinking about the R3 "SUV" version for the Chevy Colorado.
The only other winter tire available in 255/65-R17 are the Michelin X-ice xi2. The xi2 seem to do great in all the professional tire magazine reviews, but when you read user reviews a number of people say they are the worst tire they've ever driven in slush and wet snow. Apparently they hydroplane like crazy.
The biggest advantage of the xi2 over the R2 was the dry performance. With the R3 improving it's dry performance maybe the R3 wins across the board now.
I thought of not even bothering with winter tires. The stock all-terrain tires ("Goodyear wrangler all terrain adventure with kevlar") did great in deep wet snow, with the big gaps between the tread. But I'm guessing they'll suck on ice. I just hope the Hakka's aren't a big downgrade in the deep snow. It would suck to buy snow tires and have them be worse than what I have.