I ended up going with a wheel/tire combo for winter. Here is what I found useful.
18" will fit on our cars. The problem is caliper clearance and offset. After talking more with tirerack.com, they actually test fit each rim or check the clearance and fit in CAD before they put them on the website for a car. So, any choice from tirerack.com for the ISF should work!
I ended up with the 18" Enkei Imola wheels with Michelin X-Ice Xi2 tires. The X-Ice tires aren't the most grippy tires out there, but they will last twice as long as most snows, have a low rolling resistance rating, and can be driven on dry pavement without much worry of burning them out. So far they have been great around Toronto, since we don't see snow covered roads often.
Total cost on Tire Rack before shipping was about $1300.
So far my experience with using the X-Ice tires has been great. With a T rating, they aren't sold as a performance tire, but they do meet the XL load requirement. At speed they feel well planted on the road and have been nicely predictable corning in all conditions (although their handling limits are lower than a super sticky winter). Michelin did this on purpose with the goal of having a tire that can be driven well into spring without damaging the tire. These tires are a great compromise of life vs traction.
With all that salt spray and dirt, they blend into the car nicely
Enkei says they are "Bright Silver"...
18" will fit on our cars. The problem is caliper clearance and offset. After talking more with tirerack.com, they actually test fit each rim or check the clearance and fit in CAD before they put them on the website for a car. So, any choice from tirerack.com for the ISF should work!
I ended up with the 18" Enkei Imola wheels with Michelin X-Ice Xi2 tires. The X-Ice tires aren't the most grippy tires out there, but they will last twice as long as most snows, have a low rolling resistance rating, and can be driven on dry pavement without much worry of burning them out. So far they have been great around Toronto, since we don't see snow covered roads often.
Total cost on Tire Rack before shipping was about $1300.
So far my experience with using the X-Ice tires has been great. With a T rating, they aren't sold as a performance tire, but they do meet the XL load requirement. At speed they feel well planted on the road and have been nicely predictable corning in all conditions (although their handling limits are lower than a super sticky winter). Michelin did this on purpose with the goal of having a tire that can be driven well into spring without damaging the tire. These tires are a great compromise of life vs traction.

With all that salt spray and dirt, they blend into the car nicely

Enkei says they are "Bright Silver"...