After some more thought and research, I am not sure Seattle / PNW really qualifies for winter tires unless driving through snow or passes.

For winters, I'll be looking at getting 16" steelies... With a narrow footprint.

But for now, I am considering going to ultra high performance All Season that will be good for cold weather and really light snow on a 17x8 wheels in 225/45 which will be appropriate for most Seattle winter weather. Any suggestions on a good A/S tire for PNW?

Probably goin to get the Continental ExremeContact DWS A/S tires. Looks to suit the mild winters. With these, I can wear these for the colder 6 months and use summers for the warm 6 months.

Also going to buy the set of 16" narrow snow tires for a colder winter as a spare. Nice having two Subarus with the same bolt pattern!

What about the sparco assetta wheels? They are made by oz for sparco and the bronze would look nice on the black. Just throwing another wheel option out there. DWS are excellent tires ive put a few sets on customers cars and they have been very happy with them.

DWS are crap in the snow/ice.
In Seattle, personally, I'd get Alpin PA3 or Dunlop M3s in stock size.

I'm in the south we get very little snow I know nothing about real winter tires.

Not hard to find. Discount Tire has a few. I personally got the Hankook Icept Evo W310.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...sw=true&cs=215

As you can expect, here in Ottawa, we have really cold winters with lots of ice and snow. For the summer, I have Hankook V12s for which I keep on the car for 8 months of the year, until the snow comes. They are quite soft are very good down to ~35 degrees. For winters, I use Blizzak WS-70s.

Even in your climate, I would go with winters (WS-70, or something more performance-oriented like the LM-60). Even with just a little bit on snow or slush on the ground, I find all seasons pale in comparison to winters (jack of all trades, master of none).

Across the range of temperatures and road conditions we have, I don't think there's any window where I would prefer all season tires over the V12s (when dry and above 35) or Blizzaks (with snow/slush or below 35).

Thanks everyone, just placed my order. I was between getting a cheaper 16" vs 17" wheel, but I figured down the road, I can probably sell the 17" easier or repurpose them for track use.

I decided not to get A/S tires, instead getting Winter Performance. I plan on using my Hankook V12 summers for the majority of the year and using the winters for 45 degrees and below (4-5mo)

Ended up with getting:

Sparco Assetto Gara - matte grey silver 17x7.5et48 $148ea, I chose these because they are designed by OZ, they look nice, and fairly light.
Blizzak LM60 225/45, I went this size so it will fit my Forester also (still a bit short).

On another note, I plan on getting a 10mm rear spacer to clean up the rear fitment, close to flush, but still conservative fitment.

I'll post pics of the new wheels on my journal and this page.

Nice choices on wheels and tires ;)

Just picked up a set of 225 45 17's for my stock wheels. Hankook studded tires off a Subaru with 95% tread. I got them off craigslist for $175. :w00t:

I'd get longer studs if I were you.

Will do I think the ones I'm looking at come with.

Posted pictures in my journal. Tires still need to be broken in as they are really slippery on wet roads.

Also I may forgo the spacers, wheel gap isn't atrocious like I thought it would have been.