Actually, I'm asking for advice and opinions. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm not going to be able to afford a reliable winter car, so I'm looking at the winter tire packages on tire rack.

1st question: 16" 17" or 18" wheels for winter and why? (I realize the car has 18's but I don't want to bend up my stock rims on some pothole that's covered by a bit of snow.

2nd question: I've been looking mostly at the 17" packages on tire rack and have narrowed down the tires to 2 choices: Dunlop Graspic DS-2's and Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50's. I know the blizzaks got better reviews, but are they worth the extra money?

In case anyone doesn't know, Alden is about 20 or so miles east of buffalo and deals with mass quantities of snow basically from thanksgiving to early april.

 

Most people seem to be going with a 16" steel winter wheel.

215/60 or 205/60 - I am getting 215/60 16"

Not sure about brands really, went with winterforce (price and reco from shop).

 

I would go with 16s, personally, that's what I bought for my car.

205/60-R16 is the best size for the car, it keeps overall tire diameter closer to stock and a narrower tire is better for cutting through heavy snow. If you're dealing with really rough conditions (sounds like you are), I'd go with the Blizzaks. My friend lives up in the mountains here and has been out on the roads with her car when most other people couldn't. The downside to Blizzaks are they are super soft tread for winter traction so you've got to watch your speed. Same friend put same Blizzaks on a MiniS (were on an Accord) and she had to take them back off because she was shreading the front tires.