As others have said, it's not the car, it's the tires. I have a Mazda Protege5 myself. Awful on snow and ice with the stock tires. With Michelin performance winter tires it's far, far better and still handles pretty well on dry roads (though I go easier on the soft winter tires because I want them to last).

 

YAAAY Alberta... and yes the stock tireds SUCK.. but I will wait till next winter for snow tires

 

low pro tires will do it