Not that this should come as a surprise, but they are terrible. 1000rpm (just above stall), about 5mph, and the rear and was spinning ever so gently. And that was on about one and a half centimeters of the white stuff.

Time to shop for tires!

I take it that it would make more sense to store the stock 17s and get some cheap 16s with tires, rather than use my existing rims for snow tires? This is my first car with stock tires that are useless in the snow. It's my daily driver. I'm not sure whether it makes more sense to get tires, or whether I should look for a winter beater.

 

That's what I did. You don't have to worry about your good rims getting eaten by salt or scratched by switching tires. AND the best part is that it's quick and easy to change wheels/tires any time that you want to change them, since it only takes a few minutes.

The S2000 handles very well with snow tires. It's a lot of fun to drive when it snows.

 

 

I'm not sure about the beater b/c my insurance rates are a bit high, plus I just bought a car and I'm not sure about adding a second one within a couple of weeks of picking up the first one!

I've had very poor luck with beaters in the past... ideally I'd be able to find a $1000 car that can give me 10k miles, but in practice I don't think I'd be so lucky.