I thought I'd share my experience on snow tires, regarding the debate of performance winter tires vs winter tires.
A few years back I had the chance to drive a brand new Focus RS on stock OEM winter performance tires on a private circuit on ice, as part of a local marketing event. Although this car was very fun to drive, the traction on smooth ice was quite poor. I was able to do some very nice drifts, but acceleration / turning / bracking wasn't very fast. After my turn, I asked if I could do the same course with my own car, a modest Suzuki SX4 with some half worn studded Hakka 9 tires. It was night and day - I was able to go much faster and had better control. I also had a similar experience with an Audi RS4 which I had for about a year (before selling it because the maintenance fees were crazy). It was equipped with performance Pirelli Sottozero tires. On dry pavement, the grip was astonishing, even better than other cars I had with summer tires! However, in real snow or on ice, the traction was quite poor.
There is no "best" winter tire, it depends on where you live and what you prioritize. If you live somewhere where it doesn't snow often and you want good handling, then a performance winter tire would probably be best for you. If you have regular snow over several months a year (like where I live), and the temperature often oscillates above and below freezing, creating patches of ice (sometimes hidden under a thin layer of snow), then a good winter tire will provide much better traction, at the expense of dry handling. For even greater traction on pure ice, studded tires are the best, the variation in traction between various road conditions is much less pronounced.