Tires: snow tires, snow tires, country colorado

Question
I just moved back to snow country Colorado after being gone for 15 years.  When I left, everyone got studded snow tires for winter.  Now, some of the tire stores are telling me about "special rubber" snow tires that work as well as studs, last longer, and drive easier.  Any hard data and/or sites to check ?

note: I have 2 vehicles, one is a 10 year old small compact, the other is a 5 year old Camry, both ft wheel drive.

Thanks !

Answer
Woody,

Unfortunately, hard data is difficult to come by when it comes to tire testing.  What general data might be available must be considered relative to the tests that are performed, so careful examination of the testing method is important.  For this reason, I don't care for Consumer Reports as a reliable source of data - They don't publish their testing methods - only the results.

However, there are several sites that might be of value:

www.1010tires.com

www.tirerack.com.

Pay aprticular attention to their technical discussions.

Hope this helps.