Switching tires

Ok, so essentially my girlfriend needs 4 new tires on her '01 pontiac grand am se. Currently she has 225/50R16s. She doesn't speed, race or drive aggressively, so high speed performance isn't a problem. Traction and price are the most important factors...especially with NY snow coming soon. We went to a Sears type place and they didn't have any replacement tires in stock, I checked www.tirerack.com and hte cheapest I could find were $67 and they went up to $130 or so. I get my high performance 18" sumitomos for $130 on the same website...so we don't want to pay as much for her tires and for mine...as mine are larger and better performance-wise...anyway we are entertaining the idea of getting a different size. What would be a possible functional differing width and aspect ratio...for instance could 225/55 work on the same wheel? What would the results be? Any suggestions would be very welcome. Thanks in advance.

If you are driving in the snow, you could go with a higher profile... You could switch to a 215 60 16, or a 215 65 16. You say performance is not an issue, then I would go without the low profile tires.
Jay

225/55's would make the speedometer read slower than she's actually going.

I would stick with the stock size and look at the Yokohama Avid V4-S at $80.00. That's going to be the best in that size if you are going to run year round anywhere near snow.

Grant, I called a local shop and they said 205/5516s are an optional tire...so I'm looking at some in this size as well. The Yokohama Avid h4s I had on my old car were great...no complaints, but I'm shooting for something $50-70 if at all possible. Any recommendations?

Grant, I don't know if this link will work, but it is the comparison between the 3 tires I'm looking at currently.
1.Continental ContiTouringContact CH95
2. Kumho HP4 716
3. Goodyear Eagle LS
Any thoughts? All are 205/5516s They all cost between 60-67 a tire, and the Goodyears have a $50 manufacturers rebate...which is definantly helping me lean towards them. The customer reviews aren't too high on them...but on the other hand, I'm not a person who is influenced much by testimonials...if I don't know the person. I'd appreciate your thoughts.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare2.jsp?shipquote=N&autoMake=&autoModel=&autoYear=&autoModClar=&sortcode=&fromCompare1=yes&partNumber=&make=&model=&price=&prevprice=&sidewall=&sidewallShown=&promoShortText=&promoUrl=&loadRating=&width=&ratio=&diameter=&sortCode=&speedRating=&qty=&stockMessage=&type=T&frontTire=&frontLeftTire=&rearTire=&rearLeftTire=&wantRHP=&RHPprice=&sortCode=&pre=&sumRating=&spec=&warranty=&comments=&tests=&surveys=&perf=&specCode=&promoLongText=&AddToUser=true&_055HR6CH95_qty=4&removeIndex=1%7C055HR6HP4&_055HR6HP4_qty=4&_055HR6HP4716_qty=4&_055TR6LSP_qty=4&sortValue=1

the goodyear is not a terribly good tire, wears fast, howls like the wind. but offers decent grip.

I would probably say go with the continental

Thanks for the quick reply and the advice. I think I'll do that.

The 205/55-16 is a standard size for snow tires but will be very narrow for all-season use. You can expect a little more sluggish steering response with that tire size.