Winter Tires?
245 is probably the narrowest you can go on a 9" rim and even then it might fit a bit funny. Personally I'd go with some 16's and snows. Blizzaks are always good, even if they are expensive. If you're sticking with the 17's look for a 245/45/17 tire. That should be about the same height as stock. You're choices are going to be limited when you start getting into 17" tires. Look on TireRack.com and search winter tires for that size. It'll give you all the info you need.
I would recommend putting a call out on the Parts wanted forum for some stock wheels and get some winter tires for those. I've got some 225 Dunlop winter tires squeezed onto my stock 16" wheels and winter driving doesn't bother me at all anymore. In fact, I prefer my car with winter tires over any fwd car with all season tires any day of the week during the winter.
