Performance winters are all I've needed as well. My favorite set of tires ever were a set of Pirelli SnoSports I had on the Firebird....Got 6 winters out of them; tons of unplowed backroad driving in those days and the tires never missed a beat. Quiet, handled well, wore well, and I only ever got stuck once when I high-centered the differential on an ice rut.
I replaced those with a set of WS-70's, which are 'better' on ice, but I preferred the sportier Pirelli's in just about every other situation. Still tons of life on the WS-70's though, so they're be around a long time.