I also live in the Twin Cities (Favre Country). Pilotmatt makes it sound like it snows year around, for the Southerns it does not. Second when it does snow the plows do a good job clearing the roads and laying down tons of salt. Example if it snows 3-6" overnight, generally in the morning the roads are wet to slightly snow covered. If the sun comes out then the roads are dry by 3PM. Side streets are slightly snow covered but nothing major.
AT tires are more than adequate on our roads. Winter tires are only really needed for the RWD cars (BMW, Mercedes, etc.). The only way to combat ice covered roads are a set of studded tires but they are not allowed in MN.
I vote for black wheels, with the darker gray plastic and silver paint, kind of a fade up, black to silver.
