I never ended up getting the Hankooks, although I still like them. I ended up finding a set of M45 19's with Potenzas so I threw them on for now. I've been doing research for a replacement set of tires for my GF's Mazda 3 hatch and I've found really good reviews on the Conti Extreme Contact DWS's, I think they have some good snow capability to boot. I'm putting them on the Mazda and if they work out well I will probably put them on my G when I switch back over to my stock 18's.

 

Been There, done that!!

I did have 245/45 in fronts --> steering is heavier and do not looks very good.
225/45 in fronts --> wheel gap, a lot!!, steering very aggresive.
235/50 in fronts, 255,45 rear --> perfect combination, less wheel gap than oem and you protect the rim better.

On 235/255 you can find Toyo T1R, Summitomo HTR ZIII, Goodyear F1-GS-D3, General Tire, etc. The T1R sidewall is not very good, I believe that Goodyear is a better choice but $$$. Sumitomos was very good at Tirerack tests.

If you want to stick with oem sizes 225/245, Falken has Ziex ZE-912 (all season) that was rated very good. Toyo has Proxes V4, average tire.
Also tirerack has Yokohama oem, $$$.

My choices are among Sumitomos and Goodyear.

 

I have the HTR ZIII in 20" initial impression was very good, but haven't had them long enough to fully evaluate.
IMO in the 18", the 235/255 combo would be a good choice.