Blizzak's are great the first season. They are a dual compound tire with softer outer layer but once you burn through the first half of the tire life they are no better than an all season tire. For the money you can do much better than Blizzak.
I have been using Yokohama Icegaurd on my dd. Great performance overall and I am very pleased with how they respond, how they have worn and I find them much less noisy than Blizzak. They were marginally less expensive.
When I was doing my research, I read great things about Continentals and a Pirelli offering.
My daughter wanted a reasonably priced and reliable winter tire. We found Starfire Tires. They are a division of Cooper Tire. I was really impressed with the ride at the price - noisy but they do the job. I would think your exhaust note would cover the road noise though.