Are winter tires usually much rougher than summer tires?
 

I swapped over to Blizzak tires on stock 18s for the winter. I didn't drive very often, but always though the car had a much busier unsteady feeling with the winter setup. It was just an underlying nervousness type feeling. I knew the car was fine with my summer wheels and tires and just went through the winter with the annoyance. One issue I know, one of my front wheel has a slight bend in the inside lip from the previous owner. Maybe that contributes? I had the wheels and tires balanced and an alignment after making the swap.

So, today I put my summer tires and wheels back on the car and it is like a whole new car. It feels so much more stable, planted and in control. Is it normal for winter tires to be that different or should I be looking harder at the damaged wheel before next winter?

i cant drive spiritedly when i have winter tires on, they just lose traction. not designed for performance. over 100mph and they just dont feel safe. i think what youre feeling is probably normal

Yeah winter tires are a totally different compound, you will have a different feel for sure. And if you're on a different size that will change things also.

Winter tyres are designed to drive in light snow,they got rougher thread than summer tyres..to 'bit' into the snow...

I'm running 225/50r18 Bridgestone lm-32 and really don't have any issues with normal driving. They feel a lot better in cold weather than the summers ever did.

snow tires can drive through deep snow. your chassis will bottom out much sooner than overwhelm the tire's traction. at that point, it's not the tires' fault, but the driver.

all season tires can handle light snow.. some better than others.