I drove to work Friday in the midst of the 6-12" of snow in the northwest Chicago burbs and actually got better mileage, presumably due to the slower-moving stop/go traffic (great for pulse/glide). Unfortunately, I killed it pretty quick attempting to get un-stuck in my already-plowed lot at work. maybe dropping a few psi from the tires will help?

 

Bridgestone Blizzacks WS series are LRR and I believe the Revos are as well

 

While I'm sure snow tires would help, we had some snow/ice here in Indy last week and the car performed surprisingly well considering the low roll tires. Very comparable to any other front wheel drive car I've driven. I can't justify winter tires given the amount of snow we get here in Indiana..... maybe if I lived in Canada. A lot of it just comes down to knowing your limitations in the snow and driving carefully.

And I wouldn't recommend using 2nd gear, as that makes the car rev more aggressively, causing you to slip more, not less.