Hi Dug, despite the lack of snow we suffered in this strange winter (Italy - alpine area) up to early January, in the last month I had the opportunity to drive on snow both off road (nothing that extreme though... :)) and on (before the plow cleaned it).
I recently changed the tyres from Yokohama Geolandar M+S (mounted from the factory) to Yokohama W.drive 905. I noticed an improvement driving on snow (up to 15" deep), mainly in sharp turns, but, in any case, the Geolandar had satisfied me in the two last years use probably due to the AWD help... ;)
In the end, the XV seems to be very steady and reliable...
What about you?