wondering if 16" steelies will fit on the front of the GXP.... Canadian Tire says yes but I have my doubts.

from what iv herd no... Because the GXP brakes are bigger and need at least 17"

Canadian Tire is wrong as you suspected. 17" is the min. tire size you can put on the GXP and that is a very close fit. I purchased my 17" winter rims from Canadian Tire and they worked fine. Too bad I only used them for half a season. Now I just park the car for the winter.

no, the smallest wheel you can run is a 17" on the GXP because of the brakes

And 17 is really just for the emergency spare, it leaves a credit cards width to the caliper. I wouldnt want to trust it with the gravel and such you incur with winter driving. Just finally replaced ny RSa'* with Goodrich g-force T/A KDWS'*. Great looking and becoming a bigger fan of them everytime I drive since I bought them. They are OEM on the GTO"* and Mustangs. Huge rain grooves, chunky tread for snow, great all around tire with excellent traction and cornering bite, for $150 a piece.
http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/bfg/productIdSubmit.do

I just put the exact same tire on my GXP. IMO they are much better than the RSA'*.

Venom and DP I just ordered 4 KDWS for 79.00 per tire.

Thats a good deal. I paid $100 per tire installed. Thought that was pretty good considering the quality of the tire. A heck of a lot cheaper than replacing the RSA'*.

That will teach me to shop!!! Are they the ZR rated ones??? Either way, a heck of a deal, I'm sure You will be happy with them. The ride difference is incredible. Let me know what You think.

235/50/ZR18