I also switched to Duratracs from the Adventures and love them so far. I like the more aggressive look and they performed incredibly well in 6" of unplowed snow and on icy, rutted roads. My buddy who works at a tire center convinced me to try them and glad I did. I have X-Ice on my FPace and they perform well but I didn't want to lose the ability to go off-road if needed.

Also don't feel they sound any louder... Maybe it comes over time?

 

I absolutely refuse to have 2 sets of tires for a vehicle that has 4WD/AWD and advanced traction control. My wife's previous (FWD) car had studded snow tires and they took up so much room in the garage that I have since reclaimed as additional tool storage! This is a hill I will die on!!!! </dramatic breath>

That being said, I've neither been impressed or disappointed by the Defender's snow performance up here in Maine. The few times I've driven it in slick conditions was when dry fluffy snow has been compacted onto the road into an almost ice-like surface. It did fine - but it's also a heavy-ish vehicle and physics are what they are. The traction control was adequate but not, in my opinion, as aggressive as my '08 Toyota traction control which will keep you from being stupid - whereas the LR system seems to let you be stupid but tries to recover from it after the fact. I know thats far from a technical description but thats just what my butt tells me while driving.

 

In snow mode on X-ice tires it does very well. Snow performance is very good, ice - not so much, but only chains or studs can make difference in this case.
There's a difference between regular comfort and grass/gravel/snow modes.

 

Wisconsin winter (with snow this year!) 110X on the dreaded 19” Duratracs. No problem. I do impose winter drinking limits during snow times however.