Northwest suburbs actually. The forecasters were saying 1-3" of snow, we ended up with 10". But it was very fluffy, so it wasn't a problem shoveling, or driving for the most part. Yes, I still use the OEM Integrity tires, and with 33K miles on them they are starting to get a little bald already, but it can still handle the snow just fine (like a normal FWD car in my experience).
Yes it is. I should tuck it in a little better. I'm gathering data on runs with and without using the EBH, I'll post them when I have some more data in decently cold weather.