I was in the same boat with my 2014 Focus ST when I got stationed in Alaska, so I can provide some perspective. The car came with 235/18 Eagle F1s so that wasn't going to work for the Alaska winter. I decided to do the drive from Florida to Anchorage in February so I ordered a set of the most aggressive studless Blizzaks in the stock size on Tire Rack and had them sent to a tire shop in Seatle. I drove across country and had the tires mounted before I crossed the border into Canada and drove through the Yukon all the way to Anchorage. The roads had about an inch of ice on them and the Blizzaks were fantastic, almost like driving on pavement most of the time. They were great in deep snow as well. I never had any issues going anywhere in Alaska. I will always recommend dedicated winter tires if it's in the budget and the car is a daily driver. They are an absolute game changer.
However....
Fast forward 6 months and I'm driving on the Glen Highway doing about 65 at night and a moose decides to use the same lane as me. Needless to say the ST was totaled. I had the Eagle F1s on at the time so I kept the Blizzaks for when I replaced the car. A few months later in January I bought a 2016 Focus ST, but this time it came with high performance all-season tires, 235/18 Pirelli P Zero Neros. Of course I expected these tires to be garbage in the snow and intended to get the Blizzaks mounted right away. I ended up keeping the P Zeros on until the following winter because they were surprisingly good in the snow and ice. They were no winter tire obviously but they handled just fine and I never felt unsafe.
So my advice is that based on how you intend to use the car all-season tires can work, but I would check out reviews on their winter performance before buying. If you want to drive the car every day and feel absolutely secure and confident, winter tires are the way to go. The real difference is that safety buffer and progressive breakaway characteristics that the winter tire will give you. On a car like the Type R it's probably worth it, even if you have to buy dedicated wheels. My Si came with the all-seasons, but if I was still in Alaska I'd be buying winter tires for it.
