The money you'll be saving from gas is basically equal to the extra cost over the civix when buying a Prius, what you'll get in return is a shitty looking car, less feature, power and driving characteristics. It's a no brainer.
27 k for a touring isn't so bad, here in Canada, you can be looking at 30+ k before taxes and fees which came out at 33 k, canadian dollars really suck.
I got the Pirelli p7 all season plus and even on ice/snow at reasonable speed, my abs and traction control never come on, running throught water and the steering wheel is stable as a rock, amazing breaking too.