I never believed the hype about All Wheel Drive.  People would say how much better it was in snow and ice, but it mostly just seemed to make people drive more recklessly in bad conditions.  It wasn't until about two years ago when I finally drove in a friend's AWD car in the snow that I realized the difference.  My front-wheel drive car would routinely spin its wheels on very gentle slopes, even in my nearly flat driveway.  My friend's car had no problem getting around in slick conditions, even on snow-covered, icy, steep driveways in frigid Vermont, where we often visit for ski/snowboard trips. 

Fast forward to this past weekend, when I got the chance to take my new AWD car to Vermont and drive in snowy conditions.  Not only was it snowing pretty heavily, but Vermont seems to take a wait-and-see approach to plowing and salting the roads.  Several large trucks couldn't make it up and over the mountains in the area, and even a Honda Accord driver had to turn around and give up after spinning his tires on a steep part and making no headway up the hill.  The real coup de grace was on a relatively small side road, where I was driving behind an SUV on a moderately steep incline.  The SUV started spinning its tires and not making any forward progress, so the driver waved me around.  From a dead stop on a slippery incline, I pressed the gas pedal and just went.  I passed the stranded driver and got to my destination without a single problem.  I will literally never own another vehicle that doesn't have four driven wheels. #travel