Snow tires, preferably studded, are indispensable for VT winters especially if back roads are a regular part of your driving. With snow tires most front wheel drive cars will do alright. Subarus I've driven have all been very nice. I drove a forester from Boston to Montpelier in a blizzard last winter, and it did extremely well, but all wheel drive has a price when it comes to gas mileage. A Subaru will get worse mileage than a similar sized car with similar engine displacement.