Subaru vs. Vermont Winter

by Cara Gorman

Have you ever played count the Subaru? After working in the auto industry for a few years you start to notice every make and model of vehicle on the road. This one’s a Hyundai, that one a Toyota, the one over there a VW. When I look around Subarus are everywhere! Try it sometime (be safe not while you’re driving though please).

Start noticing at the different makes of vehicles as you’re walking through the Shaw’s parking lot in South Burlington, strolling through the Williston shopping complexes or finding your car in the downtown Burlington parking garage. How many Subarus did you see? A lot right? Well that’s because Subaru is simply the best vehicle for the Vermont drivers.

Burlington Subaru has filmed several short videos to illustrate that Subaru makes the best vehicle to handle the snowy winter conditions that inhabit Vermont roads for what seems like nine month of the year.

Last year in 2010 Chris Cassidy drove a Subaru Forester in a video that has been viewed almost 34,000 times as of 1/14/11. I caught up with Chris Cassidy and asked him a few questions about that first video and some of his more recent ones.

CG: Almost 34,000 people have watched your first video, are you surprised?

CC: I am very surprised. I sent the link to my friends and family after we shot that last year, figuring maybe a couple hundred people would check it out. Then it hit 1,000, 2,000 and just took off after that. It is a testament to the broad scope of youtube, the power of the internet age, and a catchy title by our internet manager. I guess a lot of people googled "Subaru", "Forester", and "Winter". It has caused me to revise my goals for the video. I want 100,000 hits by the end of 2011.

CG: In that video some viewers expressed concern that driving through so much snow did damage to the vehicle, is it cause for concern?

CC: After reading those comments, it got me thinking about possible damage to our cars. We do let them warm up before driving them out of the snow. The snow has nothing hard like a rock in it that could damage the body of the car. I guess it could cause microscopic wear on the tires while they are spinning, but nothing damaging by any means. Every car dealership has to move all their cars after a snowstorm. I bet some of our competitors without all-wheel drive are doing a lot more spinning than we are at Subaru. I'm glad I've given people something to talk about in their chats.

CG: After Ken and Travis left Vermont Sportscar did you consider trying out for a spot on the team?

CC: Ken Block and Travis Pastrana are unbelievable drivers and brought a lot of much-deserved recognition to Rally Car Racing and the Subaru brand. Last year we had one of Travis' modified rally cars in our showroom for a few months, courtesy of Vermont Sportscar. It was amazing to me the attention it drew. People would be taking pictures with their phones, calling their friends to get down here to see it, sitting in it with a big smile on their face. It was cool to see and those guys made a big impact. They don't have to worry about me entering any races anytime soon. I'm just humbled that when you type in "Subaru Vermont" on Youtube, the three first names that pop up are Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, and.... Chris Cassidy?

CG: One of your newest videos shows how the Toyota Camry and Subaru Impreza perform in the same snowy conditions, can you tell us why the Subaru did so much better and is that typical of Subaru performance?"

CC: It's really quite simple. Subaru's symmetrical all-wheel drive system is the best in the business. They have built all their vehicles to be all-wheel drive from the ground up since 1997. There is no part-time AWD. There are no right angles in the axles. It is a smooth, even flow of power. It is balanced between all 4 wheels, not just 2. It works the same at all speeds, which many of the competitors who offer AWD cannot say. And it isn't just about the snow. It performs better in the rain, on hills, winding roads, washboards, mud, sand, you name it. All four wheels touching the surface that you're driving on, doing the work in symmetry is just better than two….and safer.

Nicely said Chris and that what makes Subaru a Subaru, and why Subaru is the unofficial state car of Vermont!

To view all of Burlington Subaru’s video clips checkout our YouTube channel or head down to 351 Shelburne Road to get behind the wheel and take a test drive today!

On a personal note: I have been a SUV driver since 2003. This is now my second winter driving a 2009 Subaru Impreza (with snow tires) and I feel safer and feel like I move through the snow better than any of the previous non-subaru SUVs I've owned and the improved gas mileage is a huge plus!