You should be fine with either vehicle, just need to make sure you have winter tires to make you safer out there.Upstate NY. Usually 120+ inches of snow per year.
I'd be fine with the size of either vehicle. It's just a matter of price. Awd trax is approximately the same as a fwd Equinox at the dealer I looked at.Both come in AWD so that should be good for the snow. Other than that it is more a matter of size. Do you need the extra space of the Equinox, or would you be fine with the size of the Trax?
Why not just get the Equinox AWD? Why is it between Trax AWD and Equinox FWD?
Traction greatly improves with the use of winter tires, so that's already a big step forward, sometimes the only step needed....actually it's all i've ever done.I think the bigger difference will be putting snow tries on the car. Again, it does depend on how severe the winters get where you live.
You can save even more by buying used sets, just have to make sure you inspect the tires. It's quite possible to pick up a set for a few hundred...that's wheels AND tires.As others have said, get winter tires. I also read recently that these can be cheaper to buy now rather than waiting until just before the snow hits.
When getting winter tires, also get a set of steel wheels. This will make them easy to swap, plus road salt does nasty things to alloy wheels.