I think the difference is still really significant when it comes to actually piloting a vehicle. Extra dice for almost all of your vehicle tests is good (that includes gunnery and other stuff, IIRC), the main benefit is reducing the Vehicle Test Thresholds, IMO. Each one point threshold reduction basically equates to three extra dice in your dice pool. It can turn incredibly difficult maneuvers into relatively simple things.
ETA: I'm going to do a quick circuit of the area in the astral, going as far as the car, to try to spot any Awakened threats that might give us problems if we need to run. I will be flying to avoid any contact with dual-natured threats.