I’m going to England tonight. Well, I leave tonight and arrive there on Friday. Hooray! A working vacation is still a vacation, right? Sort of, maybe. Meanwhile, I’m going to need wheels for at least a few days that I’m there (don’t fret though, I’m not maniacal enough to drive in London). While I’m working on a press car for myself, the big question is – if I end up renting something, what could it be? What will it be? It is, for me at least, the closest approximation to a kid in a candy store. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten emails from someone called “Reality.” And he tells me a number of alarming things. The first was “Don’t kill yourself, driving on the left and shifting with the wrong hand.” Well I knew that already, but thanks Mr. R. Second, he said “You know, the European Focus is just better than the American Focus. It’s not something amazing. Especially with a tiny engine.” Yes yes, I know that too. But it’ll still be different. But then Reality dropped the bomb “With your luck, Berkowitz, your rental car is going to be something that’s on sale in America.” Heaven forbid. I’ll keep you updated on this tremendously important story.
It’s not as congested as Manhattan. But expensive to drive in, ’cause of road tax.
“With your luck, Berkowitz, your rental car is going to be something that’s on sale in America.”
Or worse a Cadillac BLS.
How about a Fiat 500, or something French to give us all a laugh in the review.
Have fun on the roundabouts. Nothing feels more wrong than exiting a traffic circle on the left side of the road.
Driving on the left and shifting with your left hand is vastly overrated, in terms of difficulty; as a travel writer, I’ve driven in every wrong-side country–and island–in the world, and it’s no big deal.
What _is_ a big deal, and it almost killed a friend of mine at Car and Driver, is the sudden bad situation that makes you react instinctively: he was drivign in Australia, coming over a hill on what he assumed was a deserted back-of-beyond highway, and there was an opposite-direction truck pretty much in the middle of the road. David reacted instinctively and jerked the wheel to the right. The truck driver reacted instinctively and jerked his wheel to the left. the head-on collision was inevitable.
Doesn’t help you with your rental car, though.
Gotta agree with Stephan here. I’ve driven in England (in London, in fact) several times and it’s no big deal. Now, driving a right hand drive car here in the States — that’s pretty odd (see the Cube review)
Funny story — when I was about 8-years-old I was driving around in the back of my friend’s Mom’s Saab 900. She made a left turn and suddenly pulled over and got out of the car. She was very shaken. She explained that she had been in the peace corps in Africa and suddenly had a flashback that she was still there and on the wrong side of the road.
Years later she admitted it was indeed THAT kind of flashback.
Last time I was in the UK I rented the one in the picture. It was even the same colour. It was okay even though it wouldn’t pull the skin off of a rice pudding! Overtaking was a scary proposition especially on the roads between Belfast Airport and the border with the Irish Republic. Have fun, come home safe!
RE: GM-Chrysis debacle,
Gotham’s time has come. Like Constantinople or Rome before it the city has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die. This is the most important function of the League of Shadows. It is one we’ve performed for centuries. Gotham… must be destroyed.
A bit vitriolic, but I think old Ra’s al Ghul was talking about Detroit when he said that. Or not.
Last time I was in Germany, I got pretty lucky and was given a C-class diesel wagon…not a bad ride for 4 adults.
@Justin
No Alfas available?
In the past year and a half I have been lucky enough for two rental car vacations in Europe, both with great drives and nice cars. First one was the Balkans (Croatia, Bosnia/Hercegovina & Montenegro) in a Skoda Fabia…which was really a fun car to drive down those incredible windy coastal roads. Sure, it had a teeny engine, but great handling and a slick-shifting 5 speed that made it fun to flog. The second, more recently, was a diesel Mondeo in Ireland. What a fantastic (and surprisingly big) car that was. Handled beautifully and got nearly 40mpg throughout the trip.
As far as the other side of the road; I have driven in Ireland, New Zealand, and Indonesia. New Zealand was a piece of cake. Ireland was hairy only because of the super narrow roads, a fairly big car, and the stone walls on either side in County Clare. Indonesia, in a Suzuki Samurai, was without a doubt the most suicidal thing I’ve ever attempted.
I’m not sure what car-hire services have, but I don’t imagine it’ll be spectacular.
I rented a Renault Modus in Ireland a couple years ago (funky little car). Driving on the other side isn’t that bad – I just repeated the mantra “easy left, hard right, easy left, hard right” over and over again when I got to an intersection (though there are lots of roundabouts anyway). By the end, the weirdest thing was reaching for the seatbelt on your right.
Maybe a Citroen C2 or something like that … I don’t really have any advice since all my Euro car knowledge comes from Top Gear, but I do look forward to the review.
I requested a MT Peugeot 306 from my travel agent when I was going to Scotland last year. I ended up w/ a MT Nissan Note. It really wasn’t as strange as I expected it to be. Turning onto streets took a moment to decide where I needed to be, but no major issues. I did slam my hand into the door card when I got back in my car at home, though, reaching for the shifter that I expected to be on my left!
You know what would be cool is if you could do a review of one of those funky little taxies they only drive in the UK. I’m not sure what your needs will be but something in the City car class would be an interesting read since we really don’t get any of those skateboards here in the US.
maybe they’ll give you a Ford Cortina. At least it will probably have a clutch.
The only time I drove in England was with a left-hand drive (Simca–rented in France). I had no problem with driving on the other side, but I was young. Also, it seemed like a big novelty,so I got into it.
On my recent trips to Germany, I’ve gotten an Opel Astra wagon and a Citreon 5-door – both were diesel and topped out around 220kph/135mph on the unlimited sections of the Autobahn.. The latter was better appointed, but the former was more fun to drive and had a cool utilitarian navigation unit with no maps or 3D perspectives, just text and turn icons in orange monochrome no less! The sloppy shifter and spongy clutch was the other end of the driving spectrum from my M3, but enjoyable nevertheless and a lot better suited to the medieval urban planning you tend to find in Europe.
Two big revelations from my driving over there: first, the unlimited sections of the Autobahn are broken up by limited sections (near towns and interchanges) and road construction so much that by the time you finally do get up to top speed, it’s usually time to start hauling it back down. Not as much of a problem in P-cars and the like, granted. Second, Germans will damn near use anything to pull a trailer/popup (caravan in Top Gear speak). We saw 5-series, E class, A6s, etc. all towing their luxury sedan hearts out. The one tow car that stuck out over there was a Chevy Silverado, but I figured that it belonged an American stationed over there.
Oh, and there’s not much point in driving in London considering how good the Underground network is.
Years later she admitted it was indeed THAT kind of flashback.
Which kind?
If you have a choice, take some quirky French car, just for the fun of it.
Anything French or Italian … just because you can’t get anything like that in the states.
Small is good also. Narrow roads, difficult parking situations and tight squeezes between the lorries and the stone walls make relatively small cars the vehicle of choice.
I’m jealous! Our trip to Ireland a few months ago was one of the best times in my life. Driving on the other side of the road isn’t hard, but does require a level of concentration similar to what you needed back when you were first driving. I found I had to think about everything, especially during the first trip after just getting off a long trans-atlantic flight and being a bit upside down visa-vis the clock.
I commuted to England for several years before I retired. The first trip, I didn’t sleep on the plane and was dehydrated. I had a native-born Chinese co-pilot and very time he got excited (often) I got an earful of Chinese. That was a real adventure getting from Gatwick to Southampton and then getting lost in Southampton.
After that first trip, I had more problem the first day home than going over there. If there was no traffic, I would try to turn into the oncoming lane, even on a familiar road.
I had absolutely no trouble adapting to a left-hand manual transmission. As to cars, my favorite was the English version of the Accord.
I forsee an Astra Diesel in your future
Four words (well, actually three words and a number): Focus, 1.4 litre, diesel
Just remember to shift before the 4,500 RPM redline…’twas tragi-comic when I forgot to shift early and often while trying to merge onto an autostrada in Italy.
I drive (stick) in Hong Kong (ex-British colony, also left-hand side of the road), and go back to North America (where I drove for over 15 years) quite often. It’s always the first five minutes after I get off the plane and get into that rental (which door is the driver’s door?) that are the trickiest. (“Now do I keep left in this left turn, or ri..?”)
Try a Citroen C5. It’s on a lot of rental fleets, it’s French, but you might find it somewhat surprising.
My last trip to the UK had me in a Renault Megan station wagon that was at least a large as my Corvette with less power. It was comfortable on the M5 (a very multi use cruise control) but interesting on the small country roads, and in places like London and Cambridge with limited parking. Oh, don’t forget the TomTom!
I’m going to vote for a Vauxhall Vectra (Saturn Aura?) Hire car companies love ’em.
The last five hire cars I’ve had here in the UK were: Kia Carens, Honda Accord Tourer, Vauxhall Astra, Ford Focus and a Ford Mondeo.
Enjoy those roundabouts.. ;)
If you’re really unlucky, you’ll get a craptastic Chevy Kaleos, which I beleive is the same as the Aveo in the States. I’ve posted on here before about how abhorrent a little car it was. Even my gf didn’t want to be seen in it, and she doesn’t really care about cars! (she hadn’t even heard of Chevrolet)
However, more likely than not you’ll get a diesel Focus or Astra, they’re the UK rental fleet mainstay. If you get the choice between the Focus and the Focus C-Max, take the latter, it’s a superior drive thanks with a better torque curve / ECU map. Personally I hate the regular Focus turbo lag. It’s easy to stall, and then suddenly you’re braking to avoid being slammed into the car infront. Let me know if you’re coming to Portsmouth! (‘Old’ Hampshire)
Never been to England, but grew up in Germany and now travel back and forth pretty regularly. Yeah, renting a car in Europe is like being a kid in a candy store…I’ve had numerous Mercedes (a diesel A-class/gas A-class/gas C-class/diesel E-class), more Astras than I can count (though the GTS was one sweet ride at 240+ kp/h), two Audi A4 diesels, a Fiat Grande Punto (that struggled to keep up on the Autobahn) and a Volvo V40 diesel. Those early morning stretches of the A8 heading towards Stuttgart with the speed restrictions lifted are pure driving nirvana! Luckily, the Germans tend to be a bit more predictable in their driving habits, so things like merging onto the Autobahn are not stress-inducing events…just put your turn signal on, watch the oncoming traffic move to the left, and merge.
Always wanted to rent something like a 911 for the weekend just because, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
I just turned in a Ford Focus diesel after spending ten days with it in Italy. It’s really an excellent car – a little rumbly at speed (I didn’t push it over 180 kph) and has the standard diesel rattle, but it returned 40 mpg in combined city (bumper to bumper) and high speed autostrada driving. Ride is firmer than an American Focus, and it felt like a very large car here in Italy.
Other than the choice to rent a BMW (nearly twice the cost for a 3-series), I’d certainly recommmend the Focus. All-in for ten days from Hertz was 691 Euros, which seemed reasonable.
I was in Spain earlier in the year. I was there to present a demo seminar on test methods for vehicle dynamics. Good ol’ Hertz stuck me with a (here’s the irony) Chrysler Sebring – which is one of my least favorite cars on the American road today (styled by the geriatric ward of Mayo Clinic). The upshot is it had a diesel and a 6-spd manual gearbox, but the related downside is it took a car with miserable driving dynamics to begin with, and stuffed a heavy motor up front. Understeer galore.
Try as I might to negotiate for anything (anything!) else, the Yank showed up in Detroit metal and lost all credibility at first sight.
My wife and I were given a four door yaris hatchback in Ireland last summer. not much fun, but it did make me appreciate the little guy as having a boat load of space and it was very comfortable. i’m glad the four door hatches are now coming our way.
On my Italian honeymoon in 2006, we rented a car from EuropCar. Got a Peugeot 206 4-door.
The car wasn’t bad, it was all of the Italian drivers who piloted their cars with “reckless abandon” (as it was described in the guidebooks).
That and the fact that my navigator steered us through a “Scooter-only” alley (replete with photo camera cops) that got me a $90 charge a year later on my AMEX card courtesy of EuropCar…
I won’t be renting in Italy again unless it’s in the country and a Ferrari.