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Re: Renting a Car in Europe.

> [email protected] (Barry Wellman) writes:
> 
>    But one warning to North Americans who haven't done much spirited Euro
>    driving holds. Roads are narrower in countryside & streets & they
>    twist more. Therefore, small & nimble is an advantage over a freeway
>    cruiser. IMHO, even a "5'er" is too big off-freeway.

Actually you don't even have to get off the Autobahn to experience
these narrow roads. In Germany you will run into construction zones,
where they route all the trafic onto one side of the Autobahn.
Typically its four lanes that are marked "2.2 meters wide"(this is
roughly 73" and a 325i is 67" wide). This can go on for 10s of miles,
specially in the eastern part of the country.

They do impose a 80kmph(50mph) speed limit in these zones and most
people drive between 70kmph(~45mph) and 90kmph(~55mph).  It can be
pretty scary passing large trucks in these lanes, specially when you
have head on traffic only inches away.

I rented a Nissan Primiera(sp?) through Hertz for $13/day (they have
smaller cars that rent for $10/day) and drove it over 5000km, last
October. I went all the way upto 225kmph(indicated).  It went upto 210
without a problem but needed long stretches to go any faster.

It did feel a little underpowered on the single lane mountain passes in
Norway but the cars passing me were not high powered ones but small
easily manuverable Opels, Fords and VW's. In addition I did not feel
comfortable driving a rental car at the limit because a small mistake
could have easily landed me a few thousand feet down a ravine.

Hope you have a great trip.

GP

PS: The Hertz rates apply only when you rent from the US, they are
about 3 to 5 times more expensive if you rent in europe. They did rent
BMW Compacts(316) for $400 a week but I could not justify it because
they were renting it as a large car. Might have something to do with
the fact that BMWs are popular cars in the US, they did not apply the
standard US discount for these cars.

> 
> - -John
> (93 318i)
>