What to Pay Attention to When Choosing a Car: How do you choose the best car for your vacation or holiday in the United States of America? On the one hand, the best car is the one you have, and the question of ‘how to choose’ is absolutely irrelevant here. But on the other hand, there’s always freedom of choice.
Whether you need a vehicle in New York, Miami, Portland, Austin, or any other US location, you can use a rental car. At Rental24H.com you will find a large list of cars for young and experienced travellers, as well as for any taste. If you don’t know which type of car to choose, we will tell you about the most important qualities that a long journey may require from a car. This will allow you to make the right decision and, as a result, have a comfortable and affordable road trip to the USA.
Interior and trunk size
This means not only the absolute capacity of the cabin and trunk but also the geometry of the interior space. That is, the seats should be comfortable and with the ability to adjust the head restraints. If there are three passengers in the back seat, then it must be configured for three people – otherwise, it will be uncomfortable for an adult to sit in the middle. In case a child is travelling with you, keep in mind that a child seat often takes up much more space than one passenger. Therefore, it’s worth planning in advance who will go with you and, accordingly, choose the size of the car.
As for the luggage compartment, it must accommodate all belongings. You should not count on taking some of the luggage into the cabin. Any large object in the cabin is a safety hazard in the event of a sharp manoeuvre or an accident.
In short, from the point of view of space, a minivan or a crossover is the most convenient vehicle type for families with kids. Due to the high and straight seating position in such a car, it’s comfortable to communicate, admire the surroundings, share impressions and necessary items.
Alternatively, one or two people will be quite comfortable in a standard sedan – with its quiet, cosy interior and soft low seats.
Vehicle suspension
Choose a car depending on the road surface on which you are going to travel most of the time. For city and highway driving, a regular compact or standard car is suitable. However, if your route includes mountain, country roads, then it makes sense to rent a car with a stronger and stiffer suspension.
This is why most of the travellers choose SUVs. All-wheel drive is not necessary for them, but the energy-intensive suspension and large wheels with massive tires are what you need.
Of course, not only most SUVs have a suitable suspension – it’s objectively strong even in large minivans. If you have to go on a long journey by a passenger car, you need it to have at least high-profile tires – the rim diameter should be as small as possible. This will prevent damage to the discs.
Engine dynamics
Dynamic qualities are what a car needs to a lesser extent for long journeys. Firstly, the increased engine size increases fuel consumption, and secondly, it’s simply unsafe to drive fast on many roads. So a high top speed is not something to look for in your rental car.
However, on narrow roads with one lane in each travel direction, excellent acceleration is a useful characteristic of a vehicle. This is important when overtaking: the faster you can accelerate and get out of the oncoming lane, the safer your manoeuvre will be. At the same time, keep in mind that if the car often travels with a full load, then it’s advisable to choose a more powerful engine since a small power unit will show its problems in such conditions.
Travel budget
On a long journey, a rental car usually shows all its financial appetites: it consumes a lot of fuel and causes additional wastes when paying for insurance and driving on toll roads. Not for everyone, but for many of us, even an extra litre of fuel per hundred kilometres is already a significant overpayment.
When calculating a possible fuel travel budget, keep in mind that official passport data are often quoted for ideal conditions: low load, low speed and other light conditions. In reality, a modest economy motor can turn out to be a real glutton if you load the cabin with a trunk and make the cargo on the highway at a speed of about 110 – 130 km/h. We mean that for a large company it’s sometimes wiser to choose a more powerful car.
