Muscle car V8 rental in San Francisco
Discussion
I have looked at both Hertz & Alamo, it appears they are unable to guarantee a V8 on booking, although the cars are on there website. The main point of our trip the the US is to sample a proper V8 muscle car and not a lesser V6.
Are there any othe rental companies in the SF area worth contacting?
Are there any othe rental companies in the SF area worth contacting?
To guarentee a V8 you will need to look at the Hertz Adrenalin Collection... https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/vehicleguide/index....
Be careful who you rent with. Do Not use Fox Rental Cars...
I was in a Dodge Charger over the weekend in Texas. Really horrible. It might be ok if you are very, very short and are happy with a 'basic' car.
Rented a Ford Mustang in SF. They only had a V6 but it was a convertable and gave me an idea of how they are. It was very similar to the Dodge. The engine was ok but could have done with more power. The car looked good but everything felt cheap, more like a Ford Fiesta. The ergonomics were horrible. It was like they couldn't be bothered to test anything for actual driving.
Parking in SF can be a pain, and watch your speed. It is worth using Waze App on your phone. If you do get pulled over, wind down the window, have your insurance documents and license ready. Then be polite and use a British accent...
I was in a Dodge Charger over the weekend in Texas. Really horrible. It might be ok if you are very, very short and are happy with a 'basic' car.
Rented a Ford Mustang in SF. They only had a V6 but it was a convertable and gave me an idea of how they are. It was very similar to the Dodge. The engine was ok but could have done with more power. The car looked good but everything felt cheap, more like a Ford Fiesta. The ergonomics were horrible. It was like they couldn't be bothered to test anything for actual driving.
Parking in SF can be a pain, and watch your speed. It is worth using Waze App on your phone. If you do get pulled over, wind down the window, have your insurance documents and license ready. Then be polite and use a British accent...
After 4 days of sightseeing in San Francisco, we returned to the airport to pick our rental. With only a short wait at the Gold club desk, our pre booked Challenger R/T 5.7 Hemi was all ready to go.
I heard some of there high end motors had higher miles on them, but this one still had that new smell with just over 7k on the clock.
Well, what can I say. It ticked all the boxes for me for that genuine V8 experience, a big car, big sound, big boot(trunk) and big on comfort. If your looking for a sports car, best look elsewhere, but quick enough when required. It's a shame Dodge don't do a RHD version for us in the U.K. I'd have one for sure.
I was also surprised at fuel consumption, cruising on the highway at 65-70, 32 mpg registered on the readout, once onto the country roads it dropped back to 23-24 which is still great for what it is, even pushing it I never saw less than 20.
I'm glad I picked the Dodge instead of the Mustang or Camaro convertible versions of both were everywhere and most of them being the ecoboost or V6 models.
For that muscle car experience, the Challenger was spot on.
I heard some of there high end motors had higher miles on them, but this one still had that new smell with just over 7k on the clock.
Well, what can I say. It ticked all the boxes for me for that genuine V8 experience, a big car, big sound, big boot(trunk) and big on comfort. If your looking for a sports car, best look elsewhere, but quick enough when required. It's a shame Dodge don't do a RHD version for us in the U.K. I'd have one for sure.
I was also surprised at fuel consumption, cruising on the highway at 65-70, 32 mpg registered on the readout, once onto the country roads it dropped back to 23-24 which is still great for what it is, even pushing it I never saw less than 20.
I'm glad I picked the Dodge instead of the Mustang or Camaro convertible versions of both were everywhere and most of them being the ecoboost or V6 models.
For that muscle car experience, the Challenger was spot on.
ian2144 said:
I was also surprised at fuel consumption, cruising on the highway at 65-70, 32 mpg registered on the readout, once onto the country roads it dropped back to 23-24 which is still great for what it is, even pushing it I never saw less than 20.
I'm glad I picked the Dodge instead of the Mustang or Camaro convertible versions of both were everywhere and most of them being the ecoboost or V6 models.
For that muscle car experience, the Challenger was spot on.
Those would be miles per US gallon which I believe are 1.2 US gallons to the UK Imperial gallon, so the mpg would be a bit less in UK terms.I'm glad I picked the Dodge instead of the Mustang or Camaro convertible versions of both were everywhere and most of them being the ecoboost or V6 models.
For that muscle car experience, the Challenger was spot on.
geeman237 said:
ian2144 said:
I was also surprised at fuel consumption, cruising on the highway at 65-70, 32 mpg registered on the readout, once onto the country roads it dropped back to 23-24 which is still great for what it is, even pushing it I never saw less than 20.
I'm glad I picked the Dodge instead of the Mustang or Camaro convertible versions of both were everywhere and most of them being the ecoboost or V6 models.
For that muscle car experience, the Challenger was spot on.
Those would be miles per US gallon which I believe are 1.2 US gallons to the UK Imperial gallon, so the mpg would be a bit less in UK terms.I'm glad I picked the Dodge instead of the Mustang or Camaro convertible versions of both were everywhere and most of them being the ecoboost or V6 models.
For that muscle car experience, the Challenger was spot on.
Polarbert said:
I recently had the opportunity to rent using hertz gold, and I booked a guaranteed V8 Mustang - I booked the exact model and everything. Turned up and they didn't have any. Ended up with an SLC250 instead which was nice but not at all what I wanted. Complete let down.
Sorry to hear of your misfortune regarding Hertz. Our Challenger was booked almost 6 months in advance, not sure if getting in early makes any difference. We were offered the Mustang Shelby Cobra, but at an extra $100 a day I declined.
As mentioned Mustang & Camaro convertibles are everywhere in California, in the 1800 miles we covered, only 7 Challengers spotted in that time. I did think of booking a Mustang as I'm planning on purchasing one in the near future, but the US spec is much softer from what I hear, so plumped for the Challenger as I'm unlikely ever to drive one in the U.K.
ian2144 said:
Polarbert said:
I recently had the opportunity to rent using hertz gold, and I booked a guaranteed V8 Mustang - I booked the exact model and everything. Turned up and they didn't have any. Ended up with an SLC250 instead which was nice but not at all what I wanted. Complete let down.
Sorry to hear of your misfortune regarding Hertz. Our Challenger was booked almost 6 months in advance, not sure if getting in early makes any difference. We were offered the Mustang Shelby Cobra, but at an extra $100 a day I declined.
As mentioned Mustang & Camaro convertibles are everywhere in California, in the 1800 miles we covered, only 7 Challengers spotted in that time. I did think of booking a Mustang as I'm planning on purchasing one in the near future, but the US spec is much softer from what I hear, so plumped for the Challenger as I'm unlikely ever to drive one in the U.K.
What was funny was that they seem to classify that Shelby Mustang as a higher category as the regular V8 Mustang, even though besides the exhaust and paint they are pretty much identical performance wise.
I got some vouchers and a big discount from my original rental. I just wanted a V8! Out of luck.
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