Any advice for UK trip?

by "My hovercraft is full of eels" (my-hovercraft-is-full-of-eels)
Published 06/12/2017 at 10:40

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Exactly a month from now, I’ll be travelling to the UK with a mate (RIAT + Mach Loop trip). He refused to drive due to his lack of experience (a fair point), so I’ll be at the wheel of our rental. And the wheel is, of course, on the “wrong” side.
We reserved the smallest possible car (Toyota Aygo or similar).

Fortunately, we’ll drive mainly on motorways and smaller country roads, avoiding major cities. We might visit Nottingham on the last day of the trip, but I guess I’ll get the hang of it by then.

So... apart from the tips available on the internet, does anyone have any particular piece of advice?

Replies (6)

"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll)
06/12/2017 at 10:58, STARS: 2

I went to the UK in a lhd car, so on the ferry I taped a sheet of a4 paper with “keep left!” and a huge arrow to the dash. Looked dumb but helped. When I drove rhd cars it felt instantly more natural. I’m right handed so shifting with my left hand felt weird, though.

"Svend" (svend)
06/12/2017 at 11:01, STARS: 0

Is there just the two of you?

I think something a little larger would be better.

The Toyota Aygo is a very small car and you’ll feel it in cross winds on the motorway, lack of driving comfort and small engine which won’t give much confidence for overtaking a, on a motorway and b, in a country where driving on a different side would already be quite taxing.

Economy (Vauxhall Corsa, Ford Fiesta) would be better for space and also long distance driving comfort not to mention the overall footprint won’t be too much larger.

Driving country roads are okay but stick with A roads where possible, some narrow B roads where the hedgerows come close to the road will cause your buttocks to clench every time you see an oncoming car.

If your not too familiar with roundabouts, get reading and watching some Youtube videos, you’ll be using them a lot.

"TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut" (twincharged)
06/12/2017 at 11:28, STARS: 1

I would strongly suggest you change your reservation to something larger with a bigger engine. The Aygo is a great car for the city but it will feel strained on the motorway and will get buffeted around by crosswinds. It doesn’t really have enough power to get oneself out of trouble either. Upgrading to something like a Ford Fiesta, Mazda 2 or Vauxhall Corsa would probably be a better bet. If you know you’re gonna be doing a lot of motorways, a diesel might be a good idea too. Like Svend said, our small country lanes are also very narrow. Stick to the hedgerows and be prepared for oncoming cars around blind corners.

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/12/2017 at 11:32, STARS: 0

Pack your own toothbrush and toothpaste.

"ZHP Sparky, the 5th" (e30s2k)
06/12/2017 at 13:02, STARS: 0

Agreed with others on car size. Recently went to Ireland and rented through AutoEurope (whom we use for most of our European travels)…rental was crazy cheap and cost difference between the smallest category and a few up were very minimal.

The main reason I wanted something even slightly larger was baggage capacity. I wanted to be able to put our suitcases in the trunk and out of sight while wandering around and parking in unknown places. Sure a lot of Europe is very safe, but why risk tempting someone by having suitcases just sitting in a back seat? My wife and I shared 1 big suitcase and 1 carry-on sized roller bag…between those we managed to keep everything in the hatch under the cover with nothing but maybe a grocery bag sitting on the back seat.

Also engine capacity matters. We ended up with a Ford Fiesta…which was fun as far as handling goes, but even that thing was utterly gutless and required having the foot planted the entire time (which was fun sometimes, but also its nice to be able to just get up and go when you’re trying to get places).

I grew up in Asia so am used to driving on both sides for the most part. Biggest thing to get used to is having shifter on the left side obviously, and the signal stalks. When I visit home I’d always turn the wipers on instead of the blinkers for example. But at least in Ireland (not Japanese market basically) the stalks were on the same side as US cars which was helpful.

And finally, if you’re not from a place that has lots of roundabouts you’d better get used to it! Personally I prefer them outside of huge intersections where it could take forever to find breaks in traffic.

"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
06/13/2017 at 06:02, STARS: 0

keep left

keep left

keep left

avoid Nottingham (it’s a shithole)