swissquilter

As posted earlier we are traveling from the GC into Utah, taking the scenic roads up to Blanding, Moab, visiting Arches, tour in Canyonlands, onto Bryce, Zion and ending in Vegas. I know this sounds corny but is this steep climbing and descending mountain road driving requiring a powerful engine car? We`re not doing any off-road driving so don`t want to spend the money for a 4WD. The rental car sites list their cars but not how powerful they are. Will an economy or compact, automatic, do the trick? Could really use some advice here!!!!!

quimbymoy

no problem, i usually rent nothing less than a compact for 2 people (or intermediate for 3 or 4), when i go out west. when climbing and descending, i will shift down to D3 or D2 depending on steepness and that usually gets me the extra "boost" that we need.

have fun!

halbo49

I always get a premium car with Hertz,and end up with a mercury with a powerfull V8

nytraveler

How many people are going and how much luggage are you taking? The car rental companies typically buy the cheapest model of each car (with the smallest engine) and if you are 4 adults with a lot of luggage a compact with a small engine might be a little sluggish on the uphills.

brookwood

There is not really that much steep climbing in the area you describe. Definitely there is nothing like a Colorado mountain pass that calls for sustained climbing for 3 to 4 thousand vertical feet with an ascent in the 9% to 11% range. I have driven that territory in a Toyota Corolla and a Chevvy Impala. The Impala had the smaller V6 so it was no powerhouse.

I think a major factor is how heavily you load up a small car.

I will admit, however, that having a V6 Camry one year was a decided plus, particularly because we ascended from Phoenix to Flagstaff which is about a 6,000 foot vertical climb in all.

gail

We did a one-way rental Las Vegas to San Diego via all the places you mention. First were given a van with a faulty transmission - glad we turned that it before the mountains.

Then got a regular mid-sized car- dn't remember brand but it was a Ford-Taurus-type vehicle. (2 adults, 2 teenagers plus too much luggage) which had to meet California emissions standards and therefore might have had a little less power.

No problems at all with engine power. We went in August and signs at rental place indicated that in severe heat of summer and temps over 100 (which it was often) the A/C might seem under-powered. Even with that warning, A/c was always adequate and even with a/c running full blast, no power problems with car.

swissquilter

Thanks for the tips! We are 2 adults and our 13 year old nephew. I`m sure we`ll each have a medium suitcase and some kind of carryon. Now that I think about it this will be the first road trip with 3 so am concerned about finding a car with a trunk for all the suitcases!!!!! Do we need to go to a midsize to get a big enough trunk? There will be times when the luggage will be with us when we stop to sightsee so don`t want anything in the backseat - oh my gosh just another problem I had not considered! Help!

rbs360

We rented a small SUV (Montero) this past June to travel thru CO & UT. It turned out, by getting e-mail specials, that it was about as much as a midsize car. Our boys are 17 & 14 yrs old, & we were gone 11 days.
While you might not need the 4wd, it's nice to have for some rds, particularly Schaffer Trail & Moki Dugway, which I would strongly suggest visiting. We had also taken a 4wd road outside Ouray (Corkscrew Trail) to ANimas Forks, and DEFINETLY needed the 4wd ( a jeep would have been even better!)