Hokkaido road trip

[Bucky]

I'm looking at making a short road trip in Hokkaido next month. I will fly into Asahikawa, rent a car and drive to the Okhotsk coast. Just wondering if anyone has rented cars in Hokkaido and could share their experience?

[Coligny]

Rented a Honda hinsight straight from new shitose AP...
Fuel economy... ok... drivetrain management software... pure abomination... most of the time was trying to charge the batteries while climbing and give electric power boost while going down (thinking i wanted to go fast or something) Litterally no torque whatsoever when backing up, so if you have to climb a sidewalk for reaching your parking spot you're totally screwed. Visibility, a bit better than a coffin, aircon... yea... there was a button for that... i think... but not sure it was connected to something. Satnav, better than a scribble on a napkin, but not by much... No fog lights and on the mountain roads around Noboribetsu that would have been usefull...
Handling... what would I know... my daily driver is a fucking nissan Note your average supermarket shopping trolley have a more carefully tuned chassis...

Total experience, switched my view on the insight from "why not" to "no fucking way"

[wagyl]

No different to the experience of renting a car anywhere else in Japan. The locals all speed but that didn't stop me from getting a speeding ticket for going slower-than-a-local-but-still-over-the-limit.

[Coligny]

I don't remember the local being much speed freaks. Much nicer driving than Aichi, but shittons of rather old trucks and semis, all having the 3 speed whistleblower green lights on top of the cab. (which is no longer required and not put on new trucks since a bit more than 10 years now.)

[legion]

Once you are out of the cities there are no traffic lights.

In the summer lots of people on motorbikes from Tokyo go up there to crash.

[Coligny]

True, lots of donuts rubber marks on the mountain parking stops.
Also... incredibly dull long stretch of road in the forrest, flat... with a speed limit of 50kph, hard not to fall asleep...


th3 fog...

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[Big Booger]

Make sure to pick up a plate of chanchanyaki!!! Oh yeah baby