Rental of MPV and driving in Hokkaido during winter

[Atrecord]

12 hours ago, Wildfaye29 said:

i see these pics i very confirm ur 7pax n 7 lugguage cannot fit

pls get a 9 pax van

Yup, just reserved one, i hope, successfully.

better play safe in case really can't fit into MPV...

[Atrecord]

11 hours ago, Tohto said:

 

 

 

 

Check on this thread. I also post some winter driving advice here. 

Hey, thanks for this link. I tried searching before starting this thread, but didn't come across this. Very useful and informative!

[Atrecord]

10 hours ago, louisbosco said:

 

1) if you look at the first photo, you will see the overhang from the street lights etc. it's a little triangle or a red and white arrow, tells you where the road is and what side you're on. since all white, will be hard to tell if you're driving on the correct side so you won't be too close to center line or drift off. think if you google snow markers or markings you can see more for hokkaido.

2) driving at night is normal. although, no different to other winter countries like UK, australia, germany, usa etc. people tend to stay in during winter nights because of the cold. i will say it's absolutely normal. to me, it didn't feel any different to driving elsewhere regardless of season.

my advice if you're not confident, maybe drive around the block to see if you're okay before you venture further. sapporo itself is a grid-like city so it's easy to navigate. driving in the city and highways are okay. it's when you travel to the outskirts with small roads near skiing towns that it starts to get challenging. my night photo was taken on the way back to sapporo from hanazono. went full day trip snowboarding and drove back. left about 10/11plus and got back around midnight/1am

Great - thanks!

Will lookout for the overhang markers.

Guess we'll try to avoid driving at night if we could - one step at a time 😊

[Jusnel]

28 minutes ago, Atrecord said:

Great - thanks!

Will lookout for the overhang markers.

Guess we'll try to avoid driving at night if we could - one step at a time 😊

besides the icy road surface, do learn to be confident in driving in heavy mist.

The mist or fog can appear out of nowhere and u practically cannot see anything in front.  You can't see the road, the car in front, nothing.  This is where your confidence and alertness come in. 

[Atrecord]

1 hour ago, Jusnel said:

besides the icy road surface, do learn to be confident in driving in heavy mist.

The mist or fog can appear out of nowhere and u practically cannot see anything in front.  You can't see the road, the car in front, nothing.  This is where your confidence and alertness come in. 

wah thanks!

How best to react under such circumstances leh?

[inlinesix]

21 hours ago, Atrecord said:

Wah lao... reminded me of an army mate, who went Ex Crescendo 3 wk, then came back SG told us he didn't bathe during the Ex as it was too cold

I skip body shampoo on alternate days.  Otherwise, the skin very dry.

[Hotnyh]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5svs95XlWg

Actually there's a few videos to watch and learn... personally I would feel quite nervous in such bad snow. I've hit black ice in Ireland and the USA... car just slides without warning. Luckily did not hit anything.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Hotnyh

[Hubwee]

On 11/19/2019 at 10:35 PM, Atrecord said:

ha ha ha... i'm starting to think we might do something similar... 😂

But these looks like they are all 20" luggages, while we have mostly 24" and 28" ones...😓

erm ... This is freaking dangerous ... Why risk the life of your family members by storing luggages this way ? If got backend by another vehicle , those luggages will be rockets upon impact and someone may get hurt seriously ... No matter how you secure it , things may fly upon impact . Yes you can drive very carefully but no way you can stop or prevent anyone from back ending your car ... 

[Atrecord]

4 hours ago, Hotnyh said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5svs95XlWg

Actually there's a few videos to watch and learn... personally I would feel quite nervous in such bad snow. I've hit black ice in Ireland and the USA... car just slides without warning. Luckily did not hit anything.

Looks like an old video.

But very informative and useful - thanks!

[Atrecord]

3 hours ago, Hubwee said:

erm ... This is freaking dangerous ... Why risk the life of your family members by storing luggages this way ? If got backend by another vehicle , those luggages will be rockets upon impact and someone may get hurt seriously ... No matter how you secure it , things may fly upon impact . Yes you can drive very carefully but no way you can stop or prevent anyone from back ending your car ... 

Yup, not too safe to do that.

Already not fully confidence can squeeze in all the luggages to begin with. And you're right in the real danger of any rear-ending...

Had just reserved a 9-seater van instead...

[louisbosco]

On 11/22/2019 at 8:07 AM, Atrecord said:

Great - thanks!

Will lookout for the overhang markers.

Guess we'll try to avoid driving at night if we could - one step at a time 😊

to be fair, there's not much to do at night. i don't think you'll find the chance to drive at night unless you force yourself to. in my case, to go back to the hotel in sapporo from the ski slopes after a night session. if you find yourself driving around the city at night, that is absolutely fine because they're well lit. also remember night can be as early as 3pm onwards..

 

everyone seems to think MPV have lots of space. they were designed to move people first and luggage second. 7 seaters were never designed to store luggages unless you have an escalade. those will fit 7 and your family of luggages.. 

[Heartlander]

12 hours ago, Atrecord said:

Yup, not too safe to do that.

Already not fully confidence can squeeze in all the luggages to begin with. And you're right in the real danger of any rear-ending...

Had just reserved a 9-seater van instead...

Can consider drop by a 100yen shop early in the trip to buy some cushions to make the ride more comfortable. Please post some pictures if you willing to share haha, inspiration for us who have to travel in big groups.

[Tohto]

On icy road, make sure brake very early and light braking. 

On mountain icy road down slope,  make sure use a lot of engine braking. Switch to manual gear or paddle shift for engine braking. 

Take not if curb marker arrow above. You will not able to see road curb most of the time. At night it will be blinking. 

Photo taken from my trip last Dec.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Tohto

[Atrecord]

13 hours ago, louisbosco said:

to be fair, there's not much to do at night. i don't think you'll find the chance to drive at night unless you force yourself to. in my case, to go back to the hotel in sapporo from the ski slopes after a night session. if you find yourself driving around the city at night, that is absolutely fine because they're well lit. also remember night can be as early as 3pm onwards..

 

everyone seems to think MPV have lots of space. they were designed to move people first and luggage second. 7 seaters were never designed to store luggages unless you have an escalade. those will fit 7 and your family of luggages.. 

OK tks... all these very informative.

wah lao... 3 pm = night 😓

we better change our routine... on weekends, we usually have lunch at 2.30 pm... will feel like dinner liao 😆

is there anything much to do at night, even in the cities/towns?

You're right about MPVs. i knew long ago when bringing kids and parents to Genting in a Wish, that there's almost no luggage space. Had to make 3rd row quite upright to squeeze luggage behind, and it was v uncomfortable for wife...

Even for the full-sized MPVs now, they tend to prioritise passengers instead of luggage. In fact, when i went BM to check out Alphard, the SE said Alphard is more executive and it's mostly used to impressed business associates. He recommended that if it's more for family use, Previa is better - got more luggage space.

Having said that, i'd rented Hyundai iMax twice in Aust, and went to Komoco to test drive Starex. The luggage space is huge and beats Alphard/Elgrand hands-down anytime. It's a van and looks like one, but if it's available in Japan - which it's not - it would have been ideal for our case. sigh...

[Atrecord]

11 hours ago, Heartlander said:

Can consider drop by a 100yen shop early in the trip to buy some cushions to make the ride more comfortable. Please post some pictures if you willing to share haha, inspiration for us who have to travel in big groups.

ha ha good idea... will suggest that.

No problem about pics. Good to share and for all to know... just that I might be too busy to do so during the trip... and hopefully not too lazy to do so after that...

My photos from last few years' trips also never really sorted out 😅

[Atrecord]

42 minutes ago, Tohto said:

On icy road, make sure brake very early and light braking. 

On mountain icy road down slope,  make sure use a lot of engine braking. Switch to manual gear or paddle shift for engine braking. 

Take not if curb marker arrow above. You will not able to see road curb most of the time. At night it will be blinking. 

Photo taken from my trip last Dec.

Great - thanks! Very helpful to know this.

is the edge of the road at the pole, or the position of the road kerb marker you mentioned huh?

[Tohto]

35 minutes ago, Atrecord said:

Great - thanks! Very helpful to know this.

is the edge of the road at the pole, or the position of the road kerb marker you mentioned huh?

Yes, the road side curb is at the arrow position. You can't see it if cover by snow.

 

Since you need a big MPV, which hardly has any AWD model. Which help on the grip.

That's why there are a lot of Subaru in Hokkaido. 

I was planning to rent a Forester but saw a GLA250 which is also AWD at same price.  But was actually too small.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Tohto

[Atrecord]

39 minutes ago, Tohto said:

Yes, the road side curb is at the arrow position. You can't see it if cover by snow.

 

Since you need a big MPV, which hardly has any AWD model. Which help on the grip.

That's why there are a lot of Subaru in Hokkaido. 

I was planning to rent a Forester but saw a GLA250 which is also AWD at same price.  But was actually too small.

Not sure until we get there and see it, but when booking the vehicle, even van also can choose AWD... dunno real or not...

ok tks, will take note that the arrow denotes the kerb position.