There is nothing better then visiting all the different epic places Japan has to offer in a car that you love or lust over. It doesn't matter if its simply to hang out at Daikoku PA, which was the reason I rented my first car in Japan or if to take an breathtaking drive around Mt. Fuji. Doing it in something other then a normal rental is highly recommended.
The entire car rental process in Japan is relatively easy and at a rental car company like the one I used on this trip that has more interaction with a consistent flow of foreigners it made things even simpler.
Omoshiro, is the rental car company I used this time around for a specific reason. They have most all of the most popular and epic cars you've wanted to drive. As you can see from the cars in their yard they had everything to pick from, whether you're looking for a Miata or a Skyline they have it.
With a spreadsheet of cars, costs and a credit card burning a hole in my pocket I decided that I would rent two different cars over the five days I would need a car on my trip. Now which cars to pick.
So being a Honda guy I knew one of my cars was going to be a Honda but which one. They had the older Honda's like the EK9 and DC5 up through the FK8, S660 and NSX. For this trip I decided to go old school with the EK9 which was heavily modded.
The EK9 I rented had all the mods you would do to a weekend track car and didn't disappoint. I drove the EK9 more then 500km in the two days I had it and enjoyed every bump, squeak and time I heard vtec kick in.
For my second car I knew I wanted something with a turbo and with a huge list of cars to pick from my first choice was the EVO VI but unfortunately it was already reserved so I went for the Nissan S15 this time around.
The S15 was the a SpecR model and was all stock except for the exhaust. The Silvia was polar opposite from the EK9. It was quite and civil, built boost well and was really fun to drive. Over the remaining time I had with this rental car I drove it all over Tokyo, doing day trips out to Yokohama, Hakone and all the way around Mt. Fuji.
With both my rentals I made it a point to stop at the Daikoku Futo PA. It was really great to be able to pull up and even park with all the other cars that were there. Parking with the Type-R Integra's and Civic's one night and a couple Silvia's when I was in the S15.
Now one thing most people don't talk about when going to all these epic or picturesque locations is the extra costs involved. That cost comes from all the tolls and gas you're going to burn through driving but don't get me wrong it's completely worth it.
My total cost in gas was just under $200 and for the amount of mileage I put on the two cars it really wasn't that bad. Now for tolls, it was about $20 each night I headed to the PA to hang out and I really didn't bother trying to track my total cost in tolls.
I did get lucky with my overnight parking, I was able to find street parking outside of my hotel each night for no cost. Otherwise make sure and research where you're going to park your car for the night.
Now if you have the option to get a ETC car and simply debit all the tolls from your card it is so much easier. The one thing you'll miss out on though is you'll lose the opportunity to rip through a couple gears as you leave the toll booth.
On this trip I was able to drive around Mt. Fuji and get to some of the harder to reach location like the Hakone Toll Road, Nissan Heritage Museum and even UpGarage.
For my trip I was able to use google maps saving all my points of interest beforehand. This was extremely useful when I needed to get back on track after driving around the touge roads in the Hakone area.
Omoshiro rentals cars were 100% worth it. From the overall cost to the ease of the rental process it really was a perfect experience. Check out my vids on both my rentals for a more detailed view of each of my rentals.
Everything Else. Enjoy!!
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