One of the bonuses of a week-long Ferrari hire is that you have enough time to go further afield – even over to continental Europe – and in fact if you want your Ferrari hire car delivered to a starting point on the continent, we can arrange that too.
Either way has its own challenges, whether you’re making the switch from driving a Ferrari hire car in the UK to driving on the continent, or you’re a British driver collecting a hire Ferrari abroad to begin with.
Here are a few top tips to help you adapt to overseas driving conditions, which should hopefully help you to feel more confident right from the moment you get behind the wheel of your hired supercar for the week.
1. Drive on the right!
Easily the most obvious culture shock for British drivers is driving on the right, and it’s also easy to completely forget if you’re starting on an empty road, so be careful about your road position!
When you are on the right-hand side of the road, remember that a Ferrari built for British roads will have a different driver position, so you may need to steer even further over to the right to position the car centrally within the lane.
2. Overtake carefully
On motorways and other multi-lane carriageways, you’re likely to want to overtake slower traffic – you are driving a Ferrari, after all – so remember that when driving on the right, you overtake to the left.
There are other places where this mirror-image principle complicates matters, from driving anti-clockwise around roundabouts, to remembering that a left-turn at a junction takes you across oncoming traffic, while a right turn is the simpler manoeuvre, so try to spot in advance when an upcoming turn or junction will be different than you’re used to.
3. Legal minimum equipment
Depending on where you are planning to drive to, there may be different national-level laws about the kind of safety equipment you must have in the vehicle.
It’s crucial to pack this – whether it’s high-visibility vests for all passengers, a reflective warning triangle, or even just making sure you have your full driving licence and passport in the car with you – as if you get pulled over with something missing, it could be the end of your journey.
4. Speed limits
One of the big reasons to head to Europe in a hired supercar is to take a trip on the Autobahn, famous for having no speed limits – except for the fact that in many places, it does have a limit.
If you want to push your Ferrari hire car to the max, make sure you’re on the right stretch of road, that you’re confident enough driving on European roads to really open it up, and that you drive safely for the level of traffic at the time.
5. Get from A to B
Plan your route in advance and leave some spare time in case of heavy traffic or unscheduled stops – don’t assume you’ll be driving at 200 kph the whole way!
While you’re focusing on following all the rules of the road in each country you pass through, keep one eye on your progress towards your Ferrari’s final destination for pickup, and you can avoid any costly excess charges for going over your planned mileage or hire time.
