The F roads in Iceland are known for their difficult, wintery and sometimes dangerous driving conditions. Here are our best rental cars for driving on Iceland’s F roads.
Driving the mountainous, gravelly F roads in Iceland takes you off the beaten track and allows you to access the desolate highlands. These roads are notoriously challenging to drive and require your full concentration in order to navigate them safely. Not all cars are suitable for the rough terrain and driving conditions you will experience on them, so here are our recommendations for the best rental cars for driving the F roads in Iceland.
When is the best time to drive the F roads?
Due to the severity of the winter conditions and the impact that they have on road safety, the F roads are closed for the majority of the year. You are most likely to find them open between June and Mid-September.
Conditions change quickly, so if the F roads are open on your arrival and you want to explore them, make sure you take advantage of the opportunity whilst you can. You may wake up the following day and find them closed.
What rental cars can be used on the F roads in Iceland?
The Dacia Duster and the Suzuki Jimny are both suitable for driving on the F roads in Iceland along with the Suzuki Vitara, Toyota Rav, Subaru Forester and Land Rover Discovery Sport, all of which are SUVs. We have both manual and automatic options available in this category.
We also have a range of larger SUVs including the Land Rover Discovery and Toyota Land Cruiser that can be driven on the F roads. Both of these vehicles are automatic transmissions.
Although the minimum age to hire a car in Iceland is 20, you must be a minimum of 23 years of age in order to rent an SUV. There will also be a fee to pay if you are under the age of 25 years of age (regardless of the car you decide to hire).
If you are travelling in a larger group of between 9 and 17 people and will require a minivan to explore the island, we can offer both a VW Caravelle (9 seats) and a Mercedes Benz Sprinter (15 seats). Both of these vehicles are automatic transmissions.
Many people automatically presume that they can use any 4-wheel drive vehicle on the F roads, however, this is not always the case. For example, our Mercedes Benz Vito is a 4WD but is not allowed on the F-roads. For this reason, it is always best to check with your car rental company in Iceland before you drive a car up to the highlands.
Failure to use a suitable vehicle on the F roads can be highly dangerous, as well as expensive should you cause any damage to the vehicle.
In order to make the selection easier, you’ll notice that our website clearly states which of our rental cars are suitable for F roads. It is important to think about the journeys you want to take before you make a decision on which car you would like to hire. If you have any further questions about our vehicles or driving on the F roads, please email us on info@sadcars.com