Guide
Supercar, grand tourer or prestige SUV — which should you hire?
Updated 7 min read Performance & Prestige
Book a supercar if the car is the event and there are two of you. Book a grand tourer if the drive is the event and there is luggage. Book a prestige SUV if other people, a dress, a golf bag or a British B-road are involved. Book a convertible if the weather and the photographs matter more than the pace. Seats, boot and mileage allowance decide it more often than the badge does.
What are the differences that actually matter?
Not the ones the brochures lead on. Across a real hire, four things decide whether the car was the right choice: how many people get in it, what goes in the boot, how many miles are included, and how much of the deposit and excess you are carrying.
| Supercar | Grand tourer | Prestige SUV | Convertible | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Two, usually | Four, often 2+2 | Five, sometimes seven | Two or four |
| Luggage | A soft bag | A weekend, properly | Anything | Less with the roof down |
| Included mileage | The tightest in the catalogue | Middling | The most generous | Middling |
| Deposit and excess | The highest | Middling | The lowest | Middling |
| Minimum driver age | 28 and above, mostly 30 | Mixed | From 25 | Mixed |
| In our own fleet | None — all partner-sourced | None — all partner-sourced | Most of what we own | One, the Audi R8 Spyder |
That last row is worth reading twice, because it is the row nobody else in this sector publishes.
When is a supercar the right answer?
When the car is the event rather than the transport. A birthday where the point is the car on the drive at eight in the morning. A groom's arrival. A shoot where the shape has to read instantly on camera.
The trade is real and it is not about money. Two seats, a boot that takes a soft bag, a sill you step over rather than through, and the tightest mileage allowances and highest deposits in the catalogue — {{supercarDayRange}} a day, and every one of them arranged through a vetted partner rather than owned by us.
They are also the hardest cars to hire on age: every one asks 28 or above and most ask 30, with the longest licence-held requirements attached.
When is a grand tourer the better car?
When the driving is the event. A weekend of proper roads, a long run to a hotel, two people and luggage that is not a compromise.
A grand tourer gives you four seats — often 2+2 rather than four adults — a usable boot, and the ability to cover 300 miles without arriving broken. On a British B-road in November it is a far better car than a mid-engined one, and it is the choice most people land on once the actual weekend is described rather than imagined.
Every grand tourer we list is partner-sourced, so the rate is a guide and the date is confirmed with the partner first. Give them more room in the diary than you would give one of ours.
When is a prestige SUV the right choice?
More often than people expect, and it is where most of our own fleet sits — the Range Rover Sport SV, the Bentley Bentayga V8 S, the BMW X5 M Competition and both Lamborghini Urus.
It is the answer whenever other people are involved: a wedding with a dress, a family, a client, a golf bag, a dog, a gravel drive, a Scottish single-track lane in weather. Five seats, a boot, upright doors, and a seat you sit down into rather than lower yourself towards.
It is also the most forgiving on the numbers. The most generous mileage allowances in our fleet are on the SUVs and the saloon — up to 150 miles a day and {{fleetMilesPerMonthRange}} miles a month — and the lowest deposits and excesses sit here too, from £3,000.
And a convertible?
When the weather, the photographs or the noise are the point. An open car changes a drive more than an extra hundred horsepower does, and it changes a photograph completely.
The honest counterweights are British: the roof will be up for part of the day, boot space usually shrinks with the roof folded, and an open car parked in a city is a more exposed proposition than a coupé. Modern folding hard tops handle rain properly, so a shower is an inconvenience rather than a ruined day.
In our own fleet the open car is the Audi R8 Spyder — mid-engined, naturally aspirated, and the only one of its kind we own. The rest of the open cars in the catalogue are partner-sourced.
What if you genuinely cannot decide?
Describe the day rather than the car. Tell us who is getting in it, roughly where it is going, and what has to fit in the boot, and the shortlist writes itself.
That is a better conversation than a filter, because the constraints that decide it — a dress, a gravel drive, a 400-mile Saturday, a barrier height at a car park — are not fields on a form.
Every car's page carries its own seats, deposit, excess, mileage allowance and per-mile rate before there is anything to fill in, so you can also do it yourself. Browse the catalogue, or start with the cars we own.
Common questions
Which type has the most included mileage?
The prestige SUVs and saloons. Every agreement includes 12,000 miles a year as a minimum, and the four and five-seat cars are where the extra mileage is cheapest to add. The supercars carry the highest per-mile rates above the allowance.
Which is easiest to hire if I am under 30?
A prestige SUV, a performance saloon or a sports car. 44 cars are available at 25, and every one of them is a saloon, an SUV, a sports car, a grand tourer or a convertible rather than a mid-engined supercar.
Do you own any supercars?
Not in the segment sense — every car we class as a supercar is arranged through a vetted partner and carries a guide rate. The mid-engined car in our own fleet is the Audi R8 Spyder, which we list as a convertible because the roof is the point of it.
Can I hire two different cars across one weekend?
Yes, and it is a normal request rather than an odd one. Tell us both cars and both periods when you enquire so the delivery and collection are planned as one job instead of two.
Which type is cheapest to hire?
The sports cars and performance saloons at the accessible end of the catalogue. In every case the monthly figure is only part of it — check the deposit, the excess and the mileage allowance before comparing two cars on the headline number.
Supercar, grand tourer or prestige SUV — which should you hire?
Every figure in this guide is published per car, before there is any form to fill in.
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Written by Performance & Prestige against the rates, driver criteria and delivery areas published on this site. Rates are “from” prices inclusive of VAT and are confirmed with you before anything is agreed — see driver requirements, insurance and excess and delivery.