There is a saying:"I survived the road to Hana!"
There is even a T-shirt you can buy with this statement on it on Maui.
But, if you are a confident and skilled driver with good reflexes then a muscle car covertible like I rented is a good choice especially now they have repaired the roads and so it is quite pleasant to drive to Hana.
However, if it starts raining really hard then this might change the situation because in 1989 I almost died with my family almost being washed off the roads there off a cliff and into the ocean. So, if monsoon rains are coming down I advise you from personal experience "Don't drive the road to Hana because it might be the last thing you ever do because in ongoing monsoon rains 1 to 2 feet of water and rocks come off those jungle landscapes and onto the road and into the sea. So, if you see this stop and go back or figure something out real quick so you can survive this. for me, then I was in a Ford window van and high enough off the road but even then I had water running across the front floor and my wife and kids jumping up and down over the rear wheels so they would stay on the road and not float before I was barely able to drive out of this situation.
But, if it's not raining there it can be just fine on the road to Hana. The roads are pretty nice right now and a low slung MUSTANG GT with Great pipes that sounded like a Bently was a reallyl great choice last Monday which was the most beautiful day to go to Hana I had ever seen. Not only that it cornered nice and you sink so deep into a Mustang GT's seats that you don't have to fight the corners at all. So, you are not exhausted from trying not to be thrown around by the hairpin turns. Because a Mustang GT is built for cornering first and then speed 2nd.
However, with the highest speed limit on Maui 55 mph between Kahului and Kihei speed is not something you are going to see on Maui because most speed limits are between 15 and 45 mph which you have to watch closely because local police do enforce those speed limits. But, on the road to Hana the beautiful cornering abilities of something like a Mustang covertible or a Camaro Convertible really come into play.
Also this last trip I saw about 20 varieties of fish (you have to swim out a little to see this) at Waianapanapa Black sand STate Beach near Hana as well. So, for driving to Hana or driving up to Haleakala Crater a convertible often is the best choice because of visual amazingness and cornering abilities.
However, both on the Road to Hana and the road Up Haleakala you need to be a very skilled driver for many reasons. If you don't have confidence as a driver I recommend taking a tour bus or a helicopter ride instead. However, if you get carsick the tour bus might not be a good idea because of hairpin turns on both roads.
But, if you want to drive all over Maui and not just to Haleakala or Hana and that's all then maybe a jeep rental might be the best because all the roads might not be as good as the ones to hana and to Haleakala.
So, even if it is 80 to 90 degrees (92 degrees as I drove for Airport from Lahaina on Thursday) you can always turn on the air conditoner even with the top down as long as you realize you are much closer to the equator than in most Mainland U.S. towns so the sun is very bright and hot.
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