What people ask us before a Winelands tour

No. The R310 is tarred, well maintained and driveable in any roadworthy car. The gradient near the top reaches roughly one in ten, which a loaded family saloon will climb in third without drama if you select the gear before the climb rather than halfway up. The descent into Banhoek asks more of the brakes than the climb asks of the engine, so come down in a low gear.

Almost certainly yes, since it is a proclaimed tarred road, and that is the clause most hire agreements care about. Check the wording anyway, confirm whether tyre and glass damage is covered, and photograph the car at handover. The pass itself is not the risk; the risk is a stone off a truck on the R45 approach and an argument about it three weeks later.

For a 270 km day such as Bainskloof and Ceres, a mid-size petrol car using around 8.5 litres per 100 km will take roughly 23 litres. At indicative pump prices in the low twenties of rand per litre that is somewhere around R500 to R600. A diesel of similar size lands closer to R400. Climbing with a full boot and the aircon working pushes both up.

The roughly ten weeks from late summer, and within the day the worst of it runs from mid-morning until after dusk. Northbound between Stellenbosch and Klapmuts, add fifteen to twenty minutes to whatever the map tells you. If the queue is already standing when you reach the Kromme Rhee turn, take the R304 through Koelenhof instead.

The main gravel roads into the Cederberg are passable in a normal car driven slowly, but low-profile tyres on large rims are the weak point and the Uitkyk side is genuinely rough. If you have a choice, take the car on smaller wheels with taller sidewalls, drop pressures by about 0.3 bar, and check that the spare holds air before you leave the tar.

Around 500 litres with the parcel shelf in place is where two people stop playing luggage games for a week away. Below about 400 litres you will be putting a bag on the back seat, which blocks the rear window exactly when you need it on a pass. Measure with the shelf in, not with the seats folded, because the folded figure is a showroom number.

Yes, several times a season. If the Franschhoek summit is in cloud with visibility under about fifty metres, if a drift in the Cederberg is running and you cannot see the bottom, or if the only driver in the party is already tired, we say so plainly and offer the alternative. A postponed pass is still there next weekend.

We can work around most of them, but you need to read your own policy first. Some tracking and roadside products limit recovery to a set distance from a proclaimed road, and some insurers require the vehicle to be parked behind a locked gate overnight. Tell us the condition in your own words and we will place the overnight stops accordingly.