Originally Posted by
ron.jace
You don't need one. If you are renting a somewhat decent car you will be fine with it. I been to the summit in a Ford Fusion in 2009 and Saturn Vue in 2008. You don't need an SUV to drive to the top. It's a simple dirt road pretty much any car will get to the top. When coming back down shift the transmission into second gear (both automatic and manual cars can do this). Even if you don't shift down and just use the breaks on the way down you will still be fine. There is no point spending extra money on getting an SUV just to get to the summit.
I have to strongly disagree - this can be very dangerous advise for someone who has never driven to the summit before. People have died on the way down due to their brakes overheating.
A regular car is fine if driving to the visitor center, but a 4WD with 4-LO gear is essential for safely driving to/from the summit. When I was up a couple months ago, I saw a couple in an older sedan try and drive up after picking up two foreign tourists at the visitor center - they were having a very tough time getting up the inclines and had to pull over frequently which created a hazard for everyone else. I didn't witness their trip down.