Autohome airtop on a JSW

[meerschm]

At Last year's tdifest, TransientTDI (aka Glenn) brought his JSW with a camper top.

Seemed to me like a good idea, and despite my wife's objection to being on the roof of the car "like Romney's dog", picked up a slightly different version.

I drove to Asheville NC last fall and purchased a demo they shipped for the outdoor expo show. Saved a couple $$ for shipping and such. Also let me actually see the camper before purchase.

After being tucked against the roof of my garage for the winter, it is back on the car. Quick coat of wax to slow down the UV damage and coating of bugs, and away I went. Drove out to Shenandoah National Park on Saturday, which, by the way, was a free weekend at all national Parks.



Drove in and made it to the camp site at the crack of noon, just in time for the pick of sites opened up. This site at Lewis Mountain campground is on the edge of the camping area.






the top has gas struts in each corner, so a quick release of a couple latches, and a quick push and the tent is pitched.



The green tarp is a campmoor tarp I had the local dry cleaners sew some velcro on, with a couple tent poles and some black paracord. The auto home folks sell a canopy, but it is a bit more pricy.




Sunday morning, packed up, hiked to see a waterfall, drove the rest of skyline drive, and back home.

Three links:
Italian maker

http://www.autohome-official.com/en...f-top-tent/airtop/maggiolina-airtop-roof-tent

US distro
http://www.autohomeus.com/

Canada distro
www.autohomecanada.com

 

[yatzee]

edit - i just read the site and answered both of my questions. Sent you a PM regarding price

 

[DerekG]

Very cool. Looks pretty aero-friendly. How has it affected mileage?

 

[meerschm]

I tend to drive a little slower with it, (70s vs 80s) so it is pretty much a wash so far.

I got over 40 MPG on the way home from NC last fall. similar results last weekend. (I check the MFD once in a while, and do not make a hobby of tracking mileage. most of the time my MFD is focused on polar fis+ readings tracking the DPF cycles, coolant temps, voltage, and various other temperatures.)

there is a bit of wind noise, but mostly I suspect from the Thule square bars which support it.

it weighs a little over 100 LBS, so the ride dynamics are a bit different, but it seems less so than when I used to put a box full of stuff-to-the-beach on top of my chevy trailblazer.

it is pretty easy to forget it is there when driving.

 

[DerekG]

Nice.

I have the same Thule bars and they make more noise than any accessory that I put on the roof. Not annoyingly loud, but you can always hear it and a fairing doesn't seem to help either.

 

[Steve Addy]

These units are nice, but you'd have to spend quite a bit of time camping to justify the expense IMO.

Steve

 

[meerschm]

just have to skip a week at the beach, and it is paid for.

 

[meerschm]

Seems the high density European foam mattress is a little stiff for my American body, so a foam mattress topper went in this week.

drove back to the same campsite, but this time, covered in fog.

for some reason, there are quite a few folks who need to ride road bikes in the park, on skyline drive. normally, with a 35 mph speed limit, this would not be too bad, but in dense fog, it was a little scary.

Skyline drive is a pretty nice drive, speed limit, as noted, is 35. A few nice twists and turns, and hills enough to use a lower gear. The park police have radar, and are not shy about using it, so speed trials should be saved for another road.

 

[belome]

At what point is a decent tent not better in every way?

 

[meerschm]

I would say it is different, not better.

there is a continuum from sleep on a rock with whatever you are wearing, to staying in a fine hotel.

I would compare this more with other vehicle-centric options, including trailers, class a, b and c motor home conversions, or just sleeping in the back of the wagon.

compared with a fine tent,

the biggest two differences which I focused on are:

1. quick to setup. couple straps and the top opens like the hatch (similar gas struts)
once open, bedding can stay in place, as can a change of clothes. Also quick to pack to move. A little more tucking and checking than popping open, but less than it takes to pack up tent contents, and then tent, fly, poles, stakes......

2. off the ground. this insulates you from the dampness on ground, and a little farther from the insects and small mammals which frequent the ground. also comes with a flat space to sleep.

(it is a vehicle based solution, so there is a concern to find a fairly flat spot, or play with spacers under the tires, but you need to consider site choice with a tent as well.)

And one can always toss a tent in the back of the wagon to have a choice.

it is a little harder to pitch a tent in a parking lot to catch a few hours rest.

 

[DerekG]

All great points! I was using a similar thought process when I bought the Scamp vs a pop-up camper for 1/3 the cost. No set-up time, a place to chill while taking a break from driving, easy to stop for the night in a parking lot...etc. I feel like the Airtop would be awesome on an offroad vehicle.

 

[meerschm]

They market it pretty heavily for the off road folks.


time will tell how well it works for me.

 

[meerschm]

drove to Michigan and back. wedding in Traverse city.

went up US 23 from Toledo, left on US 10 at Bay city, then MI 115 from just outside Clare up to Traverse city.

spent the night at Interlochen state park, then home today.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Int...f52686dbc1012c!2m2!1d-77.0469214!2d38.8048355

by the MFD
760 miles
average 70 mph
average 35.5 mpg
just over 11 hours driving time.

so the top does provide some extra drag, at speed, anyway. I usually see 40 mpg give or take on a road trip like this.

there was snow on the ground this morning, so the tires were probably a little on the low side. I think it was 50 degrees when I checked the pressure last week.

 

[meerschm]

This is across from the historic town hall in Elk Rapids. Grand Traverse Bay. it was a little windy.



A little snow in the morning. My brother had coffee ready by the time I was packed up, and made breakfast. Home grown asparagus and cheese omelets.



The snow was pretty and well-behaved (did not stick to the road)


M37 headed south. (just north of the Manistee river)

 

[DerekG]

Nice pics! I love a snow covered landscape. Looks like coffee weather lol

What's the deal with the picnic table?



Does the air top provide much insulation from the outside temps or is it about the same as a tent? Using a sleeping bag I presume?

 

[meerschm]

They put the picnic tables up like that for the winter, and had not moved them. Most of the campsites in the whole park were set up like that.

I used a laser/IR thermometer, and the inside of the roof stays about 8 degrees hotter than the outside with just me inside the tent.

Both the roof and floor section have some insulation. The top of the canvas has an inch of velcro all the way around, and they sell a winter cover that adds a layer.

I actually put my 10 degree mummy bag inside a large rectangular bag. was close to too hot with weather in the 30s. ( I have used this combo tent camping in low single digit weather and was plenty warm)

 

[meerschm]

Spent a couple days at Cades Cove Campground in Smoky Mountains National Park

Here is a quick shot before heading out.



loaded like this, too much stuff, dropped the rear just an inch from normal. will look into some suspension bags to level out. (that and leaving some stuff at home)


first time my wife went with. we had a fine time, but spent the last night in hotel, considering severe storms forecast, and the long drive home today.

She got along ok with the arrangements, lots of coordinated rolling over, but she made it out and back for bathroom runs. Not too impressed with the no hot water, no shower, not so clean as you would like national park campground rest rooms, but the park was very nice.

lots of driving around the park, hikes to waterfalls, and bear jams (cars stopped semi-randomly to watch bears)

for this trip home, again from the MFD,

average MPG 37.7
average speed 65
trip length 480 miles

drive home included the leg north from Pigeon Forge TN (where the hotel was) to I 40, then up I-81 to I-66 into the DC area.
That Pigeon Forge place is a trip.

 

[DerekG]

Packed to the brim! I have that same lantern as well lol

Our first few camping trips with my Golf looked similar. I'm so glad I have a roof box now....It's nice to have a somewhat empty car while traveling.

Kinda surprised to hear that Cade's Cover didn't have showers....I read that that is a really popular place in the park.

Feel free to share some more pics!

 

[meerschm]

http://www.snapfish.com/library/sha...QD0_hGtW4vu_WXAVg/AUS/27939504317070/SNAPFISH

I will put a couple photos here

 

[meerschm]

I did not take any photos in the campground, or of the facility. water is available only by the dump station, and there are flush toilets and cold water sinks. with the first few days of rain, the floor stayed wet and nasty in the rest room.

the campground was well laid out, not too close together, and overnight we heard an owl hoot hoot hooting, some turkeys gobbling, after the rain quit we heard airliners 25,000 feet or so up in the air (were not sure it was not distant thunder)

at one point, my wife was listening to the snore fest in the next site, and when I said something it surprised her. she thought it was me snoring, and did not know I could snore and talk at the same time.....

 

[DerekG]

Nice pic of the bear!

 

[meerschm]

Thanks,

We actually saw four bear sightings; one each day. two were mom with cubs.

(they seem to like it where lots of cars stop by the side of the road. .... or is it the other way around)

I have a pretty good telephoto lens for my DSLR. next time I will also bring my monopod. I have quite a few shots with jumpy, fuzzy, bear-like images.

 

[meerschm]

Weekend trip to Bay City MI They have this large sculpture downtown

Slept parked in my Brother's driveway, did first weatherfront/rain test. dry as a bone after an inch. the wind rattled some to wake me to close up windows.

the local church was kind enough to ring some bells at six am.

Saturday it was 96 degrees, so i accepted the kind offer of an air conditioned bedroom

on the way home, ran into some traffic,

MFD:

37.6 mpg
651 miles
56 average MPH (due to higher traffic. this included several long crawls behind accidents)
drive time 11 Hours 36 minutes.

 

[meerschm]

Met some Ski racing friends for dinner



interesting DE law involved here. the place is right on a river which leads to the bay, so fresh crabs. They are very strict, since it is a tavern, no one under 21. period. The place has a small bar, but mostly tables you sit at. (covered with paper and extra newspaper)



the roads on the DelMarVA we saw were pretty smooth, mostly flat, and speed limits subject to reduction for possible speed traps.

more than one driver was noted having a discussion with local law enforcement on the side of the road.

slowing down did give better mpg. hour drive to dinner left the MFD reporting 40 MPG



The campground was very nice. not even half full. quite a few little ants, but they did not seem to bite.

the showers were clean with unmetered hot water.

we rented a canoe at the state park (2 hours for $10), saw an osprey nest with babies, and a spotted fawn was drinking at the water's edge. little guy ran off before any photos could be snapped.


the nominal hour drive to the campground took a bit over twice that long due to Friday afternoon traffic across DC and up to the bridge.

 

[meerschm]

Made plans to camp/drive to the TDI fest.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Fai...9268b6f036!2m2!1d-87.3770419!2d44.8341639!3e0

leave Tuesday afternoon, get in Friday sometime.

Reservations set at state/provincial parks.

 

[Mike in Anchorage]

Somewhat related:

We had a "high wind warning" last weekend saying that all "high profile" vehicles should take care. On the way back from a bicycle trip, my Yakima rack with three bikes attached blew off the roof as a unit. I was driving about 100 kph, and the headwind was probably about the same. I have not been successful at uploading a pic. Fortunately, the truck behind me had stopped tailgating before the thing blew off, so no one hit the bikes. Minimal damage occurred to the bikes. I know the clamps were on tightly to the rails and the back seat passenger was watching the bikes through the sunroof. It went from "rock solid, no motion" to "blown off the car" in an instant. I no longer trust the rack mount system and I have not found anything in particular that failed, but the round Yakima bar from the front is bent badly. Could it have bent slightly due only to force on the three bikes, pulling the mounts in just a bit?

BTW, I have not determined which thread this information would best fit on, but your post brought it to mind.

 

[meerschm]

Wow.

would be very interested in what exactly failed. did the mount come off the VW factory rail? would be worth a few careful measurements to see what came off where. might be some scrapes on the parts still on the car. which mounts did you use?



I periodically give everything a good yank to make sure it is solid.

This is a stock photo of my mount. the Thule mount has rubber coated steel strap that goes around the bar and back into a slot on the mount.

https://youtu.be/uxYHt7DAKgM

 

[meerschm]

minor update: with the hot weather, (and my son's reluctance to camp) we changed plans for the past week, and I pulled the air top off. was a good thing, the top of the Thule Rack rubbed a bit on the bottom of the air-top, minor damage to the fiberglass gel coat.

I think I will cut a set of rub strips from a Kitty litter bottle (since I have plenty of them. think thick milk jug...) and silicone it to the bottom of the air top.

with the air top stowed in the garage, and rack off the car, a drive last week from NOVA to Chatham MA (in the sticky 90s with some traffic) (MFD)
40.6 mpg average
545 mi
57 mph average
9h 35 min drive time

today, headed back from Albany NY:

41.8 mpg average
415 mi
61 mph average
6h 49 min

(was over 42 mpg average till I hit some traffic south of the DEL MEM BR)

Large fan under the hood quit for good along the way, small fan was worked a bit harder, but kept us cool inside, and the coolant temp never went above 205c. Replacement fan is on the way from idparts.

Will look for a break in the weather to put the air top back on in prep for the trip to TDI fest

 

[meerschm]

here is a photo of the rubbing on the bottom of the airtop roof top camper.

the shell is fiberglass (with a gel coat of some kind), the bottom has included steel channels that secure to the cross bar. seems there is enough movement that there is some rubbing where the shell rests on the steel part of the top of the mount. the square bar (rectangular, but they call it square) is encased in a rubber sleeve, but the top of the mount is painted steel. When it comes off for the fall, I will look into gelcoat repair. They sell all kinds of stuff for boats.

 

[DerekG]

Too bad about the gel coat scratch, but it doesn't look too terrible. As a cheap temporary fix (~$3) I wonder how well a piece of split foam insulation pipe would fit around the square bars? Could be a nice pad/cover on the areas where the metal hits the fiberglass.

The good news is that fall is fast approaching. Time to camp!