dqa
Veteran Member
I was up in DC this past weekend for a conference. I was not excited about paying $50 or more per night for a motel room. In the interests of science and saving a few bucks, I slept in the hatch of my 99.5 Golf GL.
There have been a few threads in the past about how comfortable it would be to sleep in the back of an A4 VW. The Jetta wagon seemed to be the preferred choice, and there was skepticism about how well a Golf would work.
Technique: Pulled into the Travel America truckstop. I threw a sheet of 3/4" dense foam rubber across the luggage compartment floor and rear seats, which had been pulled down. Left the luggage compartment cover in place, to provide a bit more darkness. Used a sheet, blanket, and a couple pillows. Slept diagonally with head in direction of hatch, under luggage compartment cover. C-SPAN radio is broadcast in DC, and the dreary political voices in stereo lulled me to sleep in no time.
In the morning, my cell phone alarm woke me, and I went into the truck stop and took a $7 shower.
Problems:
1. The rear seats are a couple inches higher than the luggage compartment floor. The 3/4" foam wasn't enough to overcome this problem. A second pad doubled over would have done the trick.
2. It's easy to bop your head on the compartment cover, but this is a minor annoyance.
3. The diagonal is not quite long enough for a 6-foot tall human, and I was a bit stiff the next day. But if you sleep on your side, usually you bend a bit anyway, and this is enough, provided you don't want to stretch out at all during the night. Alternatively, you could sleep on your back, with a few pillows under your knees.
4. Exit strategy: the hatch doesn't open from the inside, and it's a chore to climb into the front seat. A 4-door would probably help.
5. The foam pad was actually a bit too firm. A couple of standard egg crate pads woud probably work better.
6. My radio shuts off after a couple hours, so noise outside could have awakened me easily. Actually, this may not be the case with the stock radio. YMMV.
7. In light of recent events, some have questioned the wisdom of spending extended periods of time at DC-area service stations.
On the second night, I had a big crate of materials which basically filled the luggage compartment. I was forced to sleep sideways across the stowed rear seats, on the doubled-over foam pad. No surprise, I slept very poorly.
Other notes: With mostly 78 mph highway travel, with some stop and go rush hour traffic toward the end, got 46.6 mpg on the way up. Made a pilgrimmage to Tevis for a tank of B100, and got 44.8 under the same conditions on the way back.
Conclusion: Sleeping in the back of a Golf is definitely feasible. However, it is much more comfortable if you are under 6' , fairly limber, not especially heavy, and take measures to raise the level of the luggage compartment, and possibly to raise your legs if you plan to sleep on your back. All in all not the best choice for catching some Zzzz, but IMHO worth the $50 I saved per night; likewise if you're not feeling neighborly towards the local Grizzly population.
There have been a few threads in the past about how comfortable it would be to sleep in the back of an A4 VW. The Jetta wagon seemed to be the preferred choice, and there was skepticism about how well a Golf would work.
Technique: Pulled into the Travel America truckstop. I threw a sheet of 3/4" dense foam rubber across the luggage compartment floor and rear seats, which had been pulled down. Left the luggage compartment cover in place, to provide a bit more darkness. Used a sheet, blanket, and a couple pillows. Slept diagonally with head in direction of hatch, under luggage compartment cover. C-SPAN radio is broadcast in DC, and the dreary political voices in stereo lulled me to sleep in no time.
Problems:
1. The rear seats are a couple inches higher than the luggage compartment floor. The 3/4" foam wasn't enough to overcome this problem. A second pad doubled over would have done the trick.
2. It's easy to bop your head on the compartment cover, but this is a minor annoyance.
3. The diagonal is not quite long enough for a 6-foot tall human, and I was a bit stiff the next day. But if you sleep on your side, usually you bend a bit anyway, and this is enough, provided you don't want to stretch out at all during the night. Alternatively, you could sleep on your back, with a few pillows under your knees.
4. Exit strategy: the hatch doesn't open from the inside, and it's a chore to climb into the front seat. A 4-door would probably help.
5. The foam pad was actually a bit too firm. A couple of standard egg crate pads woud probably work better.
6. My radio shuts off after a couple hours, so noise outside could have awakened me easily. Actually, this may not be the case with the stock radio. YMMV.
7. In light of recent events, some have questioned the wisdom of spending extended periods of time at DC-area service stations.
On the second night, I had a big crate of materials which basically filled the luggage compartment. I was forced to sleep sideways across the stowed rear seats, on the doubled-over foam pad. No surprise, I slept very poorly.
Other notes: With mostly 78 mph highway travel, with some stop and go rush hour traffic toward the end, got 46.6 mpg on the way up. Made a pilgrimmage to Tevis for a tank of B100, and got 44.8 under the same conditions on the way back.
Conclusion: Sleeping in the back of a Golf is definitely feasible. However, it is much more comfortable if you are under 6' , fairly limber, not especially heavy, and take measures to raise the level of the luggage compartment, and possibly to raise your legs if you plan to sleep on your back. All in all not the best choice for catching some Zzzz, but IMHO worth the $50 I saved per night; likewise if you're not feeling neighborly towards the local Grizzly population.