Drive Away Awning Opinions? Vango Noosa?

[Wissel]

With the likely scenario (IMO) that wild camping will be tricky for the next couple of years, we have joined the clubs to make use of the CL's. This means it's far more likely we will stay put for a week at a time on average.

So we are thinking about getting a drive away awning.

We already have a Dometic electric canopy awning, which is great for what we use it for (quick easy way to keep the dog cool or dry), but having another space where we can sit and chill would be nice. Plus, with a drive away, we can turn up on a site, put the awning up, I can leave Claira and Rossi in the awning and I can pop off to pick up a niece/nephew to stay a few days (we only have 2 seats).

Thing is, my only experience with a drive away is about 12 years ago when my Dad talked me into getting this cheap thing. It was a windy night, but he insisted it would be fine. We sat in it a few hours that evening and that's the last we saw of it. It had blown away overnight

The one we both like is the Vango Noosa:

It's the size we want (don't want rear window covered), front facing, has the features we'd like and matches our van. It's also small to store and lightweight.

But I'd really like a few opinions from people who have had this sort of awning for more than one night

So, any opinions?

Cheers.

 

[Minxy]

We've had a few drive away awnings and the these are the things that you have to bear in mind for PVC connection:

Width - the width of the tunnel so that you can fully open your sliding door - when we had our campers this meant one with a tunnel 3 metres wide and therefore the main body had to be this width too, looking at the Vango Noosa it appears to be a maximum of 260 from the layout image which might be too small so get your tape measure out, open your sliding door and measure from it's rear door edge to the B pillar.

Height - whilst you may not be too bothered about the main part of the awning the joining section/tunnel has to be one that doesn't create too great an 'angle' otherwise it will snag on the door when you open it, looking at the image of the Noosa (I assume it's the tall one) seems to have quite an angle on it which IMV will catch and drive you nuts or risk the awning being rubbed/torn.

The internal space doesn't seem overly large with the Noosa so once you've got a table & chairs in it, there might not be much room for anything else especially since you need to leave a 'corridor' to walk through, however something like the below style might fit better and will give you a lot more internal room.

Outdoor Revolution Caravan & Motorhome Awnings | Quality Caravan Awnin

Looking for high-quality Outdoor Revolution awnings for your motorhome or caravan? Quality Caravan Awnings is the only place you need to go. Our innovative driveaway awnings are perfect for families, couples, and solo adventurers who want to make the most of their time outside. Spend £100 and...

www.qualitycaravanawnings.com

Outdoor Revolution Caravan & Motorhome Awnings | Quality Caravan Awnin

Looking for high-quality Outdoor Revolution awnings for your motorhome or caravan? Quality Caravan Awnings is the only place you need to go. Our innovative driveaway awnings are perfect for families, couples, and solo adventurers who want to make the most of their time outside. Spend £100 and...

www.qualitycaravanawnings.com

We've had quite a few Outdoor Revolution ones and they are very good qualiity and do a variety of styles in both air and pole types:

https://www.qualitycaravanawnings.com/collections/outdoor-revolution-caravan-and-motorhome-awnings

 

[Wissel]

We've had a few drive away awnings and the these are the things that you have to bear in mind for PVC connection:

Width - the width of the tunnel so that you can fully open your sliding door - when we had our campers this meant one with a tunnel 3 metres wide and therefore the main body had to be this width too, looking at the Vango Noosa it appears to be a maximum of 260 from the layout image which might be too small so get your tape measure out, open your sliding door and measure from it's rear door edge to the B pillar.

Height - whilst you may not be too bothered about the main part of the awning the joining section/tunnel has to be one that doesn't create too great an 'angle' otherwise it will snag on the door when you open it, looking at the image of the Noosa (I assume it's the tall one) seems to have quite an angle on it which IMV will catch and drive you nuts or risk the awning being rubbed/torn.

The internal space doesn't seem overly large with the Noosa so once you've got a table & chairs in it, there might not be much room for anything else especially since you need to leave a 'corridor' to walk through, however something like the below style might fit better and will give you a lot more internal room.

Outdoor Revolution Caravan & Motorhome Awnings | Quality Caravan Awnin

Looking for high-quality Outdoor Revolution awnings for your motorhome or caravan? Quality Caravan Awnings is the only place you need to go. Our innovative driveaway awnings are perfect for families, couples, and solo adventurers who want to make the most of their time outside. Spend £100 and...

www.qualitycaravanawnings.com

Outdoor Revolution Caravan & Motorhome Awnings | Quality Caravan Awnin

Looking for high-quality Outdoor Revolution awnings for your motorhome or caravan? Quality Caravan Awnings is the only place you need to go. Our innovative driveaway awnings are perfect for families, couples, and solo adventurers who want to make the most of their time outside. Spend £100 and...

www.qualitycaravanawnings.com

We've had quite a few Outdoor Revolution ones and they are very good qualiity and do a variety of styles in both air and pole types:

https://www.qualitycaravanawnings.com/collections/outdoor-revolution-caravan-and-motorhome-awnings

Thanks - great points as usual

Regarding the width, our sliding door doesn't open all the way. This is to make it easier to open and close constantly all night as loud as possible. Okay, it's because we have a stop fitted so the door can't hit the rear window

Regarding the height and the door opening, this shouldn't be an issue as our awning rail is on the front side of our Dometic awning. If it did catch it would drive me nuts, but I could open the Dometic 5cm to solve the issue (was already planning on opening it to fit the drive away for ease).

Size wise, it's all we need I think. It's just a space where we can fit 2 chairs, a small table and the dog. More often than not it's likely to just be one of us, or storage at night. I like the first one you linked too, but the extra depth would stop the rear window opening. I'd hate that - one of the reasons for the bars is so the windows can be open all night. The other reason is likely obvious from the image

 

[Puddleduck]

We have two SunnCamp awnings - different sizes - one is used when we are staying for a few days and the other is what we call a "day awning" - small and very fast to put up even single handed - more of a porch.

 

[Wissel]

Decided to just order the Vango.

I popped to a local showroom who told me they had them in stock. They didn't, but did have a similar model (not suitable for us, but same size) and lots of other makes/models to look at. I liked the similar one - seemed bigger than I'd imagined. I would have ordered from them but they had no idea when or if they would get more in.

So had to order one online. I was a little shocked when 30 mins later I get an email from DHL to say it will be with me tomorrow

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