Outwell California Highway Motorhome Awning Reviews and Details

Motorhome Awning Reviews: Outwell California Highway

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Outwell > California Highway Reviews

Current Model?
Berths:
Weight:
RRP on date added:

Discontinued
0
39.80 KG
Ł799.95

Average User Rating:

5.33/10 from 3 reviews

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3 Reviews of the California Highway

By: Simonshall Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2015 Rating: 3 from 10

I have owned the Outwell California highway for about 5 weeks.

After my royal was destroyed in high winds I started searching for a replacement. It had to meet certain requirements as I live in it full time, whilst I am working as a campsite manager.

The highway seemed to tick all the boxes. Strong design to withstand winds, large enough to store all my kit and still have room to move. At Ł699 from drive away awnings it was more expensive then others in that class of tent. But,order placed, it arrived the following day, no complaints about the the retailer, excellent service.

PITCHING. 3stars

A first glance,pitching it seems fairly straight forward,but it is a two person operation and if you have little experience at such things thing can get a little tricky.

DESIGN. 2 stars

After pitching I could really look at the design in more detail. Some really nice features and well thought out but and a big but. Some design aspects that seem to have been done by the 16 year old apprentice,on a Friday afternoon whilst their having a texting marathon with their mates.

I have VW T5 with a Rieimio rail, the corridor attaches to the van via the usual kador strip and figure 8 . The actual fly sheet is then dragged over the tent and clipped into three clips on the far side, guys are then used also. This makes placing your van a critical element in pitching the tent, too close and you have too much canvass loose and flapping uncontrollably in the wind, and the sheet will not sit properly over the tent, which is critical to keep the tent water tight. There are 2 vents placed in the ROOF! That can be zipped open or closed these have meshing on them. If you have the sheet too tight you can not peg out the connection side walls, and again the canopy does not sit correctly. Sipping away from the roof poles that hold it in place.

Having the van too far forward or backward twists the sheet over tent, resulting in a leaky tent.

I was lucky when pitching, no wind, no rain, and daylight. If things where at all different then this task is impossible. As it was it took me A good 2HOURS ! And I know what I'm doing.

LIVING WITH IT. 3 stars

Although this is a large tent, with the sleeping compartment in, there is only 1.5 metres left in the living area. So cooking and sitting in poor weather is limited for 5 people.

After a week or so the North Norfolk wind struck once more. The kador strip came away from the canvas ripping the material.

Replacement delivered re fitted it . In wind the canopy ' balloons' excessively , placing extreme strain on all the anchor points which will fail !

After an over night downpour ( I know this is unusual for a British bank holiday' it's usually during the day!) I woke to find three pools of water on the connection canopy placing even more strain on the anchor points. In total I would estimate 10 - 15 gallons. Removing this is a game of chance where it will end up!

Even in light winds the whole tent is extremely noisy, with flapping sheets and ill fitting canopies, and I sleep in the van!

SO I HAVE DECIDED TO RETURN THE TENT.

I have contacted Outwell with design suggestions but their response was less than helpful. My retailer have done all that is possible to assist me.

I have now ordered a khyam Motordome sleeper.

Watch this space for the review of this.

SUMMARY.

Noisy,

Difficult to pitch accurately

Ill conceived design for connection tunnel.

Weak points that will fail.

In flexible and poorly fitting Sleeping compartment

Limited living area in poor weather.

Weak plastic adjusting clamps for the internal roof struts ( 1 was broken upon unpacking)

Please note. I have only focussed on the downside in this review as I feel that these far out way the good points. So in an effort to be balanced I will list the good.

Tent good anchor points for guys.

Good zips they don't snagg.

Zipped ground sheet

Electric entry points and positions for lights

Generally the main tent is well designed, except for the vents ( holes ) in the roof. This means the whole structure can not be used as a stand alone unit ,without the connection annex in place.

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By: Hankakampa Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 5 from 10

Having just had my 1st 2 night stay using this awning I am disappointed with it.

Its not really an awning at all, its a polyester, 4 pole tunnel tent with a canopy at the front and a very large piece of loose material which you clip to the tent ( awning ) and this provides a covered walkway to/from this tent and your vehicle.

For the price, its a complete rip off. You may as well buy any reasonable tent you like, buy a piece of tent fabric or tarp and you can do just the same as this for a fraction of the price!

If this 'awning' were a third of the price it usually retails at, fair enough, but you can buy a very decent tent for this kind of money and it would be much better than what your getting with this awning!.

Look elsewhere or buy it 2nd hand!.

1 from 1 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Timmiss Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2011 Rating: 8 from 10

Purchased for use with my T4 camper. Pitched easily using fibre roof struts with steel legs and 'walking' out the legs. Quality of the tent section is excellent and does everything very well, the built-in porch area especially so, loads of headroom, zips excellent quality etc, ventilation brilliant. But. And there is a but, it's supposedly an awning to attach a vehicle, in fact its more a case of throwing a sheet over a tent. The awning section is exactly that, thrown over and clipped to the tent legs then fastened down with conventional guy ropes, it really doesn't work well in the wind, ours bellowed up and frequently looked as though it would take the awning rail off the van, quite scary at times, I was forced to tie-down this section using spare paracord I had to ensure safety. When there is no wind everything was perfect. My only other grumble is that accessories such as footprint and carpet are impossible to obtain from anyone in the UK currently it seems.

4 from 4 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

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Manufacturer's Description

There’s plenty of living space here for five people in the California Highway drive-away awning that extends the practical use of motorhomes and vans. An optional inner tent adds an extra bedroom when sharing. The fast, secure attachment systems ensure hassle-free arrivals and departures.

Type of tent: One room tunnel tent
Sleeps people: 5
Hydrostatic Head: 4000 mm
Flysheet: Outtex® 4000 (75D 100% polyester taffeta) with taped seams
Rooms: 1 living room
Poles: Roof: Duratec fibreglass 11 mm, Legs: Steel poles 19 mm, 19/16 mm inside roof poles, 2 upright steel poles
Floor: Double-coated 100% polyethylene, 10,000 mm hydrostatic head
Groundsheet: Sealed Ground System, Zip-out
Pitching way: Flysheet first
Pack size flysheet: 33 x 82 cm
Pack size poles: 19 x 77 cm
Weight flysheet: 20.1 kg
Weight poles: 19.7 kg

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