Before we ended up with the Qeedo Motor Tarp, we tried out quite a few things for sun and rain protection. It started with a really cheap tarp and two poles that we fixed to the back of our Caddy. Later two more poles joined to bring us up to four – but that was exactly the problem: with four poles you needed at least two people for the setup, the poles kept slipping out of adjustment, we needed countless pegs to guy everything down, and with even a bit of wind the whole thing flapped. After that we carried a folding gazebo for a while – super stable, but big, heavy, and not exactly pitched in a flash either. When we then switched from the Caddy to our T6 Multivan, we wanted something that really suited the bus. The Motor Tarp looked exactly like that: sharp, made for the bus, with various mounting options – and at around 150 euros the investment stays manageable. So we gave it a try.
The key specs at a glance:
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Weight | approx. 3 kg |
| Packed size | 101 × 13 × 13 cm |
| Shaded area | 250 × 250 cm |
| Hydrostatic head | 4000 mm |
| UV protection | UV80 (dark coating) |
| Poles | 2× aluminium telescopic, 95–230 cm |
You'll find all further technical details directly at the manufacturer:
One note for anyone looking very closely: we used and tested the tarp extensively on a longer holiday. The setup shown here, though, was rigged up provisionally just for the pictures, since we didn't have any good illustrative shots until now. As we already had our new roof rack fitted, the supplied suction cups couldn't be attached – so the pitch isn't quite optimal and is meant for illustration only.
Setup and mounting
At the first setup we were quite taken – as with other Qeedo products we already own, everything here is cleanly made: the tarp itself, the guy lines, the workmanship. That leaves the question of how to get it onto the vehicle. The intended way is the sewn-on 5 mm and 7 mm keder beadings that feed into a keder rail – but we don't have one on the bus and didn't want to retrofit one just for this. So we guyed it over instead: three lines run over the middle of the vehicle and are pegged down on the far side, plus two suction cups on the roof at the ends. On the side facing away from the vehicle, two poles stand on the ground, each guyed with two lines. The front and rear ends can additionally be tensioned to the ground with two triangles – or rolled up if you prefer a smooth, flat surface. Set up like that, the tarp really does pitch nice and taut.
Stable, but time-consuming
In practice this works well, and the tarp is certainly stable in wind. What increasingly bothered us, though, is the time it takes: getting everything to sit right keeps you busy for quite a while – re-tension a line here, correct a pole height there, and then start over. Half an hour is gone in no time. The poles in particular are a real weak point. They extend in two stages, so you immediately have two twist points to adjust, and overall they feel a bit cheap – like the standard poles you can find on every corner. The twist-to-lock fixing is unreliable; a few times the poles slid back together on us mid-setup. We'd wish for a fixed pole here, or at least a click-in adjustment mechanism.
Build quality and packed size
Apart from the poles, the build quality is right. The pegs in particular won us over: sturdy, with a slight screw shape that drives in well, and with practical handles. Everything fits back into the supplied bag without a fight, the packed size of 101 × 13 × 13 cm is nicely small, and at around 3 kilos the whole thing is easy to stow. Compared to a full-grown folding gazebo that's next to nothing – a clear plus.
Verdict
In terms of workmanship the Motor Tarp is fine and the styling is as cool as we've come to expect from Qeedo – only the poles fail to convince. It's probably one of the best tarps for a bus out there, but in the end we sold it on again anyway. Setup simply takes us too long, and especially when you pitch and strike often, the constant tweaking here and there gets annoying. On top of that, the lines run over the vehicle, so not all the doors always open comfortably. As lovely as the idea is of having everything flexibly packed in one bag – for us it ended up being too much fiddling. With that, it was time for us to try a proper awning.
