The Vango Tailgate Hub Low is a tailgate tent that attaches to the open boot lid and adds a small room to the back of the car. When we bought it, one thing was most important to us: the tent had to be freestanding, so it can also stand without the car – and that it does completely. What you have to know, though, is that back then all the marketing pictures showed a bus, a VW bus or something that size, and the information about which vehicles actually fit stayed rather vague. So we asked and did some research beforehand, and we were told the connection to the car is flexible and can be adjusted in width and height, so it would also fit a Caddy. That is true, by the way. So we bought it and tried it out.
We mainly want to share our personal experience here, not list every detail. For all the technical data, check out the manufacturer's website – our model now has a successor there, the Tailgate Hub II Low:
What has changed there is mostly the description: the successor comes with concrete numbers – a vehicle width of 120 to 190 cm and a kador height of 180 to 210 cm – and the product pictures show low cars instead of a bus. The construction itself has probably not changed much, the name is the same apart from the II, and the range given still covers a bus as well. So we simply think it is stated more clearly today what fits. At least nobody has to ask about smaller vehicles the way we did back then.
Setup and first impression
We pitched it for the first time at Cap de l'Homy on the French Atlantic coast. And with the tent itself we were happy right away. The build quality is good, the setup works well, and the size is actually perfect – the packed size is fine too if you want to take it along. The equipment with the doors, the windows and everything else fits, and so do the guy lines and poles. And honestly, we simply liked how it looks.
Connecting it to the car
Our big point of criticism is the connection to the vehicle. It really is adjustable, as promised – but it takes a lot of fiddling until everything sits properly on the car. The side panels have to be guyed down, the lines to the front run over the car, and all in all it takes quite a while. That was the first disappointment: you cannot pitch this quickly.
Basically that is probably just how it is. A tent that is supposed to fit such a wide range of vehicles does not fit any of them perfectly – and the further you are from the size shown in the marketing pictures, the more you notice it.
Freestanding it is convincing
What does work really well is the tent on its own. Without the car it stands there cleanly, can be used just as well, and looks good doing it – here at the Dune du Pilat. If you are looking for a tent that you can also detach and simply leave standing, this is exactly it.
The details
From the inside the tent also feels like a quality product. The seams are cleanly made, the zips run smoothly, and nothing feels cheaply put together.
The side panels can be rolled up and fixed with toggles. That is well solved and quick to do.
The lower part of the side panels with the Vango print is nicely made too. There is really nothing to complain about when it comes to quality.
Too warm in the sun, a big plus in the rain
All tailgate tents share one disadvantage: it heats up underneath straight away. The extra space is of course practical, but it also gets very warm very quickly.
Of course you stand inside a tent under something like this – that is what it is for. What we did not expect is how much it would still bother us. Our rear kitchen sits at the back of the car, so everything you do there, you do inside the tent. And the free feeling that we like so much about camping was simply missing. It did have its advantages: we were a bit shielded from the road and still had a great view. But for cooking we would have preferred to stand in the open.
In bad weather it is completely the other way round though. When it rains or when it is cold, a tailgate tent really plays out its big strength: you can still cook outside, sit down and make yourself comfortable instead of hiding in the car. That is exactly why you buy a tent like this, and that is where it convinced us too. The only catch is that rain likes to come together with wind – and then it gets tricky again.
The flapping – and why we sold it again
The real reason why we did not keep the tent is a different one though: the wind. We guyed it down properly and fastened everything well, but as soon as there is even a bit of wind – it does not have to be stormy at all – the tent flaps. It is not loud, it was never that windy where we were. It is more this constant, slightly slapping noise every few seconds, a sound you simply do not have otherwise. And when you sleep in the car, you lie right next to this connecting piece. In the long run it simply annoyed us.
The problem is the connection itself: it does not close completely. When the wind pulls along the car, the fabric moves, and you cannot really prevent that, unless you attach the tent to the car in a different way. But it is not made for that. In stronger wind it would get louder accordingly, and strictly speaking you would have to detach the tent from the car and let it stand free; freestanding it can probably take quite a lot. We do not want to know what happens in a real storm – it would probably not last long.
In the end that is why we decided not to keep it, and sold it again.
Verdict
The Vango Tailgate Hub Low is a well-made tent. Build quality, size, equipment and packed size are all right, in rain or cold the covered space is worth a lot, and as a freestanding tent we would buy it again anytime. In practice it still did not work for us, at least not with a smaller vehicle like the Caddy. Setting it up on the car is fiddly, and the flapping in the wind disturbed our sleep. For the connection to the vehicle we would like a much better solution. Three stars: more for the tent itself, less for the combination with the car.