Thule Panorama Room

I have just spent a full day erecting one on a caravan with a Thule wind out canopy. Size 4.5 wide x 2.5 deep.

To be fair this was my first time erecting  one of these, but It's very fiddly and the instructions are vague (pics only), and in some bits downright misleading. There is a video available on Youtube which helps a bit, but it differs from the booklet instructions so causes confusion. 

The kit itself is reasonable quality, except the zips that are thin, low quality and stubborn to get started, and most of the metal components had scuffs and scratches out of the box. The pegs provided are only fit for the scrap heap, some being of the flimsy (and completely useless) thin wire type and the others the flat pressed metal type. For £2.5k I expected proper useable rock pegs and I think it is disgraceful that Thule stoops to this level of penny-pinching.

The design is far from perfect e.g., the seal between the top of the bar that seals the sides to the caravan and the canopy casing is by means of a little block of foam stuck to the top bracket which is not the correct shape so lets in a draught. The weathering skirts at the bottom of the panels are cut to some weird and wonderful shapes in the corners so unless you happen to be an origami wizard you will struggle to work out how they should be configured!

Overall I wish I hadn't bought it. I thought it would be easier to erect than a full awning but it isn't - over the many years I've been motorhoming/caravanning I have owned many awnings and all of them have been much quicker and easier to erect that this Panorama. 

 

Thanks for your honest feedback. My local dealer has offered to do the initial fit and give an hours hands on training to get us used to setting it up.

Did you buy online and fit yourself?

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Thanks David for the feedback. Our thoughts exactly on the flexibility of use and have also been told that the design and weight of the side supports are much improved. We will keep our small 3.5m Outdoor Revolution air awning, this will be to replace a 4.5m Kampa Motor Air which is very heavy indeed, so hardly used.

Funny this should pop up just now after I have just posted under the 'awnings and strong wind' thread.  I have just bought the Thule Veduta 4.5m to fit onto an Omnistor which the dealer is fitting next month when the van goes in for service.  I was really beginning to struggle, lifting and pulling the air awning - particularly the Kampa 390 Grande - along the awning track and thought this would be easier. The Veduta is a newish model - only been out a couple of years, I understand and, unlike the Panorama, has a sloping front and looks much more like a 'conventional' awning. The two bags it comes in are heavy but the various bits, taken separately, are individually quite light and certainly manageable. The Veduta obviously has a different type of seal against the van from the Panorama because these are flexible plastic ones the spread out against the side of the van and give a perfect seal along the full length.  I am also impressed with the double mud skirt around the bottom of the awning.

Agree about the pegs - the steel ones are so heavy but not a replacement for rock pegs of which we have loads already and certainly no use on grass pitches so I will continue to use the plastic Kampa pegs for that.

In terms of cost - although expensive - they are not that expensive as compared to others.  I got a shock a month ago when in a dealers and saw that the Kampa we had paid just over £1000 for, four years ago, was now just under £1900!! The dealer from whom I bought the Veduta was telling me that they have been absorbing price rises for a while - but more are on the way - so if you're going to get one - don't hang about!

Thanks for the feedback and have decided to go for it as I managed to get the dealers NEC show price and show offers. we will have it fitted on 1st Nov.

A tip on pegs on the awning legs, I use the Peggy Peg Fix and Go Anchor Plate and they really do made a solid and secure connection.

Link here https://uk.peggypeg.shop/collections/all/products/fix-and-go-anchor-plate

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We contemplated this option but cost and infrequency of use for us made us go for the Thule quick fit option. Only need when grandchildren come along, possible just two or three trips a year. At about a third of the price and, if ever  required, you could drop the awning and wind in the canopy in a less than 5 minutes (Gale or emergency drive off). Do like it though, with its inner sleeping room erected at night for the kids.

https://www.thule.com/en-gb/van-accessories/tents/thule-quickfit-260-m-medium-_-307056

All these options are oK for a motorhome with a boot - but a bundle of wet canvas in the living area of a smaller van conversion motorhome on a rainy day wouldn’t please me 

Mine will travel in its water proof bag in between the seats or in the back on the floor. Have stored it under the van when not in use on site. No problems there.