Hi Paul,
I spent ages trying to decide what roof tent to buy, and then largely
based on comments and great reviews I read on a number of web forums,
I recently bought an almost brand new Maggiolina Grand Tour medium on
eBay for GBP 1050. I've only used it once but I am absolutely
delighted with it.
I was a bit concerned about lack of roof height, the un-aerodynamic
shape of the tent and hence performance in a wind, and also the
water-proofness or condensation problems as there is no fly sheet. My
concerns were unfounded. I used it on a stormy night near Buxton in
the Peak District and it performed brilliantly.
The medium size fits perfectly on an 80 roof. They feel much larger
when you are inside than you would expect looking at the dimensions,
or looking at one from the outside. I'm 6ft and can comfortably sit up
inside it, and can stretch out fine too. Width-wise it is also fine
for me and my girlfriend, and we are both "extra-large".
It blew a gale and pissed down with rain on the one night I tried it,
but there was little flapping canvas, it didn't feel like it would
blow down and it remained water tight but without condensation inside.
The mattress is comfortable and the ability to leave bedding and stuff
inside if great, I like it that you can use regular bedding rather
than sleeping bags. However if you are sleeping under a duvet and
parked on a camp site you need to remember not to leave the side door
open all the way else other camp site users may see two moons in the
sky.
There are only two drawbacks that I can see. First is that the side
doors do not zip closed along the bottom, presumably to stop you
suffocating yourself. When it really blows a gale and rains "uphill",
a little rain can blow up under the door flap, but it's not really a
problem.
The second is that it totally covers a normal size roof rack so you
can't put anything else on the roof. You can get a kit to put stuff on
top of the tent, but nothing heavy. This is probably a good thing as
it stops you putting heavy items on top of the vehicle anyway.
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Andy Haxby
Macclesfield UK and Den Haag NL
HDJ81 with mods.