The Autohome Advantage
Why Autohome? Because Autohome is the Original. “Maggiolina” and “Air-Camping” are an historical synonym for roof tents. An original Italian invention from 1958, the Autohome roof top tent has been the companion of adventurers, explorers and travelers around the world for well over sixty years. The idea of a roof mounted tent spawned from extraordinary intuition of that time, based on the newly born mass car-tourism market, that identified a natural sense of freedom and independence that came with vehicles.
Since 1958, Autohome was the first roof top tents in the world, designed, patented, and mass produced.
We go into depth why Autohome is the worlds leader in rooftop tents and thoroughly test them with competing products.
Autohome Difference:
- Experience and quality makes a difference
- Autohome Tent Guarantees Certified Quality and Safety
- Autohome Guarantees 5* Years of Warranty.
- Diverse Variety of Formats, Colors, and Sizes of Available.
Competitor Product Comparison & Testing:
The Condensation and Heat Solution Testing:
Experience and quality makes a difference.
Autohome has always been “number 1” when it comes to experience and quality because of their unique combination of imagination, passion, and craftsmanship. With deep and proud roots in Italy, Autohome tents are the direct reflection of the scrupulous attention to detail, taste, and design that comes with a “Made in Italy" label.
Hand in hand with this unparalleled Italian quality, is the 60 plus years of experience and first-hand recommendations from adventurers and travelers, like those from the legendary Nino Carini, to make Autohome tents the durable, ergonomic, and state-of-the-art roof top tents they are today.
Autohome Tent Guarantees Certified Quality and Safety.
Autohome is committed to constant research and innovation: the exceptional level of safety and quality is recognized by the prestigious International Certification of TÜV SÜD Rheinland.
The diverse range of Autohome roof tents is certified and guaranteed to have passed the stringent tests required by TÜV SÜD and other impartial quality and product Certification Bodies.
Precisely the TÜV SÜD is the only certification that guarantees the quality of the tent and its safety while driving.
Most Autohome products have successfully passed the following TÜV SÜD Rheinland tests:
- Test to 3.8 standard of DIN 75302/02.91;
- Test to 3.9.2 standard of DIN 75302/02.91;
- Test to 3.9.3 standard of DIN 75302/02.91;
- Test to 3.9.4 standard of DIN 75302/02.91;
- Certificate number: AK 60024834 0001;
- The authorities can check for forged certificates;
- Professional buyers often select suppliers and products on the basis of quality/safety certificates;
- End users prefer certified products because they are a “safer” choice.
WARNING
There are roof tents on the market that do not have any real product certification. Beware of certifications such as ISO 9001 that some sellers advertise. The ISO or International Organization for Standardization does not perform certification or issue certificates. The international standard that the ISO has developed, such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, are not at all a guarantee of quality and security of the tent you are going to buy.
On the contrary, Autohome roof tents have passed stringent quality tests of the materials used, carried out in the laboratories of qualified Bodies, including the German TÜV SÜD.
Autohome Guarantees 5* Years of Warranty.
Each Autohome product has been made with attention to the smallest detail, using the most suitable materials for its use. Sixty years in manufacturing enables Autohome to adopt the best tested materials for different climatic and travel conditions. “Autohome Quality” controls guarantee a product without material or packaging defects. (*)Guarantee
Diverse Variety of Formats, Colors, and Sizes of Available.
Autohome has four main tent models: Maggiolina, Airtop, Columbus, and soft shell tents.
Of course, once you have made your decision on a tent model, your choices don’t end there. To fit your specific travel needs, each model has varying sizes from small, medium, to large, so you can make sure that your travel partners are properly accounted for. Additionally, you can further customize your tent by choosing a shell and fabric color from Autohome's wide range of available colors. Shell colors for hard shell tents, are all factory-made using Gelcoat®.
Competitor Product Comparison & Testing
Being #1 in sales means leading the market and facing the challenge of competitors and imitators.
They do not always provide accurate figures. So Autohome has published the true comparison between Autohome and a similar but competing product.
Autohome has excluded all aesthetic considerations, which are important but cannot be measured objectively. Their tests focus on practicality and the functioning of the tent, and that means the fabric.
The Fabric
ANALYSIS OF A COMPETITOR’S FABRIC AND THE ORIGINAL AUTOHOME TENT FABRIC®
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Competitor Baroud fabric -
Autohome® fabric - Original tent
According to the Autohome technical team: a bivouac fabric should not be waterproof or “hermetically sealed”.
If it were that, it would be suffocating. It should be breathable, especially because the sleeping area is very small. Every square centimeter of the fabric should help the natural change of air, for genuine well-being.
For comfort and well-being, only a highly breathable fabric and the rapid expulsion of water vapor can achieve this. Technically speaking, a slightly breathable fabric increases condensation, moisture and heat, as any serious manufacturer knows.
Breathability
Test to measure the transit speed of the air from the inside to the outside. Method: UNI EN ISO 9237/97
The result is clear and unequivocal. Air does not pass through the competitors fabric.
This should not be overlooked because non-breathability increases moisture, condensation and heat, making the environment unhealthy.
Alternatives to breathable fabrics, such as moving the air with some mechanism, may help a little, but they do not improve comfort much and do little to contribute to health.
Healthy camping is impossible without breathability. The lack of breathability is serious and compromises health: in normal conditions, at rest, the human body loses a third of a litre of water overnight, and – without breathability - this moisture is trapped inside the tent, creating droplets on the inner walls.
The second attempt to solve the problem adopted by the competitor is to increase the number of zips and openings, to ventilate the environment. But this means you are sleeping in contact with the outer environment, which may cold, be lit up and it may be raining.
Whereas Autohome DRALON® is a highly breathable fabric that allows the tent to "breathe" naturally.
This is the essential feature of the extraordinary quality of the fabric used by Autohome. Heat, moisture and condensation can escape from the tent naturally: 24/7. A precious fabric and a must for Autohome®, which has used it since 1980, despite the extra cost.
Waterproofing
Test that measures wettability when a fabric is used vertically, expressed from 0 to 5. Method: UNI EN ISO 4920/13
The competitor’s fabric becomes wetter and its stitching is less secure. A plasticized, dry fabric is more rigid and difficult to stitch: the holes made by the needle tend to stretch due to the tension and traction of the tent, so rainwater can get in.
The competitor’s tent is shown with dangerous stitching where the fabric is attached to the shell. Trying to tape over the holes does not help: and proper maintenance with resin or silicone needs to be repeated often.
Autohome DRALON® fabric is highly water resistant. The fiber is soft and compatible with stitching. The stitch holes remain minute and do not let in rainwater. The stitch thread naturally expands in the rain, covering the holes entirely.
Heatproofing
Test that measures the heat resistance of the fabric in relation to heat loss from the tent. Method: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-lab
