- Despite a sleeping width of 47 inches, the Thule Tepui Foothill shrinks down to 24 inches when traveling, about half the width of a standard roof rack, leaving more room to carry the outdoor equipment you'll want while you're out camping.
- The Tepui requires using preinstalled mounting rails for enough support—but there's no limit on how small your vehicle can be and still carry this tent on top.
- While not cheap, at $1700, the Tepui Foothill is—fittingly—about half the price of some of Thule's larger offerings.
Some partners hog the bed, but it's not every day that you can move the bed in such a way that you make room for everyone. If we imagine the couple in question includes a tent and a bike rack (or a tent and a kayak), then the new Thule Tepui Foothill vehicle rooftop tent offers just that kind of flexibility.
Thule introduced the Tepui Foothill today, and it's different than the company's other car-mounted sleeping options because of the way it hangs off the side of the roof. When closed, the Tepui Foothill is only 24 inches wide, about half the size of most rooftop tents. This allows off-roaders to carry other equipment (such as bikes or surfboards) on the half of the roof rack that isn't taken over by the tent. When the tent unfolds to its full 47-inch width, it does so away from the center of the vehicle thanks to preinstalled mounting rails and telescoping internal frame poles that allow one person to set it up unassisted. Despite that, the 110-pound, 83-inch-long Tepui Foothill sleeps two adults (up to a total weight of 400 pounds) and can be mounted on either side of a vehicle.
A spokesperson told Car and Driver that there are "no limitations on vehicle size—it was designed for the smaller-car market," so you don't need to own an SUV to use it. Thule went with preinstalled rails to make the Tepui Foothill light enough and strong enough. The rails also make shipping safer and installation easier, Thule said. The Tepui Foothill comes with a high-density foam mattress and a rain fly, and there are unsurprisingly a number of official accessories available. Thule sells fitted sheets and a tent insulator for cold nights in the Tepui Foothill, as well as anti-condensation mats and lighting kits.
Thule sells a range of roof-rack tents, including the Tepui Low-Pro two-person ($1500) or three-person ($1850) options, the compact Tepui HyBox ($3000), and the Tepui Ruggedized Autana 3 ($2750) for SUVs and trucks.
The Thule Tepui Foothill will cost $1700 and goes on sale in February 2021.