Fiamma Side wall and front for the original VW T5 awning

[tnede]

Hi

I have been looking into buying the Fiamma side wall and front blocker. Does anyone have experience with this solution?

1. How does it attach to the rigth side (locking towards the car, the one not depicted below)? I wonder if it attches rigth at the end of the awning and not around the support beam as most solutions and therby provides the app. 30 cm more space inside the awning. I have not been able to find any pictures of that.

2. How much space does it take up when packed in the car?

3. In the Fiamma papers it says that it mounts to the Thule Omnistor 5102, but that should to my knowledge be the same as the original VW factory fitted awning rigth?

Just to be clear the part numbers that I am considering is
- Side W Pro F45 VW T5*, 97961-11-

- Blocker Pro 260 Van*, 97960-13-

 

[Goldie]

Hi Tnede,

Welcome.

Can't answer all your questions, but to be honest we haven't had much debate on the Fiamma awnings on here.

Looks to be light and open, more of an awning with front and slide (back) closure, rather than something you can close off completely. I looked at a number of awnings and in the end went for the Comfortz one from Nick. I wanted to stick a Porta Potti, chairs, cooker, table, etc. into it at night as I've got a Beach. But unlike the Fiamma it doesn't go end to end, so a little bit smaller. I've attached some pics and you'll see that opening to the very front of the fixed awning would prevent the drivers door opening. On the Fiamma picture this is left open., the Comfortz awning fits nicely between drivers door and sliding door.

The Comfortz one is made from heavy duty material and when packed is about 500mm square by around 80mm deep, but flexible and easy to store.

 

[Les]

Hi

I have been looking into buying the Fiamma side wall and front blocker. Does anyone have experience with this solution?

1. How does it attach to the rigth side (locking towards the car, the one not depicted below)? I wonder if it attches rigth at the end of the awning and not around the support beam as most solutions and therby provides the app. 30 cm more space inside the awning. I have not been able to find any pictures of that.

2. How much space does it take up when packed in the car?

3. In the Fiamma papers it says that it mounts to the Thule Omnistor 5102, but that should to my knowledge be the same as the original VW factory fitted awning rigth?

Just to be clear the part numbers that I am considering is
- Side W Pro F45 VW T5*, 97961-11-

- Blocker Pro 260 Van*, 97960-13-

View attachment 8093
View attachment 8094

View attachment 8091View attachment 8092

Hi
Did you purchase the Fiamma side in the end? If so how did you find fitting it?

 

[tnede]

Hi Les

I have not bougth it yet still considering pros and cons. I was still hoping to find someone on this site that had tried it out. I will let you know how it fits if I end up buying the Fiamma kit.

 

[Skylark2.0]

The fiamma one looks prettier but I have a feeling that the sides are handed so you need to buy a left and a right. I want just one, so want one side that will fit both sides. Can someone who has one comment?

 

[tnede]

Hi

After quite some internet serach I gave up and contacted Fiamma tech support and they supplied me with the manual here attached.

Bottomline is:
- It does attach to Thule Omnistor 5102 (AKA the factory fitted VW T5 awning)
- The same side wall can be used to both left and rigth side (mounting is a bit different though on the two sides refer to the mounting manual)

I have not bougth it yet but it is a serious contender, for me the pros and cons are.

Pros:
- extends the space beacuse it goes all the way to the end
- maybe a more sturdy mounting due to the tension rafter
- more open design with big windows

Cons

- Looks to take up more space than some of the others
- Access to the front door is blocked
- no blinds to close the windows for privacy

 

[Goldie]

I think the cons outweigh the pros. Access to the door is probably okay if you are left hand drive as the awning in on the passenger side. Privacy is quite important as the Cali is not a large vehicle, so the awning is good to store things in at night.
Although you could fit two end pieces there doesn't seem to be door for access.

Did you get a price?

After that post I did a search.
http://www.thefiammacentre.co.uk/awning-blockers/awning-blockers-side.html
http://www.thefiammacentre.co.uk/awning-blockers/awning-blockers-front.html

and whole program for the T5.
http://www.thefiammacentre.co.uk/fiamma-vw-t5-program.html

Andy

 

[jamesC]

Sorry just edited ,my post as realised you know this already!!

 

[Les]

Here are some pictures of the Fiamma side on the Cali awning.

 

[AndyFromTheBrac]

Here are some pictures of the Fiamma side on the Cali awning

Les would you mind me asking which kit you bought? I'm seeing ones for F45's or Omnistore 5002/3 plus fitting/adaptor kit?

thanks, Andy

 

[Les]

Les would you mind me asking which kit you bought? I'm seeing ones for F45's or Omnistore 5002/3 plus fitting/adaptor kit?

thanks, Andy

It is the Fiamma Side W Pro F45 VW T5. There is a PDF copy of the install in an earlier post of this thread. If you only want one side to use either end then I can post a picture of the mod to save modifying the pole as in the instructions.

 

[AndyFromTheBrac]

Hi Les
Yes I just want to use one side, with the front blocker to create an open-sided wind/rain shelter

Pics would be great. Thanks!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[AndyFromTheBrac]

Cons
- Access to the front door is blocked

I wouldn't think this is much of a problem as when pitched up, the drivers seat is swivelled and prevents using the front door properly anyway.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Richard Newell]

Hi Tnede,

Welcome.

Can't answer all your questions, but to be honest we haven't had much debate on the Fiamma awnings on here.

Looks to be light and open, more of an awning with front and slide (back) closure, rather than something you can close off completely. I looked at a number of awnings and in the end went for the Comfortz one from Nick. I wanted to stick a Porta Potti, chairs, cooker, table, etc. into it at night as I've got a Beach. But unlike the Fiamma it doesn't go end to end, so a little bit smaller. I've attached some pics and you'll see that opening to the very front of the fixed awning would prevent the drivers door opening. On the Fiamma picture this is left open., the Comfortz awning fits nicely between drivers door and sliding door.

The Comfortz one is made from heavy duty material and when packed is about 500mm square by around 80mm deep, but flexible and easy to store.

View attachment 8099

View attachment 8100

Hi Goldie,

I am contemplating buying one of the Comfortz awnings. Is it much of a pain to take down if you want to use the van to travel somewhere for the day? The video on their website makes it look very easy but I just wanted to get a "real user" view.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[lynne]

Here are some pictures of the Fiamma side on the Cali awning.View attachment 8860 View attachment 8861 View attachment 8862 View attachment 8863

Hi
Still on with trying to get my awning to fit, Did you fit something onto the end of the spike ( 3rd picture) as I dont have that light brown fitting on mine, also did you find that it was really hard to push the poles in to get them to fit?
Do you have any pictures for the other side please? as the shock absorber is about 1foot away from the end? so pole is not long enough?
Thank you for any help you can give
Lynne

 

[Smiffy4bikes]

I'm following this thread with interest as I'm also looking at purchasing a side, or two for my T6 to attach to the VW factory fit awning. (when it arrives that is...)

I'm not going to buy a drive-away awning as I've done that in the past and I don't want the faff of lining the bus up, not to mention the fabric rubbing on the paintwork!

I like the look of the Fiamma over the Comfortz side panels, if only because of the lighter colour.

However, does anyone know, is the VW awning the same on the T6 as it is on the T5? In other words, will these Fiamma side panels fit the T6 awning?

 

[Hotel California]

@Smiffy4bikes , the awing that comes factory fitted is not Fiamma but Thule

 

[Smiffy4bikes]

Thanks HC, I know that, but my point is that some have fitted the Fiamma side panels to the VW (Thule) awning?

Or, have I read it completely wrong...

 

[Hotel California]

If the 6th post above is correct it can ...
I belive it it just a pole you put between the awning afther you wind it out .
On that horizontal,pole you put a side panel.
It probally fits all...

 

[andyinluton]

I'm not sure about the fiamma blockers, but I tried to fit a Fiamma privacy room onto the Thule/Omnistore awning & couldn't get it to fit. There are supposed to be some adapters available but never managed to get hold of one that fitted.
The fixing points on the awning casing & the front rail of the awning have different shaped slots on the different makes of awning & the horizontal bars that support the sides of the privacy room don't fit.

 

[briwy]

The same can be done with the Comfortz kit.
We use telescopic clothes props, £3 from Wilco, to hang the end panels from rather than the awning rails.
Also our Comfortz is light grey, same colour as the Fiamma in the pictures.

 

[PudnBob]

I'm following this thread with interest as I'm also looking at purchasing a side, or two for my T6 to attach to the VW factory fit awning. (when it arrives that is...)

I'm not going to buy a drive-away awning as I've done that in the past and I don't want the faff of lining the bus up, not to mention the fabric rubbing on the paintwork!

I like the look of the Fiamma over the Comfortz side panels, if only because of the lighter colour.

However, does anyone know, is the VW awning the same on the T6 as it is on the T5? In other words, will these Fiamma side panels fit the T6 awning?

Hi I have been trawling through all the threads I can possibly find as we too like the look of the Fiamma panels. Can I ask what you ended up choosing as it's now August 17!! We are 10 days away from collecting our T6 Cali and are trying to sort out last bits. Many thanks

 

[Smiffy4bikes]

Hi I have been trawling through all the threads I can possibly find as we too like the look of the Fiamma panels. Can I ask what you ended up choosing as it's now August 17!! We are 10 days away from collecting our T6 Cali and are trying to sort out last bits. Many thanks

10 days, how exciting!!

Well after much deliberation (faffing!) over it, I bought one Brandrup side panel and a separate tent.

The Brandrup panel is expensive at £150, but, you get what you pay for, its a great bit of kit and will most likely last as long as the van. It takes literally a couple of minutes to attach/remove, so if you want to go out for the day its do-able. I decided against purchasing a second one as personally I found the space by using two limited, due to them being attached to the outward struts as opposed to the exact sides of the roll-out factory awning.

The panel also has the added advantage of making the roll-out awning more secure in windy weather, as you are effectively pegging that side down.

So for a stay up to two nights I just use the side panel.



I really didn’t want to get an awning as they take up a lot of space when folded and, more to the point, I didn’t want anything rubbing on the paintwork. The separate tent was purchased from Decathlon and cost £99. Bargain. Takes up little space when folded and weighs about 11kg. It's that easy to put up I leave my 14yr old twins to do it on their own! So, any stays more than 3 nights, and we use the tent as well.

It has a central living area and a bedroom either side. I cook in the central bit with a camp kitchen an 2-burner stove, and use the bedrooms (usually just one) to store everything else, which again make going out for the day much easier as you don’t have to continually empty the van of all the ‘stuff’.

The pup tent that you can see in this pic was used by my daughter as after all that she didn’t want to sleep in the bigger tent! I put it under the awning at night to give her some protection from the rain, and just slide it out of the way in the morning.




And lastly, I also bought a ‘Fresh Tarp’ from Decathlon ( a mere £25!) and sewed a Kador strip along one edge. This fits into the channel on the roll-out awning and then can be used as you can see in the pic below. Its brilliant as it gives me loads more protected space, and again, folds up very small, so easy peasy to simply keep in the van.



Hopefully that will help you decide! Enjoy the new Cali, it will change your life forever

Carole x

 

[T6 CFO]

Very nice set up


Mike

 

[bvddobb]

Re. the room under the awning: we use the awning from california-camping.de. The interesting thing about their set up is that you can have seperate triangle shaped extensions of your side panels (they 'bolt on' using velcro). With the extensions, the side and front panels do not go straight down, but at an angle, making for a much larger 'footprint' under your awning.

Below you see our van with just one side set up thus (the 'windows' in the panel are an option). We also have a front panel that can be attached to it (not in this picture). Than you have a wider tent.