Khyam Motordome Classic vs Vango Air Away Sapera STD

[Bally2811]

Having owned both these awning all be it the vango for only a weekend now i thought id write a quick review on our findings.

Price
Now it would seem at first glance that the Kyham is considerably cheaper (£370 vs £570), which it is on headline price. However when you consider that the Kyham does not include a ground sheet or inner tent then (approx £80 for both) the price seems a lot closer (£450 vs £570). Vango operate quite a strict policy with regards discounted on line prices but with a bit of research you should be able to get the Vango down to make the price difference around the £60 mark).
Kyham wins
Kyham 1, Vango 0

Value for Money
Ok with a price differential of around £60 the next question i had, is the Vango worth it? In short id say absolutely, and for one single reason, the built in ground sheet! We have just spent 4 days on the south coast in the Vango and as it rained heavily for the whole time we were there. As such the built in ground sheet was a life saver! I'd also say that as the vango is built a little better comes with the pump, mallet and a whole bunch of fixing straps id say the vango just edges it.
Vango wins
Kyham 1, Vango 1

Putting them up
This is the most interesting part. You will read and video clips that both can be put up in 10 mins, well i must admit that this was unachievable for me with both awnings. Now maybe I'm rubbish but id say it will take about at least 20-25 mins each, longer if you like to argue with your helper Once you get your head around the fact that the Vango is held up with air and focus on the actual construction is actually quite easy and i found the approach of actually not pegging down and simply attaching the figure of eight to the roll out awning the best and pumping up to be the best. The Khyam is also as good with the spiders web type construction and again goes up with min fuss.
Draw
Kyham1, Vango 1

Packing them up
The Vango is very easy, simply let the air out and roll up, The Kyham take a bit of getting used to with the leg layout and you need to be careful on how you you this as if you bend one of the legs the wrong way you could break it. All in all not much between them again, but i'd say the Vango is easier.
Vango wins
Kyham1, Vango 2

Weight
No doubt about it the Kyham is lighter, i tried to weigh them both but failed in my attempts, id say the vango is roughly 5 kgs lighter.
Kyham wins
Kyham 2, Vango 2

Storage Size
Ive read reports on how much the smaller the tango is than the Khyam and be honest i didn't really notice until i was packing up the van, the main benefit her for California owners is the length of the tango when packed up, it leaves plenty of space to allow full usage of the gap between the seat and the kitchen units which is perfect for the awning carpet we bought which is a must as far as I'm concerned. If however its m3 you are interested in then id say they are about the same as whilst the vango is shorter when rolled up it is thicker!
Draw
Kyham 2, Vango 2

Summary
So as you will see there in not much in this, as both are excellent awnings. my conclusion and summary is based upon my rational for buying the Vango (she i owns the Kyham at the time) and for me it comes down to the integrated ground sheet, its easier to pickup and whilst not much in it i found it a bit easier to construct.
Vango Wins

This is my own personal view and hope you find it useful!

Cheers
David

 

[Pollychops]

What a great assessment, thanks for posting this on. :clap

 

[briwy]

We have a Khyam and were considering a Vango just for the ease of putting up and getting rid of poles.
However what put me off is the fact that as you say it does have a built in groundsheet. For us this is a nuisance as we use the awning for cooking and hanging wet clothes, dunping walking boots etc.
I can understand that if the awning is used for sleeping then the groundsheet is good.
One annoying thing we find with all modern awnings is that as the doors all seem to be on a slope if it's raining water immediately comes in when you open the door so we use a bit of cheap green tarpaulin pegged down away from the doorways.