Camping in-car sleeping

I posted about a trip to the Eastern Wheatbelt, and fuel consumption of the new Kia Picanto:

• Tin Horse Highway — February 26, 2026

...5.3 litres/100km. Yeah, but I have just got back from a 1,300 km trip, and look at this:

...the trip was east from Perth, to Coolgardie in the Goldfields, return via Kulin in the Eastern Wheatbelt. Drove between 90 - 110 km/h, with air conditioning on most of the way. 4.8 litres/100km (49 mpg), is that true?

A new car has a "run in" period, in which fuel consumption improves slightly; I saw a figure of 0.1 litres/100km. Maybe that's the reason for the improvement, else the readout is wrong.

On the first trip, sleeping in the car was uncomfortable, so made significant changes. Firstly, there is a need for ventilation, but it must be secure, keep out the mosquitoes and rain. I bought a pair of window vents, for a GWM Tank 300 as that looked like the closest fit:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009427272351.html

Had to rivet some aluminium on the ends, glued insect mesh on the inside, and it works OK:

...not perfect, but OK. Could make them from scratch, to be an exact fit, but this will do for now.

To achieve sufficient length for a bed, I thought it would be necessary to take out the entire back seat; however, then realised that the back-rests can be removed independently, leaving the rest of the seat installed. So took out the back-rest of the back seat, passenger-side -- quite easy to do, just remove two bolts and disconnect the middle seat-belt.

Bought chipboard from Bunnings, 1800x600x12 mm, cut it to fit, painted black. Fits real nice:

...the chipboard is supported at the tail-end by a storage box underneath, and folding camping-bed and chair on the front seat. Very stable, and easy to enter and exit the bed via the driver's seat.

Note that the front passenger seat has not been removed; it is still there, just fully reclined.

Already have a foam mattress that have used with the camping-bed on previous camping trips, in a tent. It is 1900x600x75 mm:

The mattress folds up, and the down-quilt and pillow stow neatly in front:

This bedding arrangement completely transforms the sleeping-in-the-car experience. Very comfy, just like a regular bed. A slight criticism is that the 3-inch thick mattress could do with a bit more padding, either higher-density foam, or maybe a yoga-mat underneath. A minor criticism, it was OK. A positive comment: a foam mattress is a much better experience than an air mattress.

As mentioned above, getting in and out of the bed is very easy, via the driver's seat. Just a matter of lifting the bum up and across, no crawling in or out.

The above photos were taken at the Boorabbin campsite, on the Great Eastern Highway, east of Southern Cross:

Also bought a tray that clips onto the steering wheel, so can use the laptop while sitting in the driver's seat. Haven't tested that yet. The Bluetti power box sits on the floor in front of the front-passenger seat.

Envisage two different modes of car camping. One, is to camp somewhere with a tent setup, and stay there for sometime. Likely, that will be a trip to a coastal campsite. Second, on-the-go, driving a long distance and just needing to park overnight. The latter example, planning to drive across the Nullarbor Plain to South Australia later this year, and will just pull into a roadhouse in the evening, have a meal, sleep in the car, take off the next morning -- that is a journey of about 2,500km each way.

It should be noted also, I packed everything for the alternative of tent-based camping. Folding camp-bed, folding chair, tent, all packed in the car. The only extras still to be added are a folding solar panel and folding table; the latter is a design that rolls up very small, so easy to pack into the car -- that is still stuck at an airport in China awaiting a flight -- the delay is due to the Chinese annual 2-week holiday, in which almost everything stops.

Amazing, all of this stuff fits in; who needs an RV?!

A comment about using a "city car" for country driving. I once owned a Holden Camira, with 2.0 litre engine, and it was a delight on country roads. A little car does have much better fuel economy, but steering is a bit "twitchy" and the ride not so smooth. The small engine is not so good on hills; have to change down to a lower gear and speed sometimes. But overall OK; mostly I have owned small cars, and prefer them.   

Tags: nomad