Rig for tall people

[JarnoG]

Hi,
I'm new to overlanding and am currently figuring out what I want. I live in the Netherlands, so I'm looking for a vehicle that's available around here. I'm going to use it as a basecamp for backpacking and hiking, so it needs to be able to take me to out there for a while, but I'm not expecting to get onto very hard trails or trips more than a month long. It's also going to be my daily driver, so decent fuel efficiency would be nice. I'd love to make a sleeping platform in the back, but that might require a vehicle that's too large for my previous wish, so I'll have to figure something out for that.

I've got a whole lot of ideas, but I figured I should start with the important part: I need a car that I can comfortably fit in. I'm 2m (6'7") tall and found that most cars just don't have enough legroom to comfortably sit in for an extended period of time. I know that in the end, I'll have to sit in it to know if it's going to be a comfortable ride, but I'm looking for a way to narrow down the number of cars I have to try. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find much information on the interior dimensions of vehicles to estimate the leg space.

Does anyone know of a resource where I can find useful information that would help me here? Or alternatively, does anyone have experience with this and is willing to share some tips?

 

[socal66]

Google is your friend here just type something like what are the front legroom dimensions for a 2023 Toyota Tacoma and you'll get the answer. Sites like Edmunds.com have specs for pretty much all vehicles by model year (at least in US) and will have legroom specs along with cargo area, etc. I am tall as well (6'5") and have the same issues. I drive a Jeep Wrangler which had enough legroom but wasn't comfortable on long drives. An aftermarket product that raised my seat (seat jackers) from Desert Does It adjusted my seat rake and made things much better. If you do some searching there are products like this for many different models from that firm and others that alter the seat position that can make things better as well.

 

[El-Dracho]

Hi Jarno,

It's always difficult to say which rig is best for someone. You can only figure that out for yourself. You'll find lots of suggestions here in the forum. Or you can just come to our meetups, where you'll see lots of different rigs and be able to talk to their owners. You can find the upcoming meetups here in the list of rally points.

Greetings from Germany,
Bjoern

 

[JarnoG]

Thanks for the replies!

@socal66 I found Google is a lot less my friend when I'm looking for European models. Its AI overview usually comes up with things like "the official front legroom dimension isn't directly available but its interior is described as feeling spacious" and the search results don't offer much more. Thanks for the tip on Edmunds.com. I hadn't found that one yet, I'll see what I can find there.

@El-Dracho Yeah, there are lots of options and it's hard to narrow it down. Visiting a meetup is a good idea. I see there are a few planned in the area, I'll see if I can make it to one of those.

 

[WinterfellJK]

I'm 6'6" and I drive my 2013 two door Jeep Wrangler comfortably. My head is close to the ceiling, but the leg room is good with the seat adjusted all the way back. Maybe they are available in the Netherlands to sit in. I've slept on the floor in the back diagonally a few nights with the rear seat removed and the passenger seat tilted and slid forward. It works, but I wouldn't recommend it. Maybe a platform would offer a little more space to sleep.

If you're solo traveling, don't rule out removing the passenger seat of whatever vehicle to include in the sleeping platform build.

 

[Kevin108]

The FJ Cruiser had a ton of head room. The new Land Cruiser and GX are good options as well.

 

[JarnoG]

I've been looking around to see what I can find. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to any of the meetups, but visited some other events which gave me some ideas. I'm currently looking at two options:
- Subaru Outback
- Toyota Highlander

I think both are capable vehicles that will most likely be able to support what I want. They're also large enough that I fit in them, both behind the wheel and in the back, while I can still use them as daily driver.

For the Outback, I'm mostly concerned about support. I know the basics of vehicle maintenance, but will need a mechanic for more serious repairs. Subaru isn't a very popular brand in Europe and I don't know how well spare parts are available, or a mechanic that knows them well enough to fix them.

For the Highlander, this is much less an issue, however, since 2020 it's only available as a hybrid here (and I'm looking for a somewhat newish car). While in theory it's nice to have the instant torque of an electromotor while offroading, I'm not sure if it's actually strong enough to be of use (and how long the battery would last). It's also more that can break. Most information I could find about this was for full electric vehicles, but I couldn't find much on mild hybrids like the Highlander.

Does anyone have experience with these concerns? Am I overlooking something?

 

[grubworm]

good question...
here in the United States, height is rarely our problem...

 

[roots66]

You can always go the Jeremy Clarkson route

 

[JarnoG]

Hahaha, yeah, different people have different issues, I guess :D

Anyway, I've got myself a 2021 Highlander Hybrid. Now I have to figure out how to sleep in it :)

 

[rgallant]

I don't know the rules around camping where you are but look up SUV tents they basically just cover the back end, it might give you the extra space you need.

 

[socialpants]

As someone standing at 6'5" (1.95m), my first recommendation is to migrate to the full-size rig forum. “Small” and people our height almost never appear in the same sentence without irony or injury.

 

[roots66]

Anyway, I've got myself a 2021 Highlander Hybrid. Now I have to figure out how to sleep in it :)

Good choice. The AI says: The Toyota Highlander is a popular choice for car camping, especially the Hybrid model, due to its reliability and ability to run climate control off the battery, allowing for comfortable sleeping with minimal engine use, often requiring simple modifications like a custom mattress platform to level the cargo area and create storage underneath, plus accessories like awnings or rooftop tents for more space.

 

[JarnoG]

Before buying, I already tried if I would fit in it for sleeping. Now I just need to make a sleeping platform in it so it's not just possible, but actually comfortable to sleep. I was already looking at an SUV tent for some extra space while camping.

@roots66 I'm not sure if I would like to run the climate control off the battery all night. It will start up the engine once in a while to recharge, which might wake me up. On the other hand, if it's too cold to sleep, the engine sound is probably the least of my worries.