Suite dreams

Nick Harding checks out a Mercedes-based coachbuilt that starts at under £80,000

This four-berth motorhome is based on the Mercedes Sprinter, with fine levels of build quality and a pumped-up specification. Prices start at £78,810 (although some £5,906 of added options take this example up to £84,716).

Build quality – 86%

Built by Germany’s Knaus Tabbert, the bodywork has a good, solid feel to it, with aluminium sides and rear and GRP roof backed by a 10-year warranty against water ingress. Note the side skirts (neatly moulded aluminium, a premium touch) and the moulded steps at the cab doors. Alloy wheels and the over-cab opening rooflight are also standard offerings.

The habitation door is on the UK offside. At 70cm, access is easy, and it also comes with a flush-fitting window and a large, sturdy internal handle, closing with a reassuring ‘thunk’.

On the inside of the door, there’s a branded cloth bag (complete with magnetic fixing and hooks to hold it in place) plus a fold-out plastic pocket long enough to shoehorn in a short umbrella.

At the back is a garage with a 250kg load limit. Large doors with two-point locks again offer easy access, with fittings including switched lights either side, a blown air outlet, a mains socket and some handy shelving, but strangely just two lashing points on short strips of alloy.

On the offside is a really practical service hatch that includes access to the fresh water tank for filling and cleaning, handles for releasing fresh and waste water, dump valve for the water heater, etc.

Driving – 82%

The 125kW/168bhp motor with nine-speed automatic gearbox is a £3,439 upgrade that many will consider well worth having. I’ve nothing but praise for this engine/transmission combination.

The £2,232 ‘hot Pepper’ package – another tempting extra – gives you electric parking brake, DISTRONIC Active Distance Alert, Traffic Sign Assist and sat nav with three years’ worth of map updates. That’s in addition to a plethora of driver’s aids you receive as standard: stop-start; electronic stability programme (ESP); crosswind assist; attention assist (detects driver drowsiness); active lane departure warning system; hill start assist; tyre pressure monitoring, etc. Cab highlights includes Mercedes’ MBUX multi-media system, semi-automatic TEMPMATIC air-conditioning and multi-function steering wheel.

Payload here with all the factory-fitted options is a reasonable 466kg. The vehicle retains a driving licence-friendly 3,500kg maximum weight, although upgrades are available.

Daytime – 80%

Here we have a standard continental-style lounge with all seats (cab and lounge) on a slightly raised section and a side-fixing table with swing-out extension. The ‘Malabar’ upholstery has an open-weave-effect fabric for the inserts and darker brown faux leather for the edges.

Truma’s Combi 6E supplies the heating and hot water. Some warm air outlets seem to be set a bit high, though two facing up from the floor at the front heat those in the swivelled cab seats. Truma’s iNet X panel allows you to control the heating.

Gallery

Sprinter cab

Continental-style lounge

Kitchen

Rear beds in ‘double’ set up

Washroom

Night-time – 84%

At the back there’s the classic choice of two single beds or (using an infill) a double. Comfort is aided by EvoPoreHRC (‘High Resilience Climate’) elastic polyurethane foam mattresses on wooden slatted bases. The singles measure some 6ft 7in (offside) and 6ft 5in (nearside) long, both being 2ft 4in wide.

Each single has a reading lamp, while there’s a main light switch in-between on the bulkhead. Open shelving with elasticated retainers runs along both sides, while there is a trio of lockers as well as a full-width shelf on the back wall. There are tambour doors on each bed base, behind which you’ll find a shelved locker (offside) and wardrobe with hanging rail (nearside).

There’s also a drop-down double bed over the lounge. Operation is manual, rather than electric, but it is counter-balanced for ease of use.

Kitchen – 78%

Cooking facilities start with a triangular three-ring gas hob, plus there’s a Thetford Duplex combined oven and grill – but it’s set very low and the shallow locker below it seems too small to be of much use. There’s a cutlery drawer between the hob and the oven, a circular stainless steel sink and a soap dispenser, while a flip-up worktop extension will doubtless prove handy.

The Thetford slimline fridge-freezer has a 142-litre capacity and automatic energy selection. Two mains sockets are over the sink (which lacks a cover), with a third in the main doorway.

The location of the nearby drop-down bed means there’s only room for a single small overhead locker, but a positive is that the large, shelved locker under the sink is home to gas isolator valves for individual appliances.

Washroom – 82%

Diagonally opposite the kitchen, there’s a small step up into the washroom. It’s large enough for a separate shower cubicle with solid folding doors and two plugholes. The cubicle is on the wheel arch, so there’s a foot ledge when showering.

The handbasin slides into the shower area so that you can use the Dometic swivel-bowl toilet. A large mirror over the basin doubles as the door to a shelved locker. There’s just a vent rather than a rooflight overhead, and no window.

As well as a toilet roll holder, a couple of clothes/towel hooks and a drop-down hanging rail, you’ll find a useful liquid soap dispenser.

Details – 79%

Remote central locking that extends to the habitation door is an extra, while Isofix for the rear seat (the other factory-fitted option here) is £235.

I counted seven mains sockets and two USBs. The awning light comes with a motion sensor. Fresh and waste water tanks are 95 and 65 litres respectively, while the leisure battery is 95Ah. The lounge has concertina blinds, while other windows make do with roller blinds – all have flyscreens; the cab has Remis concertina blind fittings.