T for Terrific - A camper trailer to beat all camper trailers?

camper REVIEW tvan sport trailer

T

for Terrific

ratings EXTERIOR INTERIOR LAYOUT KITCHEN VALUE FOR MONEY OVERALL LEGEND

Poor Fair Better

A camper trailer to beat all camper trailers?

Good Best

Words and photography by Sean Cummins

www.caravanandmotorhome.com.au

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MOTORHOME camper REVIEW tvan sport XCENTRIX trailer

Wherever possible, weight is carried low and central – like the spare wheel

The Tvan has a unique, beautiful design

M

y goodness, aren’t Tvans sexy beasts?

They are triumphs of industrial design, carved like gemstones and as tough as diamonds.

The Tvans are unique in form and are unique propositions – you won’t find anything else that quite matches them.

Track Trailer, the company that makes Tvans, also makes trailers for the military to carry sensitive communications equipment. They’ve used this experience well, doing plenty of R&D on trailer and suspension design.

Watch the DVD showing their suspension tests – you’ll see the tow vehicle’s wheels bucking and jumping like a bull-rider, and the trailer floating along behind like a ballerina.

Track Trailer has 20-odd years of trailer building and testing experience, much of it for off-road use. Once you start to look at how they put together the Tvan, there’s an argument to claim they build the world’s toughest and most reliable camper trailers. A tough claim to prove, but one I’m sure you’ll find easy enough to believe.

For this test we took out the ‘Sport’ variant Tvan. We towed with a Nissan Patrol, but thanks to a teeny-weeny nominal ball weight of 60kg and an ATM of just 13000kg, there is a huge range of other tow vehicles to choose from.

EXTERNAL

The Tvan ‘Sport’ is a clever concept.

It is a standard Tvan, but stripped of most of its options. This allows you to get yourself a Tvan at a much lower price. It’s also a great proposition for those that already have a lot of camping

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equipment and don’t need to double up with a slide-out kitchen, for example.

Having an engineering background, I get a little weak at the knees when I see beautiful design and manufacturing, and the Tvan has both. Each Tvan is assembled from CNC (computer numerical control) precision-cut components, which fit together perfectly to produce what amounts to a monocoque chassis. Sexy, huh? And even though materials like steel are used, components are designed to be super light.

The walls of the Tvan are a combination of fibreglass and sandwich panels.

The construction of the sandwich panels involved some very large machines that I wasn’t allowed to photograph or learn about – strictly top secret!

Track Trailer has gone to the extent

EXTERNAL FEATURES CHASSIS: Rigid ‘torque tube’ hot-dipped galvanised FRAME CONSTRUCTION: Monocoque INSULATION: Yes CORNER JACKS: N/A WASTE WATER COMMON OUTLET: N/A WATER TANKS: 70L WATER TANK COVERS: Yes COUPLING: Fully articulated DO-35 SUSPENSION: Track MC2 Asymmetric, 250mm travel CLEARANCE: 30° exit angle BRAKES: Off-road electric WHEELS: Made to match tow vehicle TYRES: Made to match tow vehicle AWNING TYPE & MODEL: Sail awning BOOT(S): Yes STONE GUARD: Yes – mesh GAS CYLINDER SIZE/S: No – optional HOT WATER: N/A BATTERY: Yes BATTERY CHARGER: No – optional INVERTER: N/A SOLAR PANELS: No – optional SOLAR PROVISION: No ENTRANCE DOOR/FLYSCREEN: Mosquito net TAP ON A-FRAME: N/A

of putting sensors around its suspension components, much like they do with high-performance cars, to tune the suspension’s optimal performance.

So others may try to follow by copying Track Trailer’s suspension set-up, but without the R&D behind it, it can never be as good. The MC2 Asymmetric Link independent suspension, featuring Koni high-performance shock absorbers, creates a soft, flat ride and the trailer will stay straight and true behind the tow vehicle no matter what the terrain. The suspension comes with a five-year warranty, no matter where it’s been taken.

INTERNAL FEATURES FRIDGE: No – optional TELEVISION: No – optional ANTENNA: No – optional MUSIC SYSTEM: No – optional COOKING EQUIPMENT: No – optional MICROWAVE: N/A HEATING: No – optional COOLING: No – optional RANGEHOOD: N/A LIGHTING: 2 x 12V SMOKE ALARMS: N/A GAS LEAKAGE DETECTOR: N/A CUPBOARD FINISHES: N/A TYPE OF LATCHES: Stainless steel LOUNGE CONFIGURATION: Tent SEATING CAPACITY: 4 UPHOLSTERY: Carpeted interior SINK: No – option SLEEPING CONFIGURATION: Double bed BERTHS: 2 MATTRESS: Foam UNDER BED STORAGE: Yes PRIVACY SCREENS: N/A BATHROOM CONFIGURATION: N/A – see options list PRIVACY DOOR: N/A TOILET: No – optional TOILET ROLL HOLDER: N/A SHOWER HEAD: N/A WASHING MACHINE: N/A CLOTHES DRYER: N/A TOWEL RACKS: N/A

That goes together with a three-year manufacturer’s warranty.

The hot-dipped galvanised chassis has a short drawbar that carries virtually nothing on it. This contributes to more accurate off-road touring as well as minimising the ball weight. At most, you can put a spare wheel, gas bottle and battery up the front. Most of the weight, packed or unpacked, is designed to sit over the axle or carried nice and low in the Tvan itself.

For a camper trailer, the Tvan is somewhat rounded. That’s one of its secret weapons. The shape allows the

Tvan’s exceptional MC2 Asymmetric Link independent suspension

You get two side accessible jerry cans

If you want palatial accommodation, you can have it canvas to fold inside the rear hatch and not over the bed. Hence the bed always stays dry, no matter what the state your canvas is in. The shape also means you are surrounded by hard walls where you sleep. You’re better protected, better insulated, and always dry. If the weather gets really wild, you can pack up the canvas and bunker down on the bed. The rear hatch door also provides a hard roof for the canvas annex on its foldout hard floor.

To fold away a conventional camper trailer, you first have to pack up everything on the inside. Not so with the Tvan – there’s a huge interior volume, and you can chuck everything on top of the bed.

A fully articulated Hitchmaster DO35 coupling is provided, which is very effective and easy to hook up. You get a 70L water tank with the Sport, as well as an external hand pump. There are two side-accessible jerry can hold-

Note all that storage space above the bed – unique to a Tvan www.caravanandmotorhome.com.au

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camper REVIEW tvan sport trailer

TECHNICAL SPECS MAKE AND MODEL: Track Trailer Tvan Sport EXTERNAL BODY LENGTH: 4500mm EXTERNAL WIDTH INCLUDING AWNING: 1920mm VIN TARE WEIGHT: 780kg VIN ATM: 1300kg BALL WEIGHT: 60kg PRICE (AS TESTED): $29,800

CONTACT/THANKS CONTACT PERSON: Lloyd Waldron COMPANY NAME: Track Trailer ADDRESS: 403 Dorset Rd, Bayswater VIC 3153 PHONE: (03) 8727 6100 FAX: (03) 8727 6120 EMAIL: lwaldron@tracktrailer.com.au WEBSITE: www.tracktrailer.com.au

LAYOUT KEY 1. Bed 2. Kitchen

3. Tent

2

1

3

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The Sport comes with an awning

I get a little weak at the knees when I see beautiful design ers, and a sizeable locker on each side (which can also be used when you option up to a slide-out kitchen, for example). The lockers are vacuum-sealed, so you won’t need to worry about dust or water getting in. On that point, if you do find bulldust getting in to the van, this is treated as a warranty issue and will be fixed. That’s pretty unheard of.

INTERNAL

Setting up the Tvan is really easy and quick – we’re talking a minute or two.

Putting it away is almost as easy, with just a bit of fussing needed to get the canvas to fold. A sail awning comes with the Sport, but it’s of the pole and rope variety. Still, putting it up didn’t require much effort.

One of the (many, many) options for the Tvan is an annex, so if you want palatial accommodation, you can have it.

Inside there are two 12V lights and 12V power outlets, all powered by the on-board battery. The bed is wide and comfy (an innerspring mattress is an op-

tion), with room on both sides for placing items. An option you’ll absolutely want to get is the cargo nets for the roof.

There are two hatches over the bed space that let in light as well as fresh air. The tinted side windows are nice and big and also let in a good amount of light. Under the bed is space for storage, and at the foot of the bed you can put even more.

The canvas section has a nice, high roof, and there’s a thoughtful little breakfast bar at the far end. The far wall has a good floor-to-ceiling length window, and there is a door on either side.

WORTH BUYING?

For $25,000 less, you could buy another camper trailer. And it could reduce you to gibbering apoplexy because it is so frustrating, poorly built and badly designed. The Tvan is a superb piece of equipment that will last much longer than we will, and will be a reliable joy to use the whole time. You simply can’t buy better.