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‘MAG’ INSIDE
41 PAGES OF EXPERT BUYING & PRACTICAL ADVICE
BUYER
UYEUYE Our test & tech ‘mag in a mag’
7 OF THE MONTH CARAVAN
COACHMAN PASTICHE PAGE94 BAILEY UNICORN PAMPLONA PAGE18 BUCCANEER COMMODORE PAGE112
TOURING CAMPSITES TESTS EVENTS TECHNICAL
41 PAGES OF BUYING
ADVICE
INSURANCE GUIDE PAGE104
IN THIS SECTION 16 Towcar of the Month: VW Passat 18 TEST Bailey Unicorn Pamplona 90 Kit & Caboodle: June’s new gear 92 My Caravanning Essentials 94 TEST Coachman Pastiche 565 98 USED VANS - Barnsdale Caravans 104 Insurance Guide 112 TEST Buccaneer Commodore 118 Electric Towcars 125 10 Best Family Caravans 130 Q&A: Your questions answered 136 Caravans For Sale
KIT&CABOODLEPAGE90
This month's
KIT&CABOODLE
Thefreshestandfunkiestgearrevealedandreviewed
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ZIPPOUTILITYLIGHTEREver used an entire box of matches trying to light a barbecue on a gusty day? Or does your gas hob fire up with an unpredictable whoosh because the ignition no longer works reliably? Well, here’s the answer. The Zippo Utility Lighter is ideal for your barbie, grill and storm lanterns with its wind-resistant flame and powerful nozzle. PRICE £14.50 W zippo.co.uk
All prices are RRPs. You may find significantly lower prices online or elsewhere.
EASYCAMP AIRGO30Sometimes it’s the little details that make a backpack easy to live with, like handy pockets on the hip belt, a chest strap to keep it comfortably in place, or a rain cover to protect your kit from the heaviest of downpours. This rucksack has all these features and more, including attachments to carry walking poles, a hole to feed through a hose to a hydration bladder, zip side pockets and useful lid pockets inside and out. The air mesh back system will help to minimise sweaty back syndrome, by keeping the pack away from your spine and maximising air flow between you and the sack. PRICE £54.99 W easycamp.com
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NORDICGRIPNONSLIPBOOTSEven the toughest, gnarliest four- season caravanners balk at crossing an icy site. Crampons are overkill for a trip to the facilities block, but a bad slip and fall can damage more than your ego. So put your faith in these ingenious, thermal-lined, waterproof boots, whose sole offers six times more grip than normal footwear. The science bit revolves around electrostatically aligned micro- glass filaments in the sole, which attract to the particles in the ice, increasing the surface tension and therefore your grip. We didn’t pay attention in physics classes either, but rest assured, it’s award-winning technology used by the South Korean military, although we doubt the soldiers wear red or yellow! PRICE £44.95 W cuckooland.com
104 | June 2017
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CARAVAN BUYER
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COLEMAN BUNGEE CHAIRLight and strong, this steel-framed chair is just the throne from which to watch the world go by after a busy day on holiday. There’s a cushioned seat for comfort, a drink pouch for convenience, and a carry bag for portability. It tips the scales at just 5kg, but is sturdy enough to support 136kg (21 stone). And it’s available in blue, lime and orange to colour-coordinate with your awning. PRICE £64.99 W coleman.eu/UK
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WIN IN 2017 Caravan Lottery Enter once to be in with a chance of winning all the prizes in Kit & Caboodle each month.
To enter, go online to caravan.ma/caracomps pop in your details, and, if you like, sign up for our useful and informative Caravan e-newsletter. Each month we publish the winner in Caravan and online. If it's you, call us on 01778 392450 or email johns@warnersgroup.co.uk to claim your prizes.
LAST MONTH’S CARAVAN LOTTERY WINNER IS
xx xxxxxx (Claim your prize by 30 June 2017)
THESWISSARMYKNIFE BOOK Caravanning satisfies part of our urge to get back to nature, but if you want to go the whole (spit roast) hog, this book will lead you much closer to a hunter gatherer
existence. Armed with nothing more than a Swiss Army
knife, bushcraft specialist and nature educator Felix Immler shows how to fashion everyday items like a chair, fridge and oven in the woods. Boost your campsite kudos by roasting a chicken over a self-made fire pit. PRICE £14.99 W quartouk.com
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SPRAYWAY KALMAR It’s not inconceivable that you could put on this softshell jacket as you sort the steadies and peg out the awning on the first day of your holiday and still be wearing it a week later! From hanging around the site to hillwalking, the Kalmar is your flexible friend, its stretchy fabric allowing unimpeded movement. The windproof overlay on the chest, shoulders and hood fends off the sharpest of breezes, a DWR coating keeps showers at bay, and when the mercury tumbles, snuggle into the insulated hood. There are even three zipped pockets to stow your phone, wallet and keys. PRICE £90 W sprayway.com
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June 2017 | 105
OUR NEW CARAVAN TEST SCORES We rate key aspects of each test caravan and award them a grade. Like GCSEs, only harder! *
9ELECTRIC TOWCARSPAGE118
THEELECTRIC TOWCARTHEELCurrent Affairs
CARAVAN BUYER
Planningtoreplace yourcurrenttowcar withanotherbig diesel4x4inthenext 12months?Think again.Thefutureis hybridandelectric… andit’scloserthan youthink!
The year is 2020, Britain has left the EU, and a combination of factors means diesel has rocketed to £2.25 a litre. The good news for caravanners is that you can buy a three-year-old Land Rover Discovery – multiple winner of the Caravan Club’s Towcar of the Year Award, for less than £10,000. The bad news, and the reason they’re so cheap, is because nobody wants them, or more accurately, can afford to run them. At today’s pump prices, the Disco costs about £175 to fill up and road tax adds another £2000 for the first year for vehicles registered after 1 April 2017, following HMRC’s decision to introduce a Vehicle Excise Duty escalator to discourage carbuyers from buying big diesel vehicles. It sounds like a nightmare scenario for caravanners. But before you hang up your steady winder and put the van up for sale, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The electric towcar revolution is just around the corner.
118 | June 2017
Words Mark Sutcliffe
Why Electric? Most caravanners opt for diesel for its low-down pulling power, but electric motors are even better – delivering maximum power and torque instantly, without any need to rev the engine. Consequently, there is no need for a gearbox, so as well as being silent, the driving characteristics are smooth and seamless – with maximum power and torque on hand for overtaking trucks on dual carriageways. Low speed manoeuvring is a doddle: there’s no need to feather the clutch or build up the revs for a hill start; an electric car just pulls away effortlessly. Although batteries are getting smaller and lighter, electric cars still need a large array of power cells – usually mounted in the floor so as not to compromise luggage space. This means the typical electric or hybrid car weighs significantly more than its internal combustion counterparts – ideal for keeping a big twin axle caravan in check. It’s also worth mentioning here that most petrol
36_Electric Towing jm.indd 118-119
LEFT The Volvo XC90 Twin Engine has superior torque at all engine speeds than its diesel and petrol stablemates ABOVE There’s no road tax to pay on the new plug-in hybrid VW Passat GTE
and diesel models have been losing weight in recent years as manufacturers seek to make their vehicles more efficient – great for the environment – but not so good for towing. For example, the previous Volvo XC90 D5 had a kerbweight of 2196kg, but the new version weighs just 2038kg, reducing the MTPLM of the caravan it can tow (at an 85 per cent match) to just 1732kg. The latest hybrid version of the XC90 however, weighs a hefty 2321kg – enough to tow an 8ft wide 1950kg Buccaneer Schooner with ease. Hybrids – and in the not-too-distant future – pure electric cars offer the best of both worlds, capable of delivering diesel-beating frugality. Official figures say the XC90 returns more than 134mpg on the combined cycle – requiring less than half the fossil fuel of its diesel stablemate to cover the same distance. And with CO2 emissions of just 49g/km, the big Volvo pays no road tax.
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Obviously, laboratory-derived fuel consumption figures need to be taken with a healthy pinch of salt when translated to real world economy, but the improvements in fuel economy more than compensate for the extra weight of the batteries. Volkswagen’s new plug-in hybrid Passat GTE, which VW rates for towing up to 1600kg, supposedly travels 166 miles on every gallon, and with CO2 emissions of just 39g/km is exempt from road tax in its first year. In the real world, the Passat’s actual fuel economy is closer to 65mpg, but with a kerbweight of 1722kg and 295lb ft of torque, on paper it looks like a fantastic towcar. Depending on the battery capacity, plug-in hybrids take between four and eight hours to recharge fully at a cost of between £3 and £5 at today’s retail electricity prices. Optimised chargers can halve the recharge time, with next-generation super-fast chargers restoring 80 per cent of a battery’s charge in less than an hour. So electric vehicles drive well and save money at the pumps, but perhaps the best reason for switching to touring with an electric vehicle is that you’ll never be far away from an electric hook-up.
June 2017 | 119
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