One of the difficulties with doing a review of a Horizon-built motorcamper is that it involves a visit to the Ballina and Byron Bay area on the NSW coast, where Horizon is based. The difficulty, you understand, is not actually going there, but finding enough excuses to convince Editor Max Taylor that a five-day visit is necessary (happy to oblige, Malcolm! – Ed).

Actually, the problem on this occasion was getting there. At the time of our review, the north coast of NSW was severely flooded and it was looking like the only way in or out was by air. A secondary problem was that all my favourite camping and photographic spots were under water. Good planning!

Notwithstanding these issues, Horizon’s Clayton Kearney was (as always) happy to see me and had one of his Grevillea motorcampers polished up and ready to go. The Grevillea is available in several versions: fixed double-bed or single beds, with either a sliding door or conventional motorhome door; and with either a VW Crafter or a Mercedes Benz Sprinter as the base vehicle.

Our review Grevillea was a VW Crafter 35-based unit with the conventional sliding door and single beds. (By the by, I discuss the sliding door versus conventional door ‘issue’ in Street Talk on page 138).

The Crafter 35 is ideally suited to a motorcamper conversion both in size and engine performance. The 2.5L turbodiesel delivers 100kW of power and 300Nm of torque through the six-speed Shiftmatic (automated manual) gearbox.

Externally, the Grevillea is painted in a standout blue colour and comes fitted with Seitz hopper windows, a Fiamma F65 awning, a Winegard antenna, an electric step and a shower. Two of the options available are flyscreens for the rear and side doors – something that travellers who often like to have the doors open might like to keep in mind.

FULL CIRCLE

Inside the Grevillea, both the cab seats swivel around. The driver’s seat can also be used in conjunction with the table and seat behind. The bathroom fills the gap between that and the offside bed in the rear and the kitchen bench is fitted along the opposite side in front of the nearside bed. Both the rear doors and the front cab windows have curtains, but the rest just have the integrated blinds and flyscreens. Roof vents are fitted in the forward area, bathroom and above the kitchen bench. Our review Grevillea also came with a roof-mounted air-conditioner.

A feature of the single-bed design is that the rear doors are not closed off, unlike the fixed double-bed designs. That might sound like an obvious statement but it changes the internal living dynamics of the motorcamper. There are pluses and minuses about each, but it really comes down to personal preferences.

The single beds measure 1.87x0.69m (6ft 2in x 2ft 3in), are easy to make up, and have the usual storage underneath. Much of the offside bed area is occupied by the battery box and gas cylinder bin but the nearside storage only has the Truma 14L hot water heater. Locker doors on both the seat ends at the rear make for easier access compared to lifting the hatches under the mattress. Above the beds are overhead storage lockers and later models will also have one on the rear wall as well.
Newcomers to the world of RVs might think there’s a correlation between the size of a motorhome and the kitchen, i.e., a large motorhome has a large kitchen bench. Old hands will tell you differently and the Grevillea is certainly a case in point. It’s a moderately-sized vehicle but has a kitchen bench area that is quite workable.

Our review unit came with the standard three-burner cooktop (without grill) and stainless steel sink (without a drainer) combo unit, but if I was to buy it I’d be giving some consideration to the optional grill/oven.

One of the features of the kitchen bench is the amount of drawers – five in all, which along with a cupboard are fitted around the Waeco 110L fridge and the LG microwave. Part of the kitchen bench protrudes into the main entrance, but not enough to restrict entry in any way. On the wall above the kitchen bench are a number of essential items, including all of the 12V control switches, a water tank gauge, voltmeter, 240V powerpoint and flatscreen TV. The latter is swivel-mounted and can be seen from either the front seats or the rear beds.

Opposite the kitchen bench are a split full-height wardrobe and a fully equipped bathroom. The bottom half of the wardrobe is empty and might be improved with a few shelves.

Fitted into the bathroom are a height-adjustable flexible hose shower, washbasin with separate taps and a Dometic Vacuflush toilet.

As mentioned earlier, fitted between the bathroom wall and the driver’s seat are a single seat and table. That, in conjunction with the swivelled driver’s seat, forms a small dinette.

The window above the table, together with the cab windows and the sliding door, provides the multi-functional lounge/dining area with a good view of the world. This is why some owners opt for the full sliding door, rather than a conventional motorhome door.

THE THREE-POINTER OPTION

On this occasion, I was also able to get my hands on a Mercedes Benz Sprinter-based Grevillea for a test drive. It came with a 110kW turbodiesel engine and a full automatic gearbox. The VW Crafter is based on the Sprinter design, and is very similar, aside from the VW mechanics and the apposing front body shape. If you prefer a slick changing automatic versus the slightly vaguer changes of the AMT gearbox, then the Sprinter auto is a real winner.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Grevillea ticks the boxes in all kinds of ways. It’s small enough to easily drive and manoeuvre, yet large enough for comfortable living, and it’s ideal for a single person or a couple.
As mentioned, there are single or fixed double-bed models and for those who don’t like “whirr-clunkers” (sliding doors), there’s a model that comes with a standard motorhome door. It all sums up into a nice package, really.

Ballina Campervan Centre,  299 River Street, Ballina,  NSW 2478, (02) 6681 1555.

For more information, including your nearest dealer, visit www.horizonmotorhomes.com.au

Base vehicle:

VW Crafter 35 LWB with overhang
Engine: 2.5L turbodiesel
Gearbox: Six-speed Shiftmatic
Max power: 100kW@3500rpm
Max torque: 300Nm@2000rpm
Brakes Disc
External length: 7.35m (24ft 1in)
External width: 1.99m (6ft 6in)
Internal height: 1.93m (6ft 4in)
Tare 3040kg
GVM 3880kg
Cooktop: Cramer three-burner
Fridge: Waeco 110L
Microwave: LG
Gas: 2 x 4kg
Lighting: 12V halogen and LED
Toilet Dometic Vacuflush
Shower Variable-height, flex hose
Hot water: Truma 14L
Fresh water: 105L
Grey water: 95L
Second stage compliance: Yes
Price (as shown) $113,700  (on road, NSW)

I Liked

• The general layout – it works well in the slightly restricted space of the Crafter van
• Kitchen bench area – it offers generous amount of drawer space
• That energy-efficient lights are placed in all the appropriate positions
• Two gas cylinders supplied – always helpful for ensuring you don’t run out of gas in remote locations, and 4kg cylinders are easy to lift and carry

I would have liked

• The optional griller offered as a standard feature
• Shelves in the lower half of the wardrobe cupboard would be useful
• People with shorter legs might like to have foot rests for the swivelling cab seats