The following article is from the PC site (sorry no name attached so cannot say who wrote it) But it does beg an important question. With all our abilities and modern materials, why have the manufacturers not started adressing this at a better level? and would you give up comforts if it ment you could tow a 6 birth van with an astra?
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As someone who enjoys caravanning, working on Practical Caravan is pretty much the best job in the world. It gives me an opportunity to review the latest tourers and to speak to the people who design and build them. I also hear a lot from the people who buy them.
You'd expect the views of manufacturers and customers to differ on certain things. For example, customers always complain caravans aren't well built enough, while manufacturers claim they are better built than ever. Complaints about caravans getting too big and too heavy, however, are the top gripe. Lighter tourers would be nice, but are you prepared to skimp on luxuries you've got used to on tour?
The last van my family owned was a 1990 Sprite Major, which squeezed seven berths into a 17ft-long body. Despite this remarkable feat of packaging, it weighed under 1000kg fully loaded.
There was a reason why it was so light: it made Alcatraz look like a Travelodge. It had no heater, hot water system, cassette loo, oven, TV aerial, carpet, window blinds or flyscreens. There were only four overhead lockers, no rooflights and no mains electrical system. Removing all that kit from a modern 17ft van might leave you with something weighing about as much as the spartan Sprite. It wasn't completely devoid of comfort, sporting a grill and a two-burner hob, a tip-up sink in the washroom and a fridge big enough for seven cans of lager or dinner. But not both.
Selling caravans that basic these days is unthinkable. The Bailey Discovery follows a similar idea, although it is still well equipped in comparison, but it's the slowest selling of the company's ranges, despite being the cheapest and lightest.
The nearest I've found to a van of such skimpy spec is the Deseo Plus, reviewed in our April Live-in Test. Despite the sub-£7000 asking price and three-figure MTPLM, I doubt there are queues of people trading in comfy Challengers, Senators and Avocets. I don't agree caravans are getting too heavy, so much as we are getting too comfy. You can have a lightweight caravan, but you have to make a few sacrifices.
_______________________________________
As someone who enjoys caravanning, working on Practical Caravan is pretty much the best job in the world. It gives me an opportunity to review the latest tourers and to speak to the people who design and build them. I also hear a lot from the people who buy them.
You'd expect the views of manufacturers and customers to differ on certain things. For example, customers always complain caravans aren't well built enough, while manufacturers claim they are better built than ever. Complaints about caravans getting too big and too heavy, however, are the top gripe. Lighter tourers would be nice, but are you prepared to skimp on luxuries you've got used to on tour?
The last van my family owned was a 1990 Sprite Major, which squeezed seven berths into a 17ft-long body. Despite this remarkable feat of packaging, it weighed under 1000kg fully loaded.
There was a reason why it was so light: it made Alcatraz look like a Travelodge. It had no heater, hot water system, cassette loo, oven, TV aerial, carpet, window blinds or flyscreens. There were only four overhead lockers, no rooflights and no mains electrical system. Removing all that kit from a modern 17ft van might leave you with something weighing about as much as the spartan Sprite. It wasn't completely devoid of comfort, sporting a grill and a two-burner hob, a tip-up sink in the washroom and a fridge big enough for seven cans of lager or dinner. But not both.
Selling caravans that basic these days is unthinkable. The Bailey Discovery follows a similar idea, although it is still well equipped in comparison, but it's the slowest selling of the company's ranges, despite being the cheapest and lightest.
The nearest I've found to a van of such skimpy spec is the Deseo Plus, reviewed in our April Live-in Test. Despite the sub-£7000 asking price and three-figure MTPLM, I doubt there are queues of people trading in comfy Challengers, Senators and Avocets. I don't agree caravans are getting too heavy, so much as we are getting too comfy. You can have a lightweight caravan, but you have to make a few sacrifices.
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