An affordable, lightweight caravan. On Test. Adria Altea 390 DS PRICE 11,190

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1 New caravans Help us o buy An affordable, lighweigh caravan On Tes Adria Alea 390 DS PRICE 11,190 Berhs 4 Adria s iny lile Alea has had a bi of an inerior makeover, bu sill manages o cram four berhs ino a lighweigh and compac fooprin Bailey Orion PRICE 12,995 Berhs 4 Bailey s brand new Alu-Tech baby. Wih a sriking curvy profile, upmarke inerior and some clever innovaions, he enry-level Orion is anyhing bu basic This monh we help David and Sandra Dalon, from Davenry, Norhans CARAVANNING HISTORY Dave enjoyed many a happy caravanning holiday wih his parens as a child and now he wans o rediscover he freedom of caravanning wih his wife Sandra. They have borrowed Dave s parens caravan for holidays, bu now wan heir own. LOOKING FOR AND WHY They need a wo-berh caravan for weekends away and longer summer breaks and wan o fuure-proof heir invesmen by buying a four-berh van for when kids come along. They only have a modes family hachback, so hey need somehing quie ligh, wih a flexible layou. Our exper A lifelong camper, Mark Sucliffe convered o caravanning when he go oo old for ens. Wih wo lile earaways of his own, he knows exacly which layous work for boh couples and families and undersands he imporance of value for money. ouandaboulive.co.uk July

2 1 ADRIA ALTEA 390 DS Washroom is quie small Kichen is well designed, wih mains elecrical sockes close o hand for keles or oasers Only he kichen lockers are fied wih posiive locking caches specificaion PRICE 11,190 includes 20% VAT bu excludes delivery charges of 495 CONTACT Adria Concessionaires Ld, Hall Sree, Long Melford, Suffolk, CO10 9JP T W adriaconcessionaires.co.uk BERTHS 4 DIMENSIONS Inernal lengh 3.95m, Overall widh 2.07m, Shipping lengh 5.81m MIRO 938kg MTPLM 1100kg User payload 162kg BED SIZES Fron double 6f 4in x 4f 1in/194cm x 124cm, Two singles 6f 3in x 2f 8in/194cm x 83cm WARRANTY Six years waer ingress guaranee, hree years componen HEATING Truma mains and gas blown air heaing and Truma waer heaer Mark says We like Flexibiliy he layou offers, owabiliy, good payload, modern looks, value for money We dislike Tiny, plasic-filled washroom, lack of workop space, plain whie workops, feeble lighing and cheap sabiliser EXTERIOR Tha nicely curved fron panel immediaely idenifies he lile Adria s Coninenal origins, bu he couple remarked on how similar he wo vans looked. The very basic fairing over he A-frame looks cheap and here s only an AL-KO 1300 sabiliser on he hich. However, unlike he Orion, he Alea does ge an easy-off handbrake. Seel wheels and an absence of side skirs and a windowless wopar door indicae he Alea s budge saus and here are no exernal lockers, save for he baery box. Dave hough he Adria s big fron locker offered beer exernal sorage han he Bailey s small nearside locker. The decals have been oned down a lile for 2011, wih simpler lines. LOUNGE The Bailey s body is over a mere longer han he iny Alea and almos 10cm wider, so here s a significan difference in he amoun of space on offer. The fron lounge is prey compac, wih only jus enough room for four aduls o perch. There s a flimsy occasional able and a shelf above he bed box which isn really suiable for a full-blown meal. The elly has o perch on he kichen workop and he LED ceiling lighing is prey feeble. The cushions are firm, bu a lile on he hin side and, in ruh, he lounge is more like a large dinee which isn really conducive o kicking back and relaxing in he evenings. The inerior has a uiliarian feel which Dave and Sandra didn really like. DINING Wih a reasonably proporioned sandalone able, which lives in a dedicaed slo nex o he offside seee, he Adria measures up well when i comes o dining. The lounge able is fine for wo and will accommodae four a a pinch. Wih jus he wo on board, he rear dinee offers an alernaive dining area and he able here is a bi more surdy. I s also ideal for breakfas firs hing in he morning, wih no need o worry abou collapsing he bed before ha all-imporan firs cuppa. When kids come along, he rear dinee convers o bunks, so i would be no good hen for Dave and Sandra in he evenings, bu for now hey could use i all he ime. KITCHEN The Alea has had a genle inernal makeover for 2011 and, while removing he bulkhead beween kichen and lounge opens up he inerior nicely, from he chef s poin of view i s a sep backwards. Inegraed ino ha bulkhead was a large drop-down workop exension, which addressed one of he Alea s key weaknesses lack of preparaion space. There s a hree-burner hob, combi oven/grill, 81-lire fridge and a pracical recangular sink wih mixer ap. The hob has a cover which could be used as preparaion space, bu oherwise here s only a narrow 15cm srip of space o he righ of he sink. Sandra was quie impressed by he amoun of sorage hough. 7/10 6/10 7/10 6/10 48 July 2011 ouandaboulive.co.uk

3 SCORES 10 Bes I ve seen 9 op noch 8 really grea 7 prey good 6 can live wih i 5 average 4 below average 3 quie poor 2 no worh considering 1 leave i alone New caravans Dave and Sandra weren keen on he sark inerior Fron dinee has room for four Compac rear dinee is sricly for wo, making win bunks a nigh NIGHT TIME The ceiling lighs comprise hree smallish circular lighs and eigh iny lile LEDs arranged around hem. You can swich beween jus he LEDs, which aren very brigh on heir own, or supplemen his feeble glow wih he hree larger lighs. In he fron lounge, he ceiling lighs are supplemened by a brace of spolighs, and here s also a reasonably powerful sripligh in he kichen, while he rear bunks have independenly swichable individual lighs on he side wall. The fron seees conver o a reasonably generous 4f 1in wide ransverse double, bu are far oo shor o be used as win singles, while he rear dinee offers a single bed wih Pullman bunk above. STORAGE The Alea has eigh overhead lockers and occasional sorage in he fron lounge, plus a large wardrobe over he heaer and prey generous kichen sorage. There s addiional space for bedding under he seas in he lounge and rear dinee, bu hese have o be accessed by lifing he sea bases as here are no locker doors. Ouside, he Adria has ha huge fron gas locker. Dave hough he gas locker was an imporan aspec of any caravan s sorage space and preferred he Alea s radiional large locker o he Bailey s iny affair on he nearside. There s lile sorage space in he compac washroom, which has jus wo fairly modes cabines for your oileries. WASHROOM The Alea s smalles room really is small. There s an old-syle Theford C-200 swivel loo in he corner wih jus abou enough room for an adul o perch. The floor is effecively a sealed shower ray and he mixer ap in he sink doubles as he shower head, wih a bracke near he ceiling o provide hands-free showering. There s quie a large obscured window in he sidewall, bu no roofligh jus a simple circular ven in he roof o le moisure ou. The only lighing comes couresy of a all corner ligh fiing behind he sink. This is a basic washroom which is fine for nigh-ime emergencies and brushing your eeh, bu you ll probably use sie faciliies. BUILD QUALITY Adria s build qualiy probably has more in common wih he German caravan manufacurers and while he Alea feels solid enough, i s no overengineered. The Alea is buil on he same AL-KO plaform ha mos Briish manufacurers use and, like he Orion, has denresisan GRP laminae raher han aluminium sides. The exerior finish inspires pleny of confidence while he inerior is equally well screwed ogeher, bu i s he raher serile inerior décor ha Dave and Sandra couldn ge along wih. Adria can however mach Bailey s indusry-leading 10-year warrany, bu hen again, neiher can many oher manufacurers, so his shouldn be oo much of an issue. 7/10 7/10 5/10 7/10 ouandaboulive.co.uk July

4 2 BAILEY ORION Sandra liked he kichen The rear dinee seaing can be lef made-up as a double bed if you re feeling lazy A family of four could dine easily in he fron, wih he able clipped ino place specificaion PRICE 12,995 includes 20% VAT bu excludes delivery charges of 545 CONTACT Bailey of Brisol, Souh Libery Lane, Brisol, BS3 2SS T W bailey-caravans.co.uk BERTHS 4 DIMENSIONS Inernal lengh 5.23m, Overall widh 2.19m, Shipping lengh 6.39m MIRO 1102kg MTPLM 1249kg user payload 147kg BED SIZES Fron double, 6f 6in x 4f 8in/201cm x 142cm; 2 x singles 4f 8in x 2f 3in/142cm x 69cm and 5f 0in x 2f 3in/152cm x 69cm; rear double, 6f 4in x 4f 6in/192cm x 137cm WARRANTY 10 years body inegriy guaranee, hree years componen HEATING Whale floor-mouned blown air space heaer, Truma Ulrasore waer heaer Mark says We like Refreshing new exerior syling, clever use of space, pleasing inerior, solid build qualiy, long warrany We dislike Narrow end washroom, poor exernal sorage EXTERIOR While he new Orion s exerior profile is unique among Briish manufacurers, i s very similar o he Adria s. Boh vans have a curvy fron panel and a less pronounced curvaure a he rear. There s also funcion in ha form: he curve from he roof is significanly more aerodynamic han a squared off back end, and in some ess, i reduced fuel consumpion by 10 per cen. The panels are finished in GRP and alloy wheels are fied as sandard. Up fron, he Orion ges an AL-KO 3004 sabiliser and a nice fairing wih seps inegraed. The radiional fron gas locker is replaced wih a smaller dedicaed locker on he nearside which only holds 6kg Calor Lie or 3.9kg sandard Calor cylinders. LOUNGING Surprisingly, considering i s more han a mere longer han he Alea, he Bailey s lounge doesn feel significanly larger. The exra widh is noiceable, bu any exra space in erms of lengh is aken up by he end washroom. The Dalons fel he Bailey was much more welcoming and comforable, hanks o is superb inerior décor and sof furnishings. There s pleny of room for a couple o si back and relax in fron of he elly, which has a dedicaed perch on he lowlevel dresser. This dresser and offside kichen conspire o make he Orion s inerior feel more airy han he Alea s and he Dalon s only real disappoinmen was he windowless door. DINING The Orion s large rear dinee is ideal for a candleli dinner for wo, or breakfas wih wo lively children. The large able has pleny of space and, wih jus Sandra and Dave on board, hey could leave he fron double bed made up and ake all heir meals back here. The fron lounge is perhaps a beer opion o feed four aduls, and replacing he small occasional able wih he larger lean-o able sored in a dedicaed slo beween he fridge and oven is easy. So, when i comes o dining, wih a choice of wo four-seaer dining areas, he Orion offers greaer flexibiliy han he Alea, especially when children are on board, so his scores poins wih he Dalons. KITCHEN The Orion s kichen is prey compac, bu he circular sink and curved workop free up a lile more preparaion space. The faux wood laminae finish is much more aracive han he Alea s sark whie workops and his pleasan finish exends o he wo ables as well. The Orion s kichen lighing is anoher srong poin, wih good naural ligh provided by he large roofligh and pleny of arificial ask lighing. The riangular hree-burner hob saves a lile more workop space and, like he Alea, he Orion makes do wih a compac combi oven and grill. The Orion s 113-lire fridge is larger han he Alea s bu he real clincher for Dave and Sandra was he microwave. 8/10 8/10 8/10 7/10 50 July 2011 ouandaboulive.co.uk

5 SCORES 10 Bes I ve seen 9 op noch 8 really grea 7 prey good 6 can live wih i 5 average 4 below average 3 quie poor 2 no worh considering 1 leave i alone New caravans The couple loved he Orion s spacious inerior Washroom has a separae shower Fron lounge feels more comforable han he Alea s NIGHT TIME The ransverse fron double is he bigger of he wo double beds, and marginally quicker o se-up, bu in some ways he rear dinee makes a cosier place o bed down for he nigh. Eiher he fron or rear beds could be lef made up as semifixed-beds, wih meals being aken in he lounge or dinee, and logic suggess he rear is probably hen beer as he bed. The rear bed is also more suiable for small children han he Alea s bunks and here s jus enough room o ge a ravel co beween he dinee seas. The Orion s lighing is more comprehensive han he Alea s, wih wo subsanial ceiling lighs and a brace of spolighs over he lounge and rear dinee areas. STORAGE Bailey s decision o swap he gas locker for more space inside he van compromises exernal sorage space, bu i s unlikely ha Bailey could have shoe-horned he end washroom in a he rear wihou sacrificing he radiional gas locker. Inside, he longer Orion has more opions han he Alea, wih a good combinaion of lockers and occasional space hroughou he van. As well as bedding sorage under he seas, here are eigh overhead lockers and a large wardrobe wih wo shelves underneah he hanging secion, in he space freed up by using Whale s compac heaer mouned underneah he van raher han he radiional Truma heaer uni. WASHROOM The narrow, raher gloomy lile annex a he end of he van is bigger han he Alea s iny washroom and has a separae shower, bu i s far from luxurious. The curve of he roof seems o rob he washroom of some of is space and he shower is only jus large enough o have a good old scrub-up, bu he provision of an end washroom in such a compac four-berh is quie an achievemen in iself. The Belfas-syle sink is quie deep and pracical and he Theford C-250 loo has a larger wheeled cassee han he Alea s. Admiedly, i s more funcional han he Alea s washroom, and here s more space o owel yourself down afer a shower. BUILD QUALITY The fac ha Bailey is prepared o offer a marke-leading 10-year warrany speaks volumes. The Orion s sablemae, he Unicorn, which employs a similar consrucion mehod, has jus received European Whole Vehicle Type Approval, meaning i mees a whole raf of sringen qualiy crieria. The Orion is also undergoing he same compliance process and should earn approval soon. The move o ough, denresisan GRP panels is also a welcome sep. And, when i comes o he inerior, he Orion ses new sandards a he budge end of he marke, alhough a more han 13,000 delivered i s no he cheapes budge van. 8/10 7/10 7/10 8/10 ouandaboulive.co.uk July

6 New caravans Ohers o consider LUNAR QUASAR 464 price 14,595 Berhs 4 Anoher genuinely lighweigh family caravan, he Quasar is buil on Lunar s 7f 1in wide bodyshell and makes a sensible choice for boh young families and older caravanners alike. ELDDIS XPLORE 304 Price 11,299 berhs 4 Wih an all-up weigh of jus 1050kg, he 304 can be owed by even a small family hachback, bu, while i does have four berhs, is iny fooprin means living space is exremely limied. SPRITE MUSKETEER TD price 12,260 berhs 4 The Muskeeer is a grea family van wih a flexible layou. Lighweigh, wellfinished and anyhing bu basic, i s also nearly 1,000 cheaper han he Bailey. STERCKEMAN STARLETT 420CP price 9715 berhs 4 Like he Orion, his is a lighweigh GRP family van wih a quirky coninenal layou which could work well for young families. Wih hanks o David Brown and his saff a Venure Caravans, Waford Gap, for heir assisance wih his aricle. venure-caravans.com INSURANCE QUOTE Adria Alea 390DS 11,190 From only per annum Bailey Orion ,995 From only per annum 4-years claim free caravanning. New for old cover wih caravan sored on a CaSSOA Silver sie. TAKE COVER shieldoalinsurance.co.uk Final scores 1 2 adria alea 390 ds Pracicaliy... 7/10 The lile Alea acquis iself very well as a lighweigh compac ourer for wo, which can be owed by mos cars. Wih he addiion of children, space becomes more of an issue. Value For Money... 7/10 The Alea has increased in price by almos 1000 since las year wihou any significan improvemens in spec. I sill looks cheap agains he Bailey hough, which isn such a budge buy. Our raing Our esers conclusions When we esed he Adria Alea his ime las year, we concluded ha i was a pracical lile four-berh van wih a very aracive price ag. A year laer, and he win scourges of inflaion and a persisenly weak Pound have forced he price of he lile Alea up by almos 10 per cen. I s had a mild makeover, bu here is precious lile in he way of exra equipmen save for a cheap hich head sabiliser and in some ways, he re-worked inerior isn as pracical as he old model s design was. I sill compares favourably in price erms wih he relaively shor lis of direc Briish-buil compeiors, bu in he Orion, we feel ha Bailey bailey orion Pracicaliy... 8/10 The Orion really is a genuine all-rounder, ha performs as well as a family-orienaed lighweigh ourer as i does as a couple s van wih he opion of a semi-permanen bed. Value For Money... 7/10 While he iny wo-berh Orion 400 has an eyecaching sub- 12,000 price ag, he coss more han 13,000 wih delivery, which is edging nearer o mid-marke erriory. 73/100 76/100 Our raing has moved he goalposs. Wih an aracive inerior and some desirable sandard equipmen, he Orion feels anyhing bu enry level and he price ag confirms his. In realiy, he Orion is a replacemen for he slighly more upmarke Ranger GT60 and, for his sor of money, we hink Bailey has go he specificaion and rim more or less spo on. Bu if Bailey has indeed shifed is new Orion range subly upmarke, isn here now a gap below he Orion for a simple, no frills, sub- 12,000 budge family van which would be a worhy successor o he bes-selling Ranger? Perhaps his jus isn economically viable now. we chose Bailey Orion Alhough he poins ally suggess a close-fough cones, he oucome was never really in doub. Dave and Sandra fel he Orion was much roomier inside and he décor much more welcoming han he Alea s raher ausere inerior. They also hough he Bailey s bigger layou offered more flexibiliy for he fuure. NEXT MONTH Mark piches an Elddis Avane 556 agains a Lunar Quasar July 2011 ouandaboulive.co.uk