New touring caravans from the Explorer Group for 2017

New eight-feet-wide, twin-axle touring caravans arrive for 2017 from the Explorer Group. A completely new Compass caravan range has been launched. And there's a new, lightweight island-bed Xplore model.

Two of the new 2.45m-wide (eight feet) touring caravans are in the Elddis Avanté range. Two more are in the all-new Compass range. Both are 2.45m wide; that’s almost 20cm wider than other models in the Avanté range.

The first ever family-layout Buccaneer is launched. And there’s a range of four caravans with metallic blue sides; these are the four Compass Camino models.

A total of 21 new models are announced by the Explorer Group for 2017. The Explorer Group has a portfolio of 43 caravans for the new model year, of which 16 are on twin-axles.

In the flagship Buccaneer range there will be two new models, the Galera and the Commodore. The Galera is the first family caravan ever in the Buccaneer range.

The Compass range has a completely new line-up, with three new ranges, called Casita, Capiro and Camino.

The Xplore range gains a new layout, the 554, bringing the increasingly popular transverse-bed concept into Explorer’s budget range for the first time.

Xplore

The new 554 is one of five models in the Xplore line-up for 2017. The others are the diminutive four-berth 304 with an L-shaped lounge, the two six-berths, the 526 and the 586 and the 574, with single beds

Elddis Avanté

One of the two new Avanté models is the 2.45m-wide 866, with an ingenious family layout that would not be possible in a caravan of standard width. It has bunk beds plus a table area and a shower room, all lined up across the rear. The shower room, which is the size of one you might expect across the rear of a caravan, is aligned longitudinally.

The other 2.45m-wide addition to the range is the six-berth 840. It has both a double bed and a full-sized shower room, aligned longitudinally, alongside it..

Both of these new models have large, U-shaped dining areas on the offside.

Avanté gets a third new layout for 2017. The 586 has bunk beds and a wide offside dining area. This layout has already established itself in the lighter-weight Xplore range, where it still sits for 2017.

There are eight Avanté models for 2017. The others are a two-berth with an end shower room (the 482); three fixed-bed caravan, the twin-bed 574 and two island-bed models, the 554, with its bed transversely aligned, and the 550, with its bed head at the rear of the caravan; this model has separate shower and toilet compartments forward of the bedroom.

Elddis Affinity

The Affinity line-up of five models feature the two-berth 482, twin-bed 574, the 550 with an island bed at the rear, the 554, with an island bed, and the unique-layout 530, a three-berth with a wide side dining area.

Elddis Crusader

A new model is announced for 2017. Called the Zephyr. It brings to the twin-axle Crusader line-up a layout with a separate rear bedroom. Its bed is aligned transversely.

Long “Stargazer” roof lights are introduced to Crusaders for 2017. Crusaders also have new LCD display control panels which monitor both batter charge state and level in the in-board tanks

Compass Casita

The new Compass Casita range will have six models, including the revolutionary 866, 2.45m wide and the same layout as the Avanté 866, and the Casite 840, a six-berth with a double bed. The other four models are the transverse-bed 554, the twin-bed 574, the six-berth 586 and the rear island-bed 550.

Casitas have Whale blown-air central heating and the Whale Expanse water heater.

Compass Capiro

The new Compass Capiro range comprises four models: the two-berth 482, three-berth 530 (with the option for a fourth bunk), and two island bed layouts, the 550 and 554. Capiros have long “Stargazer” roof lights and Alde heating.

Compass Camino

The flagship of the Compass line-up brings a new colour dimension to caravanning. The sides of the four models in the Compass Camino range are pale metallic blue. These are the single-axle island bed 550 and 554, plus two twin-axle models. The 660 has a rear bedroom and separate shower and toilet compartments in the centre of the layout, dividing the caravan into two rooms. The twin-axle 644 will have a transverse island bed.

All Compass Camino models will have 40-litre onboard water tanks, Alde heating and the Alde loan monitor system. This prevents you from tripping out your pitch’s power supply by automatically switching off the Alde heating when you are using a high-power device such as a hairdryer.

Buccaneer

Buccaneer’s new Galera model brings family caravanning into Britain’s top-spec tourer range for the first time. This is a six-berth; the same layout as the new 2.45m-wide Elddis Avanté 866 and Compass Casita 866. Only this time family caravanning comes with automatic levelling system, Alde underfloor heating, tile-effect shower walls and, like the Elddis Crusaders, an LCD display which monitors water tank level and battery state.

Buccaneers also have “Stargazer” roof lights, new for 2017.