Full review

The Pursuit range was launched in October. Six models take over from both the Orion and Olympus ranges. Bailey took the best-seller layouts from each – and then re-styled them, and produced caravans that are both cheaper and lighter.

The Pursuit 430-4 is based on the Orion 430-4. It's a very similar layout, with a double bed and a full-width shower room. The difference is that whereas the Orion was £14,005, the Pursuit 430-4 is slightly less, at £13,995. And it’s 18kg lighter; the equivalent Orion’s MTPLM figure is 1247kg.

Pursuits have glass-reinforced-plastic side panels, which enhance dent-resistance compared with caravans with aluminium sides. There’s a visual difference, too; Pursuits have pale grey sides, accentuated by bright white surrounds to the service hatches and along the skirt; the front, back and roof is white, too.

The construction system is Alu-Tech, in common with Bailey’s other ranges. Body panel are made without the use of timber. The internal skeleton is a composite plastic structure with a high-density polystyrene insulation and a GRP inner wall lining.
 

Pursuits, like Orions, have single-unit front windows. Traditionally this style of window defines what might be termed “budget” caravans – but in our opinion this is a feature that would work well on caravans much higher up the price scale, because they let in so much light and give you a lovely uninterrupted view.
Pursuits closely resemble the shape of Orions. They’re rather rounded; designed for aerodynamic efficiency and therefore fuel economy.

The heating system is the Truma Combi unit, with a digital control panel. The blown-air system (with four outlets) delivers 2kW of power on gas and 1.8kW on electricity. Warm-up time during our test week was rapid; just a few minutes sent the temperature up from around 7ºC up into the high teens in about 15 minutes. One of the outlets for the warmed air is just to the left of the door as you walk into the shower room…
 

Showering

The aspect you first notice about the shower room is its shape. The roofline curves steeply, so the window, the shelf which runs above it, and the offside corner cabinet, look low. But when you analyse the shower room more closely, you don’t lose headroom.
The shower walls are the same waterproof GRP that line the rest of the caravan, in plain, untextured cream. Everything about this shower room is appealingly simple in styling.
Two long shelves, a two-shelf corner cabinet and a large cabinet under the basin take care of storage needs amply.
There’s only one thing missing in the shower room; that’s a carpet. Respecting the budget price-bracket of the 430, that’s why there’s no carpet. But on the chill mornings of our test week we noticed its absence; feet were rather too well chilled! If we bought this caravan we’d also be buying a couple of small scatter rugs.
 

Sleeping

The mattress is sprung, and deep; this is anything but basic – a quality touch in a budget caravan.
Little shelves are on both sides of the bed for watches and phones. A wide shelf sweeps around the corner between the locker over the bed head and the two on the nearside. The presence of a shelf, rather than more locker space, is one small way in which the designers have economised on weight, but bedroom locker accommodation isn’t lacking, so buyers won’t miss an extra hideaway.
You can make a second double bed in the lounge; it’s 1.43m wide (which is about domestic size). The central slatted base pulls out from a shelf.
 

Storage

The areas under the settees are accessed from the top (there are no front doors). The slatted seat bases don’t have self-supporting springs but these units are only 1.2m long, so they re easy and light to lift and hold up while you delve inside.
The wardrobe gives you 74cm of hanging width but there is only one door, so you have to reach inside to get at the garments hanging in the rear sector, where a shelf reduces hanging depth to 96cm (which is plenty for shirt-length garments).
Three more shelf spaces occupy the whole wardrobe area, offering enormous footwear storage potential – far more than you’d ever need.
Gas-filled strut hinges hold the double bed up. There’s a plastic tray adjacent to the exterior hatch, designed for items such as folding chairs which might have mud or grass adhering to the legs.
Upper storage in the lounge area comprises a locker on each side of the lounge plus a smaller one along the front above the window.
 

Dining

Snack-times are taken care of by a hinge-up table (34cm deep and 50cm wide) at the front. The freestanding table is stored vertically, retained by clips, on the offside wall, to the rear of the wardrobe. Amid the current trend for stowing tables under seating and beds, suddenly tables have become comment-worthy – and the 430 wins our praise because its table is superbly easy to get out and replace after use.
 

Lounging

The Pursuit range has a range of optional specification including a sunroof, with which our test example was equipped. It adds £356 onto the cost and enhances the lounge by letting in more light. The JVC radio/CD fitted to our test 430 (in the nearside corner of the lounge) is also an option. It’s part of the Premium Pack (£399) which also gives you a spare wheel, a hitch-head stabiliser, a microwave oven and a door fly screen. The radio’s sound quality is excellent; a nice touch in a so-called budget caravan.
The settees seat two per side. The upholstery is foam, rather than sprung, but it does feel comfortable, and the combination of low bolsters at the front and two scatter cushions enabled us to get cosy.

 
Kitchen

Compact caravans often have compact kitchens, and this is one of them. Lower storage space is confined to the fridge, a (good-sized) cutlery drawer and a small cabinet beneath it. Opposite, the dresser creates a two-shelf top cabinet. Above the kitchen, alongside the microwave (fitted to our test caravan as part of the Premium Pack) is a large tableware cabinet fitted for four mugs and 10 plates, with space for other stuff around the racks.
The kitchen is short, at just over a metre, but there’s an extra 30cm of space to hinge up when you’re making meals, transforming the kitchen from confined to practical. The sink is large and circular (39cm in diameter). A chopping-board cover and drainer are provided.
Pursuits have a combination oven-grill unit (one way in which weight has been reduced compared with a full oven and grill). Hobs are triangular, with three burners. The worktop, and also the surface of the dresser, is a high-gloss, dark brown slate-effect. Like many visual aspects of the 430, the quality look of this surface is way above the Pursuits’ budget status.
 

Towing

Complete with the hitch-head stabiliser that comes as part of the Premium Pack and increases safety margin especially when high winds may attempt to deflect stability, our test 430 was well set up for easy towing.
Not even a breeze was present when we took it out for its test tow and it behaved predictably impeccably. For our money, though, we’d have the hitch-head stabiliser, because not every day is as perfect as our test tow day. We’d also buy another option; Bailey offers the ATC electronic stability control system for an extra £399. Again, this is about equipping your caravan with everything available to enhance your ease of towing and safety.
We’ve talked a lot in this review about extras; potentially, you could add £399 (for the Premium Pack) plus £356 (for the sunroof), £399 (for the ATC system and another £194 for an AL-KO Secure wheel lock. Or you could have none of those. It’s good to have the choice, so that you can equip your 430 to suit your needs, preferences and budget. It’s also useful to consider the extras in terms of their impact on your payload. The Premium Pack adds 38kg to the weight (so that’s how much less payload you have available); the sunroof only 9kg and the ATC system even less, at just 3kg.