Full review

Words: Val Chapman  Photography: John Chapman

The Elddis Supreme 585

Most caravan layouts broadly conform to patterns. Occasionally, though, a manufacturer dares to be different, creating a layout that is totally unique. The Erwin Hymer Group did just that with the invention of the 585 layout, in its Xplore, Elddis and Compass ranges.

Introduced for the start of the 2022 model year, and going through to 2023, this is a five-berth tourer – with an L-shaped lounge at the rear. It’s an impressively practical and versatile layout. Little wonder, then, that the Supreme 585 is a high-selling tourer – especially when it’s in dealer-special guise, enhanced by a package of extra equipment and exclusive fabrics that create individuality.

The Elddis Supreme range is Preston Caravans and Motorhomes’ exclusive version of the Elddis Avanté range, with extra equipment amounting in value to £4,200. The 585 has been a sell-out success; caravan sales are burgeoning right now, in line with the increasing popularity of the concept of caravanning, and Preston Caravans and Motorhomes is now taking pre-orders for 2023. So, plan ahead!

There’s a demonstrator model at Preston Caravan’s premises, at the village of Clifton, six miles from Preston; we spent a day there to find out more...   

The layout

What makes the 585’s layout special is the versatility of its L-shaped rear lounge which can be transformed into a bedroom for three. A bunk raises from the rear wall and a double bed makes up by drawing out the base from under the rear seating section. But you don’t have to raise the bunk in order to make up the double bed; you can have this area as simply a double bed ‘room’. And there’s more. You can make a single bed across the width of the caravan with a bunk above. We think that’s brilliant flexibility. A curtain tracks around this area for privacy.

Along the offside wall, two wide shelves provide plenty of space for books, iPads and more. There’s a mains socket close to the lower shelf, ideally placed for charging stuff, together with TV sockets.

Five top lockers plus under-seat lockers (with both top and front access), and a small cabinet under the shelving area, together amount to excellent storage capacity.

Three neat spotlights and overlocker concealed lighting provide the illumination, and there’s ample space for a lamp on the top shelf if you need more.

The front lounge, of course, converts to a 2.10m by 1.3m double bed. If you use the seating as single beds, they are 1.7m long. And that means more versatility. Children can sleep on the single beds here and parents can have the double at the rear of the tourer.

TV points are by the dresser, together with a mains socket. There’s a socket in the lounge, with two USB ports and two more sockets in the kitchen. We think a couple of USB ports in the rear lounge area would have been a useful addition.       

The Supreme spec

The two most noticeable features that distinguish Supremes are the silver sides (standard Avantés have white sides) and the bespoke fabric scheme.

The fabric scheme creates a charming décor, with a palette of soft fawns for the fabrics, pale fawn cabinetry mixed with almost linen look, notably for the upper kitchen cabinets and the lower sectors of the top lockers. Beautiful quality cushions in an ultra-subtle pastel pink-fawn shade give the Supreme an equally subtle sophisticated look.

Supremes have a long list of refinements that distinguish them from Avantés. Among them is the 1.34m long, slender rooflight, sitting in a frame that extends to surround the extractor fan.

Additional equipment that transforms an Avanté into a Supreme includes an alarm and tracker system, a 100W solar panel, heavy-duty corner steadies, pleated blinds, a gas barbecue point, an outlet from the Whale blown-air system to direct warm air into your awning, plus an offside services light.

There’s an automatic gas cylinder changeover system so that, when one cylinder runs out, the supply switches to the second. There is also an Al-Ko Secure wheel lock.

Other refinements include backlighting to the mirror in the shower room, and an exterior access hatch to the space under the front seating, with a mains socket inside it to power an appliance in your awning.        

The kitchen

The kitchen has well designed storage provision. A 33cm-wide cabinet has two deep shelf spaces.  Alongside are three drawers, 31cm wide, and, beneath, a drop-down-door cabinet. Opposite, in the dresser, there’s a drawer and a two-shelf cabinet, 36cm wide. And, above the super stylish dark mirror-fronted microwave (which is at a height convenient for most statures), is a double-doored cabinet, 52cm wide. When you add in the three top lockers over the kitchen, the 585s’s kitchen storage can safely be described as generous. The fridge/freezer is the 133-litre Dometic slimline model.       

The washroom

The shower room, on the offside, contains one of the Supreme refinements; lighting concealed along the mirror. There’s a reassuring solidity about every component in this caravan including the bifold shower door that runs in tracks both at the base and top.

The wardrobe, opposite the shower room, provides 55cm of hanging width, with four drawers beneath; another excellent element of the 585s first-rate storage capability. And, just for good measure, there’s even a coat hook by the entrance door.

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