Full review

Coachman’s best-selling caravan, the transverse island-bed model in the top-spec VIP range, gets a new look for 2018.

A total restyling, both outside and inside, marks the new model year for the VIP range. The VIP comes with rounded front and rear panels and changes to the lounge.

And the range has expanded, to nine models, to encompass the twin-axle Lasers. These two ranges were always parallel with their specification. It makes sense to bring them together under one name.

We chose the layout that has proved to be the best-seller VIP for this review. We spent a day at Coachman’s factory in Hull to look in-depth at this popular caravan’s new styling for 2018.

Coachman enjoys a strong brand loyalty for its VIP range in particular. VIP aficionados will like the new, rounded body lines, grey front skirt, black outline above the windows and the smart red and grey graphics. On the road and on a pitch, VIPs look, every inch the top-quality, luxury caravan that they are.

Does the new interior match the exterior’s superior looks? Well, yes, definitely. But before we investigate inside the 575, we have some exterior exploration to do.

Along with a completely re-shaped front panel comes a unique gas bottle and storage setup. There are now two compartments at the front, one for gas, the other for storage. Each is 70cm tall, 64cm wide and 43cm at its deepest point, tapering to follow the body line.

The nearside locker fits two 6 or 7kg gas cylinders. The offside locker is large enough for essential equipment, including loo chemicals, and waste water piping. It will stay in place on tow much better in a smaller locker than sharing space with gas containers in a front-span compartment.

The wide-opening doors will make lifting gas cylinders and other items in and out easy. Coachman has set a new benchmark in front locker design; we love it for its practicality.

So, what of the new interior? The introduction of twin exterior lockers enables the central part of the lounge to reach to the front of the caravan. In previous models, occupied by the full-width gas bottle compartment. So the windowsill becomes deeper than in previous models.

The drawer unit underneath no longer intrudes into the lounge. The windowsill’s new curved shape allows you to recess the armrests into it. The result is the usable seating area is longer.

Elsewhere, the new 575’s layout is like the tried, trusted and popular previous model. It has an island bed aligned transversely and a shower room spanning the whole width of the caravan at the rear.

Showering B

The shower room has the same components in the same place as the 2017 model. The shower is on the nearside, loo on the offside, basin in the centre. But there, any comparison with previous 575s ends.

For the styling is different. Even the Dometic loo is a new style. It looks much more akin to a modern domestic toilet than the familiar caravan necessity. The loo is a squarer shape and has a more angular line for the flush tank.

The designers have taken full advantage of the new VIP rear panel shape. They recessed a mirrored cabinet into it. Rows of bright, white lights outline each edge. Beneath it, an acrylic splashback introduces an abstract, geometric pattern in the soft greys and white.

More high-end domestic-influenced styling appears here in a mixer tap and separate control. This is set into the splash-back panel above the washbasin.

The shower cubicle, a good-sized 65cm x 80cm, contains two shelves for shampoo. The large, clear door pivots on a hinge inside the door frame. That’s for space reasons but somehow it adds to the excellent styling of the whole shower room. Floor space isn’t massive, at 73cm deep (hence only a ‘B’ rating) but most buyers will consider it to be fine.

Sleeping A

The bed retracts for daytime mode, as do almost all transverse island beds. The corridor space is a generous 54cm. The bed is 1.35m wide and, when extended for night time use, it’s 1.87m long. That’s 6 feet 2 inches in old money – and if you’re above that height, in this layout, your feet can overhang the edge of the bed.

The new lounge style introduces a new method of making it into a double bed. Well, not new, for roll-out, webbing link slats have been around for a long time in many makes of caravan. Coachman moved away from that design a few years ago. The company introduced metal-framed central bed sections that pulled out from under the offside settee.

The downside was that this frame impeded storage access. Now, slats are back, in all Coachman models. And there’s another change that makes bed making easy. There are no knee-rolls. When you turn over the seat sections to make the mattress, you don’t have to turn them around, to place the knee roll area against the walls.

Storage B

There’s exterior access to the under-bed space; that’s how you’d get folding chairs into here. The metal cross-shaped bed retraction device restricts apertures from within the caravan. But good organisation about what goes where can usually overcome this.

And, of course, there’s unrestricted space under the nearside settee. Although it’s top-opening only (no front drop-down hatch), the lid holds up on its large springs.

There’s only one drawer, now, in the central front unit, with a drop-down-door cabinet beneath it. Will you miss more drawers here? No, given the 575’s four lounge head-height lockers.

Dining B

The 32cm-wide dining table that extends from under the windowsill creates a 75cm deep level surface. It's adequate for quick lunches, breakfasts and more than adequate for coffee-break snacks.

You house the dining table in its own slim cabinet on the fore end of the kitchen.

Lounging The settees are 4 cm lower than those in previous models. These are better suited to buyers of small stature. And somehow it makes the lounge look a little more open-plan. Or is it plain upholstery in almost white with a pale grey fleck? With more greys, plus beautiful mustard-gold shades, the new VIP lounge look is divine.

Kitchen A

If you dislike flat caravan drainers, with no ridges to keep plates upright to drain, you’ll love Coachman’s bespoke new drainer. It comes complete with a lip to channel water into the smart, black enamelled sink. That factor contributed towards the ‘A’ rating here.

Three deep drawers, each 60cm wide, provide the main storage area. There’s a fitted cutlery drawer opposite, above the fridge. Storage is fine and so is the amount of surface, when you account for the area above the fridge.

Styling is impressive in the kitchen, too, with the same geometric-patterned splash-back as in the shower room. There is a new Dometic cooker with bold grill and oven handle design. Lighting is not only beneath the top lockers. Lighting is beneath the drawers, too, which casts a bright white light into the floor so you notice the soft grey, high quality, deep pile carpet.

Towing B

We’ve towed VIP 575s before and found their stability to be impressive and their cornering predictable. This time, our tow test had to be brief. Our only opportunity was to take the 575 for a quick spin around the hotel grounds at the Coachman 2018 model preview event.

Before the official public unveiling, Coachman didn’t want us to take it out on roads. ATC is present for extra safety, as you’d expect on a high-spec caravan.

Verdict

The twin exterior front locker design is practical, keeping small items separate from gas bottles, in their own locker so minimising the amount of moving around during towing (we’ve all arrived at a site to an untidy gas bottle compartment!).

We love the deeper windowsill and its recessed shape to integrate the armrests. We love the sunny-hue, mustard gold accent colour against the ultra-modern plain grey backcloth. And, we love the more minor elements of styling, the splash-backs, the floor-level lighting in the kitchen, and the amazing, wall-mounted washbasin tap. A best-seller got better!

Options

Options for 2018 models yet to be announced