Full review

Twin-axle caravans are not a major part of the Coachman portfolio; this manufacturer only makes four. Three of them are in the prestige and much more expensive Laser range. They’re layouts ostensibly designed for couples. The Vision 640/6, therefore, is Coachman’s only family twin-axle caravan. Which makes it pretty special.

The layout was introduced in February 2007, in the Amara range which preceded Vision. It has twin bunks on the offside, a nearside dining area which can be transformed into two bunks, settees long enough to make single beds, and an exceptionally large shower room containing the wardrobe.
 

Showering

The showerhead is the Ecocamel type, with an air inlet which increases flow rate. Importantly, in this caravan designed for a young family, the shower room’s floor space is big enough for a parent to conduct children’s showering and drying activities without elbows colliding with the walls. At its largest points we measured the shower room at 1.24cm x 1.56cm.
Unusually, the toilet is on the nearside, which may draw adverse comments from potential buyers who are considering getting a full-length awning, because you have to take the toilet cassette out through your awning. But with the popularity of porches, rather than full-length awnings, increasing all the time, we think nearside toilet positions are less of an issue than they were just a few years ago.

The wardrobe gives you 93cm of hanging width plus three shelves and two large drawers beneath. More shelving is alongside the wardrobe adjacent to the mirror over the washbasin.
 

Sleeping

At 1.76m long the fixed bunks are very nearly adult dimensions. The bunks that can be created in the dining area are slightly longer, at 1.86m. The table forms the centre section of the lower bunk base; it sits on ledges on the edges of the seating units. A curtain tracks around the bunk area, and then disappears by day into its own cupboard in the top locker run. So neat and so typically-Coachman refined!

The settees are also 1.86m, so they’re fully-fledged single beds for journey stopover nights when you might not want to spend time creating a double bed here.

Bed-making, though, has just become lighter work in all Coachman caravans. Coachman is one of only two manufacturers which have introduced the revolutionary Ozio layered fibre upholstery for 2015 (the other is the Explorer Group). It’s around 30% lighter than the sprung upholstery used until this year, so lifting long lounge seating units to turn them over, and then around so that the knee rolls face the walls to make a flat mattress, is a much easier task.
 

Storage

In a caravan measuring 7.68m from hitch to tail lights you’d expect storage to be generous. And it is. There are seven top lockers that can be assigned to clothing accommodation. There’s enough space under the lounge and dining seating to stuff duvets, pillows and more, out of sight. None of the seating units has front access, but the substantial gas-filled struts on the lounge seat bases easily take the weight of the upholstery as well as the frame once you’ve set the rising in motion with a quick flick of the wrist.

All that’s pretty standard stuff. The Vision 640, though, has a big storage surprise. It’s initially hidden from view; if you inspect a 640 you could easily overlook it. The clue is that there’s a handle midway down the wooden panel that edges the base of the lower fixed bunk. Take off the (lightweight, Ozio!) mattress, place it on top of the top bunk, and pull the handle upwards…

The bunk base and the wooden frontage are joined by a hinge, so they fold upwards against the wall. A gas-filled strut holds it firmly in place. Now you have a bunk-sized storage area that is fabulous for folding chairs, an awning table, perhaps, even a pram…

This awesome feature makes the 640 a perfect caravan for families who have a dog; the space here is ideal for a dog bed (or even two). It gives your four-legged mate a place of his own to get out of the way during the day. And if you don’t have six aboard, you don’t necessarily need to use the base bunk, so your four-legged mate can have that space as his own during the night, too.
 

Dining

Family dining doesn’t always mean six eating at the same table. The 640’s lengthy lounge means you can, though. Or two members of the family can have their own dining space on the nearside. More likely, this two-seater area will be used as the media/play area; power, aerial and satellite points are on the wall above the slim dresser forward of the seating.
 

Lounging

Those centrally-placed TV points enable your TV to be watched from the lounge, too (and also from the fixed bunk beds).
Lounging is an especially comfortable experience in a Vision 640. The Ozio seating supports you firmly and the slightly squashy fore-end bolsters and big scatter cushions enable you to get cosy.

This is where the 640’s stunning lighting design is most noticeable. Semi-circular raised sections conceal lighting within corner units. More LED lights are above the lockers, encased in white frosted strips that integrate with linen-effect moulding. Like a lot of things about the Vision, it’s very refined. So, too, is a phone charging facility in the lounge; a socket is mounted in a dashboard-shaped fascia above the shelf that runs all the way across the caravan over the front windows.
 

Kitchen

The 640’s kitchen surface space isn’t over-generous considering the caravan is designed to cater for up to six people. The area forward of the sink is 54cm wide and 72cm deep. But when you run out of places to put plates, you can take over the table opposite.

Storage space isn’t enormous, either. The cabinet between the fridge and the cooker is 35cm wide but it’s invaded by wheel arch and inevitable gas and plumbing intrusions, so there is only one shelf plus a small area in front of the gas taps.
There are two good-sized drawers, though. And opposite, the dresser provides a 20cm-wide cabinet that is more capacious than its numeric width would suggest. It’s deep (53cm) and has a shelf running part way along the depth, leaving space for tall items in front of the shelf. With careful planning on what goes where, we think the lower storage arrangements in the 640 would work well.
 

Towing

We expected great things of the twin-axle 640 on its road test, and it delivered amply. Two axles always present easier and more relaxing towing characteristics than singles. That’s because there’s more inherent stability with four areas of rubber on the road. Through the tight corners of Grantham, in heavy traffic, and out onto the A1 to stretch its stride to 60mph provided a varied test of the 640’s handling, hitched to our Kia Sorento. Precise cornering was easy (accurate positioning is easier with a twin); open-road was a joy. And we noticed that there is very little bounce, even on rough road surfaces; again a characteristic of twin-axle geometry.

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