Full review

The Compass Corona 382, one of two arrivals in the Corona range for 2015, is a classic two-berth, end-kitchen model.

Following the reintroduction of the Compass brand last year, after an absence of four years, the 2015 Coronas gets some fundamental changes. They’re now on AL-KO chassis; the previous year’s models were on BPW chassis. And they have the AL-KO ATC automatic electronic stability control system as standard.

Whale blown air heating has been replaced by the hot water based Alde system, with 24-hour programmable facility.
The upholstery is a new construction, called Ozio. It’s composed of three layers of fibres and foam, constructed in much the same way as many domestic settees.

New awning rails are introduced. They are integrated with the bodylines, creating a sleeker look. No screws are used to secure them, in line with the fully-bonded SoLiD construction method used for all Explorer Group caravans. This build method, introduced two years ago, eliminated almost all screws and is designed to create an impervious barrier to water.
 
The diminutive 382’s layout is a new twist on the time-honoured two-berth, end-kitchen concept. By putting the fridge under the wardrobe, on the offside forward of the washroom, storage space has been increased in the kitchen area. Where, traditionally, the fridge would have been placed, forward of the door, there’s a large cabinet and drawer. The microwave is above, at a comfortably accessible height for most statures, with a locker above.

It’s in the washroom, though, that you get perhaps the greatest surprise in terms of equipment.
 

Showering

 
You don’t readily associate Alde heated towel rails with shared toilet-shower rooms. But there’s one here, neatly attached to the rear wall, tucked away behind the toilet. It’s guaranteed to keep the little room toasty. But there’s more at play than space heating. Because this is a combined shower-toilet room, you have to towel-dry the shower tray after every shower, so the good amount of heat output from the Alde radiator in such a small area will be appreciated to dry out the area completely.

There’s a curtain track running around two sides of the shower. That leaves the two mirrors exposed to shower spray. Perhaps we’d have preferred to have protective curtaining running all the way around, so the glass and surrounding wall wouldn’t have to be wiped free of water. But the counter argument would be that many buyers of caravans with shared shower-toilet compartments shower at caravan park facilities anyway.

There’s just one towel loop, on the nearside wall. An additional loop or bar above the heated towel rail would have enhanced drying efficiency and would also have enabled each occupant of the caravan to hang their towels.
A slim, wooden two-shelf cabinet above the towel rail is sufficient in size for the showering necessities.

 
Sleeping

The settees make single beds 1.86m long and 70cm wide. Making up the double bed, by pulling out the central slatted base from under the two drawers at the front, gives you a bed length of just over two metres.

We were keen to see how easy the new Ozio layered upholstery is to handle. It’s noticeably lighter than the sprung upholstery that it replaced. That’s a clear advantage in terms of overall caravan weight. And it’s a bonus, in particular, in a caravan of this layout, in which bed-making, and the need to manhandle seating sections is a twice-daily task (assuming you make up the double bed).

Ozio’s manufacturers Leisure Furnishings had already advised us that it’s important to turn over the seating units; that’s not just to put the knee rolls on the outer edges of the bed. It’s because the seating fabric, on the upper side, would prevent the breathability of the Ozio units working to maximum efficiency. The words “Sleep this side” are imprinted on the reverse sides of all the units, just to remind you of how to get the greatest sleep comfort. Sleeping in a review caravan is of course rarely part of our task but we did turn all four units over and made up the bed. Compared with sprung upholstery these backrests and base units are featherweight. So the task is significantly easier.
 

Storage

Full-length drop-down doors give good access to the under-settee spaces. And the lightweight Ozio upholstery gives you an advantage here, too; if you prefer to lift the locker tops to load stuff in, it’s a much easier task than with spring upholstery.
Top lockers are all around the lounge. They all have positive push-catches hidden behind the bold brushed steel handles.
The wardrobe gives you 66cm of hanging width and a depth of one metre; it’s a generously proportioned wardrobe, given the overall compact size of the caravan.
 

Dining

The dining table is stored on the forward wall of the wardrobe, in a position that makes it easy to extract and replace. For minor meals, the pull-out extension to the front-central chest of drawers top gives you a level surface of 81cm deep and 65cm wide. Importantly, you don’t need to remove stuff from the top in order to pull it out to table proportions.
 

Lounging

We were keen to spend time sitting in the lounge to assess the new Ozio construction. As confirmed fans of spring-type upholstery would we find Ozio comparatively unyielding? Or too soft? In fact, neither. It feels firmly supportive, and very comfortable.

Slim, curved armrests at the rear ends of the settees and larger, firm bolsters at the front ends, plus four scatter cushions, ensure you can get cosy in the baby Corona.

Four spotlights, an LED strip under the front lockers, lighting concealed above the side lockers and two corner lights combine to give good illumination.
 

Kitchen

Kitchen storage is surprisingly generous for a small caravan. The area between the cooker and the nearside wall is effectively divided into two storage units. A full-height cabinet to the right of the kitchen gives you three shelf areas. Alongside it, four drawers give 32cm of interior width and 9cm of depth. Add in the 48cm-wide cabinet forward of the door, with a drawer above, plus three top lockers, and this kitchen can safely be assessed as excellent in terms of storage capacity. Four open shelves on the rear end of the dresser are the icing on a very good cake, ideal for keys, phones and other bits. And there’s a tiny, but excellent, addition here; a coat hook directly alongside the door.

Kitchen surface space, similarly, drew our praise. At 88cm wide and 62cm deep, there’s enough area for food prep even without using the dresser top nearby. The circular brushed steel sink is enormous by any caravan standards, at 40cm in diameter. Its cover matches the cream rock-effect of the rest of the kitchen surface and, although the cover sits slightly higher than the surface, you really can use the whole kitchen space as one worktop.

Cooking equipment is three burners and a mains hotplate atop a Thetford oven and grill, plus the microwave. That’s a Daewoo model, with brushed steel frontage, unusual smart grey interior and auto-cook facility for bread, soup, baked potatoes and fresh and frozen vegetables.
 

Towing

Coronas have grown up, from their naissance as the basic of three ranges when Compass made a come-back for 2014, to much further up the spec ladder. Among the features that mark out 2015 Coronas as a long way ahead of basic is the inclusion of ATC as standard. This intelligent system that detects the first signs of snaking, and controls it by the application of the caravan brakes often before the driver has discerned a problem, is surely one of caravanning’s greatest advancements of the last few years.

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