Model Year | 2016 |
Class | Single Axle |
Price From (£) | 19,999 |
Internal Length (m) | 5.77 |
Shipping Length (m) | 7.32 |
MRO (kg) | 1271 |
MTPLM (kg) | 1,455 |
Max Width (m) | 2.32 |
External Height (m) | 2.65 |
This year’s Lunar Lexons have arguably the most stunning interior design of 2016’s caravans. Both the fabric colours and lighting are truly awesome.
A lot of Lunar’s focus has been on the Lexon range for this year; not just in terms of styling. Three new models arrive, one with an island bed, one with twin beds, and this one, the new family Lexon, with bunks and a two-person dining area.
It’s a really well-planned layout; the cosy bunk “bedroom” is integrated with the dining area, to create a zone that’s nicely separate, making the kids feel that they have their own space. Yet it’s at the same time quite open plan, so the caravan has a spacious feel.
If you go to see a 580 at a retailer’s premises, you’ll appreciate the layout efficiency instantly. What you won’t see, though, is the awesome lighting design because, naturally, most caravans are displayed outdoors without power connected.
Our review 580, though, is hooked up to mains and switched on, 20 miles north of where it was built, in the North West, for a day of detailed evaluation. The weather is exceptionally dull, which gives the Lexon’s lighting style chance to shine, literally. Every area of the 580 has amazing and very different lighting styling, including the shower room.
The mirror over the basin is completely surrounded by beads of bright white light. The ceiling light is an exquisite rectangular structure encasing 12 little LEDs.
A circle of brilliant white light is in the centre of the shower cubicle, framed by a large grey circle. The styling is simply lovely.
There’s more than style to impress you here. Lexons have big oval white basins that sit up above a cabinet. Even the tap is worth remarking on. It’s angular and tall; up there with the best in terms of domestic bathroom style.
The bunks are 1.8m long. The single bed opposite, created from the dining area, is the same length. Each bunk has a curtain, as does the bunk area.
Lighting style is remarkable here, too. Both bunk areas have very bright lights, they’re clusters of LEDs on a spotlight-style stalk. The single spotlight over the dining table is of a totally different style, more classic spotlight in shape, and brighter than those you usually find in caravans.
Entertainment is catered for by a chunky television bracket above the foot end of the top bunk; a TV fixed here can be viewed from the dining area as well as the top bunk. Connection points plus 12-volt and mains sockets are alongside. A mains socket is close to floor level in the dining area. Having two power points in the kids’ zone is important.
The lounge transforms into a double bed by drawing out a central slatted base from under the drawers.
The bunk base is exceptionally light and easy to raise; it’s supported on spring hinges. There’s exterior access to this space. The areas under the dining seating are accessed by sliding webbing-linked slats to one side; again, all very easy. Front under-seat areas have full-length drop-down doors. The offside space is inevitably occupied by the Truma Combi space and water heater (which is really efficient, warming up the 580 in minutes at the start of our test day).
The lounge has four top lockers; there are two long lockers over the dining table.
The wardrobe, just forward of the bunks, has a good amount of hanging space and four drawers beneath it. The storage potential in a family caravan is crucial to its appeal and this one has to be regarded as up there with the best in its size class.
We love the position of the rear dining “room”, far enough away from the parents’ dining area, yet well within sight, so that everyone feels they are eating in the same room. That’s important in the 580, because the front dining area seats four, rather than five. Unless, that is, you go for an option. You can buy extra upholstery, for £139, to turn the 580’s lounge into a wrap-around configuration, which makes this a five-seater dining area.
The freestanding table is stored in a compartment within the kitchen cabinet, easy to extract and replace.
The Lexon’s amazing lighting features have grabbed our attention in every area so far. In the lounge, though, lighting style is even more striking. Three factors come into play; the locations, and shapes, of the lights, plus and the amount of light created in total, which is more than we find in the majority of tourers we review. The four corner spotlights under the top lockers are exceptionally bright. Small brushed metal cube lights in the corners emit lights from both top and base. A rim of light surrounds the long central roof light (another stunning Lexon feature) and four small spotlights define each corner of it.
There’s an additional lighting feature that contributes to the Lexon character. Lines of LEDs produce soft lighting within the two-shelf corner unit above the dresser beside the door. The shade of the wood means that a pinkish hue is created; another stunning feature.
Lexon lounge style isn’t just about amazing lighting. Gloss cream locker inserts, plus cream sockets and switches, add to the style. It’s the fabric colours, though, that, along with lighting, define this year’s Lexons. Lunar dared to be different when the designers chose this scheme. Bright reds and greys, boldest stripes, with a vaguely animal print for the seat backs, create a look that’s both sophisticated and ultra modern. We love it!
Lighting is a feature of the kitchen, too. The top and sides of the upper lockers are defined by a rim of light, and a row of exceptionally bright LEDs runs the entire length of the kitchen under the top lockers, giving plenty of illumination where you work.
With the 35cm extension hinged into place, the 580’s kitchen is a generous 1.31m long. The sink cover (matching the matt brown rock-effect surface) sits slightly above the surface but is nonetheless useful extra space.
The cabinet forward of the fridge is 26cm wide, and contains a cutlery drawer plus two shelf spaces, the lower one being ideal for tall items such as fizzy drinks bottles. Opposite, the dresser cabinet gives you two more shelf spaces, also 26cm wide. These two lower cabinets together provide just about enough storage capacity, we’d say, especially considering that this caravan has four over-lounge lockers that can be used for kitchen stuff if required.
Some will say the microwave is too high for anyone who isn’t tall. But that’s the only potential downside of what is otherwise an excellently practical kitchen.
Twenty mostly motorway miles, with a few roundabouts and lanes, between the Lunar and Little Orchard Caravan Park, where we reviewed the 580, provides a nicely varied tow-test route. Exposed motorway stretches and the gusty winds of the day had us appreciating the inclusion of ATC stability control as a standard feature. The 580 behaved impeccably, as we’d expected. And the best news? This caravan’s modest 1445kg MTPLM put it happily within range of vehicles a lot lighter than our beefy SsangYong.
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