Full review

£15,395 • MTPLM 1255kg • MIRO 1105kg

If you want a lightweight caravan and you also want a high quality tourer the Lunar Quasar 494 should make your shortlist…

Review first appeared in Caravan Buyer March 2012

 

The Quasar 494 is only 4.78m long. Yet it packs in a side-dining area, a kitchen with good cupboard space, and an end shower room with a domestic-sized shower.

It’s a family layout (the dining area creates bunks). And it will also appeal to couples; with two aboard, you have a permanent dining area.

Quasars are only 2.16m wide. With more caravans growing towards the 2.5m maximum, the Quasar’s width becomes an important factor in caravan choice. That’s because every centimetre saved on size is translated into a saving on weight.

It’s shorter and narrower than many four-berths of this layout, but does the 494 feel in any way claustrophobic? The answer is a definite “no”. That’s partly down to décor (pale fabrics). In places it’s a lot more spacious than you’d expect. This is very much the case in the shower room.

Showering 8/10

The shower measures 65cm by 79cm; that’s large enough for mum or dad to shower a couple of children at the same time. Towelling and dressing space is ample for families, too.

The shower room is loaded with refinements, some practical, some just… nice. The practical bits first: there’s a rail running the length of the shower area, perfect for drying towels, or hanging coats to dry. There’s a towel loop, too – in just the right place for you to reach it from within the shower. And at the opposite side of the room is a tall, square cabinet with a top-hinged lid and a tough cotton bag inside    for laundry. Is this practical, or just nice? We think both. Firmly under “just nice”, though, is the over-mirror lighting, consisting of a row of bright LED pips that give out really good illumination just where you need it.

Sleeping 8/10

The settees would make single beds for occupants less than 1.68m (5 feet 6 inches) tall. But it’s more likely that you’d roll out the slats from under the drawers at the front and make up a lovely large bed that measures just over two metres long and 1.68m wide – that’s wider than a standard domestic double bed.

The offside bunk rises from the wall. These pull-up bunks are always a bit of a fiddle – but there’s nothing here that will fray your temper; lifting it into position is straightforward.

Storage 14/20

In a caravan of such a short length you’d be forgiven for assuming storage might be in short supply. But with head-height lockers all round and plenty of under-seating storage, we think the Quasar 494 caters adequately for the number of people it’s designed for. And, if just two people are holidaying here, we think they’d seldom fill all the lockers.

In detail, then: two lockers are above the dining area; two more are above the settees; two lockers are above the front window, one housing the radio/CD player but there’s still plenty of space here.
The under-settee lockers have drop-down doors, so accessing the contents is easy.

Lounging 7/10

The sofas are not quite full bed length but are fine for feet-up relaxing; they’re comfortable, with squashy cushion-style bolsters and four scatter cushions, so that you can create your own nest.

There are two places for your television. You can perch it on the edge of the kitchen surface; there’s an aerial point next to the mains socket. But no-one ought to be splashing water around in the sink while it’s there. Just as well, then, that there’s a second set of sockets in the lounge so that you can put the TV on the chest of drawers, get cosy with your backs against the bolsters on the forward end of the lounge – and put your feet up so that you’re facing the television.

Dining 9/10

A high score here, because you have three options. When you pull out the table that almost doubles the surface of the front drawer unit, you have a breakfast table. Extract the dining table from its slot in the kitchen cupboard and you have space to feed four people. Or you can use the offside dining area.

Kitchen 16/20

With a 46cm-wide surface to the right of the sink, this kitchen excels considering the small size of the caravan. The large circular sink has a chopping board cover that gives you additional working space, even though it sits higher than the surface around it.

Build 8/10

Light in weight though Quasars are, all the furniture has a substantial feel. Locker doors have rounded edges. Bed slats slide easily. Top lockers are on substantial metal hinges. The gas bottle locker door doesn’t flex when you open it. It’s supported on two robust gas-filled struts.

Towing 9/10

Behind the wide bulk of our Kia Sorento, the Quasar’s comparatively narrow 2.16m width made extension mirrors almost redundant; we had 30-plus metres of vision along each side of the caravan. That’s one advantage of narrow caravans. But out on the open road there’s a far more important characteristic in play and that’s the good balance of this caravan. The lightweight 494 behaved impeccably on its tow test. You’d expect this when towing with a great monster of a Sorento, but a much less beefy vehicle would be just as capable of making Quasar 494 towing a relaxing experience. VC

 

VERDICT 79/100

This caravan is ultra-light in weight and seems more spacious for families than you might expect

TOWMATCH INFO

Weight (MTPLM): 1255kg

To tow this caravan at 85% you need a car kerbweight of 1476kg

To tow this caravan at 100% you need a car kerbweight of 1255kg

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