Full review

Lunar Quasar 546, 2009

Price new: £14,690

This caravan is a: six-berth with fixed triple bunks

Triple fixed bunks are becoming increasingly popular with buyers, and Which Caravan is quite a fan too – the new Series 7 Bailey Pageant Bretagne walked off with the title of Caravan of the Year 2009 at the Which Caravan awards.
Three kids? That’s three less beds to construct, break up and pack away each morning and night. “Waste of space!” the opposing argument goes. Not a bit of it. Those bunks are superb dens for their occupants to romp about in and a dinette nearby, with a partition, to close practically gives you an extra room.
We’ve chosen the Bailey Ranger GT60 540/6 for what appears to be value for money at £12,990. But is it? Then we have the Fleetwood Sonata Concerto at £14,990. It costs two grand more but is it two grand better? Finally, there’s the Lunar Quasar 546 at £14,690. It’s close in terms of price to the Fleetwood, but it’s a totally different layout. It still has triple bunks in the rear offside corner but the washroom’s in the rear too, not central like the others. It’s almost continental in design.
We know Bailey has kept weights low but has Lunar done the same with its new 546? And will that chunky-looking wide-bodied Fleetwood turn out to be too heavy?



Click here to download test: Which Caravan, January 2009  

Our verdict

It all comes down to two things really, and funnily enough it’s not the beds because they’re all brilliant! It’s simply that rear dinette as a separate room and whether you want or need it. If not, then Fleetwood offers a magnificent triple bunker whose size and comfort is the best here. It has weight figures so impressive that I phoned a man in Slovenia just to check them. The entire internal caravan space is also the lightest here with the feeling that six people will have plenty of space to spread out. Apart from the kitchen, which I felt was a let-down, and a price that struggles against spec levels of direct competitors, the Sonata Concerto remains a very capable six-berth. But I’d guess many will find the ultra flexible and extremely practical (both sleeping and daytime) end bunks and dinette arrangement such a compelling case in how to house six people, this layout will be where family buyers flock. The Lunar’s open rear feel over the Bailey is somewhat undone by the tight central area and shorter lounge, but the clever lower bunk storage mechanism will win many buyers over. You simply need to identify your priorities. Cooking capability and a separate shower? Then it’s the Lunar. If not, then the Bailey edges it slightly thanks to wider dimensions providing more room where and when it’s needed. There’s also superb pricing whilst keeping kit at an acceptable level. That said, if the Lunar had anything to go directly head-to-head with on price and spec (and it doesn’t, yet) it would still be a formidable contestant.

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