Full review

Lunar Quasar 554

At just 1355kg when fully laden, the Quasar 554 is among a small number of twin-bed caravans that are within the tow capability of relatively small cars. By comparison with more luxurious Lunars, spec is limited, to keep the weight down. Perhaps more significantly, Quasars are narrower, at 2.16m, than Lexons and Clubmans (2.28m) – and, where there’s less width, there’s also less weight. Yet the 554 manages to create a cosy and practical holiday environment for two. It’s not a two-berth, of course; a double bed can be made up across the lounge, but we think the 554 will find 99% of its fans among couples. The layout is straightforward: short-length-settee lounge, offside kitchen, fridge on the nearside under a half-length wardrobe, twin beds – and an end shower room…

Showering
The 554 is only 5.61m in body length but it has a larger-thanaverage shower room, at 1.07m in depth. The shower is rectangular and every bit the size of one you’d find in a house; it’s 78cm x 66cm. Because the door is so wide, it pivots on a hinge about 10cm inside the door frame. This system may have been invented for purely practical reasons but its effect is to add style – and the door is crystal clear plastic, giving the whole shower room a very open-plan feel. Small things count. There’s a rail running across the shower area, for drying towels or hanging wet coats to dry. And the shower head is the Ecocamel sort that draws air in from the base of the handle, to mix with the water and create increased flow while at the same time saving on the amount of water you use. The basin is small – just large enough for the tooth-cleaning routine and for washing hands, but all other washing would have to be done in the shower. That’s not a criticism, for the advantage of having a basin that doesn’t protrude too far into the shower room is that you get plenty of floor space. Three areas of shelving (above and below the mirror, and on the offside wall), plus a cabinet under the basin, are enough to take care of the showering and preening necessities.

Sleeping
The 554’s raison d’être is its twin beds. And there’s a big difference between twin beds, Quasar-style, and twin beds in most other caravans. These are lower. At 52cm, they’re the same height as the lounge seating. This means that they look very much part of the daytime furniture and much less a separate bedroom area. And, in a caravan of relatively confined length, that’s really important visually. During our test day we heaped a few cushions atop the beds and envisaged this area as a feet-up, daytime relaxing environment. There’s a wall bracket for your television on the rear of the wardrobe (power and aerial connections are here, too); the “bedroom” in the 554 is definitely not purely for night-time use. If you want to create a double bed in the lounge, it’s an easy process. You draw out a series of webbing-linked slats from under the front drawers and put the backrests down flat to make up a mattress.

Storage
There is one disadvantage to having beds that are lower than many others in caravans. You get slightly less storage depth under them. Does that matter? We think not, for there is ample space here for folding chairs and an awning table plus loads of other stuff. Both bed storage areas have exterior hatches, and interior access is via full-length, hinge-down doors, or you can raise the tops on their strong sprung hinges. Four wide (but quite shallow) top lockers take care of small clothing items. But none has a shelf, which means items will tend to fall out when you open the lockers if you pile them too high. Shelving in here would have doubled the capacity of these lockers. But then, at 1355kg, it’s the weight that counts – and every piece of wood would add to that. The two side lockers over the lounge do have shelves, though. They’re stiffer in construction and more substantial than those which Lunar used to put into lounge locker shelves in previous years – and they can be removed if you choose to use these lockers for tall cereal packets, for example. It’s a nice touch of flexibility. Full-length drop-down doors give you good access to the undersettee areas. Unusually, the wardrobe is half-length. But we don’t see this as a disadvantage. There’s ample rail width – it just means that you fold your trousers over a proper trouser hanger rather than using those waist-band clip hangers you often get when you buy the trousers!

Dining
The freestanding table stores away inside the kitchen cabinet. But, for two, the pull-out extension to the centre-front chest of drawers is adequate for most meals. We think the freestanding table in the 554 will find most of its use in your awning.

Lounging
By comparison with most caravans, the lounge rooflight in Quasars is smaller. On a dull day you’d notice the difference – but, akin to our comment about the size of the washbasin, this is not a criticism, merely a comparative observation. What matters is that the 554 has a lovely cosy lounge, with big, thick end bolsters on comfortablyconstructed settees and enough lighting for practical purposes. There are four spotlights and two ceiling lights, plus two lights within the top locker run, with simple curved glass shades. Fabrics are fawn with a prominent weave, and dark brown curtains have a paler brown pattern that reflects the light. The whole lounge look is plain and appealing. There’s an outlet for the Truma Combi blown air heating system in the centre-front of the lounge. (There’s also one set into the nearside bed and a third in the shower room). You can use your television in the lounge; connectivity is close to floor level, in a position which would mean minimal trailing cables to your TV sitting on top of the chest of drawers.

Kitchen
The 554’s kitchen is a bit of a star, given the relatively compact size of the caravan – and also that half of the caravan’s length is occupied by twin beds and big shower room. There’s a four-shelf cabinet under the kitchen; that’s bigger than those you find in many caravans. Worktop space is a bit limited but, when you put the cover over the sink, you get a lot more usable space; even though the cover sits above the surface, making good use of all the space would be easy. Cooking equipment is a full oven and grill plus a three-burner hob and mains hotplate hiding beneath a smart black glass top. A Daewoo microwave is alongside the top cabinet. It has an auto-cook facility, with specific settings for baked potatoes, soup and vegetables. The fridge is opposite, under the wardrobe, creating a suggestion of a galley aspect to this kitchen which we think would be very workable.

Towing
Quasars don’t have the ATC stability control system that is standard on their higher-spec brethren in the Lunar portfolio. On Quasars it’s an option, at £499. That said, this safety feature only normally comes into play in adverse conditions of high winds and when you’re overtaken by over-zealous drivers of high-sided vehicles. And, until a few years ago, we didn’t have it around anyway. What matters here is that the 554 seemed, on its tow test, to be inherently stable and seemed as close to single-axle perfection as anything we’ve towed. Its test route, from the Lunar factory south of Preston, took us along motorway sections and into narrow lanes to reach Little Orchard Caravan Park, at Weeton; plenty of variety of roads to demonstrate the 554’s easy-handling characteristics.