Full review

The Major 4 EB's on-trend rear bed, central shower room layout is now spreading its wings to all levels of price, weight and equipment in several manufacturers’ portfolios. This new fashion in the design introduces the concept of a central shower area with doors leading both to the bedroom and the living area. Effectively, then, these are caravans with two rooms.

The layout appears in Swift’s ranges, in Challenger, Conqueror, and right up to the Elegance and continental flagship ranges, in various lengths and levels of equipment.

In the Explorer Group portfolio, Elddis Avanté and Compass Casita 550 have similar layouts, this time with a pleated partition between the shower-toilet zone and the bedroom, as distinct from the sliding door arrangement in the Sprite Major 4 EB.

The end bedroom, central wash area layout appears in the new-for-2017 Lunar Clubman SR, too, but all of these models are rather higher up the spec and price ladder than the Major 4 EB.

The new addition to the Sprite range for 2017, though, beats them all on price. At just £15,585 the Sprite Major 4 EB is the lowest-priced rear island bed caravan on the market.

The Diamond Pack (alloy wheels, a door flyscreen, a hitch head stabiliser, an AL-KO Secure wheel lock receiver, a microwave oven and a radio-CD player plus cushions) adds £495 to the price. And the panoramic sunroof adds another £365 to the price, bringing the price to £17,445. Even with these additions, the 4 EB looks to be great value for a layout that offers separate bedroom luxury.

And this caravan is equipped with some impressive tech stuff which is a surprise in a budget caravan. For 2017, Swift introduced to the Sprite range the Swift Command intelligent power supply unit. The unit allows you to monitor and control functions remotely from your phone. You can oversee the charge state of your battery, the internal and external temperature, even the humidity level inside the caravan, as well as control the lighting.

Within the caravan, it’s all done from the control panel above the door, alongside the control for the Truma Combi 6 unit (which delivers 1.8kW on electricity, or 6kW gas, or 5.8kW when used both on gas and mains). Away from the caravan, you control it from your phone, via an app. And the unit incorporates a load monitor to make sure you don’t trip out your pitch’s mains supply; it’s settable between 5 amps and 16 amps.

So, profoundly impressed with its price and having had only a quick glance inside the new Major 4 EB a few weeks ago, how would this budget version of a brilliant layout fair during our day devoted to its detailed assessment?

We started in the centre of the caravan, in the shower/wash “room”.

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Showering

Swift calls this a mid transverse washroom. Any which way you term it, this washroom arrangement is a star. It has two sliding doors leading into the bedroom and a third, hinged door which closes off the whole ensuite area from the kitchen and lounge. So, you can keep one of the sliding bedroom-washroom doors closed all of the time, or use both.

We quickly came to a conclusion on the best way to use the (not-so-little) room. The loo is on the offside, so if you keep the door in front of it closed, you’ve always got privacy in that area.

This washroom is every bit as spacious as a one you’d expect to find at the rear of a caravan; the floor space measures 90 cm thick. The shower, on the nearside, is a close circle in shape, incorporating the wheel arch; the shower area measures 76x64cm, which is more than adequate.

The quality feel, oval basin is stylishly half recessed into its cabinet top. Beneath it is a slim cabinet; a second cabinet is on the wall above the toilet on the offside. Three shelf areas add more space for necessities. There are a towel loop and a double hook. So, all boxes firmly ticked for practicalities.

And there are two niceties in this shower room which elevate this Sprite model above its budget status. One is the large size of the mirror above the washbasin; it’s a metre deep and 21cm wide. The other is the rim of bright LEDs surmounting the top of the grey shower rose and riser bar panel, which extends into the ceiling.

It’s a superbly designed shower room, but there is one thing missing: a carpet. We think that even at this great-value price, buyers will miss the cosiness of a carpet here. Yes, you could go out and buy a couple of bathroom mats, but a carpet that matches those in the bedroom and lounge would be a whole lot nicer.

Sleeping

The sleeping configuration is the raison d’être of the Major 4 EB. The luxury of a little bedroom, on which you can close the doors in totally domestic style, is the factor which will spur this caravan into best-seller status, we believe.

The bed is 1.85m long; that’s just over six feet. The lightweight Duvalay foam mattress feels quite firmly supportive. Wardrobes, each providing 36cm of hanging space, have cabinets and drawers beneath them – and a little shelf space for morning coffee mugs! There’s plenty of floor space on both sides of the bed, and plenty of room for dressing.

There are four small spotlights set into plinths above each wardrobe and above the TV “station” on the wall at the foot of the bed. There are also two directional spotlights above the bed and lighting above the bed head lockers, all of which add a touch of luxury.

We stood in the bedroom debating its ambience. Stylish lighting, lots of daylight from two windows. But there’s something missing: colour. The vibrant citrus shades of the lounge curtains would inject a transforming element to the bedroom. Yes, it needs curtains, we decided.

Storage

The biggest storage asset of the EB is, of course, its bed. It rises on gas-filled struts with just fingertip ease. There is, though, a metal frame with cross-members which will impede the entrance and exit of large items such as folding chairs. But that framework is necessary because the sides of the bed base are just plastic, and not load-bearing.

Lower storage in the lounge is easy to access, with full-length doors to the under-settee spaces and there’s cabinet space under the front centre chest of drawers, too.
The lounge top lockers are a generous 76cm wide, with further space reaching into the front body line.

Dining

You conveniently store the dining table in the nearside wardrobe. For minor meals the 60x71cm front central pull-out table is sufficient.

Lounging

The pale grey upholstery on the two-seater settees is very high-fashion now. The focus colours are brilliant, literally – bright lemon-lime shades teamed with grey in the curtains (we love this fabric!) and lemon-yellow on one side of the cushions and armrests. The other side is brown, so you can vary your EB’s look with a flick of a cushion! Any which way you arrange these cushions and armrests, the lounge is quite stunning.

Kitchen

With the extension hinged up, the surface is 1.15m long; ample for making meals for two (and more) – accepting that most buyers of this model will be couples.

The sink is big and round (36cm in diameter), making the washing-up task easy. And it’s made of a quality-look white marble-effect substance which we think will be resistant to scratches. Cooking equipment is a three-burner hob and full-sized oven and grill, plus a microwave.

The cabinet between the oven and the fridge is quite slim, at 23 cm, and with just a small metal shelf. There’s a lot of (water, heating and gas) pipework in here, demeaning the space. But that doesn’t matter because there are two cabinets opposite; each has two shelf spaces. So, in total, and factoring in the two top lockers that flank the microwave, the EB’s kitchen storage space is good enough.

Towing

ATC stability control is an option; we’d always recommend buyers go for that, as we would ourselves when buying any caravan on which it’s not standard – just to enhance the safety margin. It adds £235 to the price and a lot more than that regarding peace of mind.

That said, Sprites have built their multi-generation reputation on not just light weight and affordability, but good road manners. We’ve so far towed four of the 2017 Sprite models and praised their nimble and well-balanced characteristics.

Options to go for

AL-KO ATC stability control system at £325

Also consider

There’s nothing quite like this model in its weight and price bracket!