Full review

Swift Challenger 540, 2008

Price new: £13,995

This caravan is a: four-berth with a fixed double bed

Question: what’s the difference between the 2008 Swift Challenger 540 and the 2008 Swift Conqueror 540? Answer: the Challenger is a bit lighter and costs less. So can it be that the Challenger offers a way to buy a caravan very close to Swift’s top range model and at £1500 less? Time to take a good, detailed look inside.
Like all 2008 Swift caravans, the Challenger 540 has thicker one piece aluminium sides. And like most things there’s an up and a downside to this. The upside is that there is much less chance of water ingress; the downside is that repairing major damage is likely to be much more costly.
The 540 is a single-axle fixed bed four-berth caravan. Externally, it has a wet locker and a gas barbecue point just to the rear of the nearside front corner, plus a large exterior door to the storage area under the fixed bed at the rear nearside of the caravan, whilst just behind the offside front corner are the flue to the Ultrastore boiler and the Whale water socket. Also on the offside are the battery compartment, the Thetford fridge ventilator grills, and the waste outlets. I have to criticise Swift’s decision to put the awning entry points at about half a metre and two metres above ground level when all that’s needed is one entry point at about 1.60m (5ft 3in).

Caravan layout

Click here to download test: Which Caravan, March 2008

Our verdict

There are a number of things I liked about the Challenger 540, not the least its build quality. Unfortunately, apart from the latest Thetford C250 toilet with its 18-litre wheeled holding tank, the radio/CD/MP3 player, and an iPod/MP3 player connection point, it doesn’t really have anything stunningly new for 2008. I was less than happy with the washroom and the position of the microwave. The 540 is designed to take four people in comfort but I believe that some sales, at any rate, will be to couples, not families, who want a fixed bed and more room to themselves. In all, I feel that it represents better value than the Conqueror 540, which sells at £1500 more. It’s 100kg lighter as well.

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