Full review

Exterior

For 2013, Swift has launched a new breed of Challengers, called SE, with more spec than last year’s Challenger Sport. The stand-on hitch cover stays. So does the AL-KO ATC stability system.

For 2013, Challengers are equipped with solar panels. You can just see the edge, on the offside, over the kitchen. In sunlight and bright daylight it will continually top up your battery. That’s important if your caravan is in storage; your battery won’t run down, so your Tracker system (also new for 2013) keeps functioning.

Other new features include the awning light, which is shorter than, but just as bright as, the ones on 2012 models. And you can switch them on with your key fob.

Interior

Lighting is a major feature of the décor of 2013 Challenger SEs. Concealed lighting surrounds a Perspex splash-back in the kitchen. A stream of light comes from under the edge of the kitchen surface. There’s a pool of light by the caravan door to illuminate your first step inside, and another to match, alongside one of the 565 SE’s twin beds. More concealed lighting features in the bedroom, above the top lockers… But there’s more than clever lighting to impress you here.

Challenger SEs have Alde heating, and a heated towel tail in the shower room. They also get Omnivent extractor fans for 2013, and a new fabric look, with curtains of double width, creating a plush look. The twin-bed 565 is one of five four-berths in Challenger SE’s seven-model line-up for 2013.

This layout, now seen in most manufacturers’ ranges, has rocketed in popularity in the last year, giving couples the option of keeping different bedtime and rising routines without disturbing one another. For 2013, the 565 SE now joins the ranks of luxurious twin–bed caravans. That’s by reason chiefly of Alde heating replacing the Truma blown-air system.

Apart from the warmth that’s far more evenly and silently distributed than its blown-air equivalent, you get an extra cabinet in the place that was formerly occupied by the Truma heating unit. In the 565, that’s under the wardrobe. In this model the extra cabinet is especially important because lower storage space in the kitchen is small, so this cupboard opposite becomes somewhere for kitchen stuff.

The 2013 Challenger SEs have Alde’s new touch-control panel. It’s far simpler to use than the complicated control panel that, for 2012, was in all British-built Alde–heated caravans except Vanmasters. The panel is square, and smaller than the more familiar panel; in the 565 it’s barely noticeable, to the left of the door.

The 565’s kitchen gets a 110- litre Dometic fridge for 2013. There’s a light inside it and you can remove the freezer if you value chill space more than a freezer facility. Another new feature is a second cutlery drawer, under the worktop, above the fridge. The central cutlery drawer seen in previous models stays; it’s above the slim cabinet between the fridge and the oven.

The shower room spans the back of the caravan. Extra spec here for 2013 goes further than a heated towel rail that’s part of the Alde system. There’s a rail across the shower compartment and feature lighting running down both sides of the large mirror over the washbasin. The preening department, thus, is a luxurious little place.

There’s one feature that many caravanners will find it lacks, though. There’s no mains socket in the rear section of the bedroom, making it difficult to power a hairdryer, but the power point count in the 565 is high.

Overall, the 565’s storage arrangements are excellent. Gas-filled struts hold up the beds, and there are front-hinged flaps, too, plus enough top lockers and a good-sized wardrobe. We especially like the table storage solution. It slides into runners in the base of the nearside bed. On test we found it was really easy to extract and put back into position.

This first Challenger model off the production line showed us a new direction for the range, with uprated spec and more refinements than ever before. From major features like Alde heating to aesthetic aspects (the lighting that’s now an element of the décor and the extra fabric width in the curtains), this range is now truly in the luxury class. Plus, with 52kg shaved off the weight compared with the 2012 Challenger 525, its appeal has been further enhanced as it’s now within range of more cars.