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Swift Challenger SE 570
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Key Features

Model Year 2013
Class Single Axle
Price From (£) 19,445
Internal Length (m) 5.60
Shipping Length (m) 7.25
MRO (kg) 1342
MTPLM (kg) 1,495
Max Width (m) 2.25
External Height (m) 2.65
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At a glance

Ideal for buyers looking for a fixed bed in a low weight

Full review

When Swift launched its new version of the Challenger range the manufacturer added lots of equipment – and yet made the whole range lighter than previous Challengers. Our text example fixed-bed SE 570, with an MTPLM of 1459kg, is 141kg lighter than the 2012 equivalent Challenger 570.

There are lots of contributing factors – lighter materials among them – but the change that’s brought about one of the biggest weight savings is the width. These SE Challengers are built on the slightly narrower body shell that was initially introduced for the Sport range. Do you notice the lack of width? Well, the truth is, in the 570 you do – but only in one place. That’s the corridor between the bed and the wardrobe. Does it matter? We don’t think so. Especially when you consider that this caravan, laden with luxuries in terms of equipment, is less than 1500kg MTPLM.

“SE” stands for Special Equipment – and, in the 2013 Challenger SEs, that includes AL-KO’s ATC stability control system, an extractor fan, curtains that have twice the width of fabric you normally find in a caravan, and the hot water-based Alde central heating system, with the new square touch-screen control panel. The 570’s layout gives you an offside kitchen, a television position and cabinet dresser opposite – and a full-width shower room…

Showering

There are some small but very significant features in the (large and rectangular) shower. It has a rail running across close to roof level, designed for towel or garment drying; you can remove it if it gets in your way. There are two shelves for shower gels. And the shower head has a trigger mechanism to enable you to switch it off and on while maintaining the temperature you’ve already set.

The window, on the offside, has a roller blind of beautifully patterned, quality silvery grey material. There’s a heated towel rail (part of the Alde hot water circulation system). A loop and a hook give further places to hang towels. Shelving is on the offside wall as well as around the washbasin. And two cabinets give you enough hide-away accommodation. All in all this is a well thought-out shower room with enough space to avoid feeling cramped.

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Sleeping

The bed has two important features. One is a recess in the woodwork around the base, to enable you insert a hand to raise it – and it goes up, on gas filled struts, with minimal effort once you’ve given it a minor lift. The other is an access hatch, in the corridor, so that you can get to some of the items stored here without raising the bed base.

You can buy a set of bedding, complete with sash and cushions that match the curtains. It’s £229 which may sound a lot of money for bedding – but having seen the way in which this completes the entire caravan’s look, we’d say every buyer of an SE 570 will want this item on the optional extras list. Alongside the bed, a vanity area has a wide shelf under the mirror – and, importantly a power point for hairdryer use.

Storage

Challengers’ sunroofs mean there are no front lockers – but you won’t miss them in the 570 because there are plenty of top – and lower – storage opportunities. Front side lockers are shallow but tall – and they have extra sections which reach right to the front corners of the caravan.

At first we envisaged small stuff being awkward to get out from these areas – but when we began to experiment during our test we found quite the opposite – because these sections have a curved plastic liner which makes scooping things up with your hand much easier than in cabinets with straight sides. Sometimes, small things count!

Storage areas under the lounge seating have full-width front doors. The wardrobe is cleverly designed, with one door wider than the other, to enable both to be opened into the corridor easily. To the right of the hanging space are two shelves. There’s plenty of space here but reaching items would be slightly difficult when the rail is full. There’s a very practical deep shelf space for shoes under the hanging space. Two of the three over-bed lockers have shelves. Forward of the bedroom, the dresser area creates more storage places, with a top cabinet, a drawer and a big two-shelf cupboard beneath.

Dining

The dining table clips into a bracket under the shelf in the bedroom. Not the most refined table accommodation in the caravan world – but it works. For meals for two, though, the extension section of the front chest of drawers is sufficient in size.

Lounging

Lounging, Challenger SE 570-style, is a light and airy experience, even though the 570’s lounge isn’t full single bed length – the deep sunroof ensures daylight floods in aplenty. There are two power points and an aerial point in the lounge; a second aerial point and two more sockets are on the dresser. That enables you to watch your TV from either the lounge or the bedroom.

The design feature that divides the lounging area from the bedroom contributed to the general refined look of the SE; it’s a blind of the same pleated design as those on the windows, but in a pale cream colour with a slight weave texture. This is a million times neater and more modern than the Venetian blinds we often see in this position. Lighting is another notable feature of the lounge, in the form of five high-intensity LED lights behind a white translucent cover. Four very bright spotlights plus white over-locker concealed lighting create, in total, plenty of light.

Kitchen

You have a fixed bed (luxury). You have a spacious shower room (more luxury). The lounge is lovely (add that to the luxury list, too). But you have a kitchen that’s comparatively short, both in terms of lower storage space and worktop. Accepting you can’t have everything in just 5.6m of body length and 1459kg MTPLM, the 570’s kitchen is the compromise area. But while it’s not comparable with caravan kitchens twice its size, it’s nonetheless capable of efficiency – provided you don’t get too ambitious about your culinary concoctions.

There’s a hinge-up extension to the worktop but, inevitably, there’s always the risk with this design that food might fall off onto the upholstery. The sink, though, is large and circular, with a small drainer area near the tap; there’s sufficient space here for mugs and goblets to drain. The Thetford cooker gives you a dual fuel hob – and an oven control that gives temperature in centigrade, which we think is much more meaningful than the more commonly found single figure numbers.

The mirror-fronted microwave has an auto cook facility. The kitchen wall is interesting. It’s grey plastic, and it’s backlit by LED strips – very stylish. A much brighter strip of light is set flush into the base of the top lockers, and there are two more LED clusters set into the roof. Overall, kitchen illumination, we’d say, is good. Although lower kitchen storage is confined to a small drawer and a narrow cupboard, the two-shelf cupboard and much larger drawer in the dresser opposite create the storage space you’ll need.

Towing

With the AL-KO ATC stability control system on board, towing spec has to be viewed as high. Tow tests don’t aim to put this electronic braking facility to the test, of course; it’s there for when gusts of wind or overtaking heavy goods vehicles induce potential wag – and we all hope we’ll never need something to straighten out the dreaded snake. But snaking motions happen, in minor or major form, to most caravan towers at some time – and it’s great to know that there’s an electronic box of clever tricks under the chassis to help keep you safe. Towing the 570 was a predictably straightforward experience, as we had expected.
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Our verdict

With the even warmth of programmable Alde heating, the stability enhancement of ATC, lots of lighting refinements including lights running down each side of the shower room mirror, the new SEs live up to their Special Equipment name amply. Crucially, the 570 is under 1500kg, which brings it within the tow scope of more cars than the predecessor Challenger.

Advantages

Seven power points!
Great lighting design
Alde heating
Heated towel rail

Disadvantages

Lack of kitchen surface space
The slightly utilitarian method of stowing the table

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