Full review

The traditional two-berth, end-kitchen layout’s descent from de rigueur status for couples, to something slightly out of fashion happened suddenly. Short-length, lightweight fixed-bed caravans swept in like the River Severn’s bore and swiftly became the must-have layout for couples. Yet there is still a place for classic two-berth caravans and the Swift Challenger Sport 442 is an excellent example of why this layout works so very well. Compared with a short-length fixed-bed caravan the 442 gives you a much larger shower room. And, much more importantly, a far bigger lounge. Which makes it a great choice if you like entertaining. The kitchen, while not big by caravan standards, is well up to its two-person task. And there’s a lot of floor space in the centre of the caravan. But it’s the size of the shower room that may be among the 442’s most eye-catching features when prospective buyers take their first look inside…
 

Showering

The shower room’s floor space is 95cm at its deepest point. It tapers very slightly towards the shower (the door is on a slight slant); even at this shallowest point, it measures 74cm.
This is a dressing room as well as a shower room, for the wardrobe is within the shower room. And there’s so much space that one person could be having a shower while the other is dressing. Try that in many a short-length fixed bed caravan and you’ll understand our enthusiasm for this spacious two-berth!
The shower is rectangular, and, at 57cm x 80cm, gives you ample space to do the hair washing routing without elbows and walls making contact.
The wardrobe’s rail is generous, at 75cm wide and gives you jacket-length hanging depth of 95cm. But that’s not all. Below the hanging depth is a shelf running the width of the wardrobe and, below that, a complexity of five shelf spaces of various depths takes care of all the footwear you’d need to stow plus a lot of socks and fold-up items, too. In fact, garment accommodation is so well designed and plentiful in the wardrobe that there would be no need for clothing invade the lounge top lockers.
The mirror over the washbasin, in the centre of the shower room, is deeper and wider than in most caravans. The cabinet beneath the basin is the same width as the mirror (70cm); its two shelves would stow all the washing and pampering kit you’d require and still leave space for more. It’s an excellent shower room. Except, that is, if you want to use a hairdryer or straighteners. There is no mains socket within cable stretch of the mirror. There’s a mirror in a recess to the right of the entrance door, but the nearest mains socket to this one is on the forward end of the dresser. This is within normal cable length. But you’d have to stretch the cable across not just the dresser (and anything that might be on it) but also across the entrance door. A mains socket in the recess by this mirror would easily satisfy grooming demands. Fortunately, extra sockets are usually a retailer workshop easy task, so its absence is unlikely to deter buyers; but our take is that it would have been better in place as standard.
 

Sleeping

Straightforward. Two single beds, one measuring 1.9m, the other 10cm shorter, or a massive double (2m X 1.8m) when you withdraw the webbing-linked slats from under the two-drawer unit at the centre-front. You turn the seat upholstery around so that the knee rolls are to the walls and you have as flat a mattress as any lounge-bed will provide.
Granted, compared with a fixed-bed caravan that’s designed for couples, you do have some constructing to carry out to create your double bed. But you also have the alternative of rolling out sleeping bags and making two instant singles. And that’s perfect for one-night stopovers on a long journey.
 

Storage

With excellent clothing storage in the wardrobe, you have four lounge top lockers free for other stuff. And there’s something you won’t necessarily see at first glance in this area. The two forward top lockers have additional areas that reach right to the front wall of the caravan, making these lockers 2/3 larger than their door apertures. One of these four lockers has a shelf; another contains the JVC radio-cassette unit.
Under-settee lockers are doubly important in a layout in which this is the only place to stuff your pillows, duvets or sleeping bags. And those in the 442 do give you enough space to put these bulky items in and get them out without struggling. The nearside lockers is completely clear, and has a hinged front door that’s the full length of the settee. The offside locker contains the charger unit and some plumbing paraphernalia but there is still a 40cm-plus wide space; that's the pillows taken care of.
The 442’s incredibly impressive storage capabilities continue, into the dresser opposite the kitchen. There’s a cabinet, a drawer and a top cupboard fitted with metal grips for six stemmed goblets, plus two bottles.
 

Dining

When you draw out the top of the central front chest of drawers you get a table that’s 70cm deep and 60cm deep; that’ sufficient space for two to eat. And when you want place-settings for more, the four-seater table withdraws easily from its own ample-width cabinet alongside the shower. It’s worth commenting that, should you be seating six for dinner, if you place the freestanding table abutting the pull-out table you really can set a table for six. Although the larger table is very slightly higher than the pull-out top, so long as you don’t cover the ridge up with a tablecloth, it's obvious so you’re unlikely to place a wine goblet on it and risk it tipping! The dining options and arrangements in the 442, are very adaptable to entertaining needs.
 

Lounging

Long lounges are a delight for kick-back relaxing. The 442’s wedge-shaped armrests are firm, and a well-designed shape for supporting your back and shoulders. So, put your feet up, turn on your television (connection points are by the dresser), switch on the rapid-warm-up Truma Combi central heating system (it heats the water as well) and enjoy cosy evenings. And if you’d prefer to have more longing space rather than a central chest of drawers, that’s an option, at £160. You can change the appearance of your Sport. By opting for one of three fabric alternatives: the fabrics that are standard in the Challenger SE or Conqueror range, or a third, Impala fabric.
 

Kitchen

You have a surface that’s 80cm wide to the left of the (Thetford) cooker. The big, circular sink takes up some of that space but there’s a chopping board cover to cover it when you’re not using the sink, and a plastic drainer to put in place when you’re washing-up. Then put it away in its slot in the cupboard below and you again have enough surface to make meals for two. There’s an extra 38cm x 35cm of space to the left of the kitchen; you just hinge this extension up when required.
The microwave is set between two good-sized cabinets; one is fitted for 10 plates and four mugs. Lower storage space is confined to a narrow cabinet containing two 13cm wide pull-out metal basket-style shelves and a drawer fitted with three cutlery compartments. At 17cm wide it's not sufficient to contain both table cutlery and cooking utensils but neither this nor the narrow width of the cabinet are a problem because, opposite, the 70cm-wide dresser, gives you a large lower cabinet plus a drawer which, at 50cm wide, is plenty large enough for cutlery needs (when you buy a plastic tray for it) an a top cabinet that’s the same width as the dresser. Taken as a whole, the 442’s kitchen accommodation is excellent.
 

Towing

The ATC electronic braking stability control system is standard on Challenger Sports, which we like. Its presence gives you extra confidence in the caravan’s ability to stay stable, although it’s important to remember not to alter your driving style in the belief that the system that detects and then corrects the first sight of snaking will always look after you. It probably will, but all caravans need careful and skilful handling from the driving seat, even those like the 442 whose short length and light weight would suggest they’re especially easy to tow. The 442 did display easy handling characteristics on its test tow as we had anticipated. And because, in theory, that its 1235kg MTPLM puts it within weight range of small cars, the 442 has wide appeal. But the 442’s test tow took place in blustery, 20mph-plus winds and its light weight counted against it in these circumstances; it was being buffeted out of perfect line more than a heavier single-axle caravan which we took over the same route on the same day, albeit only slightly and certainly nowhere near dangerously. Towing with our Sorento which we use for almost all of our test caravans, much heavier than that which is necessary to match to the 442’s weight, though, the outfit was far from hard to handle, even in gusty open-road conditions.