Full review

The 480 two-berth with end washroom is the smallest in Swift’s 2008 Conqueror line-up and comes with a host of goodies as standard.

Pleasingly, it has heavy-duty steadies and the 12N and 12S plugs stow on the offside of the A-frame well away from the jockey wheel locking bolt.

Less impressive, is the fact the spare wheel is stored in an AL-KO underfloor spare wheel carrier. Anyone who has ever had to withdraw the carrier will know it is awkward and poorly designed.

Also, unimpressive is the position of the awning entry points. There are two – one at about half a meter above ground level and the other at about two meters.

The lower entry point is too low and the upper one too high. The entry door is to the rear of the axle so that all the daytime living space is on your left as you enter the caravan.


























The kitchen is at the offside centre ensuring that any cooking smells, when the awning is erected, exhaust to fresh air and not into the awning.

The front lounge gets a 1.9 metre (6ft 3in) long seat down each side with a chest of drawers between them at the front end. The chest has two drawers with the bed slat stowage below them plus a cupboard at floor level.

Between the nearside seat and the door is a dresser with cupboards above it, one of which is the cocktail cabinet which only has clips for three bottles and no glasses.

The rear end washroom has a walk-in shower and the latest Thetford C250 swivel toilet, with its wheeled waste tank and electric flush.

Our verdict:

There’s no doubting its build quality but I came away feeling the 480 is a fairly bland model with nothing really to distinguish it from the competition. It has everything in it for the easy life but nothing to get excited about.

Specification:

Price: £14,525 inc VAT
Berths: 2
MRO: 1210kg (23.80 cwt)
Total user payload: 214kg (4.20cwt)
MTPLM: 1424kg (27.81cwt)
Internal length: 4.74m (15ft 7in)
Overall length: 6.42m (21ft 1in)
Overall width: 2.29m (7ft 6in)
Overall height: 2.70m (8ft 10in)
Headroom: 1.95m (6ft 5in)
Bed sizes: Front double 2.13m x 1.80m (7ft 0in x 5ft 11in) or two singles 1.90m x 0.72m (6ft 3in x 2ft 4in)

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•    A full version of this review appeared in the December 2007 issue of Which Caravan. To order a road test reprint contact Tina Beaumont on 01778 391187.

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