Knaus Tourer Van 500 MQ Vansation (BN0043) 2025

Knaus Tourer Van 500 MQ Vansation LHD Adding to the appeal of the Tourer Van is that it’s been ordered in Vansation trim, which brings the 150hp engine and automatic gearbox, as well as a host of extra kit both from VW and in the habitation area. Most surprisingly, perhaps, the spec includes a Thule awning and an Oyster 60 Premium satellite dish linked to a TV. Externally, it’s a mix we’re not used to seeing – the T6.1 cab with a low-profile motorhome body that increases overall width from the van’s 1.90m to a still-modest 2.16m. With running boards under the cab doors and the whole ensemble in Ascot Grey, it has an upmarket and unified look – and it’s compact by coachbuilt standards at 5.89m long. There’s a half-dinette lounge, central galley and washroom and a transverse rear double bed – a popular floorplan for a 6m motorhome. Despite the slimmer VW cab, the front seats rotate easily without opening the doors. The huge overcab sunroof increases the feeling of space, there’s plenty of artificial illumination, both in the form of ambient lighting and downlights. Drapes and Roman blinds add to the ambience and storage around the overcab area seems better thought out than in most rivals. It’s worth noting, too, that the rear bench offers plenty of lumbar support and the table includes a swing-out leaf for the swivelled driver’s seat. But it’s the cab chairs that you’ll occupy to watch the telly. From the lounge, you step up into the kitchen area, which still offers almost 2m of headroom. A two-burner hob, good amount of worktop, as well as two large soft-closing drawers and a pair of top lockers. The compressor fridge is mounted at the end, facing forwards, so it can be reached for a cold drink without entering the motorhome. Again, the space is well lit, while, surprisingly, there are three 230V sockets here. The designers must have agonised over squeezing a fixed double bed and a decent washroom into such a compact motorhome; they achieved it by making the bed and washroom share space. Here, there’s a transverse double bed (on sprung staves) that’s wider on the nearside. There are 230V and USB sockets on the back wall, too, under a row of top lockers and you can even switch the lounge lights on and off from here. Opposite the galley, Knaus calls it an Xpand Bathroom and it’s a feature that’s a new innovation for the Tourer Van. With the bed fully in situ, you can still access the toilet room to use the washbasin or the cassette toilet, but not the shower. The basin has plenty of worktop around it and a large mirror-fronted cupboard behind. The magic ‘xpanding’ bit happens when you lift out a corner of the rear mattress, enter the washroom, release a catch and pull a handle up to the ceiling to create the shower cubicle. This is an ingenious bit of design. There are two sections of shower screen – upper and lower – and once you’ve unfolded those you have a good-sized separate shower – in a T6.1!