Full review

WHICH Motorcaravan experts have already thoroughly tested the Excel 600D (in its December 2008 issue’s Touring Test) and the 600S is a very close relation.

The kitchen, bathroom and (centre, rear) wardrobe and chest of drawers are identical. Or rather they would be if this 600S had the Sports Pack. Our previous 600D test ’van was so equipped (for an extra £1050) and thus had graphite grey highlights on the high-level cupboards and matching worktops and tabletop.

This standard version replaces the grey bits with cream, has lighter (blander) upholstery and also misses out on the other Sport Pack niceties of silver dash trim, TV aerial, kitchen area carpet, fold-down TV/DVD and – most obviously – a striking metallic blue cab.

Naturally, you can have a 600S with the Sports Pack but if money is tight – and in 2009 it probably is – the ‘van ordinaire’ Excel looks neat and up-to-the-minute, without appearing like a budget model. And you still get one of the neatest integrated awnings we’ve ever seen.

Where the 600S really differs from the 600D is in its seating and bedding departments. The 600D’s two-person pullman dinette in the rear nearside corner is replaced in the ‘S’ by a pair of bunk beds, while one of the parallel settees up front has been replaced by an L-shaped arrangement that doubles as a half-dinette for travelling.

Thus – despite its diminutive dimensions and lack of a luton – the 600S is a proper family four-berth with beds and belted travel seats for four. Clever. Initial impressions are good, too. This is a small motorhome to accommodate four, but it somehow feels bigger inside than it looks on the outside – thank the deep window in the door and the large sunroof over the lounge for that.

And while you might expect the more versatile lounge seating of the 600S (which is also an option on the other Excel models) to make the front of the vehicle feel more confined, it actually works better. You start to wonder why anyone would order their Excel with the pair of side-facing settees and then never be able to carry rear passengers.

So far then, pretty impressive. But you start to spot the downsides of Auto-Trail’s decision to have so much commonality across the Excel range when you sit down for dinner.

Obviously using the same table saves money and eases the after-sales department’s job in supplying the right replacement parts but this table simply does not fit in this lounge.

A shorter, wider, squarer table – and probably one with an island leg – is what’s needed. OK, so a re-think of bed-making would be required (the table supports part of the front bed) but as the current double is fiddly, has obvious joins between its cushions (which move when you lie on them) and is rather on the small side, that would be no bad thing.

Of course, the 600S also inherits the same design flaws in its galley and washroom as we discovered in the 600D.

On the plus side, the kitchen does have an oven/grill and a vaguely respectable amount of worktop space between the almost triangular sink and its mirror-image three-burner hob. Sadly, it also has the same flimsy cutlery drawer that’s far too close to floor level.

The fridge isn’t huge (at 77 litres) given that it needs to feed a family, but this is a small motorhome and the kitchen hasn’t been allocated a great deal of space. On balance what space there is has (mostly) been used wisely.

It’s the bathroom that is still our least favourite aspect of the Excel. It starts off well with its sensible silver tambour door, and looks practical with its separate wet area, but try sitting on the (new-style) swivel cassette loo and – unless you are extremely short in the leg – you will feel as if you need to be prised out again with a giant shoehorn.

The fact that the bathroom is woefully short on storage only increases our wish for Auto-Trail to have a re-think of this area sooner rather than later.

Storage elsewhere is good for two, but might struggle with family needs. There’s plenty of under-seat stowage and there’s a generous locker beneath the lower bunk, while those four drawers beneath the wardrobe look particularly handy. Of course, there’s no overcab dumping ground, but the Excel also fails to offer the kind of versatility we’re used to seeing in bunk bed layouts.

Unlike just about every imported bunk bed model, there’s no way of turning the lower bunk into a small garage for bikes, barbecue and outdoor gear. And that’s a real disappointment.

Verdict
If you want a motorhome with sufficient beds and travel seats for a family, the good-looking, well-priced and well-equipped Excel provides serious opposition for less spacious long-wheelbase van conversions.

It packs a lot into a small – but undeniably attractive – body, but it could have been transformed from an unusual and interesting alternative into a real contender by having a better bathroom and front bed and a more flexible bunk bed arrangement with a continental-style tip-up bed/garage.

This review is published in the April 2009 issue of Which Motorcaravan magazine.