Full review

Auto-Trail Tribute T-615 Lo-line

What is a Tribute motorhome? It’s a simple question but with a more complicated answer. The familiar Tribute van conversions are imported from Italy; however, coachbuilt Tributes are built at Grimsby, by Auto-Trail, and sold as the company’s budget range.

All 2015 Tributes, coachbuilt or panel van, are instantly identifiable in bright white livery with matching bumpers and crisp yellow and black decals. Previous Tribute coachbuilts looked quite different from their Auto-Trail siblings, and utilised the previous generation Ford Transit chassis cab. However, for 2015, all Tributes will be built on the newly facelifted Fiat Ducato, with the coachbuilts featuring a similar shape and identical bodywork construction methods to the more expensive Auto-Trail ranges, even down to allowing a choice of luton body style (though just Hi-Line and Lo-Line – there’s no Super Lo-Line as in the Auto-Trail models).


THE IN-BETWEENERS
So, Auto-Trail’s model range for 2015 will start with the imported Tribute panel vans, then the budget Tribute coachbuilts, then the Auto-Trails proper? Not quite. Immediately above the Tribute coachbuilts, and below the Trackers and Apaches in price, is slotted the new, five-’van Auto-Trail Imala range. Though structurally similar, these look slightly different from the Tributes, having steely-blue cabs and red decals. Layouts are shared between Imala and Tribute but the former has a higher spec and costs about £4,000 more. For more on the new Imala, see the exclusive road test in the November issue of Which Motorhome magazine.

The Tribute 615 is one of three 6-Series coachbuilts – all 6.34m long, just a smidge shorter than an XLWB Ducato panel van. There are also two 7-Series motorhomes (at 7.06m).

The cab is well equipped – provided you specify the optional Driver’s Pack. At £999, it provides cab air-conditioning and cruise control with speed limiter, as well as that basic necessity: a passenger airbag. It also includes traction control and ESC, with Hill Holder and Hill Descent modes, steering wheel controls for radio and phone, and electrically operated and heated mirrors – all, says Auto-Trail, worth a total retail value of £2,286.

A DRAIN ON RESOURCES?
This layout has always provided a practical galley, despite using relatively modest space. Across the Tribute’s rear wall, a good-sized worktop contains a large, rectangular stainless-steel sink (big enough, almost, to bath the baby), with a glass lid and external mixer tap.

In the corner to your left is the cooker, with a three-burner hob under a glass lid and a combi oven/grill below. In the worktop alongside is one of those fashionable pull-up socket towers with provision for three plugs. The 80-litre Dometic three-way fridge has a removable freezer compartment and there’s also that useful work surface above, with mains and 12V sockets alongside the aerial point.

NO LONGER BIJOU
Traditionally with this layout, the rear-corner washroom could be rather bijou, but not here because the Tribute is rather longer than most of its rivals (some of which are usefully under six metres). The sturdy door opens to reveal a centrally placed fixed washbasin below an opening, translucent window. The separate shower cubicle, with bi-fold door and smooth lined walls, is to the rear. Generously sized, it has good headroom, a corner accessories basket and a removable hanging rail – so useful for wet clothes and towels.

CUPBOARDS AND KIT
Those big settees promise good storage, too. The slatted bases lift easily on gas struts (once pulled ? forward slightly) so the seat cushions can rest vertically. The nearside base is completely empty as the 75Ah leisure battery lives below the floor and is also accessible from an external hatch.

For all normal holiday clobber, the T-615 has oodles of space and a sensible 490kg payload. If you feel the need for extra weight-carrying capacity there’s a free upgrade to a 3,650kg chassis.

The full version of this review appears in the December edition of MMM Magazine.

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