Full review

There’s no shortage of rear lounge van conversions on the UK market, almost all of them from homegrown manufacturers, both large and small. This type of van-based motorhome, once the specialist preserve of makers like IH, has well and truly joined the mainstream.

At Auto-Trail alone there are five rear lounge floorplans (out of eight) in the company’s V-Line range. The 636 is the second extra-long (6.36m) model in the range, but where it differs substantially from the existing 635 – and every other V-Line SE – is that it has four travel seats. Unsurprisingly, it’s a two-seater bench – half-dinette-style – that accounts for the extra passenger-carrying ability but, beyond that, it takes a slightly different approach to the opposition. There’s plenty of shape to the seating and the high-backed design does a good job of aping the look of the cab seats. Rear passengers should, for once, be chuffed, as long as they’re not too broad to sit side by side.

Part of the reason that Auto-Trail has been able to incorporate superior seating is that it has made no attempt to convert this area into an extra bed. You can spin the front chairs around to create a little dinette, using the same table as you would in the rear lounge, though the table is just a little too large here except, perhaps, as an additional working area for the cook. One final point on this front lounge is that there’s no skylight so, while artificial illumination is good, it’s much lighter in the rear lounge.

While Autocruise, Auto-Sleepers and Devon all offer variations on this two-seating-area van conversion theme, none of the others has an end lounge anything like as large as this. The two settees here are virtually six feet apiece, so there’s plenty of room to invite friends in for a natter. Six could sit comfortably, while a couple would be able to really stretch out. We liked the leather-look trim around the side windows, too, while the plastic panels on the rear doors are very practical (they’ll get wet when the doors are opened).

As long as you’re not too lanky, the rear settees can serve as single beds. Just pull the bases out and drop the backrest cushions into the gaps and you’ll still retain a slim central aisle – the seat backs are too long to store elsewhere. With no joins at all, you should sleep like a baby here. If you prefer a double bed, the seat bases pull right out and meet in the middle, with the backrests dropping in on top. Now you can sleep transversely or lengthways, as the mattress area is virtually square.

The kitchen lives along the nearside, from the settee to partially across the sliding door. All pretty standard stuff. There’s an 85-litre, three-way fridge under the wardrobe, and a Thetford Triplex cooker over a largish cupboard. There’s no upper-level galley storage as a microwave is fitted as standard above the hob. Under the sink, at the forward end of the galley, are three drawers, the top one divided for cutlery. Conveniently, these face the cab, so they’re as easy to access from outside the ’van as from inside.

The worktop flap (and the table, if placed up front) means that the cook should not bemoan the lack of preparation space, but eat too well and you might come unstuck – or get stuck – because the corridor does narrow. By the fridge, it’s around 540mm, but where the rear travel seat juts out, it reduces to under 350mm.

At least you don’t need to be a size zero to use the shower or the loo. The shower hose is separate from the basin’s tap; although, when sitting on the loo, the controls may dig into your side. And, with just one drain hole, soapy water may collect in a corner if you’re not parked completely level. All the little accessories – robe hooks, towel ring, loo roll holder – are here, and there’s a mirror-fronted cabinet for your toiletries. Below that, the tip-up basin has made a comeback and it’s a world away from the horrid, plasticky numbers still seen in some makes.

There’s no lengthy options list to consult, nor any pack of extras that you can’t live without. So, pretty much everything is standard, you just need to select your preferred engine and gearbox. For that cash you’ll also get chrome-ringed instrument dials, twin armrests each, Fiat’s integrated radio with Bluetooth and steering wheel-mounted switches (but no sat-nav), cab air-con, cruise control, two airbags and ESC with hill-holder and Traction+. On the outside, SE models get metallic silver paint, alloy wheels and LED daytime running lights, plus an awning, solar panel and, perhaps best of all, a space-saving, cash-saving 25-litre underslung gas tank. Suddenly, that £48k price tag is looking a lot more tempting…

It’s a good-looking motorhome, too, with its silver and black exterior appearing well integrated with the contemporary logos and graphics. It drives well, too, although rattles did let the quality image slip a notch.

So, the equipment level is almost ‘fully loaded’ but there’s plenty of room to load up your own gear, too, despite the limited galley area storage. The overcab is an open shelf but has a useful capacity, while the two top lockers over the rear travel seat will support the kitchen area and there’s a surprisingly generous (and easy to access) void under the bench. More capacity is found beneath the rear seats, though the boiler and battery under the offside settee limit stowage here. On the nearside, the hatch at the end of the seat will allow you to post chairs that fold into a tube shape in here from outside – a good bit of design.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read the full version and more in the July 2017 issue of MMM magazine.

You can get a digital version of this latest issue of MMM magazine here.