Full review

Recently, we tested a Malibu I 500 QB, which provided a high-quality A-class experience for under £100k, making the slightly facetious point that this was Carthago motorhoming at a happy hour price.

Here, however, we have the full-fat version: similar layout but half-a-metre longer and costing half as much again – a cool £153,385 as tested. Can it be worth so much more than its already sybaritic sibling, or does the law of diminishing returns apply?

The Carthago Chic E-line I 51 QB DA motorhome

The Chic E-line I 51 QB DA is just one of a bewildering number of Carthago A-classes, most with Fiat Ducato underpinnings. This one, however, is on the latest Mercedes Sprinter, at a relatively modest premium of £6,620 over the Sevel alternative.

It’s available with a single rear axle, but for the full 5.5-tonne gross weight, the DA (double-axle) version is the way to go, providing a whacking 1,635kg payload. Even fully loaded with options, we had an impressive 1,431kg capacity, and the rear garage alone can carry 450kg.

Although over 8m tip to tail, and over 3m high, the I 51 looks smaller, perhaps because it’s relatively narrow at 2.27m. The deep windscreen, which gives excellent forward visibility, links with the dark grey side bands on the optional Silverline paint scheme, making it look very classy, though alloy wheels, instead of the standard steel, would be the finishing touch.

The extremely strong, wood-free body has a bonded, high-stability, alloy frame plus thick insulated walls with aluminium cladding to both sides. There’s a GRP-clad anti-hail roof and a GRP-covered underfloor, so it’s no wonder there’s a six-year (extendable to 10) water ingress warranty. For ease of repair the main body sections are segmented and the rear bumper is separately replaceable.

Access is via the usual A-class arrangement of a nearside cab door and a habitation door halfway down the offside, both with triple locking mechanisms, enhanced security and central locking, plus the welcome optional extra of automatically extending/retracting steps.

The layout in the Carthago Chic E-line I 51 QB DA motorhome

The QB layout has a lounge up front and rear bedroom featuring the QB (queen-sized bed).

It’s all very conventional, so what matters is the execution.

The Sprinter cab makes a refreshing change from the usual Ducato and the large Aguti seats have full adjustment and two armrests apiece.

The small leather-bound steering wheel incorporating the infotainment controls (and paddle shifters to bring out the boy racer in you) is widely adjustable for height and reach, and the dashboard is simple and reasonably straightforward. The electronic handbrake is hidden behind the wheel, to the driver’s right.

Navigation, music and phone are all available on a touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard and cup holders are everywhere.

The rear view camera has a 7in monitor to the driver’s right but, oddly, we found the Malibu’s similarly positioned screen much easier to read. There’s an engine starter button, but first the key fob must be inserted in a slot below. Two windscreen wipers with integral washers give a good broad sweep and, overall, although quite austere, we much prefer the new Mercedes’ cockpit to the older Ducato's.

Under the bonnet, a 2.1-litre Euro 6d turbo-diesel produces 140bhp in standard tune and an extra £1,500 buys the 177bhp version fitted here – an engine available exclusively for motorhomes. Interestingly, Carthago has chosen the new front-wheel drive version, all previous generations of Sprinter having offered only rear or four-wheel drive.

The slick 9G-Tronic automatic gearbox is only available on FWD Sprinters (RWDs make do with the older seven-speed ’box), an option included in Carthago’s Super Package, which costs a whopping £10,975 but covers much of the kit most would consider essential.

The £1,125 Driver Assistance Pack includes extra safety features, over and above the standard Crosswind Assist, Hill Holder and all the usual acronyms, so you can see how the cost of options stacks up!

On the road the E-line is a revelation. For such a large vehicle, it handles supremely well and the ride is far more supple than we’d generally expect from an Al-Ko chassis. This front-wheel drive Merc is noticeably quieter and smoother than rear-drive Sprinters we’ve driven and there was little noise from engine, road or wind – or interior fittings, come to that.

Acceleration is very muscular and gear changes are so smooth as to be largely unnoticeable, so our driving experience in this big motorhome was exemplary – one of the best we’ve ever had. Just watch out at roundabouts, where the hanging coach-style mirrors cause the usual blind spot.

At Pillaton Hall Farm campsite we parked up and admired the Carthago’s ambience and finish, which is exactly as one would expect in a motorhome of this calibre – refined, modern, uncontroversial and pleasing. The furniture is both mortised and screwed together (doubtless why it’s silent on the road). The quality throughout is obvious.

The lounge in the Carthago Chic E-line I 51 QB DA motorhome

The front lounge has seating for five around the fixed circular table with its moveable top and, although this is a little small to be reached from all seats simultaneously, it does allow for easy access – you can’t have everything.

The settee is comfortable, with a well-shaped back but, although the inner rear seat is quite easy to adapt for travel (remove a couple of cushions and fold over the seat base), this passenger will have to skew their legs to the right (and, therefore, so will the outer passenger).

The floor is flat from cab to rear bedroom, with a deep double floor beneath, and the Alde central heating keeps everything cosy. Indeed, the whole interior stays warm while travelling, as a heat exchanger system passes warmed air from the engine into the habitation area. 

There’s plenty of headroom below the cab’s drop-down bed for tall folk, and a wind-up Heki overhead in the lounge adds to the natural daylight. At night there are ample, well-placed, and dimmable, LED fittings.

The cab has pleated blinds all round, the windscreen’s being electrically operated, and, as a finishing touch, a 32in TV lifts up from the back of the offside seat for easy viewing.

The kitchen in the Carthago Chic E-line I 51 QB DA motorhome

Behind the lounge is the impressive kitchen. The deep stainless-steel sink, with a split cover designed to be reversed as a chopping board or clipped to the wall as a shelf, has a mixer tap with a domestic-style pull-out hose, and the three-burner gas hob also has a useful split glass lid.

While the remaining work surface isn’t huge, an elegant slide-out section containing two waste bins and bottle storage provides an extra worktop and a broad shelf backs onto the travel seats.

There are six drawers, all centrally lockable for travel, plus huge overhead cupboards, with one containing Carthago-branded coffee and espresso cups and a Krups coffee maker. There’s also a glasses cabinet.

Turn around and the Tec-Tower houses a large fridge and separate freezer, their novel doors openable from either side and, above that (too high for some, at 1.76m) is the oven/grill. You can instead elect to position the oven in the main kitchen unit, which would be far better.

Alongside the tower is a slim, pull-out larder, plus there’s a rooflight containing an extractor fan. This kitchen is seriously impressive!

Rearwards, up a step and through a wooden door, are the split ‘facilities’ – very similar to those of the Malibu.

The washroom has an inner door, providing full privacy from both the living area and the bedroom. There’s a swivel toilet at a sensible height, a large corner basin with swivelling mixer tap and a shelf alongside, an under-basin cupboard containing a laundry basket, plus plenty more storage.

All the accoutrements are here, too – loo brush, hidden toilet roll holder, soap dispenser, mugs, robe hooks and towel rail.

Behind a three-piece translucent door, the shower cubicle opposite has smooth, stone-effect walls, a tray with two drain holes and a floor insert.

There’s a baton-style showerhead on a riser bar, plus another plate-shaped showerhead in the skylight, two moulded wall cubbies, two fold-up towel hooks and good illumination from three ceiling lights.

The bedroom in the Carthago Chic E-line I 51 QB DA motorhome

Finally, we come to the bedroom, dominated by a huge island bed, measuring 1.95m by 1.45m, with only minimal rounding at the foot and plenty of space to walk around the ends. That’s the advantage of the extra half-metre length over the Malibu and it really improves liveability.

The sumptuous bed, with Carawinx springing for added comfort, has the same split, raiseable, mattress head and the same height below the overhead cupboards for comfy reading. Wardrobes to each side and large drawers and cupboards under the foot of the bed provide plenty of storage and blue, floor-level lights guide you on nocturnal visits to the toilet.

As with the Malibu, a sliding, three-part screen adds night-time privacy and this version is more robust, plus ‘our’ example carried the optional 24in TV, connecting wirelessly when the screen’s extended.

This is a splendid bedroom, but it’s not the only one, as there’s also the drop-down bed over the cab. Manually operated (very simple and effortless), it drops low and is also huge, measuring 1.93m by 1.53m. A full 90cm of headroom makes it feel really spacious.

Storage provision is colossal, as befits a Grand Tourer, starting with that big garage and its impressive wing doors.

The test motorhome didn’t have Carthago’s Pedelec bike-carrying facility, but it’s an option. Alternatively, the E-line can pull a trailer up to 2,000kg and there’s a ready-made cut-out in the bumper for a towbar.

The space in the double floor is accessible internally from under the settee and lounge side seat and externally via doors supported by gas struts. An internal floor hatch near the habitation door accesses a large cubby (46cm deep) and the side of the rear travel seat opens to reveal a small shoe store. There are overhead lockers at each side of the lounge, too.

As befits a luxury motorhome, there are so many nice touches and features – an external shower in the garage and a gas locker with an extra-low floor to ease changing the two 11kg cylinders (although here there’s no gas strut to hold the door up, just a handle).

The 235-litre fresh water and 185-litre grey water tanks are safely frost-protected between the floors, with the water drainage levers easily accessed through the floor hatch. A SOG toilet fan is vented via a roof chimney to avoid nasty niffs – and so on. There’s only one omission (especially with six wheels to cope with) – no spare wheel, although there’s plenty of room to keep one in the garage.