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Hobby Optima OnTour Edition V65 GE campervan
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Key Features

Model Year 2019
Class Low Profile
Base Vehicle Citroën Relay
Price From (£) 53,995
Engine Size 2.0TD
Maximum Weight (kg) 3,500
Berths 2
Main Layout Fixed Single Bed
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At a glance

Base vehicle: Citroen Relay Price from: £53,995 Berths: 2 Travel seats: 4 Length: 6.78m Width: 2.16m Height: 2.90m Gross weight: 3,500kg Payload: 618kg

Full review

When it comes to giant brands in the leisure industry, Hobby may have slipped under your radar - and yet it’s the world’s largest producer of caravans. In 2018, the company sold 12,000 tourers and 2,000 motorhomes, and it has over 350 dealers across Europe, with ambitious plans to double its market share in the UK. To help achieve this, comes the launch of the Optima OnTour Edition.

While these new motorhomes are billed as a budget range, you’d never guess it from looking at the spec list. Two layouts are offered: the V65 GE twin bed tested here and the V65 GF, which has a transverse double. Both are based on the Citroën Relay, are 6.78m in length, a modest 2.16m wide, and cost £53,995.

What’s really impressive is the level of kit they come with as standard. Even if you don’t tick a single option box, your OnTour Edition will come with air-conditioning, twin airbags, a reversing camera system linked to a Blaupunkt sat-nav/DAB radio, a wind-out awning, alloy wheels and Remis cab blinds.

You even get a satellite TV system, complete with a 22-inch TV with built-in DVD player. And it’s not even a low-spec manual version, but a fully automatic model, complete with a twin LNB set-up that lets you watch one channel while recording another!

Cruise control and electric windows

For an entry-level campervan, the cab doesn’t feel sparse. Kit includes the usual electric windows and heated mirrors, as well as cruise control (vital for those long, dull stretches of French toll roads), the aforementioned cab air-conditioning and that Blaupunkt sat-nav and radio. This unit proved to be easy to use – without having to resort to the manual, I managed to get the sat-nav to work! The head unit can also sync with your smartphone and has Apple CarPlay. Only the buttonless steering wheel with plastic rim shows the budget status of the OnTour.

The test vehicle was a left-hand drive, but UK versions will be right-hand drive, though the habitation door will remain on the offside.

Unlike its Fiat Ducato sibling, the Citroën uses a PSA 2-litre HDi turbo-diesel that requires AdBlue. This was tested in 130bhp Euro 6 form but Citroën is revising its engine line-up to meet the latest Euro 6d emissions standards, so the first RHD models will have 120bhp 2.2-litre HDi engines (with 140bhp and 165bhp options).

The driving experience of the Citroën is identical to the more common Peugeot Boxer, so no complaints there.

It’s not the most modern or refined cab these days (the Transit, Crafter and Sprinter are all now a generation away) but it’s perfectly acceptable.

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Cab seats facing the half-dinette

The cab seats swivel around easily to face the half-dinette. The travel seats are mounted on a beefy steel frame and include a pair of three-point seatbelts and adjustable headrests. The backrest has a contoured cushion – rather than the bolt upright backrest some campervans are saddled with – and the base cushion is supportive enough not to dip at the leading edge, making these seats great to lounge on, as well as offering better long-term comfort when travelling.

It’s worth noting that there are only two berths in the V65 GE, which is a shame as a third berth could have been created from the seats. A little owner ingenuity could figure out a front bed set-up, though.

The lounge also benefits from a large overcab sunroof, a large rooflight and a generous side window on the nearside. With a wide habitation door, access is great and it feels airy when you’re sitting down. Even if the day is dull, LED reading lights are well placed underneath the overhead lockers and there’s a big ceiling light overhead.

Pale grey Taiga upholstery is offset by matt cream-coloured Cocobolo doors, and Piquet Grey furniture. The quality of the overhead locker doors is very good – they opened easily and felt well made, with good-quality positive locking catches to all doors.

An unexpected feature in the lounge is a 22in TV screen that’s mounted above the travel seat (you’ll need to sit in the cab seats to view it). It’s linked to a fully automatic Kathrein satellite dish with a twin LNB set-up. This is a real premium touch. The wiring to the TV is neatly done in a flexible conduit, too, while the aluminium extruded bracket can slide into various positions. As an added plus, there’s also a slot in the side of the TV to allow you to play DVDs.

Impressive build quality

One of the best ways to check build quality is to get on your hands and knees outside to see how the manufacturer has built the hidden items – such as wiring runs, undersealing and pipe runs. This will tell you far more about a firm’s attention to detail than looking at all the glossy trim and LED lighting. Here, it all looked impressively neat and even the waste water tank was insulated and heated – you might not expect that on a budget motorhome.

The body uses a GRP roof for hailstone protection, as well as a GRP floor to guard against damage from road debris, with aluminium panels for the rear and side walls. XPS insulation is used throughout, with a 42mm thick floor and 34mm roof and sides. Pleasingly, the lower side trims are more durable aluminium, rather than the ABS plastic mouldings that some manufacturers use.

Keeping you toasty is a Truma Combi (the powerful 6kW version) but gas-fired only. You shouldn’t struggle for propane capacity, though, as Hobby provides a large locker for two 11kg cylinders with a clever slide-out shelf to prevent you having to strain your back when changing cylinders.

The only niggle was the lack of a spare wheel, although there’s room and payload (a total of 618kg) to have one in the garage.

The garage itself is of a really good size and could easily hold a couple of bikes, or lots of outdoor furniture and even an upright barbecue if you want to pack a more domestic-style one.

Access is also good thanks to a door on each side, and the catches are decent-quality ones. A hatch in the garage also allows access to the Combi boiler to make servicing it a doddle.

Oven option at no extra cost

One area in which imported campervans can sometimes be weak is the kitchen. Quite why British buyers are so obsessed with ovens is less clear (if it’s sunny I barbecue and if it’s rainy I want to eat out), but UK OnTours will have an oven fitted by dealers at no extra cost. In addition, you get a triple-burner hob with electronic ignition, a deep sink fed by a metal tap and ample worktop, especially if the extension is flipped up.

The OnTour Edition also benefits from lots of storage thanks to a full-width drawer over two deep cupboards. Above the kitchen are two large lockers and, unusually, an extra centre space covered by a slide-up tambour door. Three curved shelves are set next to the roof lockers but are a rather pointless bit of styling as they lack lips and items stashed on them will simply fall off.

It’s also worth noting that there’s a 140-litre Dometic three-way fridge, complete with a 12-litre freezer. The only omission is any form of extractor hood, but you can add a Dometic one for £280 if this is important to you.

A flush-fit LED lighting strip nestles on the underside of the roof lockers and there’s also a trio of LED spot lamps in a ceiling plinth above the kitchen. Throughout the vehicle, lights are well placed and many are activated by neat touch panel controls – such as the one at the leading edge of the kitchen.

The control panel lives above the entrance door and is simple to use, with the option to upgrade to a colour touchscreen as part of the Hobby Connect system. This costs £1,085 and allows you to control the lighting, heating and hot water via an app.

If you do want to dine in, you’ll appreciate the well-designed table. It’s a good size but there’s also an additional leaf that pivots around the leg and can be adjusted to give the (UK driver’s) cab seat a shorter reach to the food.

A surprisingly spacious washroom

 

Normally, when a vehicle is built down to a price, one of the first places that makers cut corners is in the washroom. After all, it’s relatively infrequently used and hidden from view. In the Hobby, the first surprise is that it’s a decent-sized space with ample height for over-six-footers.

The washbasin isn’t some ghastly all-in-one plastic horror, either, but a sturdy oval unit inset into a solid black worktop. The silicone sealant around the edge of the worktop was pleasingly neat, too, while the tap is metal.

Beneath the basin, a curved door opens up to reveal a roomy cupboard, while a triple door locker offers lots of toiletry storage overhead.

The shower itself has two drain points and its own separate tap inset into a black plastic storage unit with two shelves for your shower gel and shampoo. A heater vent is also located in here and, thanks to a pull-out retractable clothes line, it would be ideal for drying wet clothing.

There’s a separate flip-out shower door and a tambour section that slides over to form a shower cubicle.

The rear of the door is thoughtfully fitted with a couple of towel hooks, while two toothbrush mugs are also provided. The toilet itself is a Thetford swivel-bowl unit with an electric flush. Another well-designed space - another tick for Hobby.

Stylish blinds

At night there are more pleasant surprises. First, the cab gets Remis blinds, rather than anything involving suckers and bulky screens. The side windows have basic pull-down blinds but these work fine. The rear bedroom only has a window on the offside, with the overhead rooflight having a concertina-style blind.

Curtains seal off the rear beds from the corridor. As the OnTour is only a two-berth, these keep the bed area dark if you get up before your partner.

The beds have deep foam mattresses mounted above sprung wooden slats and can be configured as two six-foot singles with a joining section and two steps, or as a double bed with a simple slide-out section and extra infill cushion creating a central double area that’s 1.72m long.

In double mode, while you could sleep longitudinally or transversely, it works best longitudinally due to the rear position of the reading lights.

A central touchpad in the bedroom activates all the LED lights, while there’s lots of storage, with eight lockers fringing the roof.

You need to take a little bit of care when sitting up in bed, though, due to the proximity of these at the head end of the bed.

There’s additional storage under the foot of each mattress, with deep wardrobes on either side. The nearside one has a hanging rail, while the offside one is shelved. As the nearside wardrobe backs onto the boiler, it should keep your clothes warm!

 

Read more campervan and motorhome reviews every month in MMM magazine, What Motorhome magazine and Campervan magazine - available in digital and print editions.

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Our verdict

Hobby has pulled out all the stops with its OnTour Edition models and the standard spec is pretty jaw-dropping, with sat-nav, cab air-con, awning, reversing camera and even a satellite dish linked to a 22in TV and DVD system fitted as standard. But it’s more than just a gadget-laden vehicle. The build quality impresses, too, and there’s a practical twin-bed layout. If Hobby isn’t on your radar, it should be.

Advantages

Sat-nav, reversing camera and satellite TV system as standard
Solid feel to all the cabinets

Disadvantages

Big garage but there's no spare wheel mounted inside
Lack of a microwave

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