Shire Phoenix XLR Twin

Berths: 2 Travel seats: 2 Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato XLWB panel van Gross vehicle weight: 3,500kg Payload: 550kg

Shire turns convention on its head with the Phoenix XLR Twin, whose design was first suggested by a customer. You get a standard rear lounge that converts into either single beds or a double, but the washroom and kitchen are on opposite sides of the ’van to normal, and the entrance to the washroom is not from the galley but next to the sliding door. So space between kitchen and washroom is not as narrow as in some ‘vans.

That washroom has a light and flimsy flip-down plastic basin. Above this is a handy cupboard with storage shelves. There’s a large mirror, and a towel rail with a toilet roll holder. A shower curtain pulls across in front of this.

Both water tanks are underslung, insulated and heated with internal pipes, but this also means that the rear lounge area is elevated by a couple of inches.

The rear lounge itself has benches down either side. Remove the cushion from under the half-height wardrobe, pull out the support at the door end, and you have a U-shaped lounge. You also get two floor-level 230V sockets here and a TV. The table can rotate in all directions and is stored in the sliding door.

As for beds, you could just have two narrow singles and leave the aisle clear. But pull out the double support and you have two singles with much more elbow-room and still have a space to get up without climbing over each other. Or pull out all the supports and you have a large, lengthways double, although getting at the heater controls is now a little harder.

If there’s one area that’s paid the price for the unusual layout it’s the kitchen. While there’s a standard three-ring gas hob and a small oven/grill, there isn’t any work surface next to this. You have to prop up a drop-down surface in the lounge or go past the decent-sized fridge to the bijou front lounge and its desk area with an additional pull-out surface.

Up front, there’s a column of three 230V sockets and two 5V USB sockets that can be kept retracted. There is also another TV aerial point.

One of the main storage areas is under the bench seats, although neither is completely empty. Still, there are cupboards above the lounge and by the kitchen and front mini-lounge.

This is an abridged version of the full review appearing in the April 2016 issue of What Motorhome.

Swapping kitchen and washroom makes the latter far more accessible, while bed design here is also very flexible.