Ace Jubilee Globetrotter
Image
Key Features
Model Year
2008
Product Class
Single Axle
Price from (£)
£12895
Berths
4
Full Review
THE four-berth Globetrotter – a single-axle, 18-foot (5.44m) midrange model – nicely sums up what’s changed within the range.
Officially, it takes the form of a list: high security entrance locks; shock absorbers; higher tyre ratings; plastic-lined shower walls; domestic-style washroom door and fittings; and an extra mains socket and TV point.
Not only that, but lots of options become standard, including alloy wheels, a 13-pin car connector, radio/CD/MP3 player with iPod connection, a microwave oven, new walk-in showers for end washroom models and concertina door flyscreens.
The obvious change is at the rear of the caravan. The new sculpted, full-height rear panel with its recessed lighting gives a hint of the modernity inside. New graphics are subtle and the effect is very attractive.
From the front, the traditional double dinette layout is familiar but nice touches give it a new sheen. The tabletop of the drawer unit is on rails, folding out to double its area; there’s a stand-alone table stowed in one of the centre cupboards if that’s not enough.
Just below the table in the corner recess is the new mains socket and TV point – perfectly positioned for evening viewing. Storage under the drawer unit and under the dinette is ample for bedding, though the right-hand base also houses the consumer unit and heater controls.
Making the bed up was a doddle; the usual pull-out bed slats under the drawer unit, then seating squabs with fold out to form the mattress. The resulting double bed is enormous – 6ft 10in by 5ft 11in.
The new upholstery is sufficiently muted that, even if it’s not cutting edge, it blends well with the beech-effect finish on all the furniture.
Overhead, there are a huge number of lockers, the radio/CD/MP3 being mounted inside one of them, out of sight. Four switched spotlights, one in each corner of the lounge, are supplemented by two large wall lights.
The centre section has the kitchen and heater on the left, cupboards and the second dinette opposite. The kitchen is something of a triumph, with ample work surface with a mains socket, a double drawer unit under it, and positioned over the Truma Ultraheat system, then a sink and cooker further towards the door with the Thetford fridge between.
The sink unit is worth mentioning. Rather than take up work surface with a drainer, the plastic drainer is designed to be stowed away, and then neatly fits over the lip of the sink when required. The sink cover doubles up as a chopping board.
The cooker is a Stoves DF500DIT, with four-burner hob, oven and grill and a pan store in the base. Directly over it is the Sharp R209 microwave – a 20-litre, 800 watt unit ample for most families.
The large storage cupboard opposite the heater is the home of the tables, one of which fits the centre dinette.
The dinette converts into a 5ft 11in bunk, with a cantilever steel frame forming the top bunk and the squabs unfolding to form the mattress. It took me two minutes to assemble. A decency curtain can be drawn round the assembled beds.
And so, on to the washroom. If that statement is made with an air of triumphalism, I make no apologies. From the moment you open the door – not some flimsy affair but a solid, 35mm door with lovely door furniture – you’re in for a treat.
It’s a big washroom, the walk-in shower to the right, the basin, loo and a vast wardrobe on the left.
The shower is indistinguishable from one you’d see in a showroom, with curved screen and drying area, a monobloc mixer and some useful soaptrays and shelves. A single spotlight illuminates it.
The wardrobe not only houses additional shelving for clothes but the now-standard Status 530 directional TV aerial.
As with so much of the caravan, it’s not the list that tells the story but the accomplishment; the bathroom is bright, airy and well thought through. It has just the right amount of useful clutter, from the acrylic toothmug and holder to the matching soapdish, the neat overhead cupboard to the towel ring.
There’s always the danger when a manufacturer decides to throw in all the trimmings that the resultant image is the apocryphal tart’s boudoir; an untidy assemblage of random bells and whistles which look like the prototype testing room. Not so with the Globetrotter.
Fact-file:
Price: £12,895
Berths: 4
MRO: 1250kg (24.6cwt)
MTPLM: 1460kg (28.7cwt)
Payload: 210kg (4.1cwt)
Internal length: 5.44m (17ft 10in)
Overall length: 7.12m (23ft 4in)
Overall width: 2.23m (7ft 4in)
Internal height: 1.95m (6ft 5in)
Overall height: 2.70m (8ft 10in)
Bed sizes: Double 6ft 10in x 5ft 11in or singles 5ft 11in/6ft 3in x 2ft 4in. Side single 5ft 11in x 2ft 4in. Bunk 5ft 10in x 1ft 11in.
• A full version of this review appeared in the July 2008 issue of Which Caravan, the only magazine all about buying. To order a road test reprint contact Tina Beaumont on 01778 391187. To subscribe to the magazine, click here.
Officially, it takes the form of a list: high security entrance locks; shock absorbers; higher tyre ratings; plastic-lined shower walls; domestic-style washroom door and fittings; and an extra mains socket and TV point.
Not only that, but lots of options become standard, including alloy wheels, a 13-pin car connector, radio/CD/MP3 player with iPod connection, a microwave oven, new walk-in showers for end washroom models and concertina door flyscreens.
The obvious change is at the rear of the caravan. The new sculpted, full-height rear panel with its recessed lighting gives a hint of the modernity inside. New graphics are subtle and the effect is very attractive.
From the front, the traditional double dinette layout is familiar but nice touches give it a new sheen. The tabletop of the drawer unit is on rails, folding out to double its area; there’s a stand-alone table stowed in one of the centre cupboards if that’s not enough.
Just below the table in the corner recess is the new mains socket and TV point – perfectly positioned for evening viewing. Storage under the drawer unit and under the dinette is ample for bedding, though the right-hand base also houses the consumer unit and heater controls.
Making the bed up was a doddle; the usual pull-out bed slats under the drawer unit, then seating squabs with fold out to form the mattress. The resulting double bed is enormous – 6ft 10in by 5ft 11in.
The new upholstery is sufficiently muted that, even if it’s not cutting edge, it blends well with the beech-effect finish on all the furniture.
Overhead, there are a huge number of lockers, the radio/CD/MP3 being mounted inside one of them, out of sight. Four switched spotlights, one in each corner of the lounge, are supplemented by two large wall lights.The centre section has the kitchen and heater on the left, cupboards and the second dinette opposite. The kitchen is something of a triumph, with ample work surface with a mains socket, a double drawer unit under it, and positioned over the Truma Ultraheat system, then a sink and cooker further towards the door with the Thetford fridge between.
The sink unit is worth mentioning. Rather than take up work surface with a drainer, the plastic drainer is designed to be stowed away, and then neatly fits over the lip of the sink when required. The sink cover doubles up as a chopping board.
The cooker is a Stoves DF500DIT, with four-burner hob, oven and grill and a pan store in the base. Directly over it is the Sharp R209 microwave – a 20-litre, 800 watt unit ample for most families.
The large storage cupboard opposite the heater is the home of the tables, one of which fits the centre dinette.
The dinette converts into a 5ft 11in bunk, with a cantilever steel frame forming the top bunk and the squabs unfolding to form the mattress. It took me two minutes to assemble. A decency curtain can be drawn round the assembled beds.
And so, on to the washroom. If that statement is made with an air of triumphalism, I make no apologies. From the moment you open the door – not some flimsy affair but a solid, 35mm door with lovely door furniture – you’re in for a treat.
It’s a big washroom, the walk-in shower to the right, the basin, loo and a vast wardrobe on the left.
The shower is indistinguishable from one you’d see in a showroom, with curved screen and drying area, a monobloc mixer and some useful soaptrays and shelves. A single spotlight illuminates it.
The wardrobe not only houses additional shelving for clothes but the now-standard Status 530 directional TV aerial.
As with so much of the caravan, it’s not the list that tells the story but the accomplishment; the bathroom is bright, airy and well thought through. It has just the right amount of useful clutter, from the acrylic toothmug and holder to the matching soapdish, the neat overhead cupboard to the towel ring.
There’s always the danger when a manufacturer decides to throw in all the trimmings that the resultant image is the apocryphal tart’s boudoir; an untidy assemblage of random bells and whistles which look like the prototype testing room. Not so with the Globetrotter.
Fact-file:
Price: £12,895
Berths: 4
MRO: 1250kg (24.6cwt)
MTPLM: 1460kg (28.7cwt)
Payload: 210kg (4.1cwt)
Internal length: 5.44m (17ft 10in)
Overall length: 7.12m (23ft 4in)
Overall width: 2.23m (7ft 4in)
Internal height: 1.95m (6ft 5in)
Overall height: 2.70m (8ft 10in)
Bed sizes: Double 6ft 10in x 5ft 11in or singles 5ft 11in/6ft 3in x 2ft 4in. Side single 5ft 11in x 2ft 4in. Bunk 5ft 10in x 1ft 11in.
• A full version of this review appeared in the July 2008 issue of Which Caravan, the only magazine all about buying. To order a road test reprint contact Tina Beaumont on 01778 391187. To subscribe to the magazine, click here.
