Coachman Laser 640/4

Ideal for couples and families seeking top spec

Coachman is adding a third model to its twin-axle Laser range for 2013. The four-berth 620/4, with a side dining area, gives you caravanning in large dimension and with quality everywhere. The caravan is 6.2m long. Its kitchen is around 2m long. Its offside dining area is wide enough for four children to dine.

The layout creates a wide, open feel. Everywhere, the Laser 620 looks and feels enormous. This new Laser will appeal to both couples who are looking for a lot of kitchen space and a side dining area, and also to families; the dining area creates bunk beds. Heating is the hot water-based Alde system.

The Phantom tracker system is standard and solar panel connections are in place. Feature lighting is above the lockers and LED strips run above the kitchen and dining area. Amid all the high spec there’s a small feature low down in the 620 that takes the eye. It’s a tiny cluster of LED light that illuminates the floor with a subdued light – perfect when you want to leave on a glimmer of light for children who don’t want to go to bed in total darkness.

Another pleasing and practical feature of the 620 is a mirror recess, with a shelf, alongside the door. There’s a mains socket here; this is the natural place for hairdryer use. The 620 mixes spaciousness, practicality and finesse everywhere you look, especially in the end shower room…

Showering

The big-caravan appeal continues in style in the shower room. This room is 1.3m deep, and contains an enormous wardrobe, with a hanging rail that’s 1.2m long. The wardrobe contains four deep shelf spaces down its left side, and two drawers, each 74cm wide, are beneath. The washbasin is 39cm wide; it’s Belfast style – large enough to double as a baby bath.

This Laser is adaptable to family needs in so many ways. The shower is circular, and with an amazing feature – the shower rose is mounted on a gleaming black structure that arches up above the shower into the roof of the compartment and has a series of little bright LED lights set into its circular top. This is style in a spectacular way.

Two cabinets (one under the washbasin, the other on the offside wall) take care of the necessities you want to hide away. There’s a shelf on the rear wall – perfect for the pretty things like perfume bottles. A fabric blind clothes the window; it descends on a pull-cord. Even the shiny metal end on the cord fits in with the typically Coachman refined, quality look – it’s heavy and chunky.

There’s a much larger metal structure in the shower room that’s much more important. It’s the heated towel rail, part of the Alde central heating system that envelopes you in even warmth throughout the caravan. Towels are taken care of, also, by two hooks and a loop.

Sleeping

The single leg of the side dining area table folds in towards the table; you push a clip at the top of the leg and it folds up easily. This table forms the base of a bed by resting on ledges on each edge of the seating. The resulting bed is 1.83m long, which places the Laser 620/4 among very few caravans of this layout in which the side single bed is truly long enough for an adult. A bunk rises from the wall when you want to sleep four. Privacy for this bed area comes in the form of a curtain that tracks away, for daytime, into a slot between dining area and the fridge.

Single beds can be created in the lounge, too; at 1.88m long, these settee beds are large enough for most tall caravanners. Cosier lounge sleeping arrangements in Coachman caravans don’t involve roll-out slats. The base of the double bed pulls out from under the offside settee, across the caravan to meet the settee on the other side.

Storage

As you’d expect in a caravan of this size, storage is generous. Plenty of space for duvets exists under the lounge seating. The nearside box has front, as well as top, access. On the offside, the pull-out bed base structure prevents a front drop-down flap – but it’s not a Herculean task to lift up the top. As soon as you get it going, the gas-filled strut takes the weight. There’s more storage for bedding under the dining area, of course. Coachman’s full-width sunroof design creates small storage cabinets on each side of it; seven top lockers line the living area.

Lounging

Put your feet up and let the saddle-back-style armrests support your shoulders as you relax into the settees… This is pretty much caravanning at its most comfortable. All four armrests are constructed in two sections; you can remove the top part (it’s attached by Velcro) if you want a lower-depth armrest. The seat backs are slightly curved upwards towards their centres, giving them a classic domestic settee look. The fabric is pale fawn, with only its weave for pattern; this plain upholstery increases the look of space. But this is no boring plain fawn caravan. Colour interest comes in the tops of the armrests and two scatter cushions, which are in a pale turquoise. Two more, larger, cushions, are covered in pale fawn satin with splashes of brighter turquoise. The whole turquoise and fawn effect, with a bit of imagination, conjures the image of sun-lit sea and sandy beach. Delightful!

Dining

Both tables slide into a cabinet alongside the wardrobe. In total, there’s dining space for six and more in the 620 – great for entertaining! There’s a mains socket in the dining area. Television connection points are by the cabinet that divides the lounge from the dining area, so it’s possible to view your TV from the dining area; a second set of TV points are in the lounge.

Kitchen

The kitchen is one of the 620’s defining features; both surface and storage space are enormous. There’s a suite of three lower cabinets. The one to the left of the oven and grill is 42cm wide and 86cm tall. The central cabinet, with double doors, is 76cm wide and, although the space inside is compromised by the twin wheel arch, there’s plenty of space here. The third cabinet has a pull-out section containing two metal basket-style shelves, each around 20cm wide. This area has a deep open section under the drawers, which is the ideal place for fruit juice cartons.

Three more drawers are over the central cupboard. Above the kitchen are three cabinets with a matt fawn finish that distinguishes them from those in the living area. There’s delightfully practical accommodation for six glasses within this cabinet run. It has two smoked acrylic shelves, each with side-access channels for three stemmed glasses; this is a far more refined arrangement than metal glass clips and, importantly, glasses of any stem width can be secured here. There are two separate kitchen surfaces, each 46cm wide; add in the glass top that covers the sink and recessed drainer and you have a right hand surface spanning 1.16m long.

This caravan’s kitchen is up to gourmet capabilities. The fridge is the 175-litre Thetford model; it’s opposite the kitchen, with an additional cabinet above it. Just forward of the dining area is yet another cabinet, with a double surface; the two surfaces are connected by a chunky, shiny metal pole. This is one of the two television stations, with two power sockets, an aerial point and satellite connections.

Towing

With two axles and the ATC (Active Trailer Control) electronic stability system, the towing characteristics of Lasers are predictably top-notch. We’ve towed several Lasers in the past and all have excelled on the road. On this test, the new 620’s road manners were just as smooth and stable as those of previous twin-axle Coachman models. A small but important addition to road equipment comes with Lasers for 2013; a scissor jack is now standard.

The new 620/4 does its job brilliantly; one for discerning caravanners!