Coachman Pastiche 520/4

The Coachman Pastiche 520/4 is a luxury take on the side-dining area layout theme, with a good-sized kitchen and ample storage capability

Just occasionally our caravan reviews take on a different aspect, a challenge, even. So it was when Coachman dispatched a Pastiche 520/4 to Lincolnshire, at the time when snow was doing its natural best to disrupt all things related to transport and traffic. The caravan transporter had made it through A1 mayhem to our test location near Grantham. But then the challenge started. With the Pastiche off the transporter and into 15cm of snow at Woodland Waters Holiday Park, it was with a smug smile that we hitched it to our Kia Sorento as the transporter driver was wondering whether he would get enough traction to depart. With all-fours low ratio selected, rather than take the Pastiche straight to its pitch to begin the review, we though the best way to start our review was with its tow test.
Maybe it was more of an endorsement of the efficiency of four-low on the Sorento than a fair test of the Pastiche’s tow characteristics but we did it anyway. Out onto packed-snow lanes, up into four-high, around the first corner and still with the Pastiche following straight and true, slow down a hill (not a hint of breakaway), into another corner (carefully, perfect line, Pastiche still not attempting to take control of Kia) – and then the disappointment of reaching salted roads and the challenge seemed to fade. Until we reached a roundabout to turn round back to those snow-packed lanes, that is.
The Pastiche 520/4, thus, passed its snow-tow test with flying colours. Now, though, we had to find out how efficiently this caravan would perform in sub-zero conditions in terms of liveability. For this was a rare opportunity to inhabit a review caravan; the great majority of our test caravans are exhibition examples and the manufacturers who loan them to us understandably don’t want us to use the equipment, especially the cooker.
 

Showering

When styling is the first thing you notice when you step into the shower, you’re pretty sure you’re in for an interesting review. The shower rose is mounted in a shiny black structure that extends up into the ceiling of the shower compartment, fanning out into a circular shape and crowned by 18 bright LED lights. The rose is slim and rectangular (unusual when we expect all shower roses to be circular).
The shower room is spacious, at 1.2m long. The wardrobe is in this room. It’s wide, at 1.07m; that’s the width of the rail, which extends into a shelf area on the rear end of the wardrobe. These shelves are half the depth of the wardrobe, to allow for more shelves, on the exterior, alongside the washbasin. Beneath the wardrobe are two drawers, 80cm wide. With all this accommodation for clothing, there would be no need to allow garments to stray into any of the overhead lockers in the living area.
The washbasins in Coachmans are a joy; they’re 49cm wide and 29cm across, with a depth of 12cm. Coachman used to share with Bailey the accolade of putting the largest washbasins in caravans; now Coachman is pretty much king on this one, as Bailey has introduced smaller ones.
All in all, the 520’s shower room is nothing short of excellent in every way.
 

Sleeping

The settees are long enough to use as beds. But we preferred to pull out the metal base from under the offside settee and make up a giant bed across the caravan. It was done in minutes.
The 520/4’s great layout asset is its side dining area that makes it adaptable to many couple and family needs. This dining area’s upholstery is full depth, and sprung, so the lower bed is comfortable for adult weight, contrasting it with the type of upholstery in some caravans that folds out to become half thickness when in mattress mode. And it’s 1.83m long, making it suitable for the majority of heights.
The bunk that you can make up above the 520’s side bed has a separate mattress section; we found the best place to store this was in the wardrobe.
 

Storage

With ample places for clothes in the shower room suite of accommodation, our assessment of storage capability was off to a good start. Seven head-height lockers give plenty of places for small, lightweight stuff; three of them have shelves. There are two more, smaller, lockers, right at the front, taking advantage of the shoulder lines alongside the sunroof that spans the whole width of the caravan.
Predictably, under-seating storage is fine. There’s front access to the nearside settee locker, top access to the offside one, and also those under the dining seating.
 

Dining

When you extend the top of the front chest of drawers you have a flat table area that’s 83cm long; ample for meals for two. The freestanding table lives in a cabinet alongside the wardrobe but it didn’t find employment during our two-person test. Best dining comfort for two is at the side dining table, where there’s plenty of space; call it the breakfast room, if you like. For us, it made a superb laptop area.
 

Lounging

The Pastiche arrived in a predictably cold state having been transported through freezing air all the way from the Coachman factory at Hull. It was a serous ice-box which would be a challenge for the Truma Combi heating system, so we expected it to take some time to achieve toasty temperature. We switched the system on – and then left it for a couple of hours while we did other work. When you put your hands near to the four outlets for the warmed air, it doesn’t actually feel particularly hot. But the efficiency of the system is beyond doubt, as our three-day test in temperatures that dipped to -3º proved. This is a caravan to consider if you’re looking for one to use in all four seasons, we concluded. And we noticed that the fan is barely audible.
Lounging, thus, is a warm and pleasurable experience with settees of full reclining length and two places for your television, at the front cabinet and on the dresser that separates the lounge from the side dining table.
There are a total of seven mains power sockets; one in the lounge, two in the dresser, two more in the kitchen, one in the dining areas and one adjacent to a mirror in a recess by the door.
 

Kitchen

Meals for two aren’t much of a challenge for the 520’s kitchen. It's designed for four and everything about it measures up to that requirement. The central cabinet and cutlery drawer above it are 60cm wide and the total length of the surface is 1.25m.
Coachman sticks to the idea of a fixed drainer; this feature doesn’t appear in many caravan ranges now and there are good reasons for viewing it as an advantage, as our washing-up sessions during this test reminded us. It’s just easier when you don’t have to get a plastic drainer out of a cabinet and put it in position!
Lighting style is a delight in the Pastiche range; in the 520, white light illuminates the ceiling from above all of the top lockers and more, softer, light comes from stylish corner lights alongside the sunroof. It’s in the kitchen, though, where good lighting levels are especially important, and the 520 answers that need well. A strip of 30 bright LED lights is set into a casing that’s flush with the base of the top locker, giving good light levels on the surface.
We also appreciated the Omnivent extractor fan, positioned close to the hob, just to make sure no steam accumulated as we cooked; this was not ideal weather to be opening windows!.
 

Towing

The ATC towing stability system might well have activated during our icy tow test but the driver is seldom aware of it grabbing the caravan brakes to control the first signs of a snaking movement and indeed, we didn’t detect any actuations. It’s reassuring to have this safety factor in place, though, especially on a fairly weighty single-axle caravan. That said, we’ve towed Pastiches and VIPs of this weight in dry, perfect road conditions and always found them to be as stable as single-axles get.

The Coachman Pastiche 520/4 is a caravan to consider for winter touring, in terms of the efficiency of its heating system. It’s well-equipped, with seven power sockets, and an extractor fan.
Quality is everywhere you look. The open-plan layout and the use of pale colour for both the woodwork and the fabrics – and also the kitchen lockers and two of the drawers – combined to make this one of the lightest, brightest caravans you can find.