Coachman Pastiche 560/4

The Coachman Pastiche has a tried-and-tested layout and, for 2014 it has a more powerful heating system. Its visual appeal is strong, with a stunning combination of bold yellow and tranquil fawns

When you compare the 2014 Pastiche 560/4 with its 2013 equivalent, you’d easily be forgiven for thinking this is the Truma show rather than the Coachman show. That’s because the major changes to this model are all down to Truma products. Two of the latest Truma products, to be exact. There are some cosmetic changes, too, but the lion’s share of change is about the heating unit and the water system.
Pastiches now have a more powerful heating system. It’s capable to delivering 6kW of output, hence its name, Combi 6. This is the most powerful heating system in the leisure industry, Truma tells Caravan Buyer. Its USP is its warm-up speed. The system develops 6kW when used on gas; its mains electricity side delivers 1.8kW. It’s designed to be used in dual fuel mode; ideally, switched to gas initially to warm the caravan quickly, and when the temperature you’ve selected is reached, the system automatically switches to electricity to maintain that temperature and economise on gas usage.
The controls are all on one small square panel with a rectangular screen that’s clear to read. You select symbols (water, space heating, for example) by turning a knob. The system is programmable both for water and space heating. This is one control panel for which you’ll not need an instruction leaflet!
There’s more about the Pastiche’s new heating system than meets the eye. Extra ducting is hidden behind the seating and along the side of the bed. This is 35mm piping, much narrower than the familiar ducting. It's called Isotherm ducting, and has tiny perforations running along its length. Warm air rises from these perforations, creating a “curtain of warm air” (Coachman’s words). It was difficult to test the efficiency of the system during our Pastiche test week as we were enjoying temperatures of around 18ºC but we’re sure to have the company of a Pastiche in less summery temperatures and will endeavour to test just how rapidly is the warm-up time and how effectively the “curtain of warm air” keeps us toasty.
In the meantime, on to the water system. The Pastiche 560 has the new Truma Ultraflow water system, which is equipped with an “intelligent” pressure switch that regulates the water pressure to keep it even.
By now we think you’ll understand why this new caravan is a bit of a showpiece for Truma. But the glory really should go to Coachman for this take on the tried-and-tested side double bed layout, with a solar panel on the roof; that’s a new feature for 2014.
The 560/4’s shower room is across the rear…
 

Showering

If you’re looking for a caravan with a spacious shower room, this is surely one for your shortlist. It’s 1.2m deep, tapering only slightly to allow space for the bed head to intrude a little. The shower isn’t the largest you can find in a caravan, at 67cm wide and deep, though. There’s one shelf for shampoo bottles below the shower rose bracket, and a couple of excellent style points to note. The shower tray has a raised design reminiscent of large bubbles. And the door is a single-piece design, totally clear except for five frosted “wave” lines across the centre.
While the shower isn’t the biggest you can find, the washbasin probably is, at around 50cm wide and 29cm across, and with a depth of 12cm.
Shelf space is amazing, with six to the right of the sink and a long shelf above the window. Two cabinets, one on the offside wall and another under the sink, are more than sufficient to put stuff away when you’re towing.
 

Sleeping

The mattress is sprung; it's firm, yet yields nicely when you lie on it. The bed is 1.88m long, which is fine for all except very tall caravan buyers. It’s 1.38m wide, tapering to about 1m to allow for the corridor. The mirror in the recess aft of the wardrobe is huge; you can almost get a head-to-toe reflection here. There’s a shelf, plus a mains socket, so phone charging and hairdryer use is catered for.
When you want to make a double bed in the lounge, the Pastiche method is to draw the centre section of the base out from under the offside settee. It’s an aluminium frame with wooden slats.
 

Storage

We’ll start with the bed. For there’s something clever here, and also something that some readers will see as less clever in design terms. The clever bit is a drawer, set into the bed base. It takes up minimal space with regard to putting large items like folding chairs in here, and it's the perfect place for socks and other small items. Like the three drawers in the centre-front unit and also those in the kitchen, this drawer is on smooth-running metal runners.
The not-so-clever element of the under-bed storage space is the presence of the table, which means you will have to reach under it to retrieve items that will inevitably migrate there when you’re towing.
Two substantial gas-filled struts hold the bed securely up even when a duvet and pillows are on it.
The space under the settees is accessed, on the nearside, by an almost full-length hinged door. Because of the slide-out bed base design, the offside locker access is through the top. There’s not a lot of space in here, around the alarm unit, the heater and the electricity distribution box, but when you do have to use it, you’ll find that the top rises with the flick of your wrist as the gas-filled strut is activated.
Four top lockers are in the bedroom and there are four more in the lounge, with the addition of two smaller ones in the corners. Overall, storage space is superb, but if you buy this model, take a tip from us and also buy some plastic storage boxes for under the bed; that way, small items won’t go it alone under the table and be difficult to retrieve!
 

Dining

In this section, rather like the storage review, we found something excellent and something, well, awkward. The excellence first. The two-person table at the front makes a level surface that’s 83cm long and 63cm wide; ample for dining. But it’s how it pulls out that’s interesting. You raise the top of the chest of drawers and then draw the extension piece forward. What’s revealed in between is a nice little nest for your magazines and perhaps also your tablemats, hidden from view.
The awkward bit is extracting and replacing the table from its horizontal position under the head end of the bed. There’s not a lot of space here, inevitably, and you have to reach forward while bending down; that’s the awkward bit. It's even more awkward to get it back on its four rests as the table is substantial (which is good) but it’s also quite heavy.
 

Lounging

The settees are about 1.75m long, each with two armrests which have a solid construction and top sections which can be zipped off, if you like your armrests to be lower.
Pastiche woodwork is pale, with two simple steel-look bands across the lockers. Soft furnishings are also pale, in grey-fawn, with bold splashes of bright yellow on the cushions. The wide corner panels, into which are set the speakers for the radio-CD unit, are matt fawn, to match the curtains; the lounge look is a well-rounded one, literally.
 

Kitchen

With a cabinet width of 86cm, this kitchen has to be rated as capacious. Three drawers are above this large cabinet. The fridge is opposite, with the microwave above it, hidden under a top-hinged door.
There’s an extractor fan near to the dual-fuel hob.
Surface space is comparatively confined, with just 20cm of width on the forward end of the sink. But the plus-point is that the 560 has a fixed drainer, so when the glass lid is closed on both the drainer and the sink, you get 90cm of surface width. There’s a chopping board cover for the sink, so when the drainer is exposed, you can use the sink as a food-preparation area.
 

Towing

One word described the 560’s test tow: unremarkable. And that’s praise indeed; its mid-length makes it easy to know exactly where your wheels are on tight corners and it feels a well-balanced caravan which we found enjoyable to tow. It’s equipped with the ATC automatic electronic stability aid system to help control any tendency to “snake”, but calm weather and light traffic during our tow test ensured that nothing deflected the 560 from its course, so the ATC did not activate.

The Coachman Pastiche 560/4 has quality looks everywhere, as you’d expect from a Pastiche. This appeal is combined with ample storage (especially in the kitchen), a big washroom and spec that includes an extractor fan and ATC. Is the 560 value for its £21,995 price-tag? Definitely, in our opinion. Only the storage position of the table mars an otherwise ideal caravan in its class.