Coachman VIP 460/2

The Coachman VIP 460/2 is a high-class, high-spec two-berth with kit that includes a solar panel and a television

The VIP range goes back to 1988. In those 26 years the brand has built a loyal following among caravan buyers seeking plenty of equipment and robust build quality. Traditionally, VIP buyers are less concerned about price and weight than they are about the amount of kit that comes with the caravan. This year’s VIPs take that amount of kit to a new level, with the inclusion for the first time of a roof-mounted 80-watt solar panel (ideal to top of your battery if you plan on using the caravan independent of mains power).

VIPs now also come with a television as standard. It's an Avtex 18.5-inch model with integrated DVD/CD player and digital radio. You can use it on mains or from the caravan’s 12-volt supply; it’s a comprehensive, quality piece of kit that also incorporates a satellite decoder.

This year’s VIPs benefit from advancements in heating technology, too, in the form of the new Truma Combi 24-hour programmable water and space heater that delivers 6kW of output on gas and 1.8kW in mains mode.  In VIPs this system has an additional feature. “Isotherm” ducting runs between the seat backs and the wall. This is of a narrower diameter than the rest of the system’s blown-air ducting (so that it can be fitted into a smaller space) and contains perforations which enable warmed air to rise from behind the seat backs. Truma describes this as a “curtain of air” which, during our test week, noticeably added to the evenness of temperature delivered by the system.

The VIP list of equipment is a long one. There’s a key fob-operated alarm system, a high-gain omni-directional aerial that functions for both the caravan’s television and its Pioneer radio/CD system, and an outlet for the blown-air system outside, to send warmed air into your awning. Also outside is a cold-water shower (ideal for walking boots and muddy dogs on a warm day!). The inside showering department, though, is positively palatial…
 
Showering
A folded blind adorns the window; it's in a satin-type fabric with a subtle floral design. Bright LEDs surround the top of the black shiny mounting unit for the shower rose and riser bar. The Belfast-style sink is deep and wide, and surrounded by shelving. The mirror is enormous by caravan standards and enables you to very nearly inspect your apparel from top to toe. The wardrobe is in here and, like every other feature of the shower room, it’s enormous. It gives you a rail width of 1.15m, plus three shelves and, beneath, two drawers as wide as the wardrobe. A light comes on automatically when you open the wardrobe.
Towel provision is excellent, with a wide bar on the rear wall, a loop on the door plus a double hook alongside the door; you have the option of using these hooks for coats.
 
Sleeping
The 460’s settees are 1.88m long so just long enough to make single beds unless you’re tall. The double bed makes up by drawing the central section of the base out from beneath the offside settee. It’s a sturdy affair, on a metal frame.
 
Storage
With the wardrobe amply large enough for all clothing requirements, the six lockers above the lounge are available for anything else. Two of the larger four have shelves; the two smaller lockers, which are in the corners and follow the shape of the prominent exterior shoulder lines, are ideal for small books, CDs and DVDs.
Under-settee storage on the nearside is accessed by a hinge-down locker. It doesn’t go all the way along the length of the locker, so if you use a bulky duvet you might find it easier to open the top. Gas-filled strut supports take the weight fully.
The pull-out bed base mechanism precludes the inclusion of a front opening for the offside locker but, again, a hefty strut takes the weight when you raise the top.
 
Dining
Unless you have guests you probably won’t use the freestanding table very often because the pull-out table on top of the chest of drawers gives a good-sized level surface; it’s 82cm long and 62cm wide. When you do get the table out, though, it’s easy. It has its own cabinet, forward of the wardrobe. Above it, there’s a narrow shelf that would be ideal for storing rolled-up towels.
 
Lounging
 
By the time our analysis of the 460 reached the lounge section, the tiny perforations in the Isotherm ducting behind the settees were emitting warm air and the control panel by the door told us the temperature had reached the 21ºC setting we’d specified. Even though we were using the system just on electricity (gas warms it up quicker) the 460 reached the high teens of temperature within only about half an hour when it was only 5ºC outside. Lounging, thus, is a cosy experience in a VIP 460/2. Curved corner sections make nestling into either end of the settees comfortable. And the generous amount of bright white light coming across the ceiling from rows of LEDs above the lockers, plus more LEDs in the corner mouldings, creates plenty of light overall. There’s also a centrally placed light, on the rear edge of the sunroof surround; this light gives a creamy-coloured hue, which, by comparison with the brightness of the LEDs, looks rather dull. Perhaps this served to illustrate how bright the white lights are!
 
Kitchen
The 460’s kitchen effectively spreads across both sides of the caravan, with the fridge and microwave housed in a dresser on the nearside. Here, there is work space even when the caravan’s television is in place. There are three shelves alongside the fridge and three more above. Two of the 460’s five mains sockets are here; two more are on the forward edge of the offside section of the kitchen, above a surface are that measures 40cm wide by 63cm deep. The drainer is the proper recessed type; the hob has a hotplate as well as three gas burners.
Top storage comprises three cream-fronted lockers, one containing a shelf and the two others containing fitment for plates, mugs and bottles. A central area with a brown smoky plastic front contains securing points for six goblets.
The two lower cabinets are wide. Even though the wheel arch depletes storage space, there is enough here for the needs of most buyers, especially when you take into account the three drawers in the kitchen, and three more in the front chest of drawers if you need them for things like table mats.
 
Towing
As you’d expect of a £21,000-plus caravan, VIPs are equipped with AL-KO’s electronic stability control system. The 460’s test tow showed it to be a steady, predictable performer. There was a bit of bounce on undulating road surfaces but that’s pretty standard on a short-length caravan; many of our tow tests demonstrate that the shorter the distance between the car’s rear wheels and the caravan’s wheels, the greater the tendency for this bounce to be noticeable. But then we are here to be critical! The overriding fact is that the 460 was a pleasure to tow, over 50mph stretches, around tight corners and even through heavy traffic in central Grantham.

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You can buy classic two-berth tourers for a lot less than VIP price-territory. But they don’t come with all the goodies that you get with the Coachman VIP 460/2. Money is to a great extent about equipment, yes, and you get plenty of kit with a VIP. But you’re also buying into the whole Coachman VIP quality ethos. If you like your caravan to feel like a mini version of the best you’d expect at home, a VIP is a good place to start your search for your next tourer.