Dethleffs Nomad 560V

The German-made Dethleffs Nomad models are long, wide, stable, and has a great storage capability. The Nomad 560V is the twin-med model in the range

Amid the tidal surge of twin-bed caravans that have emerged in the last two years from all of the British manufacturers, there’s only a smattering of Continental single-bed layouts now in Britain.
 
One of them is from the German maker Dethleffs; these are imported by Lowdham Leisureworld at Nottingham. We’d already reviewed the two fixed-bed models, 560SB and 545DBM (published in Caravan Buyer in July and August); now it was the turn of the third model in the range, the twin-bed 560V. Like the other two, it has a U-shaped lounge and end shower room.
If you judge the 560V by British standards – which is how most buyers here will look at it – this model is an amalgam of basic and luxurious elements. The first luxury element you’ll notice if you go to see this model is the amount of space. That’s not just about length (the 560 is 8.1m long). The corridor down the centre of the caravan, from the lounge, between the beds, to the shower room is wide – because this caravan is the maximum legal width of 2.5m.
The lounge is U-shaped - and feels enormous, with a big, substantial table in its centre. And the shower room is stacked with shelves and gives you plenty of space. The basic bit comes in the form of the cooking equipment, which gives you a combination grill-oven, a three-burner hob – and no microwave.
The shower room, though, is certainly in the luxury class…
 

Showering

With two tall cabinets and a large semi-circular cabinet that forms the base of the washbasin, there’s ample accommodation for necessities. There are also three wide shelves, plus another shelf below the mirror. Inside the shower are shelves for shampoos, below the shower rose riser bar. Unusually, the shower door is divided into three sections; they open inwards toward the shower.
Floor space is ample and the shower is large and rectangular. Two wide towel rails are in a recess on the door.
 

Sleeping

The 560’s twin beds put it into the category of caravans chiefly appealing to couples. But, as we’ve said before when reviewing caravans of this layout, twin beds have family appeal, especially if your offspring are in the teen years. And, because the double bed at the front makes up so quickly, the 560 is a great example of this versatility. The table forms the centre of the bed base. You flick a lever on the table’s metal base and the top descends to the height of the bed boxes. In seconds, the backrests (which are all short sections) are in place to complete the mattress. There are no knee rolls to make it necessary to turn over the seating units in order to make up a flat mattress≥ This is one of the easiest lounge double beds to make up that we have found.
 

Storage

The U-shape of the lounge creates plenty of storage space. Unlike most British-made caravans, there’s no front access. You get in via the top; you raise the solid wooden bases – they’re attached by two simple plastic hinges; these certainly come under the heading of the  “basic” elements of the Nomad.
But the pendulum swings to “luxury” when we examine the amount of top locker accommodation – there are 15. Eight of them are in the bedroom.
Gas strut hinges support the single bed bases when you open them to get at the huge space underneath; an exterior access hatch is on the offside.
The wardrobe, with the Trumatic gas and electric blown air heater unit below it, is forward of the offside bed. Alongside it, by the door, is a cleverly-designed cabinet containing four magazine racks. Above is a two-shelf canibnet
Overall, the 560s storage capability must be rated as excellent.
 

Dining

Excellence in terms of dining comes in the form of the large, substantial table – and the U-shaped seating which enables six to dine here, making this caravan an ideal choice if you like to entertain friends.
 

Lounging

It’s not just the amount of seating space that creates a great lounge here. It’s the exceptionally firm corner pieces that make for great kick-back comfort. Compared with the British-manufacturer standard use of spring lounge seating, you might say the Dethleff’s foam seating should be placed under the “basic” category of equipment we identified earlier. But seating here, although firm, is amazingly comfortable.
Ambience, most definitely, gets filed under ”luxury”. Four LED clusters surround the roof light; two more are above the doorway
Lines of tiny LED lights run under shelving that surrounds the lounge. Spotlights are tungsten – like the foam seating, that’s a surprise compared with British –made caravans in which LEDs are the norm. But the style is simple and neat – and they give off a good amount of light.
Curtain style is lovely quality voiles and panels. The triangular front corner panels are brilliantly constructed, with a rod running through the base to ensure they hang correctly at all times.
 
Unless you examine them in detail, as we did, you’re unlikely to discover one of the 560’s superb equipment features - huge speakers for the radio CD player are hidden in a panel under the centre front top locker. We weren’t able to test their sound quality as our test caravan hadn’t been fitted with its radio; that would happen when it is prepared for collection by its purchasers.
Television needs are catered for in the lounge by a mounting bracket and connection points above a shelf in the magazine rack unit by the door.
So brilliant, spacious and comfortable lounge, but how does the kitchen measure up?
 

Kitchen

We’ve commented in previous Dethleffs reviews that kitchens from this manufacturer are labelled, in two places, “Dethleffs Gourmet Center” (forgive the American spelling). As with the other two Nomads we have tested, by British-maker standards (with which many buyers will inevitably compare it), these kitchens don’t quite meet gourmet standards. That’s because there are only three burners; the oven and grill is a combined unit – and there is no microwave. But does that matter to you? We think a lot of buyers won’t consider this an issue – it all depends on how and what you like to cook.
The design of the hinged glass tops of the sink and hob are superb. The sink top goes down leaving an aperture large enough for you to wash your hands or salads directly under the tap. And the hob top is divided into two separate sections, so that you can use one gas ring while leaving the other section of the cover down so that you have more working surface. There’s a surface to the left of the sink and more space surrounding both the sink and the hob; in all, we think, while it’s not a “Gourmet Center” by British caravan standards, it is certainly a practical kitchen.
Storage is well designed, with a large drawer across the base of the kitchen, running from the fridge (on the forward end) all the way to the aft end of the kitchen. Above it, in the centre, between the kitchen and the oven-grill, is a good-sized cabinet.
There’s a run of three cabinets above the kitchen; the centre one has a glass door, creating a classy, very domestic look.
And there’s something in the kitchen that most definitely comes into our “luxury” category – an extractor fan directly over the hob.
 

Towing

At first glance – and with the inevitable comparison to British-made caravans – you’d question the Nomad’s stability capability, because it’s 8m long on a single axle. But look more carefully and you see that the drawbar is far longer than you see on British-made caravans. That, in itself, creates a very significant stability factor. We’ve towed several Nomads and each one impressed – indeed – surprised – us with its feeling of evenness and solid road-holding that it transmits to the driver. You have to keep in mind the extra width on corners, of course – but, in our experience, it will take you only minutes to get that bit of geometry programmed into your towing mindset.

Dethleffs Nomads are long and wide, with long drawbar geometry that creates good road handling characteristics. The 560 is a brilliantly spacious option amid the now-vast selection of twin-bed caravans on the British market. What it may lack in cooking equipment by comparison with British made caravans in this price bracket, it gains in lounge space and comfort.