Elddis Avante 646
Image
Key Features
Model Year
2010
Product Class
Twin Axle
Price from (£)
£15999
Berths
6
Full Review
LAST summer Elddis took the caravan world by storm with its new Crusader Tempest – a big family caravan of unique layout and brimming with spec.
The Go Caravan team was so impressed with its clever packaging of a triple bunk stack out of the way in a corner and its four-seater dining area amidships that we suggested to the Elddis designers that the same layout in the more affordable Avanté range would go down a storm, too.
Elddis took up our suggestion – hence the Avanté 646, lighter on spec, lighter in weight, lighter on price (by more than £4,000!) – and lighter in another way…
There was only one thing that we felt detracted from the Tempest. That was the privacy windows which impart a slightly gloomy look to what is otherwise an utterly splendid caravan.
The Avanté equivalent has plain windows, letting the light flood in on to white swirls on grey background and plain fawn – a combination that creates a beautifully modern furnishing look.
Dark brown curtains gleam in the sunlight and a wonderfully practical dark-brown carpet complete the look. Avantés may be two layers lower in spec terms than Crusaders, but there’s no evidence of economy in the furnishings.
So, that’s your first impression taken care of; now for the detail of that layout that captivated us – and a lot of other caravanners, too – last summer.
What’s special about this caravan is the unobtrusive position of the three bunks, tucked away in the nearside corner.
It’s a cosy little place to be, a hideaway that, judging by the reaction of the three under-10-year-olds whose opinion we sought, is a cool bedroom.
The other aspect that sets this layout apart from everything else except a Crusader Tempest is the central dining area. That’s because it can seat four.
Kitchen storage excels, in the form of a double-doored cupboard, plenty of places for cutlery, plenty of places for food, and the 646 has a 175-litre fridge with separate freezer.
It’s not just food storage that will win your praise in the 646. Ten head-height lockers, plus two more above the kitchen, all with hardwood frames, sculpt the upper look and give you plenty of storage options.
This big Avanté packs in so many outstandingly practical layout features that it’s almost praise all the way. But not quite.
As ever in caravans, you can’t always have your cake and eat it. Or, in this instance, you can’t have your shower and use it without wiping dry the tray each time…
The way in which the Avanté 646 packs everything in doesn’t leave room for a separate shower.
The washing equipment is jammed into the offside corner, including a tip-up sink over the toilet, to save space.
The shower area gets a curtain to pull around it, so that you don’t have to mop over the loo and basin as well as the shower tray.
And the walls are wall-boarded, as distinct from the complete sealed plastic shower concept. The whole message here, though, is clear – and completely understandable.
If you have six on board you can’t all have showers consecutively because the water heater won’t re-heat fast enough. So some of you have to go to the campsite’s showers… so all of you might as well go there.
Elddis, in designing this caravan for living rather than showering luxury, make that assumption – with which we totally agree.
Only if you see a Tempest, with its wider washroom that incorporates a separate shower, you may well be asking the Elddis designers why, when they designed the Avanté version, they took away the separate shower, gave it a tip-up sink and gave the space to the wardrobe which, in Tempest mode, was perfectly wide enough to be usable anyway.
Our verdict:
Although this is a lesser-specced model than its more expensive Crusader Tempest cousin, the equipment count is high. Included is an extractor fan, microwave oven, all those power points, a hitch-head stabiliser and a radio/CD.
No compromises on quality anywhere – this is one gorgeously practical family caravan. It’s good value, it’s not a heavyweight, as twin-axles go – and you can enjoy the extra stability that comes with four wheels.
The Go Caravan team was so impressed with its clever packaging of a triple bunk stack out of the way in a corner and its four-seater dining area amidships that we suggested to the Elddis designers that the same layout in the more affordable Avanté range would go down a storm, too.
Elddis took up our suggestion – hence the Avanté 646, lighter on spec, lighter in weight, lighter on price (by more than £4,000!) – and lighter in another way…
There was only one thing that we felt detracted from the Tempest. That was the privacy windows which impart a slightly gloomy look to what is otherwise an utterly splendid caravan.
The Avanté equivalent has plain windows, letting the light flood in on to white swirls on grey background and plain fawn – a combination that creates a beautifully modern furnishing look.
Dark brown curtains gleam in the sunlight and a wonderfully practical dark-brown carpet complete the look. Avantés may be two layers lower in spec terms than Crusaders, but there’s no evidence of economy in the furnishings.
So, that’s your first impression taken care of; now for the detail of that layout that captivated us – and a lot of other caravanners, too – last summer.
What’s special about this caravan is the unobtrusive position of the three bunks, tucked away in the nearside corner.
It’s a cosy little place to be, a hideaway that, judging by the reaction of the three under-10-year-olds whose opinion we sought, is a cool bedroom.
The other aspect that sets this layout apart from everything else except a Crusader Tempest is the central dining area. That’s because it can seat four.
Kitchen storage excels, in the form of a double-doored cupboard, plenty of places for cutlery, plenty of places for food, and the 646 has a 175-litre fridge with separate freezer.
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It’s not just food storage that will win your praise in the 646. Ten head-height lockers, plus two more above the kitchen, all with hardwood frames, sculpt the upper look and give you plenty of storage options.
This big Avanté packs in so many outstandingly practical layout features that it’s almost praise all the way. But not quite.
As ever in caravans, you can’t always have your cake and eat it. Or, in this instance, you can’t have your shower and use it without wiping dry the tray each time…
The way in which the Avanté 646 packs everything in doesn’t leave room for a separate shower.
The washing equipment is jammed into the offside corner, including a tip-up sink over the toilet, to save space.
The shower area gets a curtain to pull around it, so that you don’t have to mop over the loo and basin as well as the shower tray.
And the walls are wall-boarded, as distinct from the complete sealed plastic shower concept. The whole message here, though, is clear – and completely understandable.
If you have six on board you can’t all have showers consecutively because the water heater won’t re-heat fast enough. So some of you have to go to the campsite’s showers… so all of you might as well go there.
Elddis, in designing this caravan for living rather than showering luxury, make that assumption – with which we totally agree.
Only if you see a Tempest, with its wider washroom that incorporates a separate shower, you may well be asking the Elddis designers why, when they designed the Avanté version, they took away the separate shower, gave it a tip-up sink and gave the space to the wardrobe which, in Tempest mode, was perfectly wide enough to be usable anyway.
Our verdict:
Although this is a lesser-specced model than its more expensive Crusader Tempest cousin, the equipment count is high. Included is an extractor fan, microwave oven, all those power points, a hitch-head stabiliser and a radio/CD.
No compromises on quality anywhere – this is one gorgeously practical family caravan. It’s good value, it’s not a heavyweight, as twin-axles go – and you can enjoy the extra stability that comes with four wheels.
- This review was first published in the September 2010 issue of Go Caravan magazine.
