Elddis Crusader Supersirocco Diamond Jubilee

If you think of Elddis Crusaders as looking rather traditional, you’ll be amazed by the stark styling of the 2012 Diamond Jubilee version of the range

Elddis marks 2012, the Queen’s 60th year of reign, by launching a new range of caravans. 

These are Diamond Jubilee Crusaders. The difference between the standard Crusaders and the new range is all about interior appearance. And if you imagine a product celebrating a royal event as adhering to classic tradition, think again. The Diamond Jubilee Crusaders are starkly modern. Locker fronts are pure white. Woodwork is the colour of dark chocolate. Fridges have jet-black fronts. And upholstery is plainest creamy fawn.

Our review example of the range, the Supersirocco, is a fixed-bed layout, with the shower room across the rear. Importantly, it has the enhanced stability factor of twin axles. And it has the added safety feature of Intelligent Drive Control (iDC) – that’s the BPW axle manufacturer’s stability control system. Stark styling is the keynote of this model – and nowhere is that more impressive than in the   shower room…
 

Showering

The shower’s on the offside, the basin’s in the centre and the toilet is on the nearside of the shower room. The shower rose and tap are mounted on a gleaming black base that arches up into the ceiling. It’s an eye-catching feature that looks simply lovely. The basin is black, too – this time not shiny black, but a matt, granite-effect. And it sits up above a white cabinet top, rather like a big fruit bowl, surmounted by a big arched tap.
Crusaders benefit from Alde heating; radiators surround the living space, hidden inside the furniture. Grilles in the shower room allow warmed air from the radiators to rise to the right of the basin and cabinet – and there’s a large towel rail above this aperture. And there’s something else to ensure your towels dry after showers. On the nearside, alongside the toilet, is effectively a floor-to-ceiling drying cabinet. This is where the Alde heating unit lies, complete with piping, which runs behind the shelves, and all of these shelves have apertures through which warm air can pass
The toilet is mounted against a dark brown panel – and the electric (12 volt) flush mechanism button is set level with the panel, which looks far more refined than the more familiar separate top tank.
There’s a window above the toilet – with a delightful, high-quality piece of black and gold fabric held on by a strip of Velcro above it, looking like a suggestion of a Roman-style blind. We felt, though, that this feature would have added even more style if it had been a proper blind, that reached the base of the window, and then retracted when you want to let in the daylight.
 

Sleeping

The Supersirocco is a true four-berth; the settees are long enough to make single beds for anyone except very tall people (these beds are 1.8m long).

The fixed bed is on the offside. It rises without effort, supported on two gas-filled struts, and with complete open access to the storage area beneath; there are no supports to get in the way. An exterior hatch gives you the option of loading items from the outside.

Four white-fronted lockers will take all the garments you need – these are large, deep lockers.

One slight negative is that the forward corner of the bed base juts out further than the mattress, in just the right position in the corridor for you to walk into it. Which we did, almost straight away during our review. Even after we became aware of the hazard, we continued to collide with it; when you cover the bed in a duvet or throw, you can’t see the metal overhang. But you’ll certainly feel it when you walk into it.

We have nothing but praise, though, for the feel of the mattress. It’s memory foam and feels firm yet comfortable. There’s more praise, too, for the dressing table and wardrobe design of the Supersirocco. A deep, wide mirror is mounted on a dark brown base matching the one in the shower room. A white surface tops a cabinet containing two shelves plus a wide space for footwear beneath. A power point is near to the mirror.

The wardrobe has two rails, both running transversely; one is longer than the other, so it’s more suited to wider garments on bigger coat-hangers. A shelf runs around the L-shape of the back walls of the wardrobe and the wheel arch cover provides another shelf. The doors open wide, on three chunky metal hinges, so there is corridor space even when the wardrobe is open. Storage in the bedroom, then, is nothing short of excellent.
 

Storage

And that excellence is matched elsewhere in the Supersirocco. The centre-front cabinet has four drawers, whereas most caravans have two and some have three. The storage under the settees is generous, and with doors that are the whole length of the settee. The nearside storage area here has exterior access.

Front head-height storage is enormous; the two lockers at the front are 38cm deep and 37cm height at the highest point, unusually, they each have shelves, and this pretty much doubles their capacity. One of the three side lockers has a shelf. All top lockers have an unusual opening action. You tilt the wide, shiny steel handles slightly downwards to release the catches – it’s finger-tip light to operate. The drawers and lower cabinets have push-release catches that clunk in a solid, robust sort of way to remind you that these are quality fittings – just one example of the overall top-notch features we see everywhere in this caravan.
 

Dining

Long lounges always make good dining rooms because there’s more space. Or you can pull out the extendable top to the chest of drawers at the front of the caravan and create a table for two.
 

Lounging

Again, it’s a high mark, because of the length of the lounge (1.8m). Curved front ends and large comfortable bolsters at the opposite ends guarantee comfort however you choose to relax. Four scatter cushions are there to keep you cosy.

But it’s when you’re relaxing in the lounge, perhaps more than any other area of the caravan, that you notice how much light the tinted side windows exclude. The caravan looks gloomy even on a bright day – and very gloomy on a rainy dull day. But don’t let that deter you from choosing a Crusader because, happily, Elddis offers untinted windows as a no-cost option.

After dark, you’ll notice the lighting is bright enough everywhere in the Supersirocco; put your feet up and turn on the television that you can anchor to a bracket above the table-store cabinet alongside the fridge – and sink into those comfortable cushions!
 

Kitchen

In a big, luxury-class caravan nowhere is more important than the kitchen in terms of storage and convenience. The Supersirocco’s kitchen is a winner on both of those counts.

You have the option of cooking on gas or using an electric hotplate; caravanners with Agas at home will love this facility. The sink is rectangular, and made of a substance that looks like granite and gives us the impression it would not be prone to scratching. It has a small drainer area alongside the tap, with a grilled cover just large enough to place two mugs to drain. 
You have 36cm of working surface width to the left of the sink and a further 27cm wide section to the right of the hob. When you need additional surface, a section, measuring 36cm x 29cm, slides out on the right hand side of the kitchen. Above this area is the drinks department.  Clips for six glasses are here, behind a big, curved brown plastic door. And in the corner of this cabinet is a surprise: a wine rack with recesses for four bottles!

This cabinet creates the divider between the kitchen and the bedroom – and on the opposite side there is a bracket for your TV.
Lower kitchen storage is superb, with a cabinet to the right of the oven, containing two substantial wire baskets on metal runners.

To the left of the oven are two drawers, almost 50cm wide; the top one contains a five-compartment cutlery tray. The cabinet beneath is 56cm deep and long, and 40cm high. Opposite the kitchen sits the tower-style fridge which contains a 26cm-deep freezer compartment that can be removed if you need more chill space but don’t want to freeze food.  So, enormous on storage and great on practicality, too – this kitchen is superb.
 

Towing

With twin-axle geometry to supply more straight-line stability than caravans on one axle, the Supersirocco is inevitably ahead of the pack. And it has the added reassurance of the iDC (Intelligent Drive Control) feature that applies electronic braking to the caravan wheels if the system detects even the merest hint of a snaking movement. On its test tow, behind our Kia Sorento, the hefty Supersirocco’s behaviour was brilliantly stable; as good as any – and better than some – twin axle caravans we’ve towed.
 

The Elddis Crusader Supersirocco is great on storage, on both lounge and kitchen size – and also in terms of stability on the road