TEC Weltbummler 555TE
Image
Key Features
Model Year
2008
Product Class
Single Axle
Price from (£)
£15894
Berths
4
Full Review
FROM the outside, the Weltbummler is distinctive. The new panelling is more to UK tastes, with a grey and white colour scheme, tasteful pinstripe coachlining but the now familiar windowless front.
What may not be immediately obvious is the revised door, now wider, and the offside front locker – an impressive storage space which utilises the space under the bed without the rigmarole of up-ending the bed base to get items out. You’ll also notice the alloy wheels – another standard item in the 2008 555TE.
Inside, the single-axle four-berth continues what TEC seems to do best – provide fixed bed layouts that make the best use of space. The 555TE provides two fixed singles at the front on its sound principle that the headroom at the rear is better used for the living space. The double is in the rear lounge.
The kitchen is in the nearside mid section opposite the washroom. This does, unavoidably, create a slight bottleneck but the gains in the lounge are impressive.
Such in the space that there’s room for a massive U-shaped lounge/dinette with a natty, irregular-shaped table and even a stool. Four can eat in real comfort here.
A new wood finish – Amarant Kirsche it’s called – is being used in all Weltbummler models. The more familiar red applewood (Meraner Apfel, for TEC aficionados) is available only on Travelbird, Tour and Travel King models.
The wood finish worked very well indeed with the Lahti, half-leather effect upholstery which gave a thoroughly modern feel to the interior.
Two other upholsteries are available – a mushroom and cream, called Coventry, and a beige and red-blue candy-stripe, Bornholm. All are more Ikea than Laura Ashley. Flooring is a wood-effect vinyl with loose-fitted carpets, again standard in 2008.
When you begin to look closely at each area of the Weltbummler 555TE, you get more impressed. The bedroom combines style with practicality. Choosing a twin as a fixed bed makes real sense; a double bed may offer more, er, marital bliss but if it’s any size, it almost invariably means someone is tucked up against the wall. That means any late-night excursions wake up your partner.
At 6ft 6in long and 2ft 9in wide, they’re good beds, and this year have a super-comfortable Softec mattress as standard.
Between the beds is a small but useful bedside cabinet and overhead there’s shelving and spacious cupboards with the new and attractive brushed-chrome handles. A concertina screen provides bedroom privacy.
But there’s something else; it’s those cleverly-hidden uplights tucked behind the overhead lockers, adding an impressive touch of class. The new lighting makes an attempt to combine soft, mood effects with harsher, practical spotlights, and we think TEC has pulled it off; it’s doubtful if most owners will have such cleverly thought through lighting in their own homes.
Elite Caravans had plugged in a natty table lamp to add to the glamour but also to point out that this is a caravan with ample three-pin sockets, reflecting the fact that we live in an age of laptops and mobile phones which have to be charged for hours at a time.
For good measure, the 555TE has UK-spec TV aerial and satellite points as standard, both in the kitchen and inside a bedroom locker.
The washroom does not include a shower; you can either live without one or you can’t, but with most sites these days having shower blocks which gush hot water rather than dribbling it, the proportion who can do without is growing fast.
It’s a really modern washroom, with a counter-top hand basin, monobloc tap and two enormous mirrors – very minimalist. The amount of storage space must be a best-in-class. The loo’s a standard Thetford model.
The kitchen is from the familiar and excellent TEC Belle Cuisine line-up; if you’re into your cooking, this will be a real draw.
For a start, the Dometic Cramer three-burner hob, oven and separate grill give you plenty of cooking options. The Dometic fridge-freezer offers a massive 150 litres of storage – 25 litres in the freezer alone.
The sliding rack cupboard under the sink coupled with overhead cupboards and a rack mean you can keep some stock, and above all, that extractor hood with its hob spotlights is simply excellent for keeping the caravan fresh.
As I’ve said, the lounge is very spacious. Gone is the old model’s tilt-and-slide table, replaced with a loose table with a trick up its sleeve. A lever beneath unlocks it, and it can then be compressed to bed height to form the bed base infill. The seat squabs and two backrests plus two infill fillets (one of which was missing on the test caravan) form the mattress for the double.
• A full version of this review appeared in the March 2008 issue of Which Caravan, the only magazine all about buying. To order a road test reprint contact Tina Beaumont on 01778 391187.
To subscribe to the magazine, click here.
What may not be immediately obvious is the revised door, now wider, and the offside front locker – an impressive storage space which utilises the space under the bed without the rigmarole of up-ending the bed base to get items out. You’ll also notice the alloy wheels – another standard item in the 2008 555TE.
Inside, the single-axle four-berth continues what TEC seems to do best – provide fixed bed layouts that make the best use of space. The 555TE provides two fixed singles at the front on its sound principle that the headroom at the rear is better used for the living space. The double is in the rear lounge.
The kitchen is in the nearside mid section opposite the washroom. This does, unavoidably, create a slight bottleneck but the gains in the lounge are impressive.
Such in the space that there’s room for a massive U-shaped lounge/dinette with a natty, irregular-shaped table and even a stool. Four can eat in real comfort here.
A new wood finish – Amarant Kirsche it’s called – is being used in all Weltbummler models. The more familiar red applewood (Meraner Apfel, for TEC aficionados) is available only on Travelbird, Tour and Travel King models.
The wood finish worked very well indeed with the Lahti, half-leather effect upholstery which gave a thoroughly modern feel to the interior.
Two other upholsteries are available – a mushroom and cream, called Coventry, and a beige and red-blue candy-stripe, Bornholm. All are more Ikea than Laura Ashley. Flooring is a wood-effect vinyl with loose-fitted carpets, again standard in 2008.When you begin to look closely at each area of the Weltbummler 555TE, you get more impressed. The bedroom combines style with practicality. Choosing a twin as a fixed bed makes real sense; a double bed may offer more, er, marital bliss but if it’s any size, it almost invariably means someone is tucked up against the wall. That means any late-night excursions wake up your partner.
At 6ft 6in long and 2ft 9in wide, they’re good beds, and this year have a super-comfortable Softec mattress as standard.
Between the beds is a small but useful bedside cabinet and overhead there’s shelving and spacious cupboards with the new and attractive brushed-chrome handles. A concertina screen provides bedroom privacy.
But there’s something else; it’s those cleverly-hidden uplights tucked behind the overhead lockers, adding an impressive touch of class. The new lighting makes an attempt to combine soft, mood effects with harsher, practical spotlights, and we think TEC has pulled it off; it’s doubtful if most owners will have such cleverly thought through lighting in their own homes.
Elite Caravans had plugged in a natty table lamp to add to the glamour but also to point out that this is a caravan with ample three-pin sockets, reflecting the fact that we live in an age of laptops and mobile phones which have to be charged for hours at a time.
For good measure, the 555TE has UK-spec TV aerial and satellite points as standard, both in the kitchen and inside a bedroom locker.
The washroom does not include a shower; you can either live without one or you can’t, but with most sites these days having shower blocks which gush hot water rather than dribbling it, the proportion who can do without is growing fast.
It’s a really modern washroom, with a counter-top hand basin, monobloc tap and two enormous mirrors – very minimalist. The amount of storage space must be a best-in-class. The loo’s a standard Thetford model.
The kitchen is from the familiar and excellent TEC Belle Cuisine line-up; if you’re into your cooking, this will be a real draw.
For a start, the Dometic Cramer three-burner hob, oven and separate grill give you plenty of cooking options. The Dometic fridge-freezer offers a massive 150 litres of storage – 25 litres in the freezer alone.
The sliding rack cupboard under the sink coupled with overhead cupboards and a rack mean you can keep some stock, and above all, that extractor hood with its hob spotlights is simply excellent for keeping the caravan fresh.
As I’ve said, the lounge is very spacious. Gone is the old model’s tilt-and-slide table, replaced with a loose table with a trick up its sleeve. A lever beneath unlocks it, and it can then be compressed to bed height to form the bed base infill. The seat squabs and two backrests plus two infill fillets (one of which was missing on the test caravan) form the mattress for the double.
• A full version of this review appeared in the March 2008 issue of Which Caravan, the only magazine all about buying. To order a road test reprint contact Tina Beaumont on 01778 391187.
To subscribe to the magazine, click here.
