Xplore 574

Principally, the new Xplore 574 is a couple’s caravan, but with four-berth capability, it’s versatile

The number of twin-bed tourers is increasing every year. Now, the concept has entered the Xplore range, the lightest weight and lowest priced caravans made by the Explorer Group. The 574 layout also appears in the Elddis Avanté and Affinity ranges, with more spec and consequently more weight and a higher price. So the new Xplore version of this tried-and-tested layout looks, at first glance, to be excellent value. We had half a      day of scrutiny to find out if       those first impressions would be wholly correct…
But first, before the details, a couple of things to explain about Xplores. For 2014 this range gets a separate identity from the other ranges made in the Explorer Group factory; previously, Xplores were under the Elddis umbrella. Now they stand alone, as a brand.
The second explanation is something you can’t see. It’s about how they are built. The Explorer Group has changed the way its caravans are constructed. More than 90% of screws were eliminated by the introduction, last year, of a bonded build method that the company called SoLiD, standing for Strong, Light and Dry. The objective is obvious from the name, and it’s backed up by a 10-year water ingress warranty. You can’t see the GRP underskin, either, but you can see new white, textured wall boarding, new fabrics, new locker design, cabinetry with a prominent grain and, when you look more closely, you can also see new positive locking on top cabinets.
The 574’s layout gives you an offside kitchen and a full-width shower room…
 

Showering

The shower, on the offside, is amply sized, at 80cm x 64cm. Preening paraphernalia is catered for in a wall cabinet, plus another, below the (quite large) washbasin. There’s enough floor space but there is no carpet. Will you miss a carpet it? Well, probably, if you are caravanning in winter and like your toes to be toasty. But small bathroom mats cost very little…
 

Sleeping

The two strips of carpet that run along the central corridor of this layout stop by the shower door.
The beds are different lengths; the nearside one is 1.96m long and the offside bed is 1.88m long. They have different widths, too. The longer bed is the narrower, at 74cm; the offside bed is 80cm wide.
Each bed has a corner shelf, large enough for a book and a phone. These shelves are bordered by a ridge of matt steel, to make sure small items don’t fall off into the pillows. The steel ridges add a little to the style of the bed area, too.
The beds are higher than average, at 70cm, which means the storage compartments below them are deeper. The bed bases rise with little effort required; gas-filled hinges hold them up.
If you want to make a double bed in the lounge, the 574 has webbing-lined slats to draw out from under a shelf that runs between the settees.

Storage

The 574’s principal storage opportunity is of course under the beds. But there’s good space beneath the lounge, too. The offside storage area is inevitably compromised by the Whale heating system unit and some ducting but there is still enough space for plenty of stuff. The battery box and the electrical distribution unit eat into space under the nearside settee but, here again, there is enough space to be very useful. If you are using the 574 as a four-berth, duvets and pillows will have to go in here; there is definitely enough space.
 Four top lockers surround the lounge and there are four more in the bedroom. All have plastic positive catches.
The wardrobe is on the nearside, above the fridge, located between the foot of the bed and the door.
Dining
The dining table is stored in the wardrobe, held firmly in place with retaining clips. It’s easy to get in and out. The 574 doesn’t have a chest of drawers in the lounge. There is, though, a coffee table. At 51cm wide and 23cm deep it is easily large enough for mugs and biscuits, and possibly even for a small plate of croissants at breakfast time, too. When you make the double bed you’ll want this coffee table out of the way; it folds flat to the wall.
 

Lounging

At 1.35m long, the settees are about the right length for most people to relax with feet up. There’s a mains socket in the lounge but no aerial socket. Full television connections are, naturally enough, alongside a TV bracket, which is on the aft wall of the wardrobe. So you’d swing the bracket around to face the lounge. It does inevitably obstruct the corridor, so you’d have to be careful to avoid colliding with your television if you venture into the bedroom during viewing.
But there’s more to take your attention than television in the 574. It’s the fabrics that have been chosen to create an exceptionally modern look, in a plain, simple way. Seating is totally plain, with not a fleck of pattern. It’s a tactile cream, with piping in a turquoise shade along the edges of the backrests. The same turquoise shade appears on cushions that also have lime green and brown floral design, on a pure white background.
 

Kitchen

Storage arrangements in this kitchen are amazingly generous considering this caravan is not large. There are two lower cabinets that we measured at 55cm deep and 46cm wide, with a depth of 44 cm, making them the ideal location for tall soft drinks bottles. There are two drawers – and the drawers in Xplores deserve special mention because, for 2014, the designers introduced dovetail corner joints and metal runners. The hob and sink are smart black enamel. On the rear end of the kitchen a 24cm- wide cabinet gives you two deep shelf spaces; this unit is the full height of the kitchen surface.
Top lockers, with white doors bearing a chrome-effect line across them (very stylish!) have strong metal positive catches.
Cooking equipment is three burners and a combined oven-grill (there is no microwave).
The kitchen surface is matt, and successfully imitates rock. It’s the sort of surface you’d choose in an expensive house kitchen. Delightful!

 
Towing

You may say that a caravan test isn’t complete without a road test, and you’d be right. But occasionally we have to work around a manufacturer’s schedule in order to get access to caravans for testing, which was the case with the 574. We had the prototype for just part of a day outside the Explorer Group factory. And there wasn’t time for us to take the 574 for a tow around County Durham. We have, though, towed a 2013 Affinity 574, the same layout but slightly heavier – and it performed predictably well, so we have every confidence in the Xplore 574’s road manners.

The Xplore 574 is o e of the lightest twin-bed caravans on the market. It is also one of the least expensive. But in no way does it have a budget look. It’s a fine caravan, and an example of the fact that you don’t need to pay a lot of money, in caravan terms, to get a really y cracking caravan