Adria Matrix Supreme 677

Adria Matrix Supreme MS 677 SC 2012

Adria launched its first motorhome in the UK in 1982 and it used a Renault chassis. This served so well, it was 16 years before the firm diversified into Mercedes and the Fiat Ducato, increasingly using the latter as a base.

Over the years, Adria has built a solid reputation for reliability, customer satisfaction and product innovation: the firm was among the first to launch a low profile model.

Despite selling in over 30 different countries, Adria carefully researches what British customers want. Earlier Matrix models reflected this feedback and were very successful. However, there’s been no resting on laurels.

Current market research suggests that British motorhomers might want something a little different from the ubiquitous Fiat Ducato. Therefore Adria decided to improve the already-successful Matrix model by changing both base vehicle and internal specification – producing something truly distinctive.

The result is Matrix Supreme, based on the new Renault Master chassis and thus returning to the company’s roots. The new Renault provides a 2.3-litre, Euro 5 compliant engine, which is quieter on the road and offers
better fuel efficiency – good in these pricestrapped times.

The Master also differentiates the product nicely in a crowded marketplace. Which customers are the main targets for the Matrix Supreme? Firstly, younger families wanting something spacious, trendy and with a bit of performance for long-haul trips.

Adria has set out to provide all this, aiming at ‘style with substance’. Simultaneously, Adria recognises that the bulk of UK motorhomes are owned by older couples – some of whom are mad enough to want to take grandchildren on holiday. For these, the Supreme 677 SC offers a bright, spacious lounge, a luxury bedroom with an island bed and a drop-down roof bed that’s perfect for occasional visitors. They’ll stay warm too, as the Alde wet radiator heating system (with under-floor heat) should cope with Spitzbergen and maybe even Aberdeen!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Does the new Matrix Supreme live up to its billing? At first sight, the ‘van looks a seriously big beast – it’s 7.76m  long and with almost 2.74m of a rear overhang: mercifully there are corner-steadies to minimise the ‘springboard’ effect. But it also looks good – the silver cab and neat dark grey graphics help make it a real head-turner. This is a genuine low profile, but with a slight upward bulge over its lounge area guaranteeing plenty of headroom beneath the drop-down bed.

Climb inside and your first impression is one of space. The lounge, where cab seats rotate easily to face a substantial dark brown table top, includes two forward-facing rear passenger seats (with three-point belts) and two bench seats at either side of the table – plenty of seating for families and good for entertaining friends.

The midships kitchen is on the nearside, with washroom (and separate shower) on the offside. The rear is taken up with the main bedroom, which contains a transverse-mounted island bed. The drop-down double bed sits tight against the ceiling of the lounge. The dinette table sinks, with slats pulling out from the offside bench seat, to make a third bed if required. So, this a motorhome can sleep and feed six, albeit with only four belted seats.

HANDLING

The spacious new Master cab delivers the promised sound-dampening, and the 146bhp Renault diesel on the test vehicle powered smoothly through the six forward gears, leaving no sense of being big and cumbersome on a busy road.

Indeed, the Matrix Supreme accelerates and handles like a much smaller ‘van. But beware the long wheelbase and overhang when taking corners. I’d invest in reversing sensors and/or a rear view camera: the big mirrors are excellent, but judging exactly where that far-off rear is positioned might risk rather a lot of money spent on
repairs. Prevention is cheaper than cure.

Within the cab, there are all the usual driver’s trimmings: electric windows, electrically heated/ adjustable mirrors, ABS and EBD, two airbags, remote locking. Great, but with two caveats: firstly, in the test vehicle, the seat squabs were thin and proved extremely firm. Secondly, the handbrake might fox you: it’s mounted centrally, and when applied, drops back to floor level. That makes for ease of access and allows the driver’s seat to swivel, but remember that you have to raise the lever and ‘apply’ it a second time to release the brake. Or stall.

SUPREME LOUNGE

The lounge-dinette is well lit in daytime by side windows and a panoramic overcab rooflight. The cream and beige fabric on the seats enhances this, as do the relatively light-coloured lockers. Come night-time, four multi-LED and two halogen lamps (mounted beneath the base of the drop-down bed) should keep things bright and friendly.

For lounging or dining, there seems to be more leg-room than usual, and the shaped seatbacks and nice deep cushions offer genuine comfort. The nearside bench seat collapses, to clear knee-room for the rear passenger seat. The central focus in here is clearly the substantial (864mm x 760mm) telescopic pedestal table. This will take the elbows and crumbs of any family, while looking good enough to please the most house-proud grandmother.

The whole ensemble creates a welcome ambience: the central heating is certainly a luxury, but the rest, while comfortable, has an air of built-to-last, rather than just simply stylish. It might be perfect for active families.

MASTER-CHEF

A functional L-shaped kitchen sits behind the high seatbacks of the lounge, so the cook can listen and talk while working. There’s a three-burner hob, with medium-sized oven/grill beneath, all in a half-height stove, with extractor fan above. The large-and-deep stainless steel sink has a designer chrome mixer tap, but no drainer.

Excellent storage space in here, with two overhead lockers and two drawers beneath the oven, for pots and pans. Three easy-sliding drawers are located beneath the sink. A 150-litre fridge/freezer (with a cupboard above, wired to take a microwave) stands just aft.

This kitchen gives the cook-on-the-road almost everything he (or she) might need, apart from, that is, light. The kitchen window is fine in daytime, but there are no under-locker lamps, and the two nearest overhead clusters are above the lounge and the passageway to the bedroom. The Matrix Supreme cook might need to use a Braille recipe book on dark evenings. To be honest, the dark grey and bluey/brown surfaces make the centre of the interior seem sombre, rather than chic.

SUPER-LOO?

There’s a nicely-furnished and spacious washroom (with a separate shower), holding a Thetford C250 swivel-bowl toilet, oval-shaped washbasin and good cupboard provision. Plenty of mirrors – on three sides – let you check how the latest diet is going. For exhibitionists there’s a clear window (normal people can use the flyscreen and insulated blind) providing a view and illumination. The shower has clip-back doors, its own rooflight and a very solid tray with two drains. And again, there’s space to move around.

There are two reservations. Firstly, the ‘wood’ grained in bluey brown can be oppressive – there is just so much of it in this small space. Secondly, heating comes in the form of a long radiator set against the offside wall of the shower cubicle. This has an openvented top, so unless you’re careful, water and soap suds could cascade down there: it has to be hoped that there’s good drainage at the foot of this panel. Do motorhome designers never splash when showering?

BEDS FIT FOR A KING?

The two ‘wow’ factors in this motorhome involve bedding arrangements. Island beds are the height of luxury and this one is mounted transversely, so it doesn’t face you when you come through the sliding door into the rear bedroom. It’s big (1.96m x 1.47m), supported by a slatted platform and mounted above a large locker. The bed is extremely comfortable, but takes almost all the width, leaving little room to edge around the foot at night. However, during the day the head end lifts and you can push the mattress up and away from the opposite wall, creating a chaise lounge arrangement.

The bedroom has excellent storage: two wardrobes, three overhead lockers, two drawers and two long shelves for bits and pieces. Two halogen reading lights are fitted beneath the lockers. Once again, the luxury effect is potentially undermined by irritations. Firstly, that blue/ brown wood graining is on every wall and becomes over-powering. Secondly, in the test ‘van the TV was mounted at the edge of the bedroom door: you could watch from the bed or, swivelling out the mounting arm, only at great distance (and over high seatbacks) from the lounge.

A genuine success is the multi-positional drop-down bed. This can be lowered electrically to any level down to the seatbacks. It offers a fair-sized double (1.88m x 1.29m), is comfortable and has decent headroom when fully lowered (636mm). If the dinette bed is used, it enjoys a minimum of 686mm headroom. The bed can be used flexibly, packing kids away at night with it set at a height where adults can still inhabit the lounge below. And if there’s only a couple touring, it can stay tucked out of sight, against the ceiling. A super design.

STORAGE AND SYSTEMS

Storage space is excellent throughout. There are four overhead lockers in the cab, four more in the lounge, plus the aforementioned two in the kitchen and three in the bedroom. Five generously-deep drawers glide out in the kitchen and the washroom is well-cupboarded. The two wardrobes are nicely proportioned.

Externally, just one large door gives access to the huge under-bed locker; I bet what you want to get is always against the far wall. This ‘van could be great for family holidays, but there is only 363kg of payload, after the normal allowances. It may be a good idea to opt for the 3,800kg version, which provides a 663kg payload. Even then, don’t load it all into the vast overhanging rear, as the rear axle weight might be exceeded.

The Alde system heats both air and water (and cab seats too). The fresh water tank (100 litres) lives below the forward-facing lounge seat and the waste water tank (80 litres) is underslung, but insulated and thermostatically heated. You can, it seems, take this superheated motorhome out in any season.

There are Roman blind-style nets on both lounge and bedroom windows, with flyscreens and insulated concertina blinds on all windows and rooflights. Up front, dark three-quarter length curtains pull round the cab to screen both the lounge and the drop-down bed. The gas locker is low-set, so provides easy-access, taking (at a squeeze) two 11kg cylinders.

CONCLUSION

Any motorhome has two functions to perform. It must take you reliably and comfortably to places, then give you a good holiday experience once you’re there.

The big Renault engine does the first job effortlessly, and the Adria body offers plenty internal space and comfort, whether lounging and chatting, cooking and eating, or snoozing. It makes no difference, whether we are talking young families or an older couple, Matrix Supreme 677 SC should provide well for a good holiday.

It isn’t perfect – no motorhome is: you may view the hard cab seats askance after a long journey, get jammed between mattress and wall trying to prove the bed is actually an island, or peer to watch the telly from afar.
However, you’ll never be cold and, if this new Adria is like all its siblings, you will likely enjoy better than average reliability.

Personal tastes vary hugely – the Matrix Supreme is marketed as stylish and luxurious, but to me, it’s more solid and functional than ultimately chic.

 

Attractive Renault Master based motorhome with luxury island bed, electric drop down bed and a pleasant lounge. A ’supreme’ choice for couples or families...