Adria Matrix Supreme M687 SLT

Price From: £62,460 Berths: 6 Travel seats: 5

Families get forgotten in the rush to appease the, admittedly large, part of the market made up of couples who want dedicated two-berth accommodation and lots of space to go with it. So it is very refreshing for those with kids (or even grandkids) when a manufacturer builds a family-friendly motorhome on the 7.7m scale of the Adria Matrix Supreme 687 SLT.

With two fixed single beds, a drop-down double and a make-up bed in the front (for more prolific parents), the Supreme can sleep six.

There’s an end washroom, a proper lounge and eating area and it all sits on a Renault Master base.
You can get into Matrix Supreme territory from around £66,500 (once you’ve added £3,990 for the essential All-Inclusive Pack).

Our up-specced test vehicle comes in at over £70,000 – it’s a lot of cash, but a fully-loaded Matrix Supreme is a lot of motorhome.

SUBSTANCE WITH STYLE

At 7.7m long, 2.3m wide and 2.85m tall, the Matrix is unavoidably huge. Most hatchbacks would fit within its wheelbase, and behind the rear wheels there is a long body overhang. But the overhang isn’t glaringly obvious because the body rides reasonably, but not perilously, low on its Renault chassis with Adria extensions.

The Renault Master cab is a welcome change from the Fiats and Peugeots that proliferate in this market. It’s broad-nosed, big-grilled and chunky with heavily-defined wheelarches and a deep bumper adding to its tough stance. Some delicacy remains in the design, particularly where the five-a-side daytime running LED lights (a £479 option) curve up and out beneath the elaborate lines of the headlight clusters. There’s a facelift for the Renault, on the way though (see page 11).

STORAGE – THE OUTSIDE STORY

A rear washroom and two single beds at the back mean there’s no space for a garage. But storage for the big stuff isn’t compromised in the Matrix.

On the offside there’s a big locker for hook-up leads, hose and ramps. On the test vehicle, the locker contains all of these and a full-sized spare wheel and bag (a £179 option), with plenty of room besides for luggage.

Back on the offside, the rear locker is an ideal spot for buckets, spades, boots and the barbecue – the contents don’t necessarily have to alliterate.

This rear locker is also where the cassette loo is removed for emptying. It’s no great shakes removing things to get access to the cassette in the dry, but I wouldn’t fancy doing this with the rain heaving down, dampening my carefully letter-ordered packing in the process.

Two 6kg gas bottles sit in the locker just in front of the habitation door (you can actually just fit one 13kg and one 6kg, dealer Geoff Cox tells us). With the option of running the heating from gas or electric, and with a grill, oven and hob to feed, this capacity is welcome. And with this much gas aboard, the ability to wild camp, or at least camp off-pitch minus hook-up isn’t going to be a problem.

MASTERING THE MATRIX

The Master’s dash lacks the bold styling of the exterior, but the wide windscreen, slim pillars and large mirrors deliver a good view of the road ahead and behind. Practical storage abounds from door pockets to useful overhead cubbies. And there are some great extras.

The TomTom sat-nav and CD/MP3 package is excellent with a well-positioned screen just above the rear-view mirror.

Multi-adjustable cab seats (complete with pump-up lumbar supports and extending squabs), trimmed in the same Calando fabric as the rest of the motorhome help raise the interior atmosphere above the utilitarian look of that dull, plasticky dashboard.

This Matrix can seat five with its extra passenger seat that comes as part of the 3,800kg weight-upgrade package (£405). The seat makes up from the transverse bench with ‘help’ from the rather poor diagrammatic instructions on the wall and a headrest found in the wardrobe.

THE FAMILY ROOM

The low-lying Matrix is a doddle to enter, no ungainly electric steps or struggling to take stuff aboard here. As you enter, the kitchen is dead ahead, the single beds and washroom down to the left and a proper family-sized lounge to the right. A large skylight over the cab and a pair of full-width windows either side of the lounge fill the area with natural light.

Four LED spots in the ceiling and accent lighting from LED strips across the top of the lockers add illumination when required.


Both cab seats swivel to face the lounge, with the driver’s seat operation made much simpler because the handbrake lever can be folded down to clear the seat base without disengaging the brake.

With seats swivelled, the lounge has room for six to eat comfortably. The table slides out to give those on the transverse bench a fairer chunk of the surface.

Storage is a strong point up front with four overhead lockers over the lounge proper, and four more in the overcab area. There’s another locker under the transverse bench and a handy floor-mounted hatch that’s ideal for storing shoes.

The Alde radiator and underfloor central heating found in the Matrix is a very long way from the noisy, often complicated, ritual of raising the temperature in a regular motorhome. Let’s start with the control panel – select gas or electric, set the temperature and the system does the rest. No inscrutable dials or rude flashing red lights. Ideal.

ELBOWS IN

Equipment levels in the kitchen are good. There’s a Thetford Triplex oven/grill/three-burner hob and a 145-litre Dometic fridge/freezer usefully opposite. On the left of the sink there’s a removable peelings/compost container, and a small area of usable worktop on the right. Realistically, anything more gastronomically challenging than a sandwich is going to end up being prepared on the lounge table.

Kitchen storage is very strong, with a pair of deep lockers above, three drawers under the worktop (the bottom one with room for pots and pans), plus two small cupboards beneath the oven. There are two further cupboards – one above, and one below, the fridge/freezer.

KEEP IT SUITE

At the far end of the Matrix, behind a door between the two single beds lies one of this motorhome’s best features – a spacious washroom. It’s actually a bit of insult to label an area that has clear space between the loo and the separate shower cubicle simply as a ‘washroom’. Think top-drawer en-suite shower room and you’ll be in the right area.

TWO BEDROOMS

Two full-sized single beds at the back, with a concertina partition to separate them from the rest of the motorhome, are the natural place for a pair of children to sleep (the beds are big enough for even the lankiest of teenagers, at 2.00m by 0.80m). Yes, you’ll need to tiptoe down the aisle between the beds if you need the loo in the night, but that’s the only downside to this arrangement.

The drop-down double bed descends over the lounge (after the rear travel seat headrests have been removed) simply by holding the control button down. Like the best drop-downs, it doesn’t block the habitation door. Access to the comfy 1.89m by 1.25m double is by a sturdy ladder.

Below, the lounge can be rearranged to make a 2.02m by 1.35m bed, turning the Matrix into a six-berth. For occasional use this would be fine, but there’s no question that the Matrix works best as a four-berth motorhome.

This is synopsis of the full in-depth road test that appeared in the July 2014 issue of Which Motorhome magazine. If you would like to read the full version you can buy a digital copy of the magazine here

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The Adria Matrix Supreme 687 SLT has all the makings of a great family motorhome, with the Renault cab giving it a welcome USP. It is a five-star motorhome