Chausson X650 Exclusive Line low-profile motorhome

This one-of-a-kind motorhome/campervan crossover is the Motorhome of the Year 2024

Words and photos: Peter Vaughan

The Chausson X650 Exclusive Line

This is a motorhome that has a lot to live up to. At its launch last summer, I said I couldn’t wait to test it. At the October NEC show, we announced it was the Compact Motorhome of the Year. And then, after more  deliberation with the judges, we awarded it the overall Motorhome of the Year 2024 title. 

Following on from the spectacularly innovative Hymer Venture S, the previous year’s victor in the reborn awards, is a really big ask for any motorhome.

But maybe the stars had already aligned in Chausson’s favour. The original X model, the X550, was described as “even better than we hoped it would be” in the Summer 2021 road test.

Our YouTube video review has had over 790,000 views and buyers were so numerous that the model was temporarily withdrawn from the brochure for a whole year to give the Trigano VDL factory time to catch up with demand.

For 2024, the X550 is back with a bigger brother, the X650, which aims to add the one element missing from the original – a garage. And, this being a Chausson (perhaps Europe’s most innovative motorhome brand), it’s not just a conventional garage. As we’ll explain, it’s a whole lot more, too. 

Nor is the X650 much bigger. Only 37cm longer than its little brother, the new X is the same length as an extra-long Fiat Ducato panel van. And it remains just 2.10m wide; look at the join between Fiat’s cab and Chausson’s IRP construction body (with GRP roof, floor and sides) and you’d swear it was no broader than a standard Ducato. 

But that is the X range’s raison d’être: combining campervan dimensions with coachbuilt motorhome facilities.

The cab

Basis is the ever-popular Fiat Ducato, with 140hp motor and manual gearbox – 180hp and the nine-speed automatic transmission are both optional, but pricey at almost £4,000 each. Otherwise, the cab is well equipped, with ESP, hill holder, Traction Plus, electric folding mirrors, a leather steering wheel and stop/start as standard.

The Connect Pack (£2,690) adds a 9in Pioneer touchscreen with DAB radio, Bluetooth, Android Auto and reversing camera. 

Most importantly, the X650 feels like a campervan on the road. Its standard mirrors don’t stick out like the Dumbo ears of a typical coachbuilt and the motorhome handles well with good all-round visibility. There aren’t too many rattles, either.

The exterior

You won’t mistake an X for any other motorhome, nor any campervan. scheme is very striking, with an almost off-road vibe, thanks to the black 16in alloy wheels and matching skirts and wheelarches. 

Even the rear of this motorhome has received extra attention from the stylist’s pen; it’s just not the usual wall of white GRP.

The X models come only in Exclusive Line spec, so there are some premium touches, too, such as the flush, framed habitation windows and the fog/cornering lights in the front bumper. The habitation door is linked to the central locking, too, while also having a window and a conveniently low step into the vehicle.

The Thule awning is part of the £3,590 Accessory Pack, which also adds a 140W solar panel, a light above and a flyscreen for the door, and pre-wiring for a second leisure battery. 

Even the first battery is a dealer-fit item, so it might be a good plan to specify two when ordering if you plan much off-grid camping. 

On the nearside, you’ll spot two exterior hatches in the rear corner. The lower one is for gas (just one 6kg cylinder as heating is diesel-fired), the upper one (a lofty 1.60m off the ground) provides some extra storage for lightweight items or the infill cushions for the second bed. Also here is the fresh water filler; the 90-litre tank is inboard. The waste tank is underslung and you simply pull a T-handle for rapid emptying.

The garage

The all-important garage is accessed on the offside; there’s only one door and it’s quite high (81cm) off the floor if you’re loading heavy e-bikes. 

Inside, the space measures 1.55m by 0.79m by 1.08m high and comes with 12V and 230V sockets, a light, lashing points in each corner and a heavy-duty plastic floor.

Chausson states that two standard cycles will fit. But maybe you don’t need quite such a big garage, because you’re not a cyclist or your bikes are folders? That’s where Chausson’s Gallic ingenuity comes in.

Above the garage is a generous, if quite shallow (67cm drop from the rail) wardrobe that also incorporates two useful drawers on the offside and shelves on both sides with elasticated straps to keep your jumpers and jeans in situ while you drive. 

Need a deeper wardrobe? Then you can press a button on the front of the kitchen and the floor of the wardrobe lowers, gradually reducing the height of the garage underneath and creating room to hang dresses and coats. 

In fact, you can hold your finger on the switch until the garage has disappeared completely. Now, you have what Chausson calls the SDR – Smart Dressing Room.

Obviously, the garage area needs to be empty to create the SDR, but you really can use this as a walk-in changing room, surrounded by all your clothes. There’s a mirror on the wall and even room to sit down; the only compromise is reduced headroom (1.72m).

Some owners will probably find their optimum mix of garage and wardrobe space and never need to adjust it again but, whether you fully employ the SDR or not, it’s great to be able to decide for yourself how to use this space.

The lounge

The SDR is the X650’s USP; the rest is in many ways typically Chausson, just packaged into a smaller motorhome. But there’s also been an important change since that original X550 road test.

That first X lacked a window on the offside of the lounge and it’s fair to say that people didn’t like the blank wall, which was simply adorned with a mirror and novel pinboard. 

Well, Chausson has reacted to the criticism and fitted an extra window, both in the X550 and this X650.

It makes a big difference, with the lounge now feeling very light and airy as there’s also an overcab sunroof, a window in the door and two rooflights (one small and one large wind-up type) over the galley and aisle. 

There’s a new illuminated ‘X’ in the ceiling, too – perhaps, in case you’d forgotten what sort of motorhome  you bought! – as well as a row of LED pin lights above the cab. There aren’t any specific reading lights but,  with floor-level and ambient lighting, too, there’s more than sufficient artificial illumination in the X650.

It’s Chausson’s popular Smart Lounge here, with long side settees, swivel cab seats and a large fixed table that has a fold-in-half top. 

The cab floor and front seats are higher, but you can rotate the chairs through a full 180 degrees to put your feet up on the sofas. And, if you want to dine from the front seats, the table can be raised electrically to suit. For either relaxing or munching, there’s loads of space in this lounge.

When you travel, the backrests of the sofas stay put because they attach to the walls magnetically, but a Smart Lounge also converts into a pair of travel seats. The Aguti backrests simply hinge up from under  the settees and, with a bit rearranging of cushions, you have two forward-facing seats with reclining backrests, head restraints and Isofix for child seats.

Some of the settee cushions are now surplus to requirement and need to be stowed, but four people (even four adults) can travel.

The beds

If you’re using the X650 as a two-berth, you’ll gain additional under-seat storage and never need to rearrange your lounge. Even at night you only need to tip the sofa backrests forward, to lie them flat, then press a couple of buttons, first to lower the table, then to operate what Chausson calls a Hideaway Bed.

As the French firm was one of the first innovators to introduce drop-down beds in low-profile motorhomes, it’s no surprise to find that the X650’s bed glides down slickly on its cord pulleys. 

Even better, it comes right down to just 75cm off the floor. And it’s a good size and very comfortable bed; the mattress is 1.88m long but, wall to wall, you have 1.93m to stretch out in.

Not compromising on bed length was one of the factors behind the original omission of an offside window; there wasn’t room for the frame around it and its blind. The solution is a simple fabric cover that unfurls over the window – just watch out as you raise the bed as sometimes the blind momentarily goes up with the bed and you might not be fully dressed yet!

The X650 can also sleep four, though, to go with the quartet of travel seats. The settee backrests are removed, the table lowered and two very large infill cushions added to make the lounge into a generous and reasonably flat double bed. Then you simply lower the electric bed partway to create double bunks. 

The upper bed is now reached by a ladder and has much reduced headroom of 63cm; the lower bed has 67cm before you bang your bonce. I wouldn’t describe it as an ideal arrangement for four but, for occasional trips with the grandkids, it might work.

The kitchen

On the Continent, the X650’s kitchen comes with a simple gas hob but, to suit the UK market, that’s replaced by a Thetford Triplex cooker with mains hotplate, two gas rings and a combined oven and grill.

There’s still plenty of storage (despite the bigger cooker), including two large soft-closing drawers beneath the  sink and more cupboards top and bottom. 

There’s also a useful amount of worktop alongside the sink (plus a loose cover over it), without needing any folding flaps.

A single mains socket (and two USBs) can be found on the front of the galley, with further 230V power points at floor level in the lounge and, rather oddly, over the door. There are 12V and aerial sockets above the entrance, too, but without long, trailing leads, it’s hard to see where a TV would go – better then iPlayer, Netflix or whatever. 

The kitchen is completed, meanwhile, with a tall/slim compressor fridge in the corner between the SDR and the washroom. With a 149.5-litre capacity, it’s another feature that beats most campervans.

The washroom

The washroom is better than you’ll find in many panel vans, too. It’s not huge but its swing-wall arrangement simply rotates the washbasin over the cassette toilet, creating a really good shower with plentiful water pressure, twin drains and lots of space. 

There’s even a seat in here – ideal for washing feet, or perhaps when you’re feeling a little lazy!

As a toilet room, there’s less- generous room but it’s still adequate. The basin is large and the loo (a Thetford swivel cassette) is at a comfortable height. A tall corner cupboard caters for toiletries and a roof vent serves for ventilation (and has a folding drying rail), but there’s no loo roll holder or towel ring.

Motorhome supplied by River Motorhomes
03308 080805
rivermotorhomes.autoserver.co.uk

Insurance: £756
Tel: 0800 975 1307
shieldtotalinsurance.co.uk
For quote details: motorhome.ma/QuoteInfo

Taking the X550 and making it better without making it too much bigger – or losing what made the original so great – was a big ask for Chausson’s designers, but they’ve succeeded. 

With a bike-swallowing garage that becomes the Smart Dressing Room, the X650 not only adds storage to the recipe but a clever USP, too. It’s a worthy winner of the Motorhome of the Year 2024 title.