Eura Mobil Profila RS 695 HB motorhome

Berths: 4 Travel seats: 4 Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Gross weight: 3,500kg Payload: 417kg

EuraMobil motorhomes only returned to the UK market in the last couple of years and the company has just two dealers on our shores (Geoff Cox Leisure, near Derby and Premium Motorhomes, near Doncaster), but the brand is billed as making high-quality motorhomes that should go the distance.

The RS 695 HB presents as a typical seven-metre low-profile – and quite typically continental into the bargain. There’s a continental-style lounge, followed by a central kitchen and washroom, then a transverse double bed above a garage.

Cue a road test. The Ducato did its thing as well as usual, while the extra zip provided by the 150-horsepower upgrade will most likely come into its own when there’s more on board than me and my meagre kit. It was over the oft-found potholed road surfaces that the Profila showed some of its famed constructional integrity as that bane of motorhome travel, rattles, were conspicuous by their absence.

The standard cloth/furniture finishes are titled Cali and Maka and that means light beige cloth and faux leather, well executed and with rigid valances on the lounge seating that add a touch of class. The cabinet finish is in a light wood colour with a pronounced grain. Partnered with cream sections and chrome detailing, it gives a refreshingly modern atmosphere. However, if it’s not your thing, there are another eight upholstery choices.

An upmarket habitation door gets you on board. Turn right and enter the lounge and there’s no step up as the floor is flat all the way to the rear. Above the cab, there’s a large sunroof that, unusually, doesn’t open but it does provide more daylight than any other I’ve inspected. The Euro lounge has space enough for a single seat on the offside and an L-shaped pew running from the forward-facer. This achieves best practise as a travel seat as its steel frame includes mountings for automotive-type head restraints. The rest is standard for the type, with good seating for up to six people and dining – from the generous adjustable-top table – for the Profila’s four residents.

Eura Mobil’s approach to drop-down bed design is a chunky mechanism, manually operated with a good pull down and push up. When stowed, the bed is superbly concealed in the ceiling. Approached from the kitchen via an alloy ladder, the bed is just a smidge under 5ft across (although there is a small cut-out towards the foot), so is one of the widest I’ve come across. Two adjustable reading lamps are mounted at the head and, peeping round from behind the material that covers the mechanism at the foot, is the Truma heater control panel. So you can adjust room temperature or turn on the hot water first thing, without the need to clamber out of bed.

Ostensibly, this is a standard continental L-shaped galley. Eura Mobil has added a touch of class with a curved front to the main unit. The good news continues above as my favourite three-in-line hob makes all your pans easy to get at and leaves space for much-needed working surface in front. The circular sink comes with a divided lid, half of which can slot into brackets above to create a small shelf. Up top is the expected high-level locker that’s fitted with shelves, as are the ones in the lounge. Then, across the aisle, the fridge is of the tall and slim variety, a good size and fitted with automatic energy source switching and a removable freezer compartment. So all is perfect? Not quite. This test ’van came fitted with just a hob, but an oven is available. It’ll be a rather petite unit mounted over the fridge.

The washroom has been very well designed. A swing-away basin is well-proportioned and ready for use as you stand in the circular showering area. The washbasin then swings back to stow neatly in a niche above the toilet, leaving a shower that is easily enclosed by rigid sliding screens.

Transverse beds are usually plenty long enough for taller folk; in a standard width (2.30m or thereabouts) coachbuilt there’s around two metres of internal width. Most of these beds are high above a garage and the rearmost partner with have to climb over their mate to get in and out. This is not ideal, but the 695 solves the problem by providing access at the bed’s foot and having a couple of steps that make things even easier. This means the mattress has to be a bit shorter (6ft 3in), but a little infill is present, extending the bed for the rearmost sleeper. The high-level lockers across the rear are less deep, too, so less intrusive, but still providing good space for smaller items of clothing.

All is reassuringly normal as far as fitted equipment and life-support systems are concerned. However, the waste water tank is underslung, which is a shame as the Eura Mobil has a double floor that should be able to accomodate it. Storage space is impressive, with shallow spaces under the floor and a deep space beneath the bed steps, plus a good wardrobe aft of the kitchen and a huge cupboard/wardrobe beneath the bed. The garage has two external doors, a draining floor and, at 1.17m high, has space for two full-sized bikes.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read the full version and more in the May 2018 issue of MMM magazine. You can get a digital version of this latest issue of MMM magazine here.

There’s a lot of living space in this sub-seven-metre ’van. Quality is excellent, too, and the design is well thought out.