Frankia Neo MI 7 GDK A-class motorhome

Base vehicle: Mercedes Sprinter Price from: £110,350 Berths: 2/4 Travel seats: 2/4 Length: 7.06m Width: 2.24m Height: 2.96m Gross weight: 3,500kg Payload: 479kg

Words and photos: Peter Vaughan

The Frankia Neo MI 7 GDK

Queen’s 1989 song might have been written for motorhomers. “I want it all and I want it now.” Well, good luck with the ‘now’ bit because new vehicle delivery times are the longest this industry has ever known. It seems increasingly true that buyers really do ‘want it all’ – 3.5-tonne models that aren’t subject to the speed and licence restrictions of heavier motorhomes, but with all the spec and comfort of a big motorhome. Oh, and, of course, a garage and sufficient payload to use it…

German premium brand, Frankia, has long excelled in the ‘heavy’ sector, with its rear-wheel drive Mercedes-based Platin being a paragon of fully equipped luxury. But not everyone wants, or is able, to drive an eight-metre, 5.5-tonne vehicle. So, back in 2020, Frankia introduced the Neo, a low-profile vehicle that could be driven on a standard car licence.

This, however, is a marque famed for its A-classes, so it was inevitable that a Neo MI would follow (the I meaning integrated, the German for A-class). Crucially, too, the M means that it’s still a Mercedes that underpins the newcomer, albeit here in front-wheel drive form (like almost every other Sprinter-based motorhome), and with a special version of Al-Ko’s low-frame chassis.

Going FWD saves weight and this is a more compact, seven-metre motorhome, but building a vehicle that still feels like a Frankia, while keeping a much tighter rein on weight, must have been a challenge for its designers. It still has a heated double floor, even if it isn’t as deep as on a Platin. And it has premium features like the fabric-trimmed ceiling and walls, as well as the two-layer pleated blinds ( for better insulation) that you simply don’t see elsewhere.

There are compromises to be made, too. You’ll have to spec your Neo carefully if you don’t want to go for the 4,500kg chassis option. Go without a cab door and you can save 43kg. Have cupboards instead of the drop-down cab bed and you’ve earned another 44kg of payload. Even rear travel seats (with Isofix) are an option. As tested, the Neo’s payload is around 340kg, compared with 497kg in base spec.

The exterior

Externally, this is the best-looking Frankia yet, with its slit-like LED headlights, simple graphics and black alloy wheels – we can only hope that its big brothers get this appearance soon. The windows are flush-fitting and the habitation door has triple-point locking (linked to the Mercedes’ remote control). It closes with a bank vault-esque thunk that few rivals can emanate. With Frankia’s ThermoProtect wall structure, hail-resistant GRP roof and seven-year water ingress warranty, the Neo impresses from the off.

Walk around the back and the automotive tail lights and shapely rear panel give off a premium vibe, too, but there’s no top-hinged tailgate – that is another option in the interests of weight-saving. So, instead, there’s just a single (offside) door into the garage as standard. Not that you’ll be short of space – it’s 1.19m high, 1.09m wide and comes with a practical plastic chequerplate floor, as well as 12V and 230V sockets, adjustable tie-down points and easy access to the RCD and habitation fuses. Only the limited lighting is a negative.

On the offside, you’ll also discover a small area of underfloor storage and an external barbecue point (one of several features added as part of the standard UK Pack). Another such addition is the outside shower point on the nearside and, along the Neo’s flank, you’ll find a much more generous basement locker that also incorporates some of the under-seat space. All the external hatches have the same high-quality catches as on Frankia’s larger motorhomes and the non-slip flooring is the same, too.

Then there’s also a Frankia trademark touch – a services locker with mains hook-up inboard (no plastic flap,  the lead goes up through the floor), a built-in large-bore waste hose and a fitted fresh water hose. The tank capacities are generous, with 125 litres of fresh and 100 litres of grey waste – and both reservoirs are fully winterised as they are located in the double floor. Just remember that, if you drive with water on board, it will eat into your payload. Standard spec also includes an awning and reversing camera (linked to the MBUX screen), which had yet to be fitted to this test motorhome.

The interior

Open the Hartal habitation door and, in usual Frankia fashion, there’s a trapdoor immediately inside – somewhere to stow your shoes before you make the interior mucky (carpets are included for UK buyers, but not shown here). Turn to your left and, in front of the galley, another floor panel lifts to the reveal the fresh water tank (with 20-litre ‘travel’ setting), the water pump and Combi boiler with its winter drain switch. These are typical traits for a motorhome from Marktschorgast, but the rest of the interior look is altogether more contemporary than we’re used to.

The Neo was first launched with Manhattan/White furniture that eschewed wood completely and was deemed a bit too clinical for British tastes by Frankia’s sole UK importer, SMC in Newark. Now, though (on both low-profile and A-class versions), you can opt for Visby/White cabinetwork that sets just the right tone. The pale wood blends well with lots of soft, matt white, while the angular, handleless top lockers are unlike anything previously seen in a Frankia.

This isn’t the company’s first motorhome without a drop-down cab bed, but here the option is more likely to be chosen because of the useful gain in payload. It makes a marked difference to the feeling of space in the lounge, too, with almost 2m of headroom right into the cab. There’s also a very welcome flat floor right through the living area, with just a tiny drop (around 5cm) forward of the cab seats.

With no cab bed, the top lockers extend to the front of the motorhome, so you gain extra cupboards, although the open sections at the very front have insufficient lips to be useful while you’re driving. And, while A-class cabs always seem extra-spacious, that effect is only enhanced here. Along with the extra width and extra glazing, the Neo has dimmable mood lighting that runs around all the top cupboards, from the cab to the bedroom. General illumination is superb but the only reading light in the lounge is above the sofa.

The seating area also has rear speakers and a pair of three-pin mains sockets but, where other Frankias have a  pedestal table, here it’s a simpler wall-mounted affair, albeit one with a swing-out extension leaf. And, while the alternative BD layout (rear transverse double bed) has a larger lounge, this GDK has just a half-dinette. It’s a tad firm and upright and, while it can be converted into an L-shape, the opening into the storage below feels almost as if there’s something missing.

As with others of its ilk, this lounge works better for dining than sprawling but you’ll not fault the cab seats as somewhere to watch the 22in smart TV with sound bar that SMC adds as part of its standard Media Pack.

The kitchen

You won’t find the full cooker or clever extending worktop of other Frankias in this galley but it is enhanced with a Duplex oven/grill as another UK Pack addition, along with three rings for the hob, rather than just two. The sink has the company’s usual split cover, which usefully retains some surface in what is quite a compact unit, while the smart Argo tap has a pull-out hose.

Further pluses are a pair of mains sockets (though one at each end would have been better), smart under-counter lighting and, most importantly, four large soft-close drawers – each with Hettich frames that could have come from a top-notch domestic kitchen.

The fridge is easy to use and has a good capacity, but it’s a compressor type that might have you seeking to upgrade the standard 95Ah leisure battery. Then, completing the cook’s quarters is a useful slide-out unit for tins, etc, under the nearside bed.

The washroom

But, if the kitchen is nothing particularly special, the shower is amazing – you won’t find one this big in any other 7m motorhome, or most 8m or 9m models! It owes its XXXL size (maybe with a few more Xs) to the fact that both the washbasin and the cassette toilet slide out of the way when you use the shower. In fact, the only  downside is that Frankia appears to have forgotten a shelf for your shampoo or a hook for your towel.

And it’s not just a room that works for showering; there’s unrivalled leg and shoulder room on the loo, too.

Then, pop out the basin and it has worktop adjacent as well as large mirrors behind. Behind those mirrors there’s lots of storage for toiletries, which should stay put as the shelves have eminently sensible upstands.

The beds

Completing this 7m motorhome are a pair of single beds over the garage. Reached by a couple of steps, access  is easy and there’s enough headroom to sit on each mattress. Bed lengths are identical at 1.97m, but the offside bed narrows slightly at the foot.

Cupboards run the length of the  bedroom on either side and there’s a shallow wardrobe (740mm drop from the rail) under the offside bed.

What concerned me more was the run of shelves across the back wall but, as these are quite slim, judicious use of cushions and pillows means you can sit up with a morning cuppa. There are reading lights and convenient 230V sockets, too.

It’s also possible (as an option) to convert the bedroom into a transverse double bed (with ladder) but neither this nor the kiddy bed made from the dinette seats seemed to be up to the high standards of design seen elsewhere in the Neo. The fact that Frankia calls the front berth an ‘emergency bed’ probably says it all.

The engine

You might easily forgo both those bedding options but no one, surely, will pass on the Chassis Pack, which upgrades the motor to 170bhp, swaps manual gears for the nine-speed automatic and then completes the spec with goodies such as the digital air-con, stop/start, leather steering wheel, adaptive cruise control, electric parking brake and 10.25in MBUX screen with sat-nav.

If you were questioning why Frankia has stuck with Mercedes-Benz for its newest A-class, then one stint at the wheel is probably all that’s needed to stop you wondering.

Press the start button and it only takes a few minutes to consider if this motorhome really has ‘only’ 170 horsepower – it feels like more. The automatic shifts smoothly through the gears and, sailing down the A1, I was very impressed, too, by the stability afforded by the Al-Ko chassis.

Not so great was the noise level on board, although it was no worse than many other comparable motorhomes. And, of course, the Merc chassis wins you over with its slick presentation (especially the MBUX display) and its plethora of electronic safety aids.

Motorhome supplied by SMC Motorhomes, Newark
Tel: 01636 670760
smcmotorhomes.co.uk

Insurance: £786
Tel: 0800 975 1307
shieldtotalinsurance.co.uk
For quote details: motorhome.ma/QuoteInfo

This smaller, lighter, more contemporary Frankia has much to recommend it, including many of the features that have so impressed us in the past in the company’s larger models – plus a clever washroom that betters its bigger brothers. The Neo also enables buyers seeking a 3,500kg vehicle to consider this prestige brand – but only if options are selected carefully.