Hobby Optima De Luxe T70 F low-profile

Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Price from: £78,995 Berths: 4 Travel seats: 4 Length: 7.40m Width: 2.33m Height: 2.87m Gross weight: 3,500kg Payload: 451kg

Words & photos: Peter Vaughan

The Hobby Optima De Luxe T70 F

Unlike other German brands, Hobby doesn’t do A-classes, so the top of its range is the Optima De Luxe, a model that’s been updated for 2022. New this season for the De Luxe is the exterior look, with a redesigned overcab moulding featuring LED marker lights, and a new tail light panel, too. The cab is white, or black as a £700 option. More importantly, though, the interiors have a fresh appearance, developed in collaboration with an external company. The new design is said to blend Scandinavian design with the Nordic concept of ‘hygge’ – a Danish and Norwegian word for a mood of cosiness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment.

Revealing the popularity of single bed layouts in the fatherland, of the five floorplans available in the latest De Luxe, four have single beds and three of those are the usual end-bedroom-over-garage type. There’s also an end washroom layout with low twin beds, but here is the only double bed model in the range.                          

The layout

Surprisingly, this isn’t the ubiquitous island bed layout but, instead, a French bed with rear washroom. In fact, it’s basically the T70 E but with a double bed forward of the bathroom, in place of twin singles.

Access is, naturally, compromised compared with an island bed but a mattress measuring 2m in length will be the compensation for tall motorhomers. There are his and hers reading lights, too, and room to sit up against the headboard with Scandi-style wooden slats. 

The washroom

In the rear nearside corner, a door leads through to a washroom that stretches right across the back of the motorhome – a room that has a washbasin on a plinth, lots of shelf space and worktop, loads of room around the loo and, in the corner, a separate shower. It could only be improved by placing the wardrobe in here, too – that sits opposite the end of the bed, next to the kitchen.     

The kitchen

The galley is the typical L-shape, with the 133-litre tall/slim fridge opposite. A stylish feature is the inclusion of a designer gas-on-glass hob with three burners, while an oven and an extractor hood are added as part of the UK spec. A practical feature is the serving shelf that backs onto the dinette while, throughout, the design of the furniture, full of straight lines and sharp angles, catches the eye – this wasn’t one of the most innovative or expensive motorhomes at Düsseldorf, but its interior still has a wow factor.    

The spec

Up front, it’s a fairly standard half-dinette lounge with an extending wall-mounted table and a side sofa. There are automotive-style head restraints and reading lights over the table (but not in the cab). An overcab sunroof is fitted but it’s quite modest in size.

Basis for the Hobby range-topper is a 3,500kg Fiat with low-frame chassis, 140bhp motor and alloy wheels. As well as ESP, cruise control, etc, it comes with the Safety Pack, consisting of an emergency braking system, lane departure warning, rain sensor, traffic sign recognition and auto-dipping headlights.

As a flagship model, it comes with flush-fitting windows, an awning and a slide-out gas holder to ease the job of changing cylinders. The spec also includes 6kW gas/electric heating, the Hobby Connect app, and a Pioneer multimedia system with sat-nav, reversing camera, WiFi, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.