Lunar Roadstar SB motorhome

Berths: 4 Travel seats: 4 Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Gross weight: 4,250kg Payload: n/a

Since the relaunch of the Roadstar name, Lunar’s coachbuilt motorhomes have been based on the less-commonly-seen Renault Master, a base vehicle that might be beginning to show its age in the cab but still fares well when it comes to driver appeal. The biggest obstacle that the French chassis has to overcome in the land of leisure is, perhaps, unfamiliarity in a world dominated by the Fiat/Peugeot twins. Now, Lunar is joining the hordes, with its first Fiat-based motorhome in many a year. It doesn’t mark a divorce between Roadstar and Master but the new SB is only available on a Ducato.

It’s a new layout, as well as a different cab, with low-level single beds and an end washroom, rather than the (Renault) Roadstar EB’s twin beds over a garage. Compared with its sister model, the SB also gains 37mm in length, 140mm in height and 450kg in gross weight, as well as £6k in price. At £66,494, the latest Roadstar is well into the luxury league, and the specification is comprehensive to match.

There’s a metallic silver cab, alloy wheels, ESP, a Phantom tracker, Alde ‘wet’ central heating, a 100W solar panel, awning and microwave all as standard. That leaves just the Media Pack (TV, aerial, sat-nav, reversing camera) as the only option on the habitation side (at £1,499), although you may want to upgrade from the 130bhp motor to 150 or 177 horses.

The awning is neatly integrated into the bodywork, the side windows are flush and the door has a low entrance and a window. There’s a big overcab sunroof, too, plus a large Heki sunroof, but there’s only a (smallish) exterior locker door on the nearside and the (heated) waste water tank is a modest 65 litres.

The half-dinette seating looks well shaped for rear passengers but seems long in the squab, while the small wall-mounted table has a swing-out extension leaf for when there are more than two diners. Smart touch-to-operate reading lights and LED strips along the cab/body join enhance the ambience. The kitchen comes with a full cooker, with the tall fridge/freezer opposite (and a TV shelf above that).

It’s the sleeping quarters that are key to this motorhome, though. Each bed measures 1.88m by 0.74m with your tootsies tucking under his and hers wardrobes. A door can keep the bedroom private from the lounge/kitchen up front and trim panels ensure you’re not sleeping in contact with the side walls. A TV point resides over the end of the nearside bed.

Thanks to the Alde heating system (which also features fan-assisted heating to the cab), the end washroom also comes with a radiator for drying your towels. There’s a lack of worktop around the plinth-mounted washbasin but the separate shower is huge.

The new Roadstar faces tough competition from the likes of Adria, Eura Mobil and Hobby, but if you want this layout from a UK maker, take a close look.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read loads more like it in What Motorhome magazine. You can get a digital version of this latest issue of What Motorhome magazine here.