Moto-Trek Xplora ELD low-profile motorhome

Base vehicle: Peugeot Boxer Price from: £63,845 Berths: 2 Travel seats: 3 Length: 5.99m Width: 2.25m Height: 2.89m Gross weight: 3,500kg Payload: 600kg

Words & photos: Peter Vaughan

The Moto-Trek Xplora ELD

Moto-Trek may be best known for its large motorhomes and the incorporation of American RV-style slide-outs but neither of those aspects apply here. Xplora is not only Moto-Trek’s newest coachbuilt motorhome range but also its most compact. Not only is it sub-six-metres in length but the Xplora is also barely wider than the Peugeot Boxer chassis-cab on which it is based.

There are two models in this new range, the fixed bed FDB and this ELD layout, which is likely to prove more popular with UK customers. In each case, size is key – these motorhomes are barely bigger than a van conversion but have the square sides of a coachbuilt for greater internal space.

Externally, it’s a simple all-white look with flush, framed habitation windows and grey graphics. The Peugeot cab comes with the 140bhp motor mated to a six-speed manual gearbox (there’s no automatic option for the Boxer).

The spec

Standard spec includes cab air-conditioning, a leather steering wheel, automatic lights and wipers, a DAB radio, remote central locking and ESP. A spare wheel (so often omitted to save weight) is included but the Xplora’s compact size means it’s not short of payload.

There’s an overcab sunroof as standard but the wheels are steel with plastic trims. This show model also sported the Deluxe Pack (£2,460) of TV aerial, colour-coded awning and reversing camera, as well as a 120W solar panel, priced at an additional £600.

The interior

An external step is provided but it’s still a noticeably high floor level as you enter the Xplora via a habitation door (with window) just behind the cab. Facing you as you climb aboard is a half-dinette, but the seat here is not only very upright but also narrow (just 800mm wide), so it’s only suitable for one person.

Fortunately, the cab seats (with twin armrests and contrasting upholstery) swivel to increase seating capacity, while the small table (adequate for two diners) is mounted on an island leg, rather than the wall rail that you might have expected. The wall itself looks quite stark in gloss GRP and without curtains, but the reading lights above the cab and the opening sunroof are pluses.

The washroom

Despite the Xplora’s slimline design, the petite dinette affords a wide walk-through that could be a bonus for less mobile folk, while the washroom – entered via a super-wide tambour door – also seems to have been conceived with this in mind.

As well as easy access, the washroom features the superior Dometic cassette toilet and a washbasin on a plinth, with toothbrush mug, mirror and soap dish on the wall behind. There’s a separate showerhead, rather than an extending tap, and no clingy curtain, but, while there’s plenty of room to shower and twin drains for the suds to flow away, everything in the room will need to be dried off afterwards.

The kitchen

Opposite, the kitchen is quite comprehensively kitted out, with a Thetford Triplex hob and oven/grill, plus an eye-level Russell Hobbs microwave. There’s a small area of worktop alongside the cooker, while storage includes two drawers beneath the oven and a cutlery drawer at the end of the galley unit.

Unusually for a coachbuilt motorhome, the fridge is a compressor model (83-litre capacity as standard, upgradable to 130 litres for £594).

The rear lounge

Completing the layout is a small rear U-shaped lounge, where the forward-facing seat is deeper than those at the sides. This means that there’s only really room for two here – three max. The island leg table can also be used here, while at night the lounge converts into a 2.02m by 1.22m transverse double bed.

Upholstered side walls here give a cosier feel than the smooth GRP used elsewhere, while pleated blinds are an upmarket addition and the large rear window will let in lots of light.

Other features include twin 100Ah leisure batteries, 75-litre fresh and waste water tanks and a 25-litre LPG tank. Heating is by Truma Combi 4 E gas/electric blown-air.

Where to buy

Moto-Trek motorhomes are available direct from the factory, near Sheffield, or from a network of 11 dealers. These are Anglian Trailer Centre (Bury St Edmunds), Barnsdale Leisure (Pontefract), Grantham’s (branches in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire), Leisure Vehicle Franchising (Mansfield), Maple Garage (Hull), Preston Caravans and Motorhomes, Solent Motorhomes (Poole), Southwest Motorhomes (Ilminster), Vehicles 4 Leisure (Chester) and White Arches Motorhomes (Wellingborough).