Swift Escape 695

Berths: 6 Travel seats: 5 Base vehicle: Fiat Ducato Gross weight: 3,500kg Payload: 560kg

At launch, the Escape range of budget motorhomes was a game-changer in entry-level motorhome market.

While externally it had more than a whiff of economy, the interior belied its place in the market sector. In short, it looked and felt far more upmarket than it had right to be.

There was then a scrabbling of hooves as the other British motorhome manufacturers played catch-up. And now, for 2017, the Escape range has gone upmarket again, with a redesign and sexy new features such as LED road lighting and fancy habitation controls that also can be fiddled with via a phone/tablet app.

Thanks to using a drop-down bed that lives above the lounge, the range has bid farewell to bulky overcab pods, all eight models are now low-profiles and they don’t look half bad.

Fiat’s Ducato base comes with the 130-horsepower motor as standard.

In the cab, there’s a DAB radio/MP3 player with Bluetooth. The seats get twin armrests, but there’s no passenger airbag as standard – you need to buy the Comfort Pack to get one. It’s a bit steep at £1,695, but does include nice things such as cruise control, cab air-con and reversing sensors.

The layout consists of a front lounge, central bathroom and kitchen and transverse bunks arranged across the far rear. Belted travel seats number five – one a rear-facer – so not enough for a full complement of live-in travellers.

The half-dinette-based lounge only seats five in comfort anyway, so that’s probably the maximum number of motorhomers that’ll actually go camping in the 695. In fact, mum, dad and two kids should produce the most comfortable situation as, when the little ones are asleep in the bunks, parents can enjoy the evening without disturbing them.

Come ma and pa’s bedtime, it takes just a couple of ticks to deploy the transverse drop-down bed – no cushion shoving and bedding lugging. Beds three and four are made by converting the lounge.

The kitchen is a tad small and lacking storage, but there’s no lack of gear here, with a half-height slot-in stove, microwave and slim-but-roomy fridge that swallows 138 litres of groceries.

The bathroom sports a new vanity basin unit in wipe-clean plastic and the integral shower (with curtain) has its own mixer valve and a water-saving shower head.

To the bunks. Great for kids but good enough for full-sized humans, too, as both bunks are more than six feet long and should be plenty wide enough for the mature sleeper - so, perfect for families and groups of friends, alike.

And, in time-honoured fashion, the bottom bunk folds up to help create a slim garage, loaded through an external locker door.

The Escape, it seems, goes from strength to strength, gaining some of the latest kit and, in the process, drifting more upmarket. If you want more kit look out for dealer special edition versions, but also consider the imported opposition – there are plenty of rivals out there, including brands like Benimar, Chausson and Roller Team.

If you enjoyed this review, you can read loads more like it in the Summer 2017 issue of What Motorhome magazine.

There are over 47 campervans and motorhomes featured in the latest issue and you can get a digital version of the latest issue of What Motorhome magazine here.