AC+RV has been using a new Adria Altea 512PU for the past six months as a tow-test load behind many evaluation vehicles.

We’ve heard grumbling from some in the caravan business over our choice of an imported rather than a locally produced caravan.

In 2012 we hope to have an Australian-made tow-test van, because there is now more choice among locally produced products for low-weight, low-ball-weight units that can be towed by today’s preferred vehicles.

In case you haven’t been following car and 4WD buying trends in Australia, there’s an inexorable shift to smaller-capacity engines that have much better fuel economy than traditional tow vehicles. I

If you think current oil prices are outrageous, breathe deeply – long-term, they’re certain to get worse.

In addition, those engines power-test vehicles that can’t pull a 2.5-tonne caravan and aren’t designed to cope with a ball weight of more than 100kg.

European fuel efficiency

European caravan makers have been living with smaller towing vehicles for many years, because fuel prices in Europe are at least 50 per cent higher than ours and in some countries, double. Lightweight vehicles, generally with override brakes and with low ball weights, dominate the Euro caravan scene.

The Adria 512PU has what we consider basic requirements for a touring couple, perhaps with a pair of kids in tow. There’s an island double bed – easy to make up – and a four-place dinette that converts to a double bed or a pair of kids’ bunks. It has a bathroom, with shower and cassette toilet. There’s also ample cupboard and storage space, plus a microwave, roof-mounted TV antenna and 240-volt air conditioner.

Lightweight yet strong construction (including an Aussie-spec AL-KO galvanised chassis and independently suspended wheel ends) keeps tare weight to 1100kg and ball weight around 80kg. ATM is 1500kg, allowing virtually any mid-sized vehicle to haul the Altea 512PU.

Override brakes mean we don’t have to beg car industry PRs to fit electric brake controllers: it’s tricky enough getting them to fit a tow bar and wiring harness.

Adria dealer Carlon Caravans, of Wollongong, NSW, meticulously prepared our test caravan.

Towing test results

The Adria has proved invaluable as a towing ‘mule’, because we haven’t had a test vehicle all year that couldn’t pull it legally. Most test vehicles haven’t had a 12-pin power supply, so we’ve relied on our car fridge to keep the drinks cool until we can get the three-way fired up on gas or 240-volt power. At home, we plug the 15A lead into our house supply to keep the battery topped up.

Override braking has been developed to a fine art in Europe and we’ve had no issues with the system. Even the slight override effect of down-shifting in an automatic transmission tow vehicle provides some trailing-brake effort in the van. Hard stops have been straight and short.

The test Adria lives at Moss Vale in the NSW southern highlands, and this area is famous for high winds. If AL-KO’s research is correct, the standard friction coupling supplied with the Adria should help control sway up to 100km/h, which is the European maximum towing speed.

The test caravan has been towed in headwinds, crosswinds and tailwinds reaching 100+km/h and at road speeds up to 110km/h without any significant sway issues. The only time we encountered sway was behind the short-wheelbase Prado three-door, in a savage crosswind during a gale warning, but the mild amount of sway appeared only on a wind-blasted ridge when travelling at 110km/h – at 100km/h it tracked quite straight.

A design feature we’ve appreciated is being able to see following traffic via the towing vehicle’s inside rear vision mirror. All we’ve had to do is open the caravan’s front and rear window blinds when towing, for a clear rear view.

Ground clearance at the caravan’s extremities has been an issue in some lumpy-access sites and we’ve dragged its bum more than once. We understand the compromise needed to achieve low-profile stability and low wind resistance, so some sacrificial plates on the lower rear bodywork would be handy to avoid unsightly trim damage.

The caravan has been towed in headwinds, crosswinds and tailwinds at speeds up to 100km/h.

Living with the Altea

Lightweight design and a single axle mean the Adria Altea needs a towing vehicle coupling for stability if the rear landing legs aren’t wound down.

It’s important to remember that when setting up the caravan for an overnight stay – otherwise you risk lifting the jockey wheel into the air! We developed a routine in which the legs came down immediately after the jockey wheel was attached, so we couldn’t forget to deploy them. Front legs make the Adria a very stable home on wheels.

The fridge is small and won’t suit everyone. The size didn’t worry us because we always have a back-up fridge in our towing vehicle and don’t need much caravan fridge space. Likewise the 60-litre water tank, which is deliberately small to keep weight down. We ‘sponge wash’ when we don’t have town water connected, so it’s another compromise that doesn’t worry us.

We love the island bed layout because it’s so easy to make, but the standard mattress is a tad on the firm side and we’d opt for a sensor-foam replacement or at least an overlay.

The dinette is user friendly and can be left set up all the time, making it ideal for a lunchtime possie. The shower/toilet module is quite spacious and easy to keep clean, and the swivelling dunny works well.

Easy to tow, easy to live in and well made, the Adria Altea has proved an excellent test caravan for us.