Adria Caravans Adiva 642UP

Prize fighter

In a perfect world of caravan photo-journalism, caravans would be immaculately prepared on time, blue skies would abound, deadlines would be met with ease, readers would love every word and editors would always be happy.

Then, of course, there is the reality. For example, some months ago on an offroad caravan photo shoot, the manufacturer was particularly keen for us to get some good offroad shots. We succeeded beyond his wildest dreams because we managed to get the caravan bogged. If nothing else, it did give us a rather different set of pics and in a rather backhanded fashion proved the offroad strengths of the van, mostly during the recovery process.

A TOUGH SPOT
We didn't have any similar expectations with the review caravan in this article - a 6.95m (22ft 9in) Adria Adiva 642UP (to give it its full moniker). Built in Slovenia, one of its characteristics is its weight, or lack thereof, as the Tare is just 1420kg. Being an on-road van, we weren't planning any offroad travels, but a tempting bit of green grass and the mistaken impression that our Toyota Kluger was 4WD rather than 2WD, resulted in a bogged tow vehicle.

Fortunatelty the relatively light weight of the van meant that with the help of two nearby construction workers we were able to unhitch the Adiva and push it to more solid ground. With the van unhitched, getting the Kluger out wasn't difficult.

A composite wall structure is used for the body consisting of plywood, fibreglass and plywood polystyrene insulation. This forms a lightweight sandwich panel that Adria claims will give both strength and hail protection. All around the Adiva are large acrylic hopper double-glazed windows, while the door is a Dometic half-window item. There is only one external storage bin: the front boot, which contains the spare wheel and two 9kg gas cylinders.

On the road, the Kluger was a competent tow vehicle. Despite our misadventures in the mud, its 201kW 3.5L V6 towed the Adiva without any problem at all. There was one feature in particular that we liked about the Kluger: it had a rearview camera. Designed mainly for safety reasons, it's excellent for spot-on hitching up every time.

EUROPEAN FLAIR
The size of the caravan gives the designers plenty of room to play with. The Adiva 642UP comes with a front lounge/dining area, mid-offside kitchen, mid-nearside bathroom and a rear bedroom. Not surprisingly, the interior of the Adiva does have a very European look with curved doors, curved timber edges, large windows and open shelf space.

Up front, there is a little difference from the usual Euro style. Instead of two sideways facing lounges or a club-style lounge, the Adiva has an offside and front lounge, with the nearside being a low height cabinet area. This increases the general storage in the van (there are also overhead lockers and shelves) and perhaps gives a more 'at home' feel, but it reduces the 'lounging' area, which is what these big-windowed vans are noted for.

When not being used for sitting and eating, the lounge area can also be converted to a 1.9m x 1.73m (6ft 3in x 5ft 8in) double bed by folding down the table and adding cushions. There are halogen reading lights in each corner, plus two wall lights and a ceiling halogen.

On the opposite side of the van the microwave is fitted into the cabinetry and sits above a reasonably sized wardrobe (not quite a kitchen item, we know) but alongside that is a six-shelved pantry. As we said, this kitchen really has the full kit.

OTHER FEATURES
At first glance when stepping into the bedroom area, it looks like there are two single beds. Indeed, they can be. But in an interesting piece of design work, the beds can also be pushed together to form a 1.9m x 1.4m (6ft 3in x 4ft 7in ) double bed - it's actually slightly narrower than the front bed but is a good concept because it gives flexibility of use and a selling point at resale time! A feature, also, is that the single beds have a base and so can be used for storage even if the beds are moved.

Apart from the underbed areas, there are a number of overhead lockers and a bedhead of shelves. The design of the moveable beds means that the single beds get a common bedside cabinet or the double gets a smaller cabinet on either side.

The bathroom is a little surprise: it is smaller than might be expected for a van this size but space is used very efficiently. A frosted window adds ventilation and space perception. Built into the bathroom are a Thetford cassette toilet, shower and a moulded vanity cabinet with washbasin. It's this that grabs the eye because it has been designed to fit around the curve of the corner and has a couple of cupboards and shelves. Additionally there are three other cupboards and a wall mirror. The washbasin shares the shower faucet.

It's still possible to see much of Australia without getting off the blacktop and the Adiva is a well appointed caravan for doing just that.

I WOULD HAVE LIKED:

Euro RV
1071 Ipswich Road
Moorooka, Qld 4105
(07) 3255 8988
www.eurorv.com.au

For more information, visit www.adria-caravans.com