Airflow Caravans Custom
Using knowledge gained from designing wheelchair-friendly vans, Airflow's latest airbag suspension model makes family holidaying even more enjoyableWhat we liked
• Work station for the traveller
• Decent-size fridge
• External slide-out kitchen that makes outside living very easy
• Room for bikes and outdoor gear
• Height-adjustable suspension
• Wheelchair friendly
• Rear screened room that can be used for many purposes
Not so much
• More storage in the kitchen
• More external storage
Every now and again a caravan like the subject of this review comes along that’s different to the norm, either in looks, general design or both. It creates a lot of interest for RV writers, but is being different a good thing?
Airflow Caravans answers this question in the affirmative with its height-adjustable Airflow van that completely opens at the rear. Its creator, engineer Justin Clarke, has experience modifying vehicles to suit disabled people, researched the behaviour of air flow and has a family of five children who love to travel, so the design serves many needs.
When properly parked, the Airflow looks like it’s had suspension failure. It hasn’t; it’s just that the airbag suspension is adjustable, from 200mm above the road to a maximum of 500mm. It’s amazing the difference that 300mm makes and it’s easy to see its campsite, on-road and offroad applications. The airbags can be adjusted by remote control.
The body overhangs the conventional-length drawbar by nearly 1m and looks a little odd. When I asked Justin about the Airflow’s unusual look, he said, “It allows air passing over the tow vehicle to flow directly over the van, thus reducing the drag considerably. The lower height also means a lower centre of gravity and more stable towing.”
It has all the standard items, like the ball coupling, jockey wheel, handbrake and spare wheel. There are two front storage areas, rather than a normal
boot.
In many ways, the Airflow is conventionally built. It has a steel chassis with 100x50mm rails, a timber frame and aluminium cladding. It also has conventional Seitz hopper windows and a Camec triple-locker door.
At the rear, the two doors open horizontally, one lifting to form a hard roof, the other lowering to become a platform. This means large items like bikes, surfboards and even small motorbikes store easily in the van. Canvas walls fit around the hard roof to create an extra room, and a ramp attaches to the side of the platform for wheelchair access.
Although the Airflow has a kitchen inside, it also has a simpler external slide-out kitchen fitted to the front nearside, not unlike those used in some camper trailer designs. It’s a bit like a large slide-out barbecue.
Much of the internal layout looks quite orthodox, including the timber-look décor. The Airflow features a front island bed, a kitchen along the nearside wall, L-shaped dinette along the offside wall and a bathroom between that and the rear wall. A small work station fits neatly into the rear nearside corner. The two latter items are separated by a wide walkway.
The work station has a folding desktop that accepts a laptop and other work paraphernalia. It comes fitted with two drawers, two overhead lockers, two powerpoints and one halogen downlight, as well as a ceiling fluorescent. A large, full-height wardrobe with hanging space, a shelf area and three large drawers fits between the work station and the kitchen.
Opposite, the compact bathroom has all the usual appointments: a variable-height, flexible-hose shower rose, corner washbasin and bench-style Thetford cassette. A small window and fan hatch provide ventilation.
There’s nothing unusual about the kitchen, apart from the microwave under the bench. It has a Spinflo four-burner cooktop and grill alongside a stainless steel sink and drainer. The benchtop area is quite reasonable, as is the storage area with two overhead lockers, two drawers and three floor lockers. The wheel arch protrudes into two of those and the hot water heater into the third.
In the rear corner of the kitchen bench, a TV is mounted so that it’s visible from the dinette opposite and the bedroom. In the overhead lockers above the TV are a powerpoint and antenna connections, the main 240V circuit breaker, hot water switch and 12V fuses.
A leather-upholstered, L-shaped lounge fits around a fixed table mounted on two poles. Part of the area under the seat is taken up by the wheel arch, but a drawer is conveniently fitted to the inside end. The 240L Vitrifrigo fridge sits between the dinette and the bathroom.
In the bedroom, the pair of windows on each side and the airbag remote control by the door are the main points of difference. The rest looks as usual – that is, a bedhead of overhead lockers, side wardrobes and large bedside shelves. The storage under the bed is much smaller than usual due to the external kitchen slide-out, and contains the two 120A deep-cycle batteries.
Twelve-volt fluorescent and halogen lights are used throughout the Airflow.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The different design of this van really works, and although it was made with disabled travellers in mind, it’s adaptable for other uses, like carrying all the family gear, including bikes and surfboards. And as it has airlift suspension, it’s available in on-road and offroad models.
Airflow Caravans Custom
Overall length 6.9m (22ft 8in)
External body length 6.2m (20ft 4in)
External width 2.3m (7ft 7in)
Internal height 1.98m (6ft 6in)
Nameplate Tare 2080kg
Nameplate ATM 2500kg
Unladen ball weight 130kg
Frame Timber
Chassis Steel, two-pack paint
Suspension Airbag
Cooktop Spinflo MiniGrill
Fridge Vitrifrigo 240L
Microwave Daewoo
Shower Flexible hose, variable height
Toilet Thetford bench
Gas 2 x 4.5kg
Hot water Suburban 23L
Fresh water 2 x 65L, 1 x 80L
Price as shown $89,000 (tow-away, Qld)
Supplied by
Airflow Caravans, (07) 4642 0078,
Airflowcaravans.com.au
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