Aura Strada

Most new caravan manufacturers start with modest on-road touring caravans and work their way up to off-roaders. Aura, one of Australia’s newest caravan manufacturers, has done things the other way around.

Nova caravans did something similar a few years ago when it made its off-road Terra Sportz models the heroes of its range, selling lots of on-road Pride, Vita and Revivor trading off its marketing and reputation.

Now, after opening its doors almost 12 months ago in Campbellfield, Aura has done something similar, entering the crowded caravan market with the big and brash off-road ‘Earth’.

Priced close to $100,000 and clad in smooth 3mm aluminium in your choice of bold look-at-me colours including bright blue and red, it’s not a van for shrinking violets, but to date has proved particularly popular with long-term travellers in the West.

Now having given us the Earth, Aura has followed it up with two on-road tourers, the Strada reviewed here and the Studio, which is based on the Strada but configured like a travelling workstation for authors or day traders on the run.

TURN UP THE VOLUME

The Strada, however, is set to be Aura’s volume seller and after it was unveiled in Queensland Aura has built eight with a further 12 in the pipeline taking production up to September at the current rate of one van per week.

All are built in a pocket-handkerchief factory in Campbellfield by a small team, but with their positive market reception to date it’s highly likely that Aura will be moving into larger digs before the year is out.

While Aura is a new name on the crowded Australian caravan market, the brains behind the brand – experienced caravan sales and marketing professional Paul Golding, who made a difference over 35 years in the industry, most recently at Roadstar and then Nova – is not.

Golding had retired to run a pub at Nagambie in Victoria but was approached last year by automotive industry specialist Ishan Bindu with a plan to build bespoke caravans with business partner Ralph Barfnabas, with Golding’s son Steve working in the business on marketing, and Aura is the result.

The beauty of the brand currently lies in its small size, which allows Aura vans to be customised to some degree to suit individual customer needs.

While the Strada is offered in sizes from 17ft to 23ft, the 19ft 6in (internal size) Strada we reviewed is normally built with a front boot. However it was specified without a boot for a West Australian customer, effectively gaining an extra 30cm of internal living space that was used to good effect for easier access to the bed and extra legroom in the lounge.

Other options open to Strada customers is the option to ‘flip’ layouts, for example having the lounge on the left or right.

FAMILIAR RECIPE

Outside, the Strada is conventionally, but nicely styled. The matt silver aluminium wall and end cladding looked very smart on our review van, but a rainbow of colours is available to customers that can include bright red, yellow and blue, with the one-piece fibreglass room colour-matched accordingly.

Black checker plate rings the lower flanks of the van, extending further up the front for added stone protection – impressive given that this is essentially an on-road model.

Stone-mesh and an A-frame tap are standard, as is a stone shield for the tap and Al-Ko’s ESC stability control.

Also impressive is the beefy chassis underneath the Strada, with a six-inch A-frame attached to four-inch main chassis rails that grow to six-inches again over the standard roller-rocker leaf spring tandem suspension.

Single axle versions are also available in the smaller sizes, while customers can also option vehicle Components’ CRS coil spring Country Road Suspension if they wish.

With no tunnel boot on our review Strada it was left to the front boot for exterior storage, but with the maintenance-free Atwood hot water service located in the front right corner, this boot only extends three quarters the width of the van. While this may provide enough storage for many travellers, items that migrate to the centre of the van can be tricky to extricate.

The single 105Ah battery doesn’t intrude on space here, as it’s in its own box attached to the chassis below the right hand bedroom window and there’s room for a second AGM battery here if optioned.

The van is wired for solar power but the roof panels are optional and these days where many travellers free-camp, at least 130 Watts should be standard and built into the price.

The tunnel also takes up room under the front, north-south queen bed, but what’s left here is largely unencumbered and rectangular, but care will need to be taken to ensure that loose items don’t damage the Strada’s power systems mounted here, including its Camec Break Away controller, Projecta charger and main fuse box.  I’d feel much happier to have a removable cover for these.

Finishing outside, I’d also feel happier to have a central support on the large rollout awning, but a positive is the van’s standard drop-down picnic table.

DARK BUT NOT GLOOMY

Stepping inside the rear entry door, the review Strada felt light and roomy despite its predominantly dark floor, dinette leather and lower cupboards, thanks to the extra large double-glazed windows flanking the bedroom, the long rectangular one fronting the dinette and the smaller square kitchen window opposite.

Personally I’d like a similar large window in the kitchen to shed more light on its excellent bench space, central stainless steel sink and matching drainer board and a four-burner Thetford cooktop and grill to its right.

The NCE microwave is mounted above the bench on the left and is a good safe usable height.

A nice touch on the right was the three chrome hooks on the wall high above the cooktop for hanging handy things like oven mitts, etc.

Opposite, the café dinette lounge beloved by many caravanners is roomy, with a central tri-fold table and matching leather bolsters on the wall side.

Like most of its ilk, it straddles the van’s tandem wheel box for packaging reasons, meaning that there is really only comfortable dining room for two, but a nice touch on this Strada was the slide out foot rests that made the lounge a pleasant sprawling pace from which to enjoy TV.

The rear ensuite of the Strada we reviewed was compact, but well thought-out, with a toilet on one side, flanked by a Camec top-loading washing machine and a good-sized fibreglass shower cubicle opposite.

The central raised ceramic vanity bowl with its flick-mixer was a good size and was surrounded by plenty of bench space, with a large mirror above.

A wall-mounted Daewoo Mini front-loading washer would have given more toilet room here, but that’s all I could find to criticise here.

VERDICT

Aura may be a new kid on the block amongst Australian caravan manufacturers, but years of experience in the industry have gone into its first touring caravans.

The Strada is a good-looking albeit conventional touring caravan that represents good value for money with its combination of size, features and price and certainly warrants being on the shopping list of anyone looking to spend quality time on the road.

WE LIKED: ?
>> Overall appearance
>> High level of equipment for the price
>> Potential for customisation

NOT SO MUCH: ?
>> External storage space limited
>> Poor finish in one kitchen cupboard
>> Solar not standard

AURA STRADA 19FT 6IN

External body length: 6350mm
External body width: 2490mm
Travel height: 2880mm
Interior height: 1950mm
Tare weight: 2240kg
ATM: 26490kg
Ball weight: 140kg
Body: Meranti timber frame with 3mm aluminium composite walls and end panels; one-piece fibreglass roof.
Chassis: Hot-dipped galvanized 150mm x 50mm A-frame and chassis
Suspension: Tandem leaf spring                                                            
Brakes: 10-inch electric
Stability Control: Al-Ko ESC
Wheels: 15in alloy with 205/50-15 tyres
Fresh water: 2 x 80l
Battery: 105Ah deep cycle AGM
Solar: Optional
Air-conditioner: Ibis reverse-cycle
Gas: 2 x 9kg
Hot water: 22-litre Atwood gas/electric
Cooking: Four-burner gas/electric Thetford cooktop, plus grill
Fridge:  Thetford 184l 3-way
Microwave: NCE
Toilet: Dometic cassette
Shower: Separate fibreglass cubicle
Washing machine: Top-loader Camec 2.5kg
Lighting: LED
TV: 24-inch
Price: (As reviewed, ex east coast): $59,000
Supplied by: Aura Caravans, Campbellfield, Vic