Philip Lord•17 Jul 2017

REVIEW

Avida Wave 2017 Review

Avida’s new automatic pop-top arrives as a compact, light and family-friendly tourer

Pop-tops are not the biggest sellers of the industry, representing up to about a quarter of caravan sales.

One of the reasons is while they have the advantage of a lower profile for easier towing (less aerodynamic drag and less weight than a full-size van) and easier storage, lifting the pop-top roof can be a pain – literally.

Erecting a pop-top roof at camp, especially one weighed down with an air conditioner, TV aerial and solar panels, can be back-breaking work.

NSW-based Avida has addressed this by designing in-house an electric raiser system – a first for a caravan manufacturer – for its new pop-top range, the Wave.

We recently had a closer look at the smallest Wave layout of the three offered, the 17-foot single axle PT5542, which comes with an island front bed, a centre kitchen and cafe dinette lounge and a rear bathroom.

Finger touch control

Of course the Wave’s key feature is the electric roof. Lifting the roof only requires the awning tension to be released and then you simply operate the rocker switch just inside the entry door – unlike most manual pop-tops there are no roof securing latches to release here.

However, using the same principle as the Avida slide-out operation, you also have to press down a safety switch adjacent to the roof’s rocker switch for the electric roof to operate. The roof, which rises about 500mm, takes about 30 seconds to rise.

Powered pop-top aside, the 17ft Wave comes well-equipped for the money. Standard equipment includes the roof-mounted 240V reverse-cycle air conditioning, 150-litre fridge/freezer, bathroom with separate shower cubicle, 14L gas/electric hot water service, AM/FM stereo with aux and USB ports, a TV with integral DVD player, 100Ah battery and 20amp charger.

Prices start at $55,990 for the 17ft Tourer, while the optional Multi Terrain model pictured here is $61,490. With that you get Cruisemaster CRS independent dual-shock, coil-spring suspension, 160watt solar panels, checker plate side wall protection, black-painted alloy wheels with off-road tyres, a D035 coupling, external BBQ fitting, AL-KO off-road brake magnets, external shower, increased ground clearance, black J-mould and wall/floor extrusions and heavy duty water tank stone guards.

The unit we sampled also had the optional water/battery display control unit and internal mood lighting, making for a total NSW on-road price of $63,289.

Getting ready to camp

Setting up for camp doesn’t take much more effort than with a full-size van. Drop the stabiliser legs, loosen off the awning roller, drop down the entry step and power up the electric roof and you’re done.

The layout is straight-forward, and offers plenty of space in the centre walkway and in the bathroom. The shower recess is also large.

The dinette is a bit tight on leg room, but the 1950mm x 1570mm queen-size front island bed does have a surprising amount of walk-around space on the sides.

Most new vans offer plenty of storage space and the Avida is no exception. Starting at the rear bathroom, there are numerous open shelves in the wide vanity unit plus cupboards under the sink. At camp, with the roof up, you also have storage space on the open cabinetry top sections.

The kitchen has large cupboards below the bench and two small lockers above. Again, there’s some open space above the cabinet units here, particularly above the fridge/microwave cabinet.

Three lockers sit above the dinette (plus a magazine holder attached to the rear wall adjoining the bathroom) and there’s open space up top here too.

Under-seat storage is accessed either by lifting off the seat bases or opening one of the hatches at the side of the dinette seat base.

On each side of the bed there are narrow side wardrobes and side tables with a small cupboard underneath. Small recessed cubbies at each side of the bed head, three lockers above the bed area and a medium-size under bed area cap off decent storage in the bedroom.

Bench space at a premium

The kitchen presents no surprises, with everything easy to get at. The only downside here is a lack of dedicated bench space. You can of course use the cooker top cover and the single-tub sink drainer for food prep, but if you’re using both the cooker and sink drain area you’ll have to look elsewhere.

Fortunately you’ve got a good amount of space above the microwave, plus the dinette and if required the long bathroom vanity unit to spread out your cooking

The bathroom has a concertina privacy door and hard walls that rise up with the roof to provide a full enclosure. The shower recess is quite large, and there’s a large mirror above the vanity too.

The dinette can be quickly converted to a bed by unclipping the table and fitting it into the dedicated recesses on the edges of the seat bases. Then the seat bases and one of the seat backs (which are velcroed into position) are fitted in a way so that you have a almost-flat small bed for the kids. It’s only suitable for the littlies though, at 1500mm long by 900mm wide.

There’s plenty of lighting inside, except for the dinette area, which could do with some reading lights. There are three ceiling LED lights in the sleeping/living areas and one in the bathroom, plus the mood lighting around the periphery of the layout. A reading light is fitted on each side of the bed.

There could be more easily-accessed USB and 240v sockets though, especially at the dinette.

Outside amenities

External storage is catered for with a small front boot (which also accommodates the two 4kg gas bottles) and a tunnel boot.

There’s really very little room to play with in the front boot, but the tunnel boot is large, and has the convenience of a lockable hatch at each end and internal lighting is covered off with coach lights fitted at each side.

The offside wall accommodates the external shower, water tank fillers (both behind locking flaps) and the 240V inlet.

The nearside is very sparse, with just a LED light and a 240V single-pole socket. You can option the Wave with a picnic table though (an external ‘entertainment kit’ – external speakers, USB and coax connection – is also available).

The underside is well-protected from stone damage and its wiring is very neatly hidden away too. The only possible weak point here is if you drag the bottom of the A-frame off road you might damage the underslung hand brake cables.

With two 120-litre fresh water tanks you’re good to go for some lengthy bush camping, and the 160watts of solar capacity is also a great asset for a week or two of grid-free time. The BMPRO water/battery monitor is a worthwhile option to keep an eye on remaining water/battery power.

Verdict

The Wave offers all the convenience of a pop-top without the difficulties of having to manually lift the top up at camp. A big bathroom and dinette that can convert to a (small) bed are other real positives.

Yes, an outside picnic table as standard and more power outlets inside would be nice, but clearly good things do come in small packages…

What we liked:

>> Easy pop-top operation

>> Dinette that converts to a bed

>> Large tunnel boot

Not so much:

>> Lack of external storage

>> Lack of USB and power sockets at dinette

>> Limited kitchen bench space

Avida Wave Multi Terrain PT5542

Travel length: 7200mm

Body length (open length): 5570mm

External body width: 2495mm

Travel height: 2585mm

Interior height: 2130mm

Tare weight: 1838kg

ATM: 2300kg

Ball weight: 144kg

Body: Fibreglass composite

Chassis: 150x50mm galvanised steel

Suspension: Cruisemaster CRS independent with dual shocks per wheel

Brakes: 12in electric

Stability Control: Optional

Wheels: 15in alloy with 235/75R15 tyres

Fresh water: 2 x 120L (plus 19L grey water)

Battery: 1x 100A/h deep cycle

Solar: 160watt

Air-conditioner: Truma Adventa

Gas: 2x4kg

Hot water: 14L 12v gas/electric start

Cooking: Thetford Minigrill MkIII 3+1 burners and grill

Fridge: Dometic 150L three-way fridge/freezer

Microwave: Camec

Toilet: Thetford cassette

Shower: Separate cubicle

Lighting: 12V LED

TV: Axis DVD/TV

Price: $63,289 (as tested)

Options fitted: Multi Terrain Pack, Integrated display/control unit (water tank and battery management), internal mood lighting.

Supplied by: Avida Recreational Vehicles, Emu Plains NSW

Avida Wave 2017 Review

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