Boroma Tourista Grand Rhino 610ST 2005 Review

By Malcolm Street

Boroma Caravans is something of a success story in the Australian caravan market. The company has gone from strength to strength and is now a buoyant boutique manufacturer operating under the direction of Peter Russell and Judie Groves.

All Australian-owned and operated, Boroma Caravans operates from a purpose-built factory at Stapylton, mid way between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Boroma manufactures luxury caravans which are all 100 per cent custom designed and built.

The Boroma vans have become well known for their quality, comfort, luxury and strength; each caravan is built on a heavy duty double-rail, fully galvanised chassis. Inside, the vans feature an innovative design, unique timber furniture, modern accessories and a luxurious finish.

Boroma produces vans that are, at the same time, luxurious and innovative. A case in point is one of its latest vans, the Tourista Grand Rhino.

In case you are wondering about the name, CW did too. Most Boroma vans have evocative Italian-sounding names but Rhino sounds more South African. It actually refers to a new concept in caravan cladding – a polyurethane skin.

That doesn’t mean the caravan will be built differently, at least not at this stage. The first edition Rhino that CW looked at has top half aluminium sides, lower half checkerplate and fibreglass front/rear/roof.

Everything except the top half aluminium sides has a polyurethane skin. Boroma anticipates that all future vans will be entirely covered by polyurethane.

According to Peter Russell, the advantages of the polyurethane skin are several. The principal of these is that polyurethane gives a fully sealed external skin thus minimising water leaks: no ‘J’ moulds, joint strips or covers are necessary. It also solves that other problem of aluminium caravans by being far more durable against hail damage.

Fibreglass moulds which might possibly be subject to cracking/crazing also benefit from polyurethane sealing.

Apart from the new sealing, there were plenty of extras fitted as well to this particular 20ft (6.1m) Tourista Grand, in addition to all the standard luxury

Boroma inclusions.

Like all Boroma caravans, the Rhino is built on a hot-dipped galvanised tandem rail chassis, forged in a box section arrangement. Instead of the usual tandem load-sharing suspension setup, Air Cruisemaster double trailing arm airbag suspension carries the load, and the axles are fitted with 16in LandCruiser wheels.

Other polyurethane products sit between the chassis rails – two 65 litre Camel water tanks – no need for extra protection there. Nice to see quick-release corner stabilisers being used all round. 

Up front on the drawbar, there are all the usual items plus a white box that contains a 3kVA generator and jerry can holder. Hiding in the front boot are two gas cylinders, one 9kg and one 4kg. Around at the rear, the steel bumper bar sports two spare wheels.

Other external features include the slide-out barbecue, auxiliary shower, right-through storage behind boot, powerpoint and TV antenna connection. External lighting is quite prolific with two nearside lights, grab handle light, one offside light and front boot light. The roof has a few fittings too – Oyster digital satellite dish, Winegard antenna, air-conditioner and two solar panels.

Under the awning, entry to the Rhino is via the rear Camec triple-locker door and all the big holes in the walls are filled with Galaxy tinted hopper windows. Inside is a fairly open plan layout, mainly because the bulky bathroom cubicle is fitted into the rear offside corner.

Split across the bathroom, the kitchen bench area fits in the nearside rear corner and along the offside. Beside the door is the dinette and the bedroom occupies the front half of the van.

Lightly stained timber work dominates much of the van’s interior and it is certainly pleasing to the eye. Bench and table tops are all mottled grey laminate with moulded timber edges.

There’s no shortage of windows, and they all have wooden pelmets and slimline venetian blinds. Additional light and ventilation is supplied by a Seitz hatch above the bed and a Four Seasons hatch at the rear.

Although it is a split kitchen, the end result is a good amount of both benchtop area and storage space. In the rear corner is the cooking department with a Smev three-burner hob and Smev oven/grill. Alongside the oven is a wide slide-out pantry – it’s right by the door and handy if you happen to be using the slide-out barbecue and eating outside.

Offside there’s a stainless steel sink above with seven drawers of various sizes plus a two-door cupboard underneath.

Overhead are three well sized lockers – no shortage of storage space here. An item missing in this caravan-with-everything is a scraps bin – there’s certainly room for one. Between the kitchen bench and the bathroom is the two-door Waeco fridge/freezer unit with microwave oven above.

At the front end of the kitchen bench is the entertainment area. Most prominent is the 17in flatscreen TV which can be swivelled around for viewing from anywhere. It can also be used outside. In the locker above is the rest of the van’s sound system – AM/FM radio, CD and DVD player.

Opposite the kitchen bench is a very comfortable high density foam dinette with both back and side contoured cushions. Instead of a one-piece table that can be lifted out of the way, Boroma has fitted a tri-fold unit that simply folds back when not needed, yet still offers a place for the drinks and coffee mugs.

Convenience items are all there – halogen reading lights above and powerpoint below. Storage is courtesy of four overhead lockers and the usual under-seat area, although part of the front seat is taken by the house batteries.

A queen-sized bed occupies most of the front part of the Rhino. It has the usual storage area underneath. On both sides of the bed are mirrored wardrobes with small cupboards underneath.

Immediately above the bedhead is a small shelf with four overhead lockers above that. Halogen reading lights are fitted on either side of the bed and in addition, ceiling downlights are fitted in front of the wardrobes. Fitted into the corners at the foot of the bed are small diagonal cupboards and a set of shelves.

In the fully moulded fibreglass bathroom are all the essentials – flexible hose shower, fan hatch, Thetford cassette toilet and small hand basin in the corner. In addition, there is a towel rail large enough for two towels and a small shelf for soap and shampoo.

As you might expect in a van like this the utilities are quite sophisticated. All the usual items are there – Truma gas/electric hot water heater, 240V powerpoints in appropriate places, plentiful 12V lighting – both halogen and fluorescent and 12V pumped/mains pressure water.

Two 120A hour deep cycle batteries supply the 12V and they are charged by a conventional battery charger, two 64W solar panels or a remote start 3kVA Honda generator.

The Oyster digital satellite receiving system can not only be used for getting good TV reception across Australia, but also for uploading and downloading information to laptop computers.

This might sound a bit over the top but there are more than a few people who like to send their travel photos home and also conduct their stocks and shares trading. All the electrical controls and gauges are hidden in a locker above the dinette.

The bottom line

Like all Boroma vans, the Rhino is very well finished indeed, both inside and out. Also, just a like few other things that Boroma has done, the use of polyurethane technology is certainly groundbreaking and reflects a manufacturer who is not afraid to try new things. It will be interesting to see how the marketplace accepts it.

A disadvantage with this van, if any, is its weight. With a nameplate Tare of 2829kg, it is very much in LandCruiser/Nissan Patrol towing territory and that certainly results in a hefty price tag if buying both a new tow vehicle and van.

That said, the Boroma Tourista Grand Rhino is certainly a very luxurious, go-most-places caravan, and if that’s the way you want to do it, then this van will definitely suit.

For more details contact Boroma Caravans, 17 Quarry Road, Stapylton, Qld 4207, (07) 3382 0033, fax (07) 3382 0111, email: sales@boroma.com; web: www.boroma.com

We liked:
• General open plan layout, with room to move
• Fit and finish of timber and cabinet work
• Plentiful lighting, both inside and out and mostly where it should be
• Slide-out barbecue – convenient for eating outside/inside and keeping those cooking smells outside
• Plentiful storage both inside and out
• Dinette with tri-fold table – very easy to use for all occasions

We would have liked:
• Scraps bin for kitchen bench
• Cabinet in bathroom
• Lighter van, but that’s a radical design rethink