Chris Fincham•20 May 2016

REVIEW

Caria Toy Hauler 360

With room for all your motorised toys as well as your mates, this 23ft caravan is like a man cave on wheels

Apart from its unusual name (it means flowing like water in Turkish), Caria stands out from the rest of the caravan manufacturers located in Campbellfield, Victoria for at least two reasons: its entire range is made up of toy haulers, and some boast a unique bedroom loft inside an electric pop-top roof.

Only on the market for a few years, the Caria range currently consists of 11 models ranging from the smallest 15ft Nimble to the largest 23 foot GT8 which can accommodate up eight people.

All feature flexible layouts incorporating a kitchen, lounge/dinette, combination shower/toilet and collapsible bedding but being toy haulers, also have a drop-down tailgate/ramp that provides access to the internal ‘garage’ space.

Depending on the size of the model, you can fit any number of motorised toys including dirt bikes, quad bikes, jet skis, and even small aircraft, not to mention non-motorised equipment like mountain bikes and kayaks.

The Caria Toy Hauler 360-23 we picked up from Melbourne dealer Canterbury Caravans misses out on the fancy roof-top bed, but with a close to one tonne payload and flexible floor area offering up to 11 square metres of storage space, it’s an appealing option for those who hate to leave their toys at home.

STAR WARS THEME

With its glossy white Alucomp panels and edgy sloping fibreglass front mould contrasting with black checkerplate and dark tinted windows, the 23ft Caria 360 looks like a cross between a Star Wars’ Stormtrooper and Jayco Silverline. In other words, it’s oozing with masculine appeal.

While independent coil suspension is an option, the Australian-built van’s standard on-road spec includes tandem roller rocker leaf spring suspension, Al-Ko ball hitch and 12in electric brakes, all bolted to a sturdy hot dipped galvanised chassis.

With limited road clearance and underbody protection and a long rear overhang, the 23ft Caria can handle some gentle dirt roads but that’s about it before you damage something underneath, like the underslung water pump or electric winch. If you really want to get off the bitumen, you might want to consider one of the smaller, more off-road capable options from Caria.

Otherwise externally, the Caria 360 is well-equipped for outdoor life with an almost full length, roll-out awning, external tap and LED lighting, along with a number of optional extras including a slide-out BBQ, external speakers and entertainment locker with TV arm and socket for the King Jack aerial.

An optional reverse camera and another pull-out awning at the back were also fitted, along with work lights and a pull-down mesh screen to keep the bugs out when the tailgate is open.

The ‘Star Wars’ theme continues with the two fibreglass gullwing doors, which provide access to the spacious front boot. While a bit flimsy, they look pretty impressive when open.

As well as holding plenty of gear, the left-side wall of the boot contains most of the 12V power equipment including 100Ah battery (in a plastic box) and battery charger, fuse box and spare 240V socket, and solar regulator for the 100W roof-mounted solar panel (both optional as well).

Probably the best place for wet or muddy gear is in the large, A-frame mounted checker plate toolbox, although some of the space is taken up by a 9kg gas bottle, with room for an optional second bottle.

There’s another large storage locker on the front offside section, although its vertical shape will limit items you can store here to things like folded camp chairs and fishing rods. That’s unless you’re happy to just pile everything in and worry about the mess later!

ROLLING CONTAINER

Access to the rear garage area is via a bottom-hinged tailgate, which is secured in transit by a lockable handle and lowers to make a ramp.

Made from a steel framed honeycomb panel, it’s quite heavy so Caria has rigged up an electric winch and steel cables that via a remote control plugged into the side of the van are used to lower and raise the ramp.

Unfortunately, one of the cables holding the tailgate on our review van was frayed and appeared close to snapping. We managed to open and close the door without incident, but it did raise a question mark about the quality of the cable used.

Once in place, there’s some handy checkerplate between the ramp and body to ensure smooth progress through the large entrance, which at 2.24m wide and 2.05m high, is big enough to drive a small car through, as long as it didn’t weigh more than a tonne.

Unlike some other big toy hauler vans we’ve seen, which separate the garage from the living section with a wall and door, the Caria’s open floorplan and flexible seating and bedding arrangement means in theory you can use most of the floorspace – up to 11 square metres by our calculations, including rolling a motor bike right into the front kitchen!

Both the double bunks and queen bed at the rear have sturdy steel frames that fold up along each wall, with straps to hold them in place, while the central table and couch also fold up or can be removed.

All beds have thick, foam mattresses, which are a bit on the firm side. The steel frames are easy to fold up, although it’s easy to jam your fingers if not careful.

The only other issue here is the person on the top bunk has very limited headroom, thanks to some overhead lockers, and there are no side restraints to prevent kids from rolling out at night.

Steel fixing points in the floor, to help secure bigger items in transit, are fitted free of charge by the dealer once the buyer decides where they want them.

MAN CAVE

Once you’ve set up and cleared out all the toys, it’s time to crack a coldie from the big 184 litre fridge and kick back in front of the massive 43in Samsung TV.

With matching Blu Ray player, sound bar and sub-woofer, you’re likely to annoy any close-by campers when you crank up the latest Star Wars movie on this home theatre system. The Caria also comes with a radio/CD player with internal speakers.

While there’s enough bedding for five, the couch will probably only squeeze in you and your three best mates, but luckily there’s enough room to set up a couple of camp chairs inside. The only downside is the TV is fixed so you won’t be able to see it properly from the rear beds.

Crammed into the front section of the van, ahead of the side entrance door is a small L-shaped kitchen with just about everything you need including stainless steel sink, four-burner cooktop, grille, microwave oven and aforementioned fridge/freezer.

The other front corner is taken up by a combination shower/toilet which is also very workable, with its frosted glass door, Thetford swivel toilet, small basin and shower rose with soap dish.

As well as the rush of air and light opening the rear door provides, more ventilation is available through Dometic windows along either side and a roof hatch. The curved front window doesn’t open but it does have a front ledge, for displaying a few Luke Skywalker figurines perhaps.

Interior storage is pretty good, with plenty of overhead lockers, a few kitchen cupboards and drawers and two optional full-height robes fitted. Some of the cabinetry design is a bit unconventional, like the corner kitchen cupboard that opens up to the same space used for the slide-out BBQ.

Another overhead locker in the kitchen is an odd shape, to fit under the sloping front roofline, so restricting what you can store here. There were also issues with two of the top-hinged overhead locker doors; one wouldn’t hold in the open position, and another wouldn’t open fully as the air-conditioner was in the way.

It's also worth mentioning the 300kg ball weight of this Caria toy hauler when unloaded, which appears quite high. However, according to Canterbury Caravans' Ian Sadler, "this has been deliberately done to counter weight the load it can take in the rear. Once loaded the ball weight will pull back to a much more suitable figure to sustain safety in towing".

Suffice to say you’ll want a big tow vehicle like a LandCruiser 200
Series to handle the hefty ball weight and maximum 3.5 tonnes when fully loaded.

VERDICT

If you’ve got a bunch of mates or an active family that loves to muck around with big toys in the great outdoors, without roughing it too much in the process, then the 23ft Caria 360 makes a lot of sense.

With its roll-on-roll-off rear access, it should also appeal to travellers who require wheelchairs and mobility scooters to get around, as well as travelling business types who carry a lot of gear.

Some minor issues aside, the Caria 360 is one of the more interesting and versatile caravans on the market.

WE LIKED:

>> Huge garage space and 950kg payload

>> Flexible interior layout

>> Man cave features like 43in TV

NOT SO MUCH:

>> Big and heavy to tow

>> Not suitable for off-road

>> Frayed tailgate cable

CARIA TOY HAULER 360-23 NON-LIFT TOP

Body length (internal): 7000mm

External body width: 2280mm

Travel height: 2600mm

Interior height: 2050mm

Overall length: 8500mm

Tare weight: 2550kg

ATM: 3500kg

Ball weight (Tare): 300kg

Body: Steel and Meranti frame/Alucomp aluminium composite panels/ front and rear fibreglass moulds

Chassis: Roadrunner hot dipped galvanisedl/150mm x 50mm

Suspension: tandem roller rocker leaf springs

Brakes: 12-inch electric

Stability Control: Al-Ko ESC

Wheels: 15in alloy with 235/75 A/T tyres

Fresh water: 2 x 90l

Battery: 100Ah deep cycle

Solar: 110W panel and regulator (optional)

Air-conditioner: Air Command Ibis reverse-cycle

Gas: 1 x 9kg

Hot water: 22 litre Atwood gas/electric

Cooking: Thetford MK III four-burner cooker/grille

Fridge: Thetford 184l three-way

Microwave: Camec

Toilet: Thetford cassette

Shower: Separate fibreglass cubicle

Washing machine: No

Lighting: LED

TV: Samsung 43-inch home theatre system

Options fitted: Rear work lights, reverse camera, slide-out BBQ, external TV box and speakers, two interior robes, Akril kitchen splashback, 110W solar panel and regulator, rear fly wire, rear awning

Price (as tested): $76,990

Supplied by: Canterbury Caravans, Bayswater, Victoria
More info: Caria Toy Haulers

Caria Toy Hauler 360

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