Coromal Pioneer Evolution XC 2018

Back in early-2017 we took a look at one of Coromal’s first attempts at a big, luxury off-road caravan, in the Pioneer XC.

Now over a year later, the 41-year-old caravan brand has taken its vision of an off-road van a few steps further with the new top-spec Pioneer XC Evolution, which incorporates latest thinking in cutting-edge chassis design and composite body construction.

We recently had the chance to spend a night, at a bush camp in the Gold Coast hinterland, in a 21ft PEX632S – one of eight layouts available in the Pioneer XC Evolution range, which spans 18ft to 23ft body sizes and comes in both family and couple layouts, including one with a slide-out double bed.

Tightly sealed

Although a similar size and spec to the Pioneer XC we looked at last year, which featured ‘old school’ construction of internal aluminium frame, stucco aluminium body cladding and plywood floor with a fiberglass front and rear, this latest version is around 100kg lighter thanks to its 'Evolution' overhaul.

Dubbed ‘Future-Teck’, the body construction includes one-piece laminated fibreglass sandwich panels for the walls (30mm) and roof (55mm) with a 40mm thick composite honeycomb floor. It's all held together by aluminium extrusions to provide a nicely rigid, and fully insulated body structure.

Judging by industry trends, full composite caravan construction will be the norm in the Australian caravan industry in the not too distant future, so it’s good to see more mainstream brands like Coromal going down that path.

High tensile chassis

The cutting-edge construction doesn’t end there though, with Coromal’s new lightweight, high tensile FRV off-road chassis underpinning the Pioneer Evolution. Specifically designed for off-road applications, the locally designed and manufactured chassis boasts automotive-style engineering including the use of high tensile 550 grade steel and industrial rivets similar to truck chassis.

The FRV chassis is “fully plated” and finished in black powdercoat for durability, while extensive use of cylindrical cut-outs help make it 130kg lighter than Coromal’s standard chassis. The engineer certified chassis has also been designed to allow for some flex in the A-frame when driving off-road.

The FRV chassis rides on Coromal’s range-topping Sport X Rally independent wishbone coil suspension, with 16 x 7in steel wheels, all-terrain tyres and 12in electric brakes. With AL-KO’s latest off-road hitch bolted up front to a bold, red painted front assembly, it all looks very trick and impressive, right down to the ‘Do not weld’ yellow plate on the drawbar.

Built for hard knocks

Underneath, the twin 80 litre fresh water tanks and single 110 litre grey water tank, are protected by gal sheeting, and while there’s plenty of exposed wiring and plumbing, most of it's tucked up out of harm's way within the chassis rails.

There’s also lightweight, red-painted rear ‘skid plates’, and hollow metal ‘brush bars’ protecting the lower body, plus a mesh stone guard and stick-on decals (a further weight-saving measure, we presume) in lieu of the usual side body checker plate protection.

It all sets up as something you could confidently drag over highway corrugations and bumpy dirt tracks, which is what we did for a short time at least, behind our Mazda BT-50 tow vehicle.

However, it did scrape the ground a couple of times on some deeper dips and potholes, so there's a limit to how far you can take it off-road. Especially when you add in the close to 2.5m wide and 3.0m plus high dimensions, and three tonne-plus bulk when fully loaded.

Excellent storage

Storage wise, the Pioneer XC Evolution comes equipped with a checker plate toolbox on the A-frame, with separate slide-out compartments for twin 9kg gas bottles and (optional) generator or fridge.

There are slots for two jerry cans, but while the location of the water tap within the A-frame members should protect it from stone damage, it could make it tricky to get a bucket underneath.

Our other complaint with the chassis set-up is one of the brush bars gets in the way of winding down a stabiliser, although you could easily unscrew and remove that section of bar if necessary.

There’s more storage in the large, see-through tunnel boot, with the offside half taken up by a slide-out metal drawer. Another narrow checkerplate toolbox on the onside would be perfect for smaller items like hoses and cords.

The onside external wall is equipped with two lights and two speakers, USB/12V sockets, picnic table and roll-out awning, while up back a sturdy checker plate-reinforced platform supports two spare tyres, with holders for two more jerries.

On the offside you’ll find the vent for the Camec instant gas hot water unit, which provides hot water for the external shower as well as inside.

Also helping set the Evolution apart from its rivals is the sports car-like spoiler, or aero-foil bolted to the aluminium extrusions at the rear of the roof. Apart from looking racy, it's designed to aid aerodynamics when scooting down the freeway.

Also borrowing from the auto sector are the tinted hopper windows made from toughened automotive glass, complete with sturdy metal struts to hold them open. Like those fitted to the Windsor Hybrid, they should resist scratching better than the usual double-glazed acrylic RV windows, although we did find some of the internal blinds and flyscreens on the windows a bit fiddly.

Swish spacious interior

While less radical than the exterior, the glossy cabinet fascias, black leatherette upholstery and other modern finishes and fittings on this Pioneer XC Evolution should please most caravanners looking for the latest interior look.

There’s certainly plenty of space for a couple, with this particular layout boasting the familiar north-south walk-around queen bed up front, central café dinette and kitchen, and full width rear ensuite including separate shower, toilet and washing machine.

Adding to the timber-free theme is a kitchen benchtop made from rot-proof laminated panel, instead of the timber ply used for the rest of the cabinetry, while the wall separating the ensuite and living area is also of lightweight 'Future-Teck' construction, bolted to the main body for extra rigidity.

Coromal has also paid attention to the structural integrity of the furniture, adding extra aluminium reinforcement and fixing points to overhead lockers, along with additional hinges. It all seems pretty sturdy, although we didn’t bang it around too much off-road.

Our only real criticism inside were some unfinished surfaces discovered deep inside a couple of the cabinets; while largely cosmetic, they took some of the sheen off an otherwise well-finished van.

Packed to the rafters

With a price-tag just north of $90,000, you'd expect plenty of kit in the Pioneer Evolution XC, and it doesn’t disappoint.

The two 120Ah house batteries, along with the Projecta 25amp battery charger and breakaway unit, are housed in the storage area under the queen-sized, memory foam mattress, along with a solar controller for the two 150W solar panels on the roof.

Also mounted in the bedroom area is the 22in TV/DVD, hooked up to the Winegard aerial, along with the usual twin half-wardrobes (including storage nooks with 240V/USB points), overhead lockers, reading lights and windows on three sides.

There's another pair of tall storage cabinets as you enter the bedroom, which hide on one of their shelves the controls for the Flojet water pump, Projecta monitor and water tank gauges – all not far from the touchscreen DVD and audio player.

Solid kitchen

Moving to the central ‘living’ area, the kitchen galley comes well-equipped with a deep stainless steel sink with drainer and mixer tap, three gas/one electric cooktop and grille, microwave, rangehood, and 193L 12V/240V compressor fridge/freezer.

There’s a decent amount of usable bench space, along with overhead and underbench storage. The most obvious things missing were a pull-out pantry, water filter and oven, although they're hardly deal-breakers.

The lounge/dinette area featured black leatherette upholstery, a tri-fold table and under-seat storage drawers, along with more 12V/USB sockets, reading lights and the two internal speakers.

Along with plenty of downlights, two roof hatches and a roof-top air-conditioner, most of the windows were decorated with curtains.

Bathroom delights

There’s room to move in the rear ensuite, which can be shut off from the rest of the van with the solid sliding door (with built-in towel rack).

There are a number of open and closed storage options in the bathroom, while the display for the instant hot water unit is next to the Dometic cassette toilet. One of the overhead lockers features a swing-out shaving mirror, to complement the main bathroom mirror, and there's a ceramic basin and mixer tap. Part of the bench-top slides out to access the 2.5kg top-load washing machine.

Also impressive in size is the separate fibreglass shower cubicle, which features a clear Perspex door, 12V fan hatch, flexible shower hose, and shelves for your shampoo and conditioner.

Summing up

Coromal's 'Evolution’ treatment is also available on the Element touring range, so you can get the full composite construction without the off-road bits at a more affordable price. It's also good to know the Evolution vans are backed by a five year water ingress warranty.

Buyers can also rest assured that when it takes over production of Coromal and Windsor vans in early-2019, Brisbane-based Apollo has promised to continue to offer the composite Evolution range.

While it has plenty of competition in the sub-$100,000 luxury off-road caravan market, the cutting-edge Pioneer Evolution deserves the attention of discerning buyers.

Specs: Coromal Pioneer Evolution XC PEX632S

Overall length: 8454mm
Body length: 6300mm
Body width: 2470mm
Overall height: 3090mm
Interior height: 1980mm
Tare: 2666kg
ATM: 3266kg
Ball weight (Tare): 164kg
Body: Fibreglass composite walls, roof, honeycomb panel floor
Chassis: FRV high-tensile steel, rivetted
Suspension: Tandem axle independent wishbones, coil springs, shocks
Wheels: 16x7in steel, Bridgestone Dueler 265/75 AT tyres
Brakes: 12in electric drums
Fresh water: 2 x 80L
Grey water: 1 x 110L
Gas: 2 x 9kg
ESC: AL-KO
Battery: 2 x 120Ah
Solar: 2 x 150W roof-top mounted, 30amp regulator
Hot water: Camec instant gas
Cooking: Dometic 3+1 cooktop, grille
Microwave: 25L
Fridge: Novakool 193L compressor
Air-con: Dometic Freshjet, roof-mounted
TV: 22in RV Media TV/DVD
Ensuite: Separate shower and toilet
Lighting: LED
Washing machine: Camec 2.5kg top-loader
Price: $91,530 (drive-away, Qld)
Supplied by: Coromal Windsor Brisbane, Contarf, Queensland
More info: Coromal Windsor Caravans