Cub Campers C16 2022 Review

We’re all familiar with Cub Campers, that Aussie icon that has made tent campers out of its Sydney factory for more than 50 years.

Now the family-owned company has a new model of the likes we’ve never seen from them before: a premium, fixed-roof compact off-road tourer called the C16, that represents Cub’s first-ever, canvas-free RV model.

The first hint that this is an upmarket offering is the starting price - $129,990. This may sound high for a Cub, but actually represents reasonable value in a segment where six-figure prices are not unusual.

Built at Cub's Sydney factory not far from the camper trailers, the Cub C16 hybrid caravan boasts a 'timber-free' composite body that offers a relatively compact body length of 4.8 metres -- or 16 feet in the old money.

It's fixed roof means you won’t be able to squeeze in to as many bushy campsites as a Cub camper trailer, given that it’s a touch more than 2.2 metres wide and almost 3 metres tall, but it will be a lot easier to set up and live in once you're there...

There is nothing flash about the exterior styling of the Cub Campers C16; a simple ‘C16’ badge on the back is about it. You can’t help but feel that Cub could have made the exterior look a bit more interesting, without going as far as gaudy stickers applied everywhere. As it is, it’s a bit Spartan.

At least there are plenty of external features included as standard, starting with a pull-out stainless steel kitchen, with three-burner gas cook-top, sink with mixer tap, and some bench space for food prep.

A slide-out is fitted to the locker ahead of the kitchen so that you can fit a large portable fridge if required.

The Cub caravan also offers several storage options outside, including a large front boot, a tunnel boot (with access on each side) and two lockers on the offside. Meanwhile, the diesel tank for the space heater, twin 4.5 kilo gas bottles and two jerry holders are housed under a protective cover on the A-frame. The A-frame also offers a horizontal jockey wheel storage holder; a neat touch.

Other external highlights include a Camec Odyssey 'keyless' entry door, outdoor shower and reversing camera, and capping it off is a 4.5-metre roll-out awning and LED lighting including some floodlights mounted on three sides of the caravan.

The Cub C16 van is designed for hard-core bush travel, with its Cub-built galvanised chassis underpinned by AL-KO Enduro-X independent suspension.

Up at the pointy end is an AL-KO off-road coupling, or optional Cruisemaster D0-35. The 17-inch alloy wheels are shod with mud-terrain tyres, while brakes are 12-inch electric.

The Cub C16 is also fitted out for remote off-grid 'glamping', with four 180 watt rooftop solar panels that feed into a couple of 200 amp-hour lithium batteries, and a diesel heater fed by a 10-litre tank to keep you warm on those cold Outback nights.

There are two 100-litre fresh water tanks slung underneath, joined by a 100-litre grey water tank.

Step inside the Cub C16 and there’s just about everything you’d expect from a luxury compact home away from home. Although this is not an expansive fit-out, you don’t feel cramped inside and the combination of large windows and light-colour materials make it feel very bright and welcoming inside.

The layout includes a north-south (2.1m x 1.6m) king-size bed with pillowtop mattrress at the front; a central dinette with leatherette upholstery, and an internal kitchen and bathroom at the rear.

A stand-out feature is the four large side windows, which allow plenty of natural light in. They’ll also open up for some cross breezes, and have built-in mesh screens and blinds.

The dinette area isn't large but has two useful swivel tables that can be used independently or joined to make a single table.

The bathroom in the right rear corner includes a cassette toilet, shower and sink. It's not a particularly large space, but it's quite long in dimensions and so doesn't feel as cramped as these type of 'combo' bathrooms can be.

Next to the bathroom along the rear wall is a small kitchen with a microwave and internal fridge, if you prefer cooking inside rather than out.

If I was going to be picky, I’d say a small gas (or possibly diesel or induction) cooker integrated in the internal kitchen would be useful for when cooking outside wasn’t such an attractive option. Then again, you can always bring along a small portable cooker, and having an integrated gas unit introduces legal ventilation requirements – that can also cause dust ingress problems.

You can’t please everyone in a 16-foot fit-out!

Given the Cub’s relatively compact shape, there’s no surprise to discover that internal storage options are not abundant, but it’s not too bad.

There is space under the lift-up bed base, as well as a large slide-out drawer under the bed. Then there are a few pockets and storage compartments for all your knick-knacks dotted around the bed area. There’s also a high mount locker, slide-out pantry and some useful drawers in the kitchen area.

Adding to the modern caravan feel is a rooftop air conditioner, while the electrics are supervised by a Redarc Redvision system. The diesel heat control panel, interior lighting control and the Redvision control panel are fitted adjacent to the dinette.

If there are any issues with the management system, all the 12v distribution system and fuses are housed in an easily accessed hatch on the offside.

Meanwhile, entertainment is well covered off with a 27in Smart TV with DVD player, a Fusion audio system with four speakers, and there’s also a Wi-Fi 4GX mobile router modem fitted as standard.

Easy towing

With an unloaded weight of two tonnes, a towball download of just 140kg (unladen) and 700 kilos of payload, the single axle Cub C16 should be light enough for relatively easy towing behind most larger 4WD wagons and utes. The 700kg payload is quite generous and should accommodate several weeks of supplies for remote camping.

With heaps of ground clearance, bump-absorbing trailing arm suspension and chunky off-road tyres, the Cub C16 should also make light work of outback touring.

While we didn’t get to camp in the new Cub caravan, it does appear to be well put together. Carpentry joins in the fit-out were all very neat, as were the welds under the van.

For such a compact unit the C16 seems to offer plenty of promise for off the grid camping: 200 litres of water, 400A/h lithium battery capacity and 720watts of solar input are promising, while the 10 litres of diesel and 9kg of gas should also keep you going for a while without replenishment.

The only shortfall is the lack of a standard inverter if you wanted, for example, to run the 240v rooftop air conditioner or microwave when free camping. A 3000 watt inverter is optional, as is another two 200Ah lithium batteries, extra 180W rooftop solar panel and a portable 200W solar panel if you want to spend longer off the grid.

So that’s the all-new Cub Campers C16 caravan in a nut-shell.

Nothing really game-changing from one of Australia’s oldest RV manufacturers, but if you’re after a homegrown, solidly-built, user-friendly and relatively luxurious Outback caravan, it appears to tick most of the boxes.

How much does the Cub Campers C16 caravan cost?

Price: $129,990 (drive away, NSW)
Options fitted: None
Travel length: 7450mm
Body length (external): 4800mm
Body width (external): 2230mm
Travel height: 2920mm
Interior height: 1975mm
Tare weight: 2000kg
ATM: 2700kg
Ball weight (Tare): 140kg
Body: Creative Composites Complite fibreglass insulated sandwich panels for floor, walls and roof
Chassis: Galvanised steel
Suspension: AL-KO Enduro-X independent trailing arm, coil springs, double shocks
Brakes: 12in electric
Stability Control: No
Wheels: 17in alloy with 265/65R17 BF Goodrich KM-4 MT tyres
Fresh water: 2 x 100 litres (plus 100-litre grey water tank)
Battery: 400A/h lithium
Solar: 4 x 180watt rooftop panels
Air-conditioner: Dometic Harrier Lite
Gas: 2 x 4kg
Hot water/air heater: Truma Combi D6 (diesel)
Cooking: Smev three-burner gas (external)
Fridge: Dometic Coolmatic CRX 110C compressor
Microwave: 23L 900w
Shower: Combined internal shower/toilet and external shower
Toilet: Thetford cassette
Lighting: 12V LED
TV: 27in Smart TV/DVD
Audio: Fusion Bluetooth with four speakers
Supplied by: Cub Campers, North Rocks NSW
Website: Cub Campers