Elite Dirty Harry 16

I had some reservations about Elite’s 'Dirty Harry 14’ chunky off-road caravan when I sampled it earlier this year, although its ability to go places no self-respecting caravan would consider were undoubted.

It was the narrow, full-height van’s rather ‘clunky’ layout, with part of the lounge and the corner bench area in the nose of the van hard to access behind the combined shower-toilet ensuite. While access to the large storage area under the rear east-west bed was severely restricted by the location of the hatch and van’s deep cycle battery.

In short, while Elite was to be applauded for cramming so much into a small 14ft long x 7ft 8in wide full-height caravan, some functionality suffered.

But now we have spent quality time in the bush with its big brother – the 16ft x 7ft 8in Dirty Harry 160 – and those issues have gone away. What a difference an extra 60cm (two feet) in body length makes to the caravan’s liveability!

Both Dirty Harry models are built on similar sturdy underpinnings, with a rugged 150mm dual-beam hot dipped galvanised chassis fitted with a 100mm x 50mm cross member and two 75mm x 50mm gussets to support the standard single axle 2.5 tonne-rated Cruisemaster XT trailing arm coil spring and dual shock absorber suspension.

The body employs traditional ribbed aluminium cladding over a Meranti timber wall-frame. High-tech it’s not, but it’s a proven and trusted construction for off-road caravans because scratched or damaged panels are easily and cheaply repaired or replaced.

All lower body areas are nevertheless well protected against stone and brush damage by checker-plate panelling, which on the van’s nose stretches well up the face to almost shoulder-height.

A separate mesh stone-guard with large lower mudflaps is bolted to a 300mm extended A-frame ahead of the Elite’s twin-door checker-plate toolbox, its twin 9kg gas bottles and, on the 16ft model, a standard bike rack.

Meanwhile, its Vehicle Components DO-35 off-road hitch, heavy-duty wheelboxes, cut-away lower rear end bodywork for better departure clearance, 12-inch brakes, dual front jerry can holders and twin spare wheels shod with monster 285/75R16 Mickey Thompson Baja tyres hanging off the rear bumper signal that this is a van that means business in the bush.

So, just to see how it fitted in with the serious off-road crowd, we took the dirty Harry 16 to Fry’s Hut on the Howqua River in the Victorian High Country, where 42 owners of Australian Off Road campers, hybrid and full-height caravans were having their annual owners’ rally.

We thought the $85,000 Dirty Harry might cause some interest there and indeed it did, largely because of its visual similarity to AOR’s full-height Matrix off-road caravan.

Viewed by the casual observer, the Dirty Harry is a pea from the same pod as AOR’s all-fibreglass Matrix full-height compact caravan, yet I doubt that Elite has lost a single sale to a Matrix and vice versa, as they have distinctly different appeal.

Simply put, the Elite Dirty Harry 16 is a scaled-down, fully-featured off-road caravan, whereas the Matrix is a scaled-up and up-specced hybrid camper trailer and there are major design and philosophical differences at their meeting point.

It starts in the brochure, where AOR proudly trumpets the Matrix’s 1950mm width as the same as a Land Cruiser 200 Series and body length at 4900mm, whereas the Elite Dirty Harry brochure records its width as 7ft 8in (2337mm) and body length at a similar 16ft (4877mm). So the Elite is the same length, but taller and wider – although it doesn’t look so.

In summary: AOR encourages you to go where a Land Cruiser goes, while the Dirty Harry 16 is designed more for severe off-road conditions, rather than tight tracks.

However, it’s the extra width that gives the Dirty Harry its added liveability in the areas where most off-road travellers want to go.

Not everyone likes a transverse double or Queen bed because someone has to clamber over their partner to get out in the dark hours, but it works well at the front of the Elite and unless they are truly geriatric, most people can cope.

The benefit of this arrangement is that it frees up additional space in the Dirty Harry 16 for not only a combined shower and toilet ensuite, a 140-litre Waeco fridge/freezeer and the compact but very useable galley opposite, but also an expansive and luxurious leather-clad club lounge that spreads across the entire rear of the caravan.

This is an unexpected luxury in a compact off-roader, with most vans of this type providing minimal accommodation inside, preferring to focus more on outdoor living and it gives the DH16 a distinct marketing edge.

In fact, in contrast to the shorter DH14, the whole van feels much more ‘liveable’ inside, with room for two people to move around, prepare a meal, read, or work, without tripping over each other.

There’s also a lot of interior storage space. I counted 16 overhead lockers, nine kitchen cupboard and drawers and five other drawers. There’s also a welcome slide-out pantry, while there is another large storage area next to the fridge-freezer.

Thanks to its articulated arm, the large 800mm x 550mm lounge table swings out of the way for easy access for four, five, or at a pinch, even six people. So it’s not only an off-roader, but also an entertainer.

Despite the absence of a front window, the interior of the DH16 is light and airy, thanks to the other large windows on both walls and rear.

Outside, the van also has good storage room, with two good-sized hatches on the right hand side. One would be a full tunnel boot if the standard slide-out Sovereign BBQ was not fitted, but in any case the checker-plate storage box with its twin opening doors on the A-frame more than maxes up for this.

In practice it all works pretty well, with one glaring exception. While a welcome feature, the stone shield is fixed to the A-frame and there’s insufficient space between it and the standard bike rack to extract the twin gas bottles, compounded by the standard stone mesh on the chassis below.

The solution is pretty simple: the bike rack needs to be relocated slightly more rearward, but surely someone encountered this issue before us?
Other than this, the DH160 proved to be excellent company off the bitumen, with one limitation.

Being a single axle van, its maximum laden weight of 2425kg only allows for a maximum 300kg payload over its empty (Tare) weight of 2125kg, so after filling its twin 95-litre fresh water and separate 95-litre grey water tanks, you have just 15kg left to carry all the things you might want to pack for an extended off-road trip, like a generator, tables, chairs, recovery gear and provisions.

Although in reality some of this load will be shared by the tow vehicle and few people will travel far with their grey water tank full.

If you can manage the weight issue, the van will keep you comfortable for some time away, with its twin 120Amp/hr batteries supplemented by twin 135W roof-mounted solar panels, with power delivery managed by a Prostar30 controller, with a Projecta 600W inverter standard to power all manner of 12v devices.

The other issue with a high ATM on a single axle off-road caravan is that you need to run higher tyre pressures than for individual tyres on a tandem axle, but the DH16 Baja MTZ tyres mounted on six-stud alloys, take some of the shock out of the corrugations.

The DH160 certainly felt very stable behind my Land-Rover and its short length meant it followed the tow car faithfully, without have to make major allowances for its size when negotiating tight bends.

But the thing that really impressed me and told me that Elite knows what it is doing in the bush was when we pulled up for the night after nearly 25km of dusty off-road travel. Thanks to the ‘scupper-hatch’ located in the forward section of the roof, the interior was pressurised as we travelled and there was not a spec of dust on the bench-tops.

As anyone who has opened their van at the end of the day and had the soul-destroying experience of seeing everything covered in dust will agree, that’s a golden experience that only an experienced manufacturer can deliver.

WE LIKED:
>> Layout and storage space
>> Comfort features
>> Off-road equipment
>> Ease of towing

NOT SO MUCH:
>> Access to gas bottles
>> Very limited payload for extended travelling
>> Price

VERDICT

A lot of caravans do the off-road ‘talk’, but few do the walk. Elite’s Dirty Harry 16ft is in the latter camp.

It’s a well-conceived and well-equipped caravan that will suit many remote area travellers because of its tough specs, but its single axle configuration and resulting relatively small load-carrying capacity will limit how long you can go ‘bush’.

And it's price at $84,990 for a small single axle caravan might seem high, but then this is the sort of money you need to pay for a dedicated off-road van from respected makers like Trakmaster, Track Trailer, Australian Off-Road and Kimberley.

ELITE CARAVANS DIRTY HARRY 16FT 

Travel length: 7230m
Travel height: 3100mm
External body length: 4880mm (16ft)
External body width: 2340mm (7ft 8in)
Interior height: 2000mm
Tare weight: 2125kg
ATM: 2425kg
Ball weight: 247kg
Body: Grey stucco aluminium panelling and checker-plate over timber frame Chassis: 150mm x 50mm A-frame with 100mm x 50mm main rails
Suspension: 2.5 tonne Cruisemaster independent with coil springs and dual shock absorbers
Brakes: 12-inch electric
Stability Control: ESC optional
Wheels: 16in alloy with 285/75 tyres
Fresh water: 2 x 95l plus 1 x 95l grey water
Battery: 2 x 120Ah AGM
Solar: 2 x 130W roof-mounted
Air-conditioner: Air Command Ibis 3
Gas: 2 x 9.0kg
Cooking: Three gas burner SMEG cooktop
Fridge: 140-litre Waeco compressor fridge/freezer
Microwave: Daewoo
Shower/Toilet: Thetford cassette in fibreglass shower cubicle
Lighting: LED throughout
Price (RRP): $84,990
Supplied by:

Elite Caravans, Campbellfield, Victoria.