First look: Atlantic Hi-Terrain

Off-road caravans are becoming increasingly popular, and so it’s no surprise that Campbellfield, Victoria caravan manufacturer Atlantic has added a rough road model to its portfolio, joining the existing Endeavour and New Generation ranges.

The dirt-ready Hi-Terrain comes in two body lengths and four layouts – so you can have a 17-foot body length with front side door and either island double bed or two singles, or a 19ft rear side door… again, with either island double bed or two single beds.

Here, we’re having a look at the 19ft N190-RD island bed model, fresh from the Parravans dealer display at the Sydney Supershow…

Following a theme

The Hi-Terrain’s body follows the theme set by the New Generation – that is, a Meranti timber frame enveloped in aluminium composite cladding.

The chassis is also conventional: 50mm x150mm RHS steel longitudinal rails with an extended 50mm x 150mm A-frame (which runs right up to, but just before the front wheels). However, it’s a really solid piece of engineering; there are substantial longitudinal and lateral beams supporting the main chassis rails and the A-frame is braced.

Adding a few kilos but reassuring for Outback adventurers, there has been a lot of effort made to protect the underside of the van from stone damage.

The water tanks are wrapped in aluminium checker plate and the van’s floor is reinforced with and protected by galvanised sheeting. Plumbing and wiring is all routed so that it’s well out of harm’s way; for example the wiring leading to the front of the A-frame runs within the offside RHS chassis rail. Even the grey water outlet pipe is protected with rubber tubing.

The Atlantic is suspended by an Oz Trekker independent, coil-spring and damper set-up and has ubiquitous AL-KO 10-inch electric drum brakes. The eye-catching 16-inch alloy wheels on the example we looked at were fitted with Cooper Discoverer S/T tyres.

The suspension and brake drums were painted a bright green, complementing the green highlights on the wheels and following the green theme set by the Hi-Terrain’s body graphics.

Loaded A-frame

Up at the A-frame, there are a few noteworthy features. The D035 coupling is followed up by a centre-mounted jockey wheel, and there’s enough room on the A-frame rails for weight distribution clamps.

Just behind the jockey wheel mount is a mesh stone guard, with a large mudflap attached to each side. The stone guard is a little too close to the jockey wheel mount though  – it can be hard to wind the jockey wheel if you don’t clamp it in at the right height.

Further back on the A-frame and protected by the stone guard are the two 9kg gas bottles and a large powder-coated black checker plate tool box. The partitioned tool box is accessed via a gas strut-assist top lid and also a door on the off side.

Useful for carrying extra fuel in remote areas, the tool box has a jerry-can holder on each side. On the right A-frame rail is a tap, protected from stone damage with a powder-coated black checkerplate shield.

External storage is capped off with a front tunnel boot. You get about half of the width of the boot for storage, accessed on the offside. The rest of the boot space is taken up by a slide-out kitchen, with a cold water tap over a sink, a large bench and a small barbeque (accessed from the nearside tunnel boot hatch).

The Hi-Terrain has a handle on the body, one each side on the front. Surely they are ornamental? This is a three-tonne van when loaded up, and not one you’ll be moving very far by hand.

Outdoor living

Moving along the nearside, there’s what has become a familiar set-up on large vans for outdoor living: a small picnic table, external audio speakers and outlets for TV aerial, a 240volt outlet, two 12v aux ports and a 15-foot long roll-out awning. Up the back there are another two handles and a bumper on which is attached the spare wheel.

On the offside there’s the lockable battery compartment for the two AGM batteries (that is, the latch can be padlocked closed), access to the gas/electric water heater and the toilet cassette, an external shower, 240volt power inlet and the water tank filler with locking cap.

Fold down the steps, open up the Dometic Columbia door and walk up inside and you’ll find a bright and spacious layout. There are few surprises with the fit-out design: it’s the familiar island front bed, centre kitchen and cafe dinette followed by the rear bathroom.

The large hopper window at the front bedroom and smaller windows over the kitchen and lounge and small bathroom window are all double-glazed and fitted with a roller blind and insect screen.

Decent bathroom

Bathrooms are often a size you either love or hate; make it too small and it becomes frustrating to use but make it nice and big and you’re making the van that bit longer and thus more unwieldy to tow, or compromising space elsewhere in the layout.

The Atlantic’s bathroom is a good size without wasting space; it has a decent-size shower enclosure, with a mixer tap, adjustable and detachable shower rose and a hatch with an extractor fan, a good amount of storage and an easily accessed 2kg front-loading washing machine. There are some quality fittings here, such as the porcelain sink (with mixer tap).

The kitchen takes up most of the space between bedroom and bathroom on the offside of the van. There’s not much bench space with the cooker in use, but with the fold down section of the bench folded down over the cooker, there’s plenty of room to prepare food. The stainless steel splash back looks great and covers the whole wall behind and to the side of the kitchen.

There’s a lot of useful storage spots at the kitchen, from large cupboards for bigger pots and pans to small nooks for cleaning products and so on. While it is by no means a new feature on caravans, it’s still good to see a slide-out pantry under the bench.

Like many caravans, the Hi-Terrain has a microwave fitted above the kitchen, where it’s hard to remove hot liquids without splashing it on yourself. Manufacturers have to make compromises with the limited space available, but there has to be a better way of doing this. Fitting the microwave under the bench is a much better solution.

Room for two

There’s only really enough space for two people to sit comfortably at the dinette, even though the benches look like they’re made to seat two people each. It could be done, but leg room is at a premium as there’s a small cupboard fitted under the table against the wall.

There’s more storage space under the seats and above the dinette in large lockers. There are two USB charging ports (and a two-pole 240volt outlet) above the forward dinette seat. However, the charging ports are mounted too high on the wall; they should be fitted just above the dinette table.

The bedroom area is quite spacious, with ample room to move around the 1500mm x 1880mm double bed. If you need some airflow at camp, there’s a Sirocco fan on each side of the bed (high up in the walls) and large hopper windows.

You’ve got an abundance of storage in the bedroom, with a partitioned under-bed area (useful for separate ‘his and hers’ storage), lockers above the bed and hanging wardrobes, small drawers and cupboards on each side of the bed. There are also two narrow, tall cupboards at the foot of the bed on the nearside wall.

The Setek BM Pro battery management unit, HWS switch and water levels and battery SOC readouts are all housed in a locker above the kitchen. There are plenty of 12volt LED lights dotted though the cabin – there’s simply no shortage of light in this van.

A 24-inch flat-screen TV and a DVD/CD/MP3/Radio player are on the standard features list.

Verdict

Off-road vans need to be built tough and that adds to weight, yet you’d hope that a sub-20 foot van (body length) like this would be a little lighter. The Hi-Terrain does have an excellent payload though – 700kg is a lot more than many vans this size offer.

With ample water and battery capacity the Atlantic Hi-Terrain also appears well suited for free camping for a week or two and with its independent suspension and underbody protection it seems to be more than capable of getting somewhere remote and back without suffering too much damage.

Specs: Atlantic Hi-Terrain HT190-1 RD

Travel length: 8510mm (27ft 11in)
Body length (open length): 6000mm (19ft 8in)
External body width: 2430mm (7ft 11in)
Travel height:3042mm (9ft 11in)
Interior height: 1920mm (6ft 3in)
Tare weight: 2740kg|
ATM: 3440kg
Ball weight: 190kg
Body: Aluminium composite skin/timber frame
Chassis: 150x50 galvanised RHS
Suspension: Oz Trekker independent, coils heavy-duty gas shocks
Brakes: AL-KO 10in electric drums
Stability Control: n/a
Wheels: 16-inch alloy on LT265/75R16 tyres
Fresh water: 2x95L
Battery: 2 x 120A/h AGM
Solar: 2 x 150watts
Air-conditioner: Air Command Ibis 3
Gas: 2 x 9kg
Hot water: Suburban 22.6L gas/electric
Cooking: Thetford Minigrill MKIII 3 gas +1 electric cooktop and grill
Fridge: Dometic RM4606 185L three-way
Microwave: Sphere
Toilet: Thetford cassette
Shower: Separate cubicle
Lighting: 12v LED
TV: 24in flat screen
Price: $79,000
Options fitted: None
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