First look: AusRV Titan

Hybrid pop-top caravans have been the hot button in the Australian caravan market for several years now, offering the quick set-up and many of the comforts of a caravan with the bush-ability of a camper trailer.

Queensland-based Market Direct Campers should know. For the past 12 years it has built its business case for its Chinese co-built soft and hard-floor campers, and more recently, pop-top and full height off-road MDC caravans, to target the dollar-conscious end of the Australian adventure market.

However, with its more recent Brisbane-built AusRV range of caravans, the MD Group has taken an each-way approach to the market, recently adding a range of locally-manufactured, on and off-road vans. The next step in their business plan is a hybrid off-road pop-top and their newly released 12ft Titan is an impressive first shot.

Heading upmarket

What makes the Titan particularly interesting is that it tackles the opposite end of the market to the Chinese-built MDC range that are finished off only a few metres away in the same large Brisbane factory.

We were impressed with the range of features in the MDC XT12 HR (High Roof) off-road caravan that we reviewed late last year when it was show-priced at just $34,990 with loads of standard equipment.

Although it and its pop-top hybrid sister, the XT12-DB pop-top, are now both selling for just over $40,000, that’s still only half the Titan’s price, which starts at $79,990 and was $82,490 as reviewed.

MDC is confident that buyers won’t be comparing them. Instead it believes they will shop the newcomer against well-established hybrid brands and models like Australian Off Road’s Odyssey, Complete Campsite’s Exodus 11 and 14, Rhinomax’s Scorpion and Discovery and Track Trailer’s Topaz, to name just a few.

That’s not surprising, as AusRV has obviously had a very close look at its rivals and incorporated most of their best features in the Titan.

Good first impressions

For a newcomer to already be discussed in this company, it has to be good and from what we have seen so far, the Titan looks the real deal.

Made from Australian-sourced materials and locally built, it comes reassuringly with a five-year structural, chassis and drawbar warranty, plus three years for electrical appliances.

Although just 3.7 metres (12ft) long, it also looks built like the proverbial brick outhouse, with 150mm diameter, hot-dipped galvanised Austube Mills steel employed for its chassis, with a DO-35 off-road coupling at the tip of its same-diameter A-frame.

Underneath, the Titan is similarly impressive, with single-axle Vehicle Components’ Cruisemaster XT 2.6 tonne independent trailing arm suspension, Australian-made coil springs and shock absorbers and automotive grade, maintenance-free bushes. VC’s ATX 2.8 tonne airbag suspension with wireless self-levelling was fitted to the review Titan as a $2500 option.

As with current AusRV caravans, the Titan employs timberless construction, with 30mm-thick full sandwich-press composite fibreglass panels for its walls, while its pop-top roof is made of the same composite material for better insulation and hail-resistance.

Generally, composite walls are heavier than traditional framed and clad construction, but the Titan saves weight on its chassis with its 33mm-thick composite floor that more than makes up for the missing metal in stiffness, so no-one is going to complain about the its 1590kg tare weight.

Family resemblance

Outside, the Titan is a good looking, albeit conventionally-styled hybrid, with a minimalist, family resemblance to AusRV’s full height on and off-road caravans.

As you’d expect with its off-road ambitions, the lower body sides are protected by stone-resistant stipple cladding, while tough lower bush-bars are an option for those intending to take their Titans further afield.

Outside, a massive lockable toolbox on the A-frame can swallow a generator and all the required leads and hoses, while the two 9kg gas bottles and twin flanking jerry can holders are stone-shielded by a sturdy-framed stone-mesh guard.

The lid of this box, on which two Maxtrax are mounted, opens via four latches to reveal a large wood tray that could hold even more if it was hinged at the forward, rather than the rear edge.

As further evidence of thoughtful off-road thinking, the A-frame fresh water tap is shielded from stone-strike, the suspension, electrics, plumbing and water tanks are well protected underneath, the chassis is fitted with twin rear recovery hooks and baggy 285-section Mickey Thompson Baja off-road tyres are standard on alloy rims.

As the Titan is designed for outdoor living, it comes standard with a quality Thule roll-out awning. This shades its large slide-out kitchen, with its standard three-burner cooktop and stainless-steel sink with hot and cold mixer tap.

There’s space for an optional gas BBQ or Weber BabyQ, but AusRV lets buyers make the choice here, as many will have specific cooking preferences.

A large double-draw steel pantry slides out of the adjacent compartment, which is large enough to hold a portable fridge, if desired.

A Truma 14lt hot water system supplies hot water to the outside kitchen and the hybrid’s twin 85 litre poly water tanks with separate fillers are the capacity you would expect in a hybrid at this price level.

Room to move

Inside, via its rear door and electric folding alloy step, the Titan is impressively roomy for its modest body length and in its layout, the designers have obviously taken note of the best ideas from AOR, Rhinomax, Complete Campsite and Track Trailer.

A space-saving transverse queen bed with inner-spring mattress sits in the nose, with three small clothes storage cupboards overhead and another large drawer below.

These overhead cupboards are a problem because (a) their lids don’t stay open and (b) whoever sleeps next to the windowless front curved wall is guaranteed to bang their head on them.

If AusRV wants to borrow more good ideas, it should adopt the elastic-sided nets like those employed by Track Trailer on its Topaz and Tvan.

Another problem with the Titan’s bed is that there’s no room for the mattress to move on its base, making installing fitted sheets very difficult. Two possible solutions here are to increase the bed base width by about 20mm, or fit a slightly-smaller double-bed mattress.

Inside cooking too

In the Titan’s rear, a full-width internal kitchen, housing a three-gas burner Swift cooktop next to a shallow, stainless-steel sink, spreads across the hybrid behind the entry door.

A pantry slides out below the sink, with a large two-door cupboard beneath the cooktop, next to a nest of quite roomy drawers on the door side.

In between the bed and the kitchen there’s a quite large dining table on an eccentric swivel and a lounge with seating for two, while a slimline Thetford 90 litre compressor fridge is on the opposite wall, next to a low cupboard that serves as a TV platform.

Add plenty of 12-volt sockets, a touch-screen Fusion stereo system and LED lighting throughout the interior, plus a standard drop-down picnic table outside and you get the picture: this new hybrid has the lot… well almost.

Outside showering only

What’s missing, which is hardly surprising in a 12ft pop-top, is a bathroom. Instead of trying to squeeze one inside, AusRV has followed the path of its main micro-hybrid rivals by fitting a top-hinged rear pod with a drop-down shower/privacy screen.

To access this, you first unclip and swing out the hinged spare wheel on its slim arm and the tent with its full zipped door, drops down once the pod is opened. After its lower perimeter is pegged out, you can install a portable toilet here, while the connection for the hot and cold shower is accessed via a Velcro-sealed slit in the rear wall of the shower screen.

Self-sufficiency in remote areas is well catered for with the Titan’s standard two, 100Ah AGM batteries (a lithium upgrade is an option) fed by a 200W rooftop mounted solar panel and controlled by a 30Ah Redarc Manager 30 Battery Management System.

The Redarc is an interesting product, as it has the ability to charge an auxiliary battery from the vehicle while on the move, plus it’s also a 240-volt charger, a solar regulator, a battery isolator, a load disconnect controller and comes with a remote battery monitor.

And if you want to live it up a bit and make a pod coffee, or power other small 240V appliances for a short time, there’s a standard 1000W inverter incorporated into the Titan’s BMS.

Verdict

Can this newcomer cut it in this elite league? Time will tell.

With an initial sale target of 50, two-berth Titans in 2018 and plans already in hand to add a slightly larger four-berth model within a couple of months, it has every chance.

Specs: AusRV Titan

Travel length: 6221mm

External body length: 3700mmmm

External body width: 2022mm
Travel height: 2480mm
Tare: 1590kg

ATM: 2500kg

Ball weight: 100kg

Body: Sandwich press fibreglass composite walls, pop-top roof and floor

Chassis: 150mm x 50mm hot-dipped galvanised steel chassis and A-frame

Suspension: Vehicle Components Cruisemaster independent trailing arm, coil spring with twin shock absorbers per wheel (Airbag ATX optional)

Brakes: Off-road 12-in electric drums

Wheels: 16in alloy with 285/75-16 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ P3 tyres

Fresh water: 2 x 80l fresh

Battery: 2 x 100Ah AGM

Solar: 200W roof-mounted with Redarc controller/charger

Gas: 2 x 9kg

Cooking: Optional cooktop/BBQ or Weber Baby Q in external kitchen, plus separate 3-burner interior gas cooktop.

Fridge: 90l compressor inside; optional compressor cabinet fridge in external kitchen

Bathroom: External hot/cold shower and shower tent.

Lighting: LED

Price: From $79,990 (as reviewed $82,490)

Supplied by: AusRV, Loganholme, Qld