Michael Browning•12 May 2017

REVIEW

First look: Jayco Adventurer

RV giant’s first dedicated off-roader gives market rivals something to fear

Jayco hasn’t made many wrong moves in its 42-year history. The company’s dominant position as Australia’s largest caravan and camper trailer manufacturer, accounting for as many as half of all RVs sold, confirms this and its new Adventurer off-road caravan certainly won’t be one of them.

Pitched as a serious remote area traveller, the four-model Adventurer range that currently includes a 13ft pop-top, a compact 16ft caravan and two 19ft models in couples or family layouts, gives its competitors many reasons to worry.

For a start, it ticks all the wanted off-road boxes in terms of appearance, ground clearance, suspension and equipment and it’s purpose-built for heavier duties than the Outback version of most other Jayco models.

Plus, it’s a Jayco and this means a lot in terms of service support and used market value.

Heavyweight contender

It’s not all rosy in the Jayco garden, however and the Adventurer’s weight – although ball park with traditional off-road caravans at a Tare of 2586kg as reviewed – is heavier than many larger, all-composite caravans from smaller makers. And the Adventurer’s retail price at $85,970 for the 16ft model, is in the premium, rather than bargain zone for a fully-equipped off-roader of its size.

So the Adventurer must be judged on its merits alone, but the good news is that it compares well.

From its first display as a market teaser at last year’s Melbourne Leisurefest, the Adventurer has had industry tongues wagging and many travellers have delayed purchasing comparable caravans until the newcomer’s formal launch.

Now, with Jayco dealers due to get Adventurer stock within weeks, it’s time to examine the newcomer in detail, albeit in pre-production form.

The 16ft, 16.50-3 model we borrowed was a smart, albeit conventional looker, employing the same insulated, in-house built Toughframe composite walls as Jayco’s premium Silverline models, but like all Adventurer models finished in grey fibreglass, instead of white.

Elsewhere, checker plate made its presence felt well up the windowless front and half way along the sides and tail, with red-painted steel ‘scrub bars’ protecting the lower body sides, matching the bold red and black ‘Adventurer’ decals.

It sat tall on its hot-dipped 150mm x 50mm galvanised chassis and A-frame, with a Hitchmaster DO-35 coupling up the pointy end and newly-developed tandem JTech suspension underneath.

This off-road JTech differs from the trailing arm independent suspension that’s standard on all Silverline models and comes as part of the Outback pack on other Jayco caravans and camper trailers in having two large-bore Pedders telescopic shock absorbers per wheel, making it equivalent to the off-road systems currently offered by AL-KO and Vehicle Components.

Two 82-litre capacity fresh water tanks are tucked up under the floor and shielded from stone attack, but the plastic waste pipes from the front-mounted bathroom and central kitchen look vulnerable, while ring-clamps on the braided hose lines leading in and out of the tanks look a tad agricultural.

AL-KO 12-inch off-road brakes, 16-inch alloy wheels with 245/70 series tyres and AL-KO ESC stability control complete the under-van story.

Built for bush bashing

Although relatively high-mounted, the galvanised steel entry step could also be vulnerable in some off-road situations, but on the credit side, the rear bumper with its twin spare wheels is supported by four steel struts and has a decent cutaway rake. This departure angle is aided by the rearward bias of the tandem axle set.

Twin 9kg gas bottles on the A-frame are flanked by twin galvanised jerry can holders behind a removable truck-mesh stone screen, while a large checker-plate storage bin, with room for a portable fridge or a Weber Baby Q on one side and a generator slide on the other is between them and the caravan body.

Its top-hinged lid gives access to another shallow compartment that would be ideal for storing hoses, power leads and even the jockey wheel.

Another separate, shallow locker in the front left corner of the body is supplemented by another small locker in the right hand rear corner, while there’s a further space in a smaller off-side locker which doubles as a vent for the large 218-litre 12/240V Waeco compressor fridge/freezer.

For travellers wanting to take full advantage of the Adventurer’s ability to venture off the beaten track, a small stainless steel kitchen with a two-burner cooktop (not fitted on the pre-production model), glass lid sink with mixer tap and a fold-out BBQ tray slides out of a rear door-side locker.

However, other than the tool box, there’s not a lot of external space to store things like folding chairs, tables and crates of beverages, but after all, this is only a 16ft caravan.

Room for two

It’s a better story inside, where Magnolia-toned furniture and windows on three sides give the interior of the review Adventurer a light and welcoming look.

Fitting a queen bed and a full separate shower and toilet bathroom into a 16ft caravan with a raked rear floor limits the interior layout choices, but the combination of a transverse rear bed, an L-shaped lounge and overhead cupboards lining the upper walls achieves a very acceptable amount of room for a travelling couple.

If you don’t feel agile enough for this bed configuration, choose the larger Adventurer 19.60-2 model, where the extra metre of body length (and extra 250kg or so Tare weight) is invested in a conventional north-south island front bed and a rear entry door, although the 19.60-3 family van of similar length reverts to a front transverse bed layout in order to fit twin single bunk beds in the rear.

In practice, the layout on the review Adventurer works very well, with ample room for two people to move around. The return section of the lounge and the large 215 litre Waeco fridge opposite form a gateway to the bedroom area, with the only downside that making the bed will be a bit more difficult.

Twin 12v fans fitted at the foot of the bed supplement the Adventurer’s standard Air Command Ibis 3 rooftop mounted reverse cycle air conditioner for added comfort in hot northern areas, and there’s a Truma gas heater fitted under the bed as standard.

However, don’t look for storage under the bed – this space is also occupied by the caravan’s hot water service and pump on one side and the slide-in kitchen on the other, with little room left for small odds and ends.

It’s a better story under the main lounge cushions, though you’ll need to remove the standard leather cushions first to lift the plywood lid. Being almost above the axles, this is a good place to store heavier items that are not frequently needed.

Small but smart kitchen

The kitchen is compact, but surprisingly practical, with a good-sized prep area to the left of the deep-bowl stainless steel sink and adjacent Thetford Triplex plus 3+1 gas/electric cooktop, with grill and oven below. A Sphere microwave oven above provides yet another cooking option.

A standard water filter is incorporated to allow you to enjoy drinking water and good tea and coffee in bore water areas.

Cupboard space is also decent in the galley, with a combination of drawers, cupboards and a two-row slide out pantry – all equipped with positive action locks for off-road use.

Jayco has also created special L-shaped aluminium brackets to anchor all its cabinetry more securely in the Adventurer than on its other caravan models, something that was tested to destruction at the Australia Automotive Research Centre at Anglesea in Victoria during the Adventurer’s two-year development programme.

Commendably for such a short caravan, the 16ft Adventurer comes with a surprisingly roomy separate bathroom that extends across the caravan‘s full front width.

There’s a separate fibreglass shower module to the left of a central above-bench washing bowl, with the toilet to the right and a Sphere 3kg top-loading washing machine beneath the vanity benchtop to its left.

The review van had no latch to hold the benchtop lid open while you access the washing machine, but production versions should feature a bi-fold lid that stays open.

Unfortunately, the sloping front of the caravan doesn’t allow room for a mirror, which instead is located on the opposite wall above the towel rail. And while the concertina sliding door to the bathroom obviously saves weight, it's less preferable to a solid sliding door.

On the positive side, the bathroom ceiling is equipped with a spring-loaded ‘scupper vent’ that can be opened to pressurise the Adventurer’s interior against dust ingress when travelling on dusty roads – something any ‘serious’ off-road caravan should have.

The Adventurer is well equipped for off-the-grid remote area travels and apart from its good fresh water capacity it comes standard with twin 150W roof-mounted solar panels feeding two 120AH deep cycle batteries.

We liked:

>> Well-equipped for off road and size

>> Well-planned interior

>> Excellent ground clearance

Not so much:

>> Relatively heavy and pricey for its size

>> Galvanised step and some piping vulnerable

>> No wardrobe and limited payload

Verdict

Two years of development and testing by Jayco has produced a tough and well-designed off-roader with the most wanted market features.

There was still some room for minor improvement in small areas on the pre-production model we reviewed, but none should be important enough to stop the Adventurer going on every potential Outback traveller’s short list.

Jayco Adventurer 16.50-3

Travel length: 7392mm

External body length: 5180mm

External body width: 2486mm

Travel height: 3055mm

Interior height: 1978kg

Tare weight: 2586kg

ATM: 3000kg

Ball weight: 251kg

Body: Fibreglass composite ‘Toughframe’ walls

Chassis: 150mm x 50mm galvanised

Suspension: Tandem independent JTECH trailing arm coil spring, with twin telescopic shock absorbers per wheel

Brakes: 12-inch electric drum

Wheels: 16in alloy with 245/70-16 tyres

ESC: Al-Ko standard

Fresh water: 2 x 82L

Battery: 2 x120Ah deep cycle

Solar: Twin 150W roof-mounted panels

Fridge: 218L 12/240v Waeco

Cooking: Thetford Triplex plus 3+1 gas/electric cooktop, with grill and oven

Microwave: Sphere

Air conditioning: Air Command Ibis 3 reverse-cycle

Heating: Truma E2400 gas ducted heater

Toilet/Shower: Separate

Lighting: LED

Base price: $85,970

Supplied by: Jayco Australia, Dandenong South, Victoria

First look: Jayco Adventurer

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