First look: Snowy River SR17

I’m old enough to remember when ‘Made in Japan’ and ‘Made in Korea’ both meant cheap and sometimes nasty, but now the best cameras come from the former and both countries produce some of the world’s most sought-after cars.

China is on a similar trajectory with caravans – only faster. Chinese-made camper trailers are now the preferred choice among most value-conscious Australian campers and after reviewing one of the latest fully-imported Snowy River caravans, I’m convinced it’s only a short time before they become a similarly-popular choice for budget caravanners.

More Aussie than ever

Previous Chinese caravans that I've reviewed have looked like, well, Chinese caravans.

Their design and features were a little ‘clunky’, the décor was more Asian than Australian, their components were unfamiliar to our eyes and they were unexpectedly heavy.

None of these criticisms, with one exception, apply to the fully-imported 17ft Snowy River SR17 that we're looking at here. That exception to our eyes is the beige exterior fibreglass, (which we understand some Australian buyers like) but as you can order your Snowy River in white, we can set that aside.

Price has always been an advantage of Chinese-made campers and caravans, and the Snowy River range offers that in spades.

Melbourne prices start at around $47,000 for the 15ft version; $50,000 for the 17-foot van we reviewed and $52,000 for the 19ft version, with freight adding around $3000 by the time they get to Queensland. But even then they represent excellent value.

Better build quality

But it’s the way they’re built that is likely to win Australian buyers over.

Most previous Chinese imports were churned out by sub-contract factories with little long-term loyalty to Aussie end-users and were usually fitted with Chinese-branded appliances, which turned some potential buyers off – and resulted in poor re-sale values.

Snowy River, despite its jingoistic name, is doing it differently. For a start, the company is owned by the same Chinese-Australian that also owns long-term Australian brand Regent caravans and has a stake in the vans’ manufacture.

Just recently, both Regent and Snowy River moved into the same large Melbourne factory where they’re completed side by side, sharing some components for efficiency. This is rather like the model that Market Direct Campers uses in Brisbane, where locally-designed and built AusRV caravans are built on one side and imported MDC campers, hybrids and caravans are finished off for compliance on the other side of the same facility.

The other thing that sets Snowy River apart from other full imports is the way they are made in China. For a start they’re shipped on a sturdy and beautifully-finished galvanised 4-inch steel chassis with a 6-inch A-frame that clearly owes its inspiration to the Australian-made Austrail, but to overcome any suspicion of inferior quality, the chassis fully comply with Australian Design Requirements.

They’re then fitted here with Chinese-made, but Australian-sourced appliances and finished off to comply with our gas and plumbing regulations -- but despite their origin, you’ll not see Chinese writing on any component.

Finally, equipped with its black checker lower stone shielding, twin 9kg gas bottles up front, with 15-inch alloy wheels and 12-inch electric brakes beneath, the review SR17 looked every inch a true-blue local van.

Cutting-edge construction

The other big difference about the Snowy River is its sandwich construction that while not unique, is unusual to find on a caravan in this price bracket.

Welded aluminium box section wall, roof and floor frames and their polyurethane insulation core are sandwiched between 2mm thick fibreglass sheets in a vacuum press to form solid, fully-insulated structures. It’s a far cry from the traditional Aussie stick and tin!

The standard suspension on all Snowy River single and tandem axle caravans is Al-Ko’s independent 2.5 tonne rubber torsion, but you can also specify Al-Ko’s independent trailing arm Enduro Cross country suspension if your travel plans are a little more adventurous – just allow a four month wait.

A full composite floor almost twice the thickness of the 25mm wall panels completes the Snowy Rivers’ insulation, with the plumbing protected from stone strike by being tucked well up between the chassis rails and further checker plate protecting the two 95-litre fresh water tanks.

Limited external storage

There’s no front boot on the SR17 in the interest of maximising interior living space, but a familiar-looking hatch covers reveal a stepped through-body front boot large enough to accommodate hoses, power cords and an awning mat. Just as well, as other than the van’s standard slotted aluminium A-frame stone tray, there’s nowhere else for them to be stored outside.

Step inside via the aluminium, folding step (not the cheap galvanised steel steps that you usually find on entry-level vans) and you’re greeted by a familiar Australian caravan layout – a front island queen bed flanked  by hanging half-robes, a two-seater café dinette straddling the door-side wheel box, with the kitchen opposite and a full separated shower and toilet bathroom in the tail.

As a result, the Snowy River, despite its Oriental origins, has a familiar look.

The high-gloss cabinets, soft-close drawers and lockers have combined chromed latch-handles that are fingernail friendly and the visible plumbing and wiring inside is neat without encroaching on storage space.

Four good-sized side windows, plus the door, shielded front window and two roof hatches admit plenty of light, which is amplified  by the white fibreglass roof and walls, giving the impression of more space than this modest-size caravan actually has.

However, the strengthening bulkheads on each side of the entry door constrict space for those accessing the door-side of the bed. On the positive side, they protect you from stepping into the footwell if getting up in the dark ‘wee’ hours.

Compact kitchen

As you would expect in a relatively small caravan, kitchen bench space is quite limited while you’re cooking and the high location of the standard NCE microwave is not ideal for short travellers.

However the familiar brand names will win Australian hearts, with the large standard 184 litre American Thetford fridge-freezer and Thetford 3 + 1 gas/electric Minigrill Mk 3 and Camec rangehood adding welcome familiarity.

The dinette opposite suffers from the same limitations as all those that span the wheelbox in that there’s really only room for two large people to sit, but the tri-fold table in between means that it can be used as extra servicing space when the kitchen bench is fully utilised and bolster cushions on the wall side.

Bathroom ticks the boxes

The rear bathroom ticks all the boxes, with a Thetford cassette toilet on the left, a vanity basin with good space on both sidse and a huge mirror in the middle, plus a fibreglass shower pod on the right.

Little details like towel rails, a shelf in the shower to hold shampoo bottles and a fashionable black pedestal mixer tap on the top-mounted hand basin, show that the designers have had some practical caravanning experience.

Equally impressive is that the 17ft Snowy River as reviewed had a tare weight of 1971kg and a carrying capacity of more than 500kg, which means it’s within the comfortable towing range of medium sized 4WDs like the Toyota Prado.

We towed it on freeways and bumpy backroads behind a Holden Colorado ute at posted road speed up to 110km/h, and it was rock steady and handled impressively at all times, showing that the chassis designers have also done their homework.

Summing up

What we're seeing in the Snowy River is a stepping stone. The real game-changer in the Australian RV market will come when the Chinese stop copying and gain the confidence to design their own lightweight caravans.

Snowy River SR17 caravan

Travel length: 7480mm
External body length: 5600mm
External body width: 2380mm
Travel height: 3070mm
Tare: 1971kg
ATM: 2500kg
Payload: 529kg
Ball weight: 172kg
Body: Fibreglass composite walls, roof and floor
Chassis: Galvanised steel 150mm x 50mm A-frame and 100mm chassis
Suspension: AL-KO rubber torsion independent
Brakes: 12-inch electric drums
Wheels: 15x7in alloy with 235/75-15 tyres
Water: 2 x 95l fresh water tanks
Battery: 1 x 100Ah AGM
Solar: 1 x 120W roof-mounted
Gas: 2 x 9kg
Cooking: 4 burner (3 gas + I electric) Thetford Minigrill cooktop, plus grill
Microwave: NCE
Fridge: 184L Thetford N604 3-way
Bathroom: Separate shower, toilet and vanity rear bathroom
Lighting: LED throughout
Base price: $52,990
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