Frontline T5 Adventurer

By Malcolm Street

Frontline Camper Conversions do just that – camper conversions. The Sydney-based company has been in business since 1987 and knows a thing or two about the conversion business.

Indeed, Frontline’s conversion resume has quite an impressive lineup – Toyota HiAce, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Fiat Ducato, Kia Pregio and its very latest project, the new Volkwagen T5.

Readers of MHG will know that the T5 van is almost an article in itself but to be brief, most light commercial vehicle builders start with the assumption that the vehicle will be used commercially, mostly as a delivery van.

However, VW started looking at things another way – that the T5 was going to be used as a people mover, which thus made it an excellent prospect for a campervan conversion.

Pick and choose

VW’s T5 comes with a few options in the engine department.

Those available with the Frontline are all turbodiesel, and are either the 77kW 1.9 litre engine bolted to a five-speed manual gearbox or the larger 128kW 2.5 litre which comes with either a six-speed manual or the equally interesting six-speed auto Tiptronic gearbox.

Tiptronic means the gearbox can be used in full auto mode or driven ‘manually’. MHG’s T5 came with the Tiptronic/128kW combination and it’s no slouch. To match that, the front and rear axle independent suspensions make for a generally good handling van.

It’s very car-like behind the wheel, apart from your height off the ground. There’s not even a rattle from the smooth diesel motor, and the steering wheel has multi-adjustment as do both driver and passenger seats.

The gearshift is dash mounted and therefore not in the way when moving to and from the driver’s seat, as is the handbrake on the left hand side of the driver – set low enough to be out of the way but not a stretch to reach.

The T5 also comes in an all-wheel-drive ‘4 Motion’ setup and MHG awaits this with interest. Both driver and passenger doors have good storage pockets.

Freedom and adventure

Frontline’s T5 pop-top conversion comes with two slightly different layouts: the Freedom has two sideways-facing lounges in the rear which can form either two singles or one double bed, while the Adventurer, which MHG borrowed, has a rear passenger lounge which folds down into a double bed.

Although it’s a pop-top there’s little indication from the outside that the Adventurer is a campervan. The pop-top roof, when folded down, is a very streamlined affair and, apart from the water filler on the offside, there are few other indications.

There’s not even a gas cylinder compartment because the fridge only works from 12V and the cooktop is fired by denatured alcohol (methylated spirits). An awning, which is a Frontline option, would give the game away a little more.

Digressing slightly here, MHG considers an awning a non-optional option on a campervan. It greatly increases the ‘living area’ in fine weather and keeps the rain away from the sliding door in wet weather. The only opening window on the Adventurer is in the sliding door and is flush-glazed but not insect-screened.

Setting up the pop-top roof is quite easy, just undo the four holding straps and push up!

The canvas walls have an insect-screened window on the two sides and the front wall, but considering the lack of windows elsewhere, one in the rear wall would be nice as well.

Inside the Adventurer is quite a simple layout. There’s a mid-section rear seat which can have optional seat belts fitted. Behind the driver’s seat is most of the kitchen bench, except for the cooktop which sits behind the passenger seat and can be swivelled around for use outside.

In the rear on the offside is cupboard space and the rest is a base for the bed. All the cabinet work is made from ply timber and finished in a grey laminate offset by blue upholstery and neat blue all-round curtains.

There’s not much room for lounging and dining in a vehicle this size, but two people can sit in the rear seat and the front passenger seat also swivels around. The table, stored behind the driver’s seat, sits on a single pole leg in front of the rear seat.

Catering is handled by the two-burner Origo metho cooktop, sitting above a small cupboard. Although without the calorific advantage of LPG, the metho cooktop is portable and can be used elsewhere.

The rest of the kitchen appliances include an Engel 12V fridge, stainless steel sink with 12V pumped water and a microwave oven.

The latter is conveniently located alongside the seat, so once seated you don’t have to move to get your re-heated dinner out. It would also be possible to get the wine out of the fridge too if the door was hinged on the other side.

An option on the Adventurer is a heat exchanger hot water system, as there is no LPG for a gas-fired system.

The sink is located under a hinged lid and alongside is a recessed storage area that is not particularly practical to use, but may be better with a separate hinged lid. Alongside the fridge is a small slide-out pantry – a boon in a campervan as small as this.

Setting up the bed in the Adventurer is quite simple. Move the rear seat forward, fold down the back and the foam-cushioned bed is ready to be made up. It measures 6ft (1.82m) x 3ft 10in (1.2m) and although it widens at the rear, it may not be big enough for larger persons.

Storage is always a challenge for designers in vans like the T5 but Frontline seems to have made the most of what it had. The rear cupboard has shelves on one side and hanging space on the other.

Under the rear of the bed and the seat is an open area into which plastic wheeled storage boxes can easily be slid in and out. There are also small storage spaces above and below the microwave oven.

As you would expect, the power system is quite simple. Lighting is all 12V with two fluorescent lights in the ceiling, plus two reading lights for the bed at the rear.

The simple 12V control panel, with fuses and switches is reasonably accessible underneath the microwave oven.

Above the sink area is the only 240V powerpoint, although there are others for the microwave and the battery charger located under the rear cupboard. The house battery is located in a container under the rear seat.

One final item that should be mentioned is the flexible hose shower at the rear of the van – if you have a back door annexe, here’s your bathroom!

Summing up

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, MHG thinks the T5 is a great base vehicle for a campervan conversion.

Its flat floor design and car-like features with a potent turbodiesel motor are obvious selling points, so it’s unsurprising that companies like Frontline have been quick to add it to their repertoires.

Because vans like the VW T5 are not particularly big to start with there is a need to make them very flexible, not only as campers but also passenger vehicles. Frontline has achieved excellent flexibility thanks to its folding rear seat design, which has made the Adventurer a great multi-purpose van.

Frontline Camper Conversions: 36 Cross Street, Brookvale, NSW 2100, (02) 9939 0600, email info@frontlinecamper.com.au; web: www.frontline camper.com.au