Hybrid market hots up in Queensland

The hybrid caravan market continues to hot up, particularly in Queensland where significant updates from Australian Off Road and Sunseeker’s Vision have been rolled out recently, not long after major announcements from crosstown rivals Zone and BruderX.

After testing a prototype in 2022, Sunshine Coast-based AOR has introduced a number of changes to its popular Quantum pop-top range, with the new Series 5 equipped with many new aluminium components to save weight, along with a redesigned external kitchen, flusher fitting new windows, more interior space and new standard equipment. 

AOR says a stronger, weight-reduced floor also enhances the premium off-road camper’s off-road ability and longevity.

AOR’s new Quantum 5 is a major update of its top-selling Quantum 4, with a major effort made to save ball and Tare weight and hence broaden the camper’s appeal to owners of mid-size tow cars, while also increasing its payload for longer trips. ESC stability control and an adjustable jockey wheel are now standard fittings.

A new sloping aluminium nosecone that incorporates both a boot and a standard firewood rack above it, allows the camper’s standard north-south queen bed to be pushed slightly forward, while the use of aluminium for the Q5’s opening panels on both sides instead of fibreglass has shed further kilograms. 

The camper’s external kitchen has been redesigned to allow a large self-supporting prep bench to slide out rearwards towards the entry door, while the sink has been repositioned on the other side of the easier-to-clean three gas burner cooktop.

A new feature allows the sink’s drain hose to be easily uncoupled to utilise the waste water tank of many caravan parks or the Quantum’s own grey water tank.

New flusher-fitting tinted sided windows project 10mm less than those of the Quantum 4 to minimise scratching on bush tracks, and stored power for the Q5 comes from twin 150AH Redarc lightweight prismatic lithium batteries, fed by new slimline solar panels that are mounted to the roof by vented material and reduce the effort required to raise the pop-top roof manually.

In the combined shower/toilet bathroom, a composting toilet is now optional to the standard macerator unit and buyers now have of a choice of a combined diesel or gas combined hot water/cabin heaters.

Quantum 5 pricing starts at $110,900 –  $5000 more than the out-going Quantum 4 hardtop.

Meanwhile neighbouring Sunseeker has introduced new pop-top and full height Vision 16ft models with a separate internal shower and toilet to meet customer demands.

Space for this feature has been found by reconfiguring the interior layout so that the sink and its cabinet have been moved from the offside to the rear wall, immediately to the right of the entry door, with a nest of eight drawers now beneath a storage benchtop at the right hand foot of the north-sound king bed.

This reduces seating space on the right side of the dining table that still stows away beneath the bed, but it’s a price many owners who want the convenience and privacy of separated ablution facilities are happy to pay, according to Sunseeker Marketing  Manager, Jon Dunkley, who says the new feature has already attracted buyers looking for more comfort features in a ‘bushable’ 16ft tandem axle caravan or pop-top.

Like other Vision models the new 'timber-free' constructed 16 footers come standard with height adjustable air suspension, ventilated disc brakes, a minimum 600 Watts of rooftop solar power, a 2000 Watt inverter, 270 litres of fresh water storage, a 70-litre capacity grey water tank and a slide-out exterior fridge.

Prices start at $129,990 for the new pop-top and $133,490 for the hardtop 16 footers.