Lotus Trackvan 2007 Review

By Joan Green

Not far from the Sunshine Coast of Qld (a tough place for any CW assignment) is the dealership of Caravan World – nothing to do with this fine magazine. Caravan World (the dealer), located not far from the Big Pineapple, has been around for 30 years and was one of the first caravan sales yards in Qld.

Interestingly, CW the magazine has an editor by the name of Ros (Bromwich) and Caravan World the dealer has an owner by the name of Ros (Flynn) – only slightly confusing when you mention them all in the same sentence!

One of Caravan World’s specialities is a caravan built for rough road, rather than offroad. Ros Flynn told us that her customers come from all over Australia – she even gets a few from New Zealand as well – and was keen to show us a new development from the Caravan World team: the Lotus Trackvan.

Built for people who wish to explore some of the more rugged parts of Australia, the 22ft (6.7m) Trackvan we looked at is designed with all facilities on board for those who wish to experience the get-away-from-it-all lifestyle on their travels around Australia.

Track it through

With a Tare weight of 2300kg, the Trackvan isn’t a light van and would be in the mid-large sized 4WD towing vehicle range. However, our turbodiesel powered LandCruiser coped with the Trackvan around the hills and dales on the Sunshine Coast hinterland without too much trouble.

We’d definitely be recommending using a Hayman Reese weight distribution hitch that Caravan World had kindly fitted for us.

The Trackvan is built on a SupaGal chassis, with two 6in rails that are laminated together. A look under the van reveals some solid steelwork and the three-tonne Simplicity load sharing suspension with trailing arms and leaf springs for the tandem wheels. Two 80L water tanks, protected by gal sheet, are located fore and aft of the wheels. Quick-drop stabiliser jacks are fitted to each corner.

Above the chassis, the Trackvan is built with a Meranti timber frame, insulated walls and roof, aluminium cladding and a checkerplate aluminium front.

At the rear, the tail lights are fitted into a moulded fibreglass fairing and all the clearance lights are the energy LED variety. The bumper with looped ends comes with both a spare wheel and two jerry can holders.

On the drawbar are two 9kg gas cylinders, a mesh rack between the rails as well as a central mounting point for either the jockey wheel or the supplied Trail-A-Mate jack; thus leaving the front boot more or less empty except for the two deep cycle batteries. Although the van did come with a jockey wheel, we found the Trail-A-Mate jack better for getting the van level, when the ground wasn’t.

Along the nearside there are a few hatches, the one near the front is designed to take a generator, power lead and water hoses. Further along is a fold-out table and next to that, that essential for under-the-awning living, is a slide-out barbecue.

Designed with style

A van 22ft (6.7m) long does give the layout designer plenty of latitude, and this is reflected in the Trackvan interior, which features a full rear bathroom, front bedroom and amidships kitchen and dinette.

In what appears to be the contemporary trend, the timber look predominates, with timber pelmets, timber bench edges and even a timber look vinyl floor.

The tinted hopper windows are fitted with slimline venetian blinds and above there are two Four Seasons hatches supply ceiling ventilation, in addition to the Dometic air-conditioner.

Having the entry door where it is separates the bedroom and living areas a bit, also the bedroom does have a concertina curtain for extra privacy and at the rear the bathroom can be closed off as well.

This is one of those designs where having the kitchen and dinette opposite each other means the catering officer is going to have it quite easy.

Along the spacious kitchen bench are a Swift cooktop/grill/oven, stainless steel sink and drainer, Dometic 150L fridge and in the overhead lockers, an LG microwave – the latter being set slightly lower than the lockers for user convenience. Lighting in the kitchen is a mixture of an overhead fluorescent, an under-locker incandescent and a halogen globe in the rangehood.

Given the length of the benchtop area, storage space is generous with three large cupboards, three overhead lockers, two drawers and a small slide-out pantry. The empty space above the fridge, too high for practical use, is a good area for the flatscreen TV – easily seen from the dinette but a bit distant from the bed.

On the wall behind the TV is the powerpoint, antenna connection and water tank level indicators – possibly a tad awkward for shorter persons to see easily. In addition to the TV, more audio and visual media comes from the AM/FM radio/DVD player mounted next to the doorway.

Comfortable for two and good for four, the dinette has flat foam cushions and ‘lounge pillow upholstery’ – contoured seat backs. Under the front seat is a drawer but part of the rear seat storage area is taken by the slide-out barbecue.

Additional storage is supplied by four overhead lockers and a cupboard in front of the dinette. Facing the door, it probably makes an excellent pantry – dump the shopping in the doorway and load it straight into the cupboard! Lighting is courtesy of a ceiling fluorescent and two halogen reading lights.

If you desire a good sized bathroom, then this has one. With a separate shower cubicle, vanity wash basin and Thetford cassette toilet it just about has it all. Oh yes, we should have also included the Lemair top-loading washing machine hiding in the cabinet beside the basin. It does fit neatly by the shower cubicle and when the lid is down, provides some benchtop area next to the sink.

Surprisingly, even with all of the above, there is still room for two cupboards, a drawer and two overhead lockers. The bathroom takes up a fair bit of real estate but it has been designed for people who like their onboard facilities.

Up front in the main bedroom, the queen-sized bed occupies most of the floor space. The slatted timber base under the innerspring mattress can be lifted up to get to the storage area underneath.

Around the bed is the usual bedhead of overhead lockers plus small wardrobe and floor locker on either side. The small bedside shelves are supplemented by a shelf behind the bed. At the foot of the bed in the offside corner is a floor to ceiling diagonal cupboard; in the opposite corner are just open diagonal shelves.

Electrically speaking, the van is of course fully wired for 240V with powerpoints in all the appropriate places, including an external one near the fold-out table. Lighting is all 12V and there’s an onboard generator, but curiously, although solar panel wiring is installed, the panels are an option.

For outback travellers they are almost de rigueur these days.

The bottom line

At 22ft (6.7m) our Trackvan was quite a big and heavy van, but that is the price you pay for having all the comforts of home along with you when you travel.

As long as a capable tow vehicle is used, there shouldn’t be any dramas with towing. Since the van has obviously been designed with free camping in mind, extended remote travel is certainly possible. Items like the slide-out barbecue definitely make that outdoor lifestyle more attractive, which is really what the Trackvan is all about!

For more information contact Caravan World, Nambour Connection Road, Wombye, Qld 4559, (07) 5442 1600, email: sales@caravanworld.biz, web:

We liked

• Generous kitchen area both in terms of storage and benchtop area

• Bathroom is a very generous size, specially as it contains the washing machine as well

• Good lighting with mostly energy-efficient fittings

We would have liked

• Solar panels for recharging the batteries

• Water tank gauges to be in a more easily readable location

• A powerpoint on the dinette side