Philip Lord•6 Oct 2017

REVIEW

Olympic Marathon

A light, compact, single-axle van with an ensuite. What’s not to like?

An ensuite in a 20-foot-plus tandem-axle van is a given these days, but for shorter, single-axle vans they're not exactly common. Good news then, that Olympic has released an 18-foot single-axle van – with an ensuite that even has a separate shower and toilet.

The Marathon is clad in silver-painted aluminium, not a new finish in the industry but still a pleasant change from the typical white aluminium-clad vans. Window frames and the external hatch surrounds are in contrasting black. The front is covered in grey vinyl, embossed with a checkerplate pattern – which sounds odd but actually looks good in the flesh.

There are few adornments outside; the A-frame holds two 9kg gas bottles (plus a mesh steel storage tray between the A-frame and a tap outlet on the offside), the rear bumper supports the 15in alloy spare wheel, and there's the awning and a picnic table attached on the nearside.

External storage is limited to the front tunnel boot. Fortunately the boot is full width, it has a (nearside) internal dome light and lockable hatches on both sides of the van.

Given this is a road van, you wouldn't expect a huge effort to protect the underside from damage. However, the water tanks are wrapped in sheet steel and the plumbing up front is tucked up high. Plumbing at the rear (for the ensuite) isn't so well recessed, so you might want to think about re-routing some of the PVC pipework if you were going to do hours of dirt-road driving. It wouldn't take much effort to sort-out the plumbing at the back; Olympic has already done the work for you up front.

SOLID CONSTRUCTION

The Marathon has a pretty solid chassis set-up, with 2in chassis rails and 2in risers. The A-frame is trussed underneath, adding strength and protecting the A-frame from damage (when on steeply angled driveways, for example). The jockey wheel is centre-mounted on the A-frame, which makes life a lot easier if you use a weight distribution hitch.

Outdoor living is made more pleasant with the nearside featuring the awning, picnic table, external speakers and 12v auxiliary port. There's also a TV coax connection, a 240v outlet and an LED strip light.

Getting up into the van is easy thanks to the solid, recessed handle to the left of the entry door. While the external door is set low in the body (there's an internal step to climb to get to floor level), it is still set a bit high for those shorter of stature.

Once you're up and in through the two-piece entrance door, you're presented with a bright, cheery and fairly well-thought-out van layout. This van's colour scheme included white for the ceiling and cabinet frames with cabinet and locker doors in a deep red. The stone colour for blinds and benchtops works well too. The black dinette seat and step recess are also in synch, but the cream-coloured seat cushions, magazine pocket (on the ensuite wall) and the bulkhead above the entrance door look out of place.

Perceived quality is very good; all the cupboards line up and everything opens and shuts as it should.

There's generous space in the centre corridor, around the island bed and at the L-shaped dinette. The kitchen bench is a compromise; it has a benchtop cover for the cooker and a cover for the sink, so you have the full benchtop to prepare food. However, if you need to use the cooker and sink (a single tub with drainer and mixer tap) at the same time, you lose all but a thin strip of bench space.

There's a fair bit of space for cooking utensils and food with three lockers above the kitchen and two cupboards below the bench (the larger of which could easily accommodate large saucepans and pots). There are also three reasonably deep drawers below the bench. This van was equipped with the oven option, and so together with the three gas burners/one 240v plate and the microwave (mounted above the fridge on the offside) there are plenty of ways to get cooking.

There's a two-pole 240v outlet (with integral dual USB outlets) above the kitchen bench towards the rear of the van.

BEDROOM STORAGE

The bed is a 1800mm long by 1500mm wide, with a timber slat base and innerspring mattress. Most of the van's internal storage is in the bed area, with lockers above and a hanging wardrobe at each side of the bed. A small table at each side of the bed houses a drawer and a small cupboard. Lifting the strut-assisted bed base reveals additional storage – although you lose about half the underbed area to the front tunnel boot.

There's a single-pole 240v outlet at each side of the bed plus a two-pole 240v outlet on the nearside bedroom wall. Next to this latter outlet is the TV bracket and coaxial antenna cable connection.

The dinette offers a two-pole 240v outlet on the seat base and storage under the seat (where the 100Ah battery is also housed). There are also three lockers above the dinette, one of which houses the 12v fuses and the Prostar 30 solar charge controller. The 240v breaker switch is adjacent to these lockers, sitting high on the bedroom offside wall.

The rear ensuite is quite spacious for what is quite a short van. The separate cubicle shower is a generous space and there is also plenty of bench room on the vanity unit. There are cupboards below and lockers above the vanity unit. The ensuite has one of the biggest mirrors in the business – it covers the whole back wall of the caravan (except for the space taken by the shower cubicle). There's a two-pole 240v outlet fitted to the offside wall.

There's plenty of lighting inside the van, with 12v reading lights at the dinette and bed head, plus ceiling downlights over the bed, at the centre of the van and in the ensuite.

With the 170-litre fresh water capacity, 16kg gas capacity and 120W solar feeding the 100Ah battery, this van is actually a strong short-to-medium-term off-the-grid proposition.

VERDICT

The Marathon is an ideal van for a couple who want an ensuite but don't want a large, heavy van to go with it. Its 2100kg ATM means it can even be towed by cars such as the (soon to be defunct) Holden Commodore, and certainly is well under the towing capacity of 4WDs like the Toyota Prado (2500kg). it could do with more kitchen bench space (even a small fold-down bench at the front end would help) and a little more external storage space (such as a front toolbox) would go a long way.

WE LIKED:

>> Compact for an ensuite van

>> Ability to camp off the grid

>> Can be towed by medium-duty tow vehicles

NOT SO MUCH:

>> Lacking in kitchen bench space

>> Could do with more external storage options

>> Step-up into the van might be a challenge for some

OLYMPIC MARATHON C180 X 78-6

Travel length: 7400mm (24ft 3in)

Body length (open length): 5500mm (18ft 1in)

External body width: 2400 (7ft 10in)

Travel height: 2920mm (9ft 7in)

Interior height: 1890mm (6ft 2in

Tare weight: 1755kg

ATM: 2100kg

Ball weight: 105kg

Body: Meranti timber frame/aluminium cladding

Chassis: DuraGal 150 x 50mm

Suspension: Leaf springs

Brakes: 12in electric

Stability control: Opt

Wheels: 15in alloy

Fresh water: 2x 85L

Battery: 100Ah

Solar: 120W

Gas: 2 x 9kg

Hot water: Suburban SW6DEA 22.6L gas/electric

Cooking: Swift 500 Series 3 gas/1 electric burners, grill, oven

Fridge: Dometic RM4606 186L

Microwave: N/A

Toilet: Thetford cassette

Shower: Separate cubicle

Lighting: 12v LED

TV: Opt

Price: $53,990

Options fitted: solar 120W, outside speakers, external 12v point, oven.

Supplied by: Carlon Caravans, Unanderra, NSW, www.olympiccaravans.com.au

Olympic Marathon

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