Paramount Studio Streamline

If first impressions count, Paramount’s 22ft 6in Studio Streamline will get many prospective buyers at ‘hello’.

That’s because the first thing you’ll see as you enter the rear door of the caravan and face left is yourself in the mirror wall that extends across the inner front wall, behind the island ‘east-west’ queen-size bed.

Depending on your ‘selfie’ meter, it can be a little daunting at first (not to mention adding a degree of difficulty for photography), but what it does do is make the already spacious interior of this large touring caravan look even larger.

It also reflects well (pun intended) on all the features of the Studio that give it a ‘wow’ factor: like its large kitchen bench and cupboard space, plush café dinette upholstered in premium leather and monster rear ensuite, with its angled laundry, separate sealed shower cubicle, partner-pleasing central vanity and roomy linen press.

Sitting at the upper end of Paramount’s nine-model custom-built range that starts with the 13ft 6in Classic and extends to the 24ft CD Studio, ‘our’ 22ft 6in Studio had the further distinction of wearing Paramount’s ‘Streamline’ exterior, employing smooth aluminium sandwich Alucobond walls, instead of traditional ribbed aluminium cladding.

The Streamline exterior is available on other Paramount caravans in the customer’s choice of either white or silver. Our review van was finished in the former and in combination with its black and blue side flashes, front black checker plate and lower waistline black Alucobond, it looked smart and sleek.

Other than its cladding, the Studio is fairly conventional for a large touring on-road van that doesn’t mind the tough stuff.

The beefy 150mm x 50mm FP Supergal chassis with its 50mm raiser is designed to take the rough major roads with the smooth and in conjunction with its Silverstone All-Terrain tyres on 15-inch alloy wheels, also allows Studio owners to carry a very generous 720kg payload. So you CAN take the kitchen sink!

The 3.5 tonne roller-rocker tandem leaf spring suspension has also been beefed up accordingly for this all-road role and incorporates separate telescopic shock absorbers on all wheels. Combined with standard 12-inch electric brakes and Al-Ko Electronic Stability Control, the 22ft 6in Studio is well prepared for the unexpected.

If I wanted to be picky, I’d say that the front checker plate could probably extend further up the front panel to minimise stone damage, although the standard A-frame mesh does help here.  The underbody of the Studio is also fairly well protected.

Also on the plus side, the Studio 22ft 6in has both a front boot and a full through-body tunnel boot behind it, so all the stuff you might need to access when you pull into a campsite, stop for lunch or, in the worst case scenario, need to change a flat tyre, is easily accessible.

However Paramount have given the front boot a double purpose with a Black Widow slide on the door side to allow the Studio’s twin 100Ah deep cycle batteries to be easily accessed, while on the other side of the boot a generator slide offers similar convenience.

The downside of this convenience is that these slides intrude heavily into the boot space and I personally would feel a lot more comfortable with a protective cover for the batteries, given the sort of stuff that might be bouncing around in that compartment.

In contrast, the full tunnel boot adjacent to these slides is virtually unencumbered and hence, while relatively small in diameter, is pretty useful.

Back further is the Studio’s Bushman RV external BBQ. Now I am normally opposed to the idea of slide-in BBQs, as they tend to take their stale fatty odour with them into the van, but Paramount have thought of this and the compartment it slides into under the bed is fully lined to prevent this.

The fourth of the five external compartments on the door side and just a chop bone from the BBQ, is a fold-down picnic table, while the final hatch contains the extendable arm and appropriate 240v or 12v sockets to power the studio’s standard 22in LED TV. ??Combined with the large fold-down awning that shelters most of the door side, this is clearly a space designed to be enjoyed on either overnight or extended stays.

Once you get over your reflection, the big Studio van is a great place to live on the road.

The lift-up east-west queen-size bed that stretches across the front of the van, ahead of a full-width mirrored wardrobe, is a real attention grabber and frees up additional living and bathroom space.

Although the café dinette seating with its luxurious suede leather upholstery has only room for a couple, the galley opposite is large and well laid-out, with the exception of the high-mounted microwave – a location problem faced by many caravan interior designers. But its state-of-the-art Dometic 12v oven with rotisserie should win back those votes.

The high-gloss black, grey and white finish on the cupboards that line the Studio’s interior – including the rather impractical glass-fronted ones above the dinette– give the interior a home-luxury look that will attract many buyers

However the highlight for many, and the feature that will tip some over the line, is the Studio’s extra-large rear bathroom.

But it’s not just its size. The front-loading 3kg washing machine is angled for ease of use, so you don’t have to do gymnastics over the Thetford cassette toilet, and the central vanity, with its raised designer bowl and mixer tap is centrally-located in front of twin mirrored cupboards.

Then there’s the large shower cubicle, sealed to the roof so that you don’t steam up the rest of the bathroom, and flanked by a large multi-shelf linen press.

So if first impressions count, a quick left-right as you enter the Paramount Studio should seal the deal for many intending buyers.

WE LIKED:
>> Wow factor ?
>> Large kitchen bench
>> Storage space?
>> Huge combo bathroom

NOT SO MUCH: ??
>> Glass fronted cabinets impractical
?>> Sharp edge on generator door?
>> Step should be power-operated on a luxury van like this
?>> No cover for twin batteries

VERDICT

The Paramount Studio 22ft 6in Streamline is a flamboyant, large caravan for couples to enjoy a luxury lifestyle on the road, both sealed and otherwise.

It has an interesting, roomy layout, lots of wanted features and one of the best bathrooms of any caravan of its size, making it a serious contender at its circa $80,000 price.

PARAMOUNT STUDIO 22FT 6IN STREAMLINE

Travel length: 9.1m
External body length: 6.45m  
External body width: 2.362m
Travel height: 2.87m
Interior height: 1.98m
Tare weight: 2780kg
ATM: 3500kg
Ball weight: 210kg
Body: Meranti timber frame/aluminium cladding/polystyrene foam insulation
Chassis: 150mm x 50mm FP Supagal
Suspension: 3.5 tonne tandem roller-rocker leaf springs
Brakes: Al-Ko 12-inch electric
Stability Control:  Al-Ko ESC standard
Wheels: 15in alloy with 235/75R15 All-Terrain tyres
Fresh water: 2 x 95l
Battery: 1 x 100Ah deep cycle
Solar: 125W roof-mounted
Air-conditioner: Ibis III Air Command reverse-cycle
Gas: 2 x 9.0kg
Cooking: Four-burner gas/electric Dometic cooktop, grill and rotisserie oven
Fridge: 184-litre Thertford three-way
Microwave: Daewoo
Toilet: Thetford cassette??Shower: Separate fibreglass cubicle
Washing machine: Dometic 3kg front-loading
Lighting: LED ?Options fitted: None
Price (Ex Melb): from around $80,000 delivered in Victoria
Supplied by:  World of Caravans – Canterbury Caravans, Bayswater, Vic
More info: Paramount Caravans