Rhinomax expands off-road range

Ambitious Maroochydore, Queensland camper trailer and hybrid manufacturer Rhinomax is about to add a further two models to its rapidly expanding specialist off-road range despite being in business for just four years.

Only 12 months after launching its 14ft Discovery off-roader (pictured) onto the rapidly growing hybrid pop-top market, Rhinomax will introduce a larger 16ft Discovery in July.

The extra body length will allow customers to have things like twin bunk beds and a rear corner combined shower and toilet ensuite, while in the 14ft model there's not enough room to fit both in addition to the Discovery’s front queen bed.

However Rhinomax’s clever rear shower pod, which has already been copied by some longer-established rivals, will remain a standard fitting on both Discovery 14 and 16 models, offering the choice between indoor or outdoor ablutions.

Like the ‘14’, the Discovery 16 can also be optioned with a two gas burner internal cooktop and small sink to supplement its standard slide-out stainless steel exterior kitchen, allowing for full internal living when travelling in poor weather.

Both the Discovery 14 and 16 will share the same newly-designed 150mm x 50mm one-piece galvanised chassis and A-frame, whereas the first Discovery 14s were built with the smaller 100mm x 50mm underpinnings used on Rhinomax’s three camper trailer models – the soft floor Ranger and Renegade and hard floor Outback Warrior.

All models use Rhinomax’s in-house trailing arm independent coil spring and telescopic shock absorber suspension.

The Discovery will be around $9000 dearer than the bare spec Discovery 14, which retails from a very competitive $65,000, but will include an upmarket spec including diesel hot water and space heating, twin 100W solar panels and twin AGM batteries in its basic spec, whereas some of these items are optional on the Discovery 14.

However the Discovery 16's base price with these included options is expected to undercut hybrid rivals from Australian Off Road, Complete Campsite, Northcoast Campers and Track Trailer by anything from $5000 to $15,000 on a spec for spec basis.

It therefore continues Rhinomax’s deliberate market-building strategy of matching its competitors in build quality, while undercutting them in price set by Britons and former camping mates Andy Dean and Steve Punton when they went into partnership four years ago.

Then in August this year, Rhinomax will introduce the Scorpion hard-shell camper into the gap between its camper and hybrid models.

Featuring a fibreglass roof hinged at the forward end, rather like the Vista RV, the sturdy 10ft body-length Scorpion’s clear market targets are Track Trailer’s highly successful Tvan, the similarly Melbourne-built Vista RV and Complete Campsite’s Exodus 9.

Like the Exodus 9, the Scorpion will have a rear entry door plus an adaption of its shower pod to allow the rear tent to serve as a weatherproof extension of its internal living area, or to serve a dual purpose as a remote ensuite.

A slide-out kitchen will be standard, as will a hot water service, twin batteries, and solar power, with the base model expected to again undercut its direct rivals by hitting the road at around $50,000.