STG Dreamliner 2021 Review

Motorhome buyers are generally spoilt for choice, with everything from more affordable Kombi-style campers to money-no-object family off-roaders available on the Australian market.

But now there’s something completely different: a 40ft long, six-berth, triple slide-out luxury motorhome based on a big-rig prime mover, with huge off-grid capacity, trick toy-hauling capability and five-star apartment-style accommodation.

If you’re cashed up and into luxury RV travel, there’s no doubt you’ll be tempted to splash the cash on the latest all-Australian built, Kenworth Dreamliner motorhome, which broke cover earlier this year and has just hit the road after an extensive interior fit-out.

But what do you get for a mega-motorhome that costs close to $900,000 before on-road costs?

Built by Queensland-based STG Global, the Dreamliner is the first foray into the RV market for the 30-plus year-old commercial truck body specialist.

Inspired by supersized American RVs, the Dreamliner is also the first Australian-built motorhome based on Kenworth’s T410 heavy truck, which you’ll normally find hauling up to 50 tonnes of commercial goods on interstate runs.

Two 'apartment-on-wheels' Dreamliner layouts are available: the Esperance ‘toy hauler’ (shown here), which features triple slide-outs to open up the front main living area with its kitchen, sofa bed and café dinette, plus a full width ensuite and a rear master bedroom that also doubles as a garage space.

The Dreamliner Barossa boasts an almost identical layout, except the rear section is a dedicated master bedroom with a fixed rear wall in lieu of the drop-down tailgate and race car style lifter on the Esperance.

STG has only built an Esperance toy hauler so far, although has a number of Dreamliner orders including one based on a Mack Anthem truck. With interest in domestic RV travel currently at a high, STG is confident of building up to 10 million-dollar Dreamliners annually.

Nuts ‘n bolts

STG Global Managing Director Ross Yendle said the 6x4 Kenworth-based Dreamliner is the result of close to two year's design and development including thousands of man-hours of engineering and build time.

Although a bespoke design fully constructed in Australia, Yendle said the Dreamliner borrows “the best parts” from supersized American motorhomes including the use of three Liftco power-operated slide-outs (two on the offside, one on the onside) and four Girard motorized retractable awnings (two on each side) that will retract automatically in high winds.

Finished in two-pack automotive paint, the glossy motorhome body utilizes a steel floor and wall frames with fully insulated aluminium walls and one-piece roof. To deliver that sleek, million-dollar look, STG has ditched the usual RV ‘hopper’ windows for marine-grade Alfab tinted windows that sit flush with the shiny bodywork.

The main downside of this approach is that most of the Alfab windows are fixed, so apart from opening the roof hatches, entry doors or a couple of smaller sliding windows, there are fewer opportunities to get natural breezes flowing through the living area on a warm day.

To counter that the Dreamliner gets a hotel-like climate control system including three rooftop air-conditioners and a ducted diesel heating (not to mention floor heating).

Helping power all that as well as other 12V/240V appliances is a massive 13.5kW Onan diesel generator housed in an external locker, that feeds off the main 700 litre fuel tank and will also top up the house battery system if the sun isn't shining on the roof-top solar panels.

Truckin’ about

What really sets the Dreamliner apart from other big Australian and imported luxury motorhomes is its imposing Kenworth T410 base chassis, which is assembled in Melbourne.

With a 13.0-litre, six-cylinder turbo-diesel engine belting out 375kW and 2500Nm of torque, mated to a 12-speed automated transmission, it’s arguably over-kill for a luxury motorhome, even one with a 20 tonne-plus GVM.

Suffice to say, owner-drivers will need a suitable heavy rigid (HR) licence in order to undertake a Big Lap. They’ll also need some agility to climb up into the high-mounted driver’s cab, although there's a much easier route via the motorhome's keyless side entry door and drop-down electric steps.

Restricted by a car licence, our brief 'driving' experience in the Dreamliner was in the passenger seat. No surprise it's a handful to maneouvre around suburban streets, although it was pleasantly roomy and comfortable nestled up high in the single cab.

Enjoying the ‘king of the road’ view out front, it was also surprisingly quiet and refined although we didn't hit any 100km/h highway speeds (check out this review on Trucksales for the full lowdown on how the Kenworth T410 drives).

Owners should expect the big six-cylinder donk to slurp fuel at around 35-40L/100km, although that should still deliver a range of up to 2000km from the 700L tank.

Race car garage

One of the Dreamliner’s biggest party tricks can be found at the rear, which is fitted with a Dhollandia motorized platform-lift like that fitted to many race car transporters.

Hit the switch in the side locker and the strut-assisted tailgate gently drops down, before being raised and then lowered to simply load or unload the motorized toys from the rear garage space.

With the space empty, another switch slides out the TV wall cabinet, before the queen bed is manually pulled down from the roof via a European-sourced counter-weight system.

The empty garage space is big enough to carry a couple of motorcycles, or perhaps an ATV, but there’s always the option to tow a car trailer if you want a runabout to zip around in on your travels.

When fully raised, the rear platform can also be set up with a couple of camp chairs and used as a Sunset viewing deck for ‘Happy Hour’ drinks.

On balmy evenings, the rear tailgate can be left open with a motorized rear screen dropping down to allow a through-breeze while keeping the bugs out.

Other onside external lockers hold a big 50-inch TV and a pull-out BBQ for roadside cook-ups, while offside lockers contain the fresh, grey and black water tanks, and Victron and other battery-related electrical components.

There isn't much space left in the external lockers for personal gear, but the countless cupboards, drawers, robes and pull-out pantries inside, along with the aces of empty floorspace inside, should be sufficient to store all your stuff on long trips.

Party bus

More hotel suite or city apartment, the Dreamliner’s interior layout is really set up for people who don’t like camping, with lounge suites and appliances you usually find in a house rather than an RV.

With the two extra-large, metre-wide slide-outs on either side extended, a big empty floorspace opens up between the kitchen and lounge and dining areas – large enough to invite your closest 20-plus camping friends for pre-dinner drinks or a dance party.

STG quotes around 33 square metres of interior space in total, with the 2.13m interior height enhancing the cavernous feel.

There’s plenty of comfy fixed seating for guests too, on the three-person King sofa bed and four-person, leather-lined cafe dinette. And a few could stay over, with sleeping options on the over-cab double bed accessed by a ladder and the pull-out double sofa bed, while the dinette tabletop also drops to form another bed.

The extra-long kitchen benchtop is also perfect for entertaining, with its sleek two burner induction cooktop with side-mounted extraction fan, double stainless sink with filtered tap, drawer-mounted dishwasher and domestic-grade 524 litre double-door fridge/freezer.

Spacious ensuite

The spacious walk-through ensuite has concertina privacy doors at either end, and looks the goods with a porcelian macerator toilet, wall mounted washing machine and glass screened corner shower with waterfall showerhead. There’s also a vanity with bowl sink and large mirror.

Also on the long list of Dreamliner features are four-point self-levelling hydraulic stabilisers, a Finscan smart management system, an audio system and three TVs in total.

Fit and finishes are also five star, including the slide-out bases that sit almost flush to the main floor, the liberal use of domestic-grade wall and floor tiles, solid granite benchtops, power-operated window blinds and numerous leather-lined touches throughout.

Summing up

Like a Rolls-Royce saloon or Riviera luxury yacht, the Kenworth Dreamliner motorhome is for cashed-up buyers who want to stand out from the pack, without compromising much on comfort or luxury.

With its awesome road presence, monster engine, huge payload and full off-grid, hotel-style living, it’s a rare beast with eye-watering price-tag to match.

How much does the 2021 STG Global The Dreamliner Esperance cost?

Price: $878,000 plus on-road costs
Base vehicle: Kenworth T410 6x4
Licence: Heavy rigid truck
Occupants: Six seatbelts, up to seven berth
Engine: 13.0-litre, six-cylinder turbo-diesel
Power/torque: 375kW/2500Nm
Transmission: 12-speed automated manual
Weight: 15,000kg kerb, 22,500kg GVM
Wheels: Alcoa Alloy 10-stud
Brakes: Drum with exhaust brake
Travel length: 12.3m (40ft)
Travel width: 2.45m
Travel height: 4.1m
Internal height: 2.13m
Cooktop: Bora induction
Dishwasher: Fisher and Paykel drawer
Washing machine: Camec 2.5kg wall mounted
Microwave: Smeg convection
Fridge/freezer: Westinghouse 524L 240V
TV: Three (two internal/one external), Vansat sat dish
Air-conditioner: Three Dometic roof-top
Heating: Ducted diesel
On-board power: 640Ah lithium with Victron Multiplus inverter/charger, 1655W rooftop solar, 13.5kW Onan diesel generator
Fuel: 700L diesel
Water: 480L fresh, 310L grey, 190L black
Gas: 2 x 9kg
Shower: Separate, tiled
Toilet: Saniflo macerator porcelain
Lighting: 12V LED
Audio: AM/FM/CD player with four speakers
Supplied by: STG Global, Melbourne
More info: The Dreamliner