Tested: Suncamper Sherwood 4x4

Towing a caravan deep into off-road territory is not for the faint-hearted. You’ve got something that articulates behind your vehicle, so backing up in sand or mud is no fun.

An off-road van also adds weight and an extra wheelset or two that your 4WD has to drag around.

That’s where a dedicated, off-road motorhome like the Sherwood 4x4 from Sydney’s Suncamper makes a lot of sense. You have a pretty solid basis for off-roading in the HiLux, with your living quarters right there on the chassis, and accessible from the cabin so you don’t have to get your boots muddy (unless you get bogged!).

Sure, narrow tracks with low-hanging branches are still going be an issue, but just about everywhere else this is one of the best ways of seeing outback Oz without grief.

Not too cramped

The Sherwood’s couple’s layout is quite compact but doesn’t feel cramped. You’ve got a queen-size bed over the HiLux’s cab, with a shower toilet on the offside, kitchen on the nearside, and a cafe dinette up the back.

The stand-out feature here, of course is the shower/toilet, as there aren’t many motorhomes of this size that have this feature.

The enclosure is on the tight side, but there’s everything you want including a small basin, towel rack, mirror, light, shower, cassette toilet and an opening ceiling hatch with extractor fan.

The shower rose also serves as the washbasin tap, and extends out of the washbasin and hooks onto a dedicated fitting on the shower enclosure wall.

Climb into bed

The 1500mm x 1900mm bed has two LED reading lights above the bedhead and small screened/mesh opening windows; one at the bedhead and the other at the foot of the bed. There’s also a privacy curtain between the bed area and the rest of the layout.

However, stepping up onto the bed does require a bit of dexterity, but there’s a lid for a small cupboard (just ahead of the shower door) that also serves as a step to climb into bed.

There’s also a map pocket in the fabric-trimmed wall ahead of the shower door, and a small gap between the cabin and the living area. This curtained access port is a bit tight for adults to squeeze though, but if bad weather was putting you off jumping out of the cab, you could use this port for access.

It’s also good for keeping an eye on unsecured drawers and the like, so you don’t have to drive for hundreds of kilometres before discovering that you didn’t close a drawer properly – spilling the contents all over the floor.

It’s also important for communicating with occupants seated at the dinette when driving with this four-passenger version.

Plenty of storage space

There’s a decent amount of storage space throughout the Sherwood’s layout. Starting at the front, there’s the small locker ahead of the shower door, then continuing down the offside there’s a hanging wardrobe (below the LED TV/DVD unit) and two small cupboards below the microwave.

There’s also a small cubby adjacent to the offside dinette seat (with both a two 240v pole outlet and USB/aux outlets). Then above the dinette on the offside, rear and nearside walls are seven storage lockers.

Underneath the offside dinette seat are the 15L Suburban hot water service, water pump, battery and fuse box. It’s all easily accessible.

Under the nearside dinette seat is a large storage locker, which is also accessible from the outside via a small locking hatch. Storage continues with drawers and cupboard under the cooker.

There’s plenty of storage for a couple on a long trip, but for four people onboard you’d have to pack more lightly.

Room for four

This particular unit has seat belts for four occupants – three-point belts up front in the cab and lap belts at the rear, one each per dinette seat.

The kitchen is split between a cooker with rangehood on the nearside bench and a stainless steel sink (with flick mixer) and microwave opposite on the offside. It works well, with enough food prep space if you’re not cooking up a feast (especially if the glass lids for the cooker and sink are closed).

It’s usual for most layouts to feature a microwave set up high, but the Sherwood’s is actually below the sink bench. This is much smarter than the high position because it drastically reduces the risk of burning yourself with hot liquids removed from the microwave.

The dinette table is pulled out of its storage enclosure at the back of the layout and allows enough space for two to eat at the table comfortably. There’s also more than enough space to get around the table and sit down – not a given in any RV layout. The dinette also converts to another bed – big enough for probably one adult or two smaller kids.

In the ceiling is a reverse-cycle air conditioning unit and opening hatch with a blind/mesh screen.

On the front wall, below the bed are the water heater and main cabin light switches and the control panel for battery and water levels.

Outside, there’s a hatch on the nearside that reveals the under seat storage locker, while on the offside there’s a locker that houses the 9kg gas bottle. Being a rental vehicle, this particular Sherwood was also fitted with the $910 rear aluminium toolbox option.

Behind the wheel

The HiLux single-cab interior is quite familiar with its clear, logical control and instrument layout and comfortable seats. The only issue I had was banging my head on the Luton peak above the cab when climbing aboard the HiLux.

I soon learned that the best method was to try to slide onto the driver’s seat rather than use the grab handle and climb up. It’s a similar story retrieving the dinette table from its storage locker; it’s easy to bang your head against the locker above the table. These aren’t deal-breakers as once you become familiar with the layout you’ll soon stop the head-banging.

The HiLux offers surprisingly good performance off the mark and is also responsive around town. On the highway it also performs well, except on long, steep climbs the weight of the conversion and its bluff front conspire against it. We were down to 80km/h in 100km/h zones on such hills.

The HiLux averaged 14.4L/100km over 300km, but that included climbing over the Blue Mountains and some off-road work near Bathurst. Easy highway running should return a consumption figure in the low 13s.

You can’t expect a motorhome conversion on a 4WD that already has a high centre of gravity to handle like a sports car. Having said that, the HiLux was sure-footed and wasn’t affected by mild cross-winds or passing trucks when we drove it.

Try before you buy

We were loaned the near-new Sherwood 4x4 by Sydney-based Escape Rentals. If you wanted to try before you buy, the minimum rental period is five days and it costs between $250-$330 per day (depending on duration). You can drive the Escape Rentals’ Sherwood 4x4 on any gazetted road, and there’s a $1000 insurance excess.

Escape Rentals fitted the wider wheels and off-road tyres; they’ll set you back about $2500 for a set of five (the price we’ve quoted of $135,900 as tested doesn’t include the cost of these wheels).

Verdict

All up, the Sherwood 4x4 based on the trusty Hilux 4x4 ute offers plenty within its relatively contained dimensions.

It’s well put together, has a comfortable, logical layout and the shower/toilet is a boon in such a compact configuration.