Ulti-Mate debuts at Leisurefest

Track Trailer chose Melbourne’s Leisurefest to reveal its latest and ultimate version of its modular Mate trailer – the foldout tent, tinnie-carrying Tour Mate.

Completed only on show eve, the trailer was tucked away amongst the campers some distance away from Track’s much more prominent Tvan/Topaz display near the Leisurefest main gate and hence might have been missed by many showgoers.

Building on the Mate’s modular concept, which allows the tradie target market to buy a Base Mate (or the up-coming Trade Mate) with its sophisticated MC2 asymmetrical link off-road suspension for their business and then add leisure modules such as a rooftop tent, a kitchen and other equipment for weekend getaways, the latest Tour Mate is the burger with the lot.

Central to its spec is a fully removable 2.6m x 2.1m tent base with stylish crimson highlights, which seals directly to the trailer and unfolds via a clever one-person, gas strut-assisted system to become a complete campsite.

Track says the fold-over part of the setup/packup is faster than some of the electric-assist systems currently being offered by other makers, such as Mountain Trail, while LED lighting strips are sewn into the canvas, further speeding setup.

Like track’s Tvan, the tent is top quality Dynaproofed Australian canvas and includes a large tropical roof that extends over the annexe. Inside the large Tvan like ‘breakfast bar’, which can be left in place for folding or stowed under the queen-size mattress on its solid tub-top base, helps tension the canvas.

Talking of the bed, it can also be configured as a king-size or even as three east-west singles for a boys’ weekend.

Another interesting feature is that the bed base can be removed from the trailer and left standing on four legs while the trailer is towed away for other duties, such as for week-day work, or to dunk the tinnie and go fishing.

An option expected to have a large take-up is the boat rack that sits atop the packed-up tent, but tilts to one side to offload a tinnie up to three metres long, or to access the tent.

New modular side panniers (which can also be ordered for other 2014 Mate variants) provide lockable side storage and also house the Tour Mate’s electrical system, that includes a 105ah deep cycle battery, a 15Amp battery charger and a 130 Watt inverter. A 70-litre water tank is standard (as on the Tvan), but a second 70 litre tank is optional.

Like other Mates, the Tour Mate has a full-length rear slide-out tub tray capable of housing two pallets with the fold out full kitchen removed, or of carrying a 250kg payload.

With all this gear, the Tour Mate is not a featherweight and in production form is expected to have an ATM of around 1300kg and a carrying capacity of 300kg. However it can also be fitted with Topaz axles to increase its ATM to 1800kg.

Price is still being finalised, but is expected to be around $35,000. The new model will be available in December.