Michael Browning•19 May 2017

REVIEW

Universal Crystal River

Lotus-owned Universal slide-out specialist delivers large van luxury for a price

What we liked:

>> Room to move

>> Lots of storage space

>> Equipped for long-term touring

Not so much:

>> Laden weight requires large tow car

>> Noisy cupboard latches

>> Electronic stability control should be included at this price

The ‘Big Lap’ is many retirees’ dream.

Lazy days on the road under endless blue skies, making new friends in previously unheard-of places; million-star nights, safely above bugs and crawlies – all the time living in a luxury ‘bubble’ of a roomy and well-equipped long-distance caravan.

Sounds like you? Well you should add Universal’s 23ft 6in Crystal River ‘slider’ to your shopping list.

Now part of Lotus Caravans, Universal has for many years specialised in large and luxurious touring caravans and this 2017 model certainly ticks both of those boxes.

Top tow tug required

Let’s get the bad news over first. Any caravan with an overall travelling length of close to 10 metres (9731mm to be exact) and a stated tare weight, as reviewed, of 2900kg, needs a muscular tow car up front.

Our 2017 Mazda BT-50 crew cab handled the task with relative ease as long as you kept it in 4WD mode, otherwise, with the Universal’s relatively light unladen ball weight of 230kg and nothing in the load bed, the BT-50 scrambled for traction on unsealed or wet surfaces if left in 2WD.

Secondly, if you’re planning that ‘Big Lap’, you should not include unsealed roads after rain, or narrow, rutted tracks for related reasons. With its space-saving Dexter Torflex independent rubber torsion bar suspension and 16in wheels, the Crystal River is designed to take you anywhere ‘on’ the beaten track in extreme comfort and undeniable style, but not as far off it.

Sure, it should handle well-formed unsealed roads and moderate corrugations, but if you really want to short-cut the Outback and travel long distances on unsealed highways like the Strzelecki, Oodnadatta and Tanami tracks, you should be looking at the Lotus sister caravan range instead.

However, if you plan to travel mainly on the black stuff, it’s hard to think of a large luxury caravan that does it much better…

Slide-out comfort

Apart from its coverall length, the feature that makes the Crystal River very liveable for long-term travel is its large right hand side slide-out.

Many ‘slides’ that simply push the lounge room out around 900mm are frankly, a waste of time. However, the Crystal River’s layout, that incorporates a fixed U-shaped leather lounge up front with a floor-level slider that takes half the kitchen and the bedroom with it, is a very practical and well thought-out arrangement that really delivers on ‘liveability’.

In less than 20 seconds, it expands the central living area of the caravan from spacious to cavernous at the touch of a switch. Admittedly you can’t access the rear separate shower and toilet bathroom for roadside comfort stops until the slider is deployed, but the Italian leather front lounge and all functions of the kitchen – with its Thetford 3+1 electric/gas cooktop, grill, oven and 218 litre Waeco 12/240v compressor fridge on one side and stainless steel sink, drainer and microwave on the other – remain useable when the slide is closed.

When the slide is ‘out’, the Crystal River becomes a real ‘entertainer, allowing chefs to master the kitchen, while family and guests relax up front – all enjoying excellent natural light through the van’s large windows and twin Midi Heki roof hatches.

A height adjustable Nuova single-pedestal table allows up to six adults to dine comfortably without impeding access to any other part of the van.

Three TVs in total

Three, 32in Samsung TVs – one on the upper wall at the foot of the bed, another in the kitchen area that can be viewed from the lounge and a third on the left hand outside wall, protected from dust by a rubber-sealed hatch – combine with a Fusion 750 audio unit to keep everyone entertained if ‘The Outback’ doesn’t turn on its magic, as expected.

Another welcome feature of the Crystal River’s layout is the excellent interior storage space. With cabinets lining the upper walls, twin hanging robes at the end of the bed, numerous drawers and useful storage space beneath the lift-up bed, it caters well for long-term travellers.

Since Lotus acquired the Universal brand name, all Universal cabinetry is now built at Lotus and while the drawers have soft-close latches, the overhead cupboards all shut noisily and one wardrobe door was very sticky.

It’s also worth pointing out the amount of space in the ensuite, or lack of it. Despite having a separate shower and toilet, plus a separate centre vanity with a top-loading washing machine beneath the benchtop, it’s not as roomy as in some other caravans of this length that we’ve reviewed.

Pushing the limit

External storage is also very good, however if you fill the van’s two 95-litre fresh water tanks, carry a portable generator in the A-frame mounted checker-plate tool box, store supplies in the boot, and slide portable tables and chairs into the two left hand side body hatches, you’re then going to be nudging the Crystal River’s 3495kg ATM and hence the legal towing limit of most popular 4WDs and crew cab utes.

One way around this would be to give your tow vehicle a maximum towing upgrade, with Lovells being the leaders here in fully-approved modifications for the latest Toyota LandCruiser and some utes. However, the safest bet would be a bigger American pick-up designed to easily handle this sort of load…

However, if you’re thinking of towing a big van like the Crystal River on a Big Lap, you should first have an honest conversation with your caravan dealer about what you intend to load it with and what is going to tow it, or risk falling foul of the authorities and, potentially, your car and caravan insurers if something goes wrong.

As it’s built on a robust 150mm x 50mm G&S Supagal chassis and its Dexter independent suspension is rated to 3.75 tonnes, the Crystal River is certainly ready for this challenge. We'd haggle to get Dexter electronic stability control included in the price, as it's not a standard fit.

Lotus family look

Like most of the Lotus ‘family’, conventional silver aluminium cladding combined with some smooth composite panels at the front and rear gives the caravan a stylish, understated look, while steel grey checker plate protection along the lower sides, rear and high up the front panel to the window line ward off stray stones.

The checker plate tool box adds additional front protection, but many buyers might also want to fit a truck mesh stone screen ahead of it to give protection for the twin 9kg gas bottles and the A-frame mounted water tap.

On the plus side, the van’s electrically-operated folding aluminium step rises high enough to take it out of harm’s way. Underneath, the space-saving Dexter suspension and heavy checker plate protection for the water tanks, while neat rubber lagging on the PVC waste pipes offers more protection than some off-road caravans.

The only feature at odds with this is the single spare wheel hanging off a rather skimpy rear bumper with two supporting arms. Many buyers might expect two spares and a sturdier mounting on a caravan that might be on the road for up to six months or more at a time.

Verdict

With its space, thanks to its useful slide-out, layout and high level of standard equipment, the 23ft 6in Universal Crystal River would makes an elegant travelling companion for many Australians planning the Big Lap.

However, with its aim to be a long-term travelling home-from-home, buyers should expect to find basics like stability control, a grey water tank and a second spare wheel in a caravan with a RRP of $129,990.

Universal Caravans Crystal River 23ft 6in

Travel length: 9,731mm

External bogy length: 7223mm

External body width: 2340mm

Travel height: 3055mm

Interior height: 1998mm

Tare weight: 2900kg

ATM: 3495kg

Ball weight (Tare): 230kg

Body: Meranti wall framing with ribbed aluminium and Dibond cladding, plus checker-plate on lower sides

Chassis: G&S 150mm x 50mm Supagal steel

Suspension: Dexter Torflex 3.75T independent rubber torsion

Brakes: 10-inch electric drum
ESC: Optional

Wheels: 16in alloy with 245/75/16 AT tyres

Fresh water: 2 x 95L

Battery: 2 x120Ah deep cycle

Solar: 2 x 160W monocrystalline solar panels with 30A solar regulator

Gas: 2 x 9kg

TV: 3 x 32in Samsung

Audio: Fusion 750

Cooking: Thetford 3+1 electric/gas cooktop, grill, oven

Fridge: 218-litre 12/240v Waeco

Air conditioning: Dometic reverse-cycle

Microwave: NCE

Toilet/Shower: Separate shower and toilet

Washing machine: Top-loader

Lighting: LED

Base price $129,990

Supplied by: Lotus Caravans, Campbellfield, Victoria

More info: Universal Caravans

Universal Crystal River

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