Wonderland wins caravan torture test

It seems Wonderland RV is not just all about keeping families in the lap of luxury while on a big lap...

The boutique Melbourne manufacturer is also pretty good at building a van that will help get you to the campsite as quickly as possible, despite any adverse road conditions or obstacles in the way.

That's the conclusion from the recent announcement of the final results of the 2023 Club 4x4 Insurance Tough Tested caravan towing competition, with a top-spec Wonderland Amaroo ATX off-road van topping the overall leaderboard after two thrilling off-road time trials conducted at the Loveday 4x4 Adventure Park in South Australia earlier this year.

Riding the bumps on Cruisemaster XT coil suspension, the six figure priced Amaroo ATX tandem axle van towed by a Chevrolet Silverado pick-up clocked a swift run of 1min 17.03sec around the tight, twisting dirt road circuit, where you're usually more likely to witness 'hot laps' in a lightweight off-road buggy or 4WD rally car than an RV rig weighing close to six tonnes trying to stay out of the shrubs!

The female driver of the fastest van also managed to keep it going and in one piece around the even more challenging Mega Test Track, that included some typical Outback desert obstacles like sand moguls, wombat holes, a water crossing and a 'caravan graveyard', not to mention hill climb and speedway sections. The 19ft Wonderland recorded the quickest tandem-axle run of 8:06:30, despite a 30 second penalty.

The Wonderland RV pipped a Red Centre Tanami Plus off-road van that finished in second place, with a Goldstream RV Remote Panther filling the other spot on the podium.

Wonderland had another van, an XTR 2200, also competing in the made-for-TV event, with a number of other Aussie-built and imported vans also taking part, including a Vancraft Craftsman 17, Design RV CRX 206, Essential C-Class, Wonderoo Pearl XX3 Gold, Paramount Commander, Eagle Warrior 16 and Warrior 12F, Mobi Nomad Continental, Lyfe RV 17 Hybrid, Retreat ERV 21R, Kokoda Scout and Commando, Nova Bravo, Majestic Navigator, Lumberjack Sheoak, Zenith Everest 186, and Vacationer Dakar, plus an Urban Tungsten X-Terrain sporting the latest Terraglide semi trailing arm suspension.

For all the video action check out the Tough Tested Youtube channel.