 |
| It's long |
I haven’t done a road test for some time, gentle reader, so
I’ll remedy that omission right here.
Last week my bride and I drove a Mercedes Benz Motorhome
from Brisbane to Melbourne on a relocation for a hire company. These
opportunities are routine. The upside is that it makes for a cheap way to see
some country (nominal day fee of either $5 or $1 daily). The downside is that
you don’t have time to stop and smell the roses.
We had four days.
 |
| The sliding door is heavy. |
The vehicle’s full name is Mercedes Benz Ultima 3 berth
Motorhome. It is on the MB Sprinter chassis, and has a 2.2 litre turbocharged diesel
and a seven-speed auto transmission.
It’s not small (6961 mm long, with a 4325 mm wheelbase and a
1614 mm rear overhang), but the biggest concern for me, a novice driver of such
a large vehicle, was the height of 2650 mm.
I did lots of looking up.
Despite its size, it is a very easy vehicle to drive with
light steering and great visibility. It has the best rear view mirror setup I’ve
ever come across, with views at driving height and kerb. I managed a three-point
part at one stage, although I did notice the bloke in the vehicle parked in
front looking nervous.
The other pleasant surprise was the fuel consumption of
around 11 litres per 100 km. When you consider that you’re driving around one
double bed, one single, a refrigerator, a kitchen, a bathroom and toilet and a
full set of cupboards, it’s remarkable. The travel was mostly open road
cruising, but it didn’t vary much in give and take country.
 |
| Pretty user-friendly |
Controls are well arranged around the cabin, and there is
heaps of accessible storage. The delivery van heritage is an advantage, as it
was obviously designed with the welfare of a working driver in mind. I’ve never
seen a vehicle with so many handles.
The cruise control, once you’ve read the handbook, is very
easy to use, and the brakes light and progressive. It handles well, in a ship
at sea fashion, which reminded me of Toyota Coasters I have driven, but the
steering was less wandery than what I remember of the Coaster. The only downside
here was the susceptibility to side winds. It was never dangerous, but your
concentration level had to be consistently high if it was blowy. We struck some
gale force winds on day two.
So much for the vehicle – let’s look at the motorhome side
of things.
 |
| Dusk in Goondiwindi |
It was air conditioned, which was a godsend on the first
night with day time temperatures of 40 plus in Goondiwindi, our first stop.
Once your gear is stored away in the cupboards, there is plenty of swinging
room, although you need to be organised when cooking or getting dressed.
The shower toilet is OK, but for skinny people only, and the
bed quite comfortable. You can opt for a double, which creates issues when one
person has to get up during the night, or two singles. The third single bed folds out crossways at the front.
 |
| Handy overhead storage |
Stove (three burner) and fridge are reasonably accessible,
and there is a second swing out barbecue on the passenger side rear. A range hood pretty successfully sends
cooking odours and heat outside, although the inbuilt fire alarm went off when
my bride was searing some delicious pork chops.
It can be used independently (without hooking up to mains
power) but you wouldn’t want to do this for more than a day or two – you’d run
out of gas and battery after that time.
 |
| In its natural habitat, but you have to watch the tree branches. |
It’s a machine I’d happily drive anywhere. It’s
big enough for two. Anything larger would be a bit of an overindulgence, and
would become troublesome when it came to parking anywhere in a built up area.
