RV REVIEW
The van’ s structure is a composite fibreglass shell construction – very difficult to fault – finished with a lower waist of genuine Raptor applied by Vision’ s paint team inside specialised spray-paint booths in the Baringa, Qld, factory. The walls are joined and bonded using aluminium extrusion, while all external hatches on the body of the van are fabricated from the same fibreglass sandwich panels as the walls, and appear to be very strong. Open the offside picnic table to reveal a multipurpose storage location. Here, you’ ll find the switch for the fold-out entry step, a mixer with removable hand-held shower hose on a quick-release fitting( brilliant), power points, and a special Garmin control dock. This is part of the van’ s Garmin Connect 50 digital switching system. The system is operated via dual tablets( one fixed, one portable) and it puts complete control of the van at your fingertips, from the lighting to the airbag suspension to the Gusto dust reduction system.
This system also tells the fore and aft pitch of the van as well as any east-west roll. Because you can place the portable display in the driver’ s cab, you can ensure the van is perfectly level before you exit the car! Is it on a bit of a lean? Simply increase the psi in the relevant air-bag at the push of a button. The technical sophistication of this van is real – as is the attention detail, and the roof is a case in point.
First, every square inch of the roof real estate is covered in solar panels – 1760W worth, in fact. These panels are fitted to the roof using inhouse-built stainless steel brackets, connected to the roof via stainless bolts and nutserts. The only apertures are for the reverse-cycle air-conditioner and the solar cable, and I suspect if Chris could find a way to eliminate them, he would.
/ 9