TEST HORIZONS UNLIMITED CAVARNO PLUS
continuously or only when reverse is
selected. The power door mirrors are
excellent, with separate wide-angle glasses.
We appreciated the standard cab airconditioning, column-mounted radio/CD
controls, wheel-mounted cruise controls
and ample storage provision. A full-size
steel spare wheel stows in a rear cradle.
FRESH
HORIZON
LIVING ABOARD
George Hinton samples a fine
example of compact camping
on a Ford chassis
Vehicle supplied
for test by: Roy
Wood Transits,
429 Reading
Road, Winnersh,
Berkshire RG41
5HU. Call 0118
979 0202.
Converted by:
Horizons Leisure
Vehicles Ltd,
Unit 3, Brabazon
Court, Litchfield
Road Industrial
Estate,
Tamworth,
Staffordshire
B79 7TA. Call
01827 313736
M
UCH WILL be familiar about
this test if you are able to recall
our review of the shorter
Cavarno 2 in December 2006.
To recap, Horizons Unlimited was formed
18 years ago by the Pegg brothers, and the
Cavarno was commissioned from them and
sold exclusively by their principle dealer/van
supplier, Roy Wood Transits of Winnersh,
near Reading. This is the latest incarnation,
though from 2011 sales will all be direct
from the Tamworth factory, unless you need
Roy Wood’s expert team to perform a
bespoke disabled conversion for you.
CONSTRUCTION AND LAYOUT
The base vehicle would ideally be a Ford
Transit 330 (3,300kg GVW) van, but this is
not available with the Trend pack, which
adds metallic paint with body-colour
bumpers and grille, front foglights, side
86 The Caravan Club Magazine
protection mouldings, power mirrors,
cruise control, Bluetooth, auto lights/
wipers, heated windscreen and passenger
airbag. It proves more cost effective to
specify the 350 van, which does have the
Trend option. The vehicle weighed in at
2,700kg with driver, 90% fuel plus water
and a 6kg gas cylinder, leaving a massive
800kg available payload.
Front-wheel drive is standard, but you
can specify rear or all-wheel drive, slightly
reducing internal height. All bodywork
cavities are insulated and, rather than a plain
ply floor, Horizon employs a fully-insulated
deck, raising the floor height to 24in
(61cm), which makes the omission of a
standard side step surprising. The essential
automatic Omnistep (£441) was due to be
fitted after we returned the vehicle.
The furniture remains one of the
highlights of this brand. Cabinet doors are
Table for two by the
window? Certainly
framed in solid oak, with real oak veneered
birch ply used for infill and carcase work
and a special oak profile for the worktop
edge, all finished in satin polyurethane
lacquer. Impressive locker detailing
includes generous retaining lips, carpeted
backs and padded PVC leathercloth side
trims that cover all the construction blocks
and screws. Similar treatment is used for
the window surrounds and ceiling, allowing
the ceiling lamps to be inset flush.
Similar in layout to the Auto-Sleeper
Duetto, the front and centre of the Cavarno
XL are married to the rear kitchen and
washroom of the Cavarno 2, resulting in a
17ft 1in (5.21m) long vehicle with 6ft 6in
(1.98m) beds and full cooking and washing
facilities. Both water tanks are under the
floor, so this is not an all-year camper, but
the waste tank is quick to empty via a largediameter gate valve under the sliding door.
ON THE ROAD
Revised since 2006, the 2.2-litre base
engine now develops 113bhp but I was
driving the optional 138bhp vehicle. You
could hardly ask for a nicer motor caravan
to drive, with a slick dash-mounted
gearshift, good ride and powerful brakes.
The journey from 0-50mph takes
13 seconds, and high gearing, coupled
with the absence of rattles, makes for a
very quiet, economical cruiser (our mpg
includes an evening’s heating!).
Through-vision is limited by barn-type
rear doors that only have an offside
window, but this is compensated for by the
optional rear-view camera, so discreet that
few people would notice it is fitted. The
screen is in the replacement internal mirror
clipped to the original, the view given
restricted to about a car length behind.
This can be switched on either
The living area, with a Heki rooflight
above, is nice and bright, and comfortable
for four with the cab seats reversed.
The offside forward-facing seat converts
into a settee with the matching backrest
cushion supplied, but as this occupies most
of the overcab storage locker, you might
carry it selectively. Flooring is non-slip grey
vinyl, with the furniture all silicone-sealed
to it at the base, so washing the floor won’t
damage the woodwork. Three-piece plain
grey loose-lay carpets are supplied.
Each rear seat has two adjusters: the
front one moves the base cushion in stages,
raking the backrest at the same time,
ultimately giving access to the carpeted
storage beneath, while the side latch
releases the whole base on smooth roller
runners for bed make-up.
For dining, the 301⁄2in x 18in (78cm x
46cm) table, stored on the end of the
kitchen unit, is hooked onto the chrome
wall rail. An optional coffee table with
tubular leg, to fit between the cab seats,
stows in the wardrobe.
Lighting is courtesy of two 16W
fluorescent ceiling units, supplemented by
five 13-LED downlighters located under
the roof lockers and in the cab roof. A panel
above the sliding door carries combined
12/230V socket outlets with the single
control for the Webasto Air Top diesel
space heater alongside, the unit being
boxed in under the nearside seat. Further
forward is the PC100 electronic control
panel for battery and water tank status and
the pump and main lighting switches.
In terms of storage, there are two offside
roof lockers, an overcab locker and a
wardrobe, with two deep, carpeted shelves.
The gas locker, below the wardrobe, takes
one 6/7kg cylinder with space to spare, but
its restraint bracket, held only by two short
woodscrews, rather than bolts, had pulled
out of the plywood wall.
The 5ft 9in (1.75m) wide interior has a
16in (41cm) aisle between the main seats,
and there is a gap of 19in (48cm) between
kitchen and washroom. There are two
all-fabric upholstery options, while our test
van came with one of four soft-leather
combinations – grey with blue faux suede.
KITCHEN
The 4ft 6in (137cm) long worktop has the
same mid-grey laminate and wide oakprofiled edge as the table. It incorporates
Spinflo’s Minigrill Mk III with four gas >>
Clever storage for bed cushion infills
Single beds are generously long
RATINGS
CONSTRUCTION & LAYOUT
ON THE ROAD
LIVING ABOARD
KITCHEN
WASHROOM
SLEEPING
VERDICT
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
RRP/as tested
Base vehicle
Engine
Power
£46,995/£51,652OTR
Ford Transit 350 Trend MWB
2,198cc TDCi
113bhp (84kW) @ 3,500rpm (fitted
option 138bhp (103kW) @ 3,500rpm)
Torque
Transmission
Fuel/tank/econ
Overall length
Overall width
Overall height
Max internal height
221lb ft (300Nm) @ 1,800-2,300rpm (option
258lb ft (350Nm) @ 1,800-2,400rpm)
Durashift 6spd FWD (RWD, AWD optional)
Diesel/17.6gal (80 litres)/28.5mpg
17ft 2in (5.23m)
7ft 2in (2.18m) inc mirrors
9ft (2.75m) inc Heki
6ft 11⁄2in (1.87m)
MRO
MTPLM
User payload
Berths
NCC approved
2,700kg (53.1cwt)
3,500kg (68.9cwt)
800kg (15.7cwt)
2
No
Figures supplied by manufacturer
Club insurance: 0800 028 4809 • Info: horizons-unlimited.co.uk
December 2010 The Caravan Club Magazine 87
TEST HORIZONS UNLIMITED CAVARNO PLUS
Above left: the
offside rear seat
converts into a
comfortable settee,
while lounging area
is light and airy
Above right:
washroom may be
compact but it is
perfectly useable
Below right: the
cook should find
Cavarno’s kitchen
a delight
rings under its glass cover at the front end
and an inset stainless sink with internal tap
and flush glass cover at the rear. Height is
40in (102cm) to accommodate the
70-litre Dometic 4230S fridge beneath.
A large cupboard with wire storage basket
below the grill houses the gas valves.
A full-width laminate splashback
incorporates a 13A socket and the switch
for the electric element of the Truma
Ultrastore gas/electric boiler, located
under the offside seat with the silent CBE
switch-mode charger (reverse polarity
protected) and mains trip unit. The 85Ah
leisure battery is under the driving seat.
The only window is the vertical slider in
the back door, but more daylight comes
via the Mini Heki rooflight directly above
the cooker. A 16W ceiling lamp and an
8W version under the two roof lockers
ensure you won’t be working in the dark.
Crockery or cutlery fittings are notably
absent, but there’s a generous drawer
above a cupboard sandwiched between
fridge and cooker.
With a clear 20in (50cm) x 12in
(30cm) worktop space between the sink
and cooker and a supplementary dropdown shelf attached to the washroom
wall, the kitchen offers convenience quite
disproportionate to the size of the vehicle.
WASHROOM
Necessarily compact, at 361⁄2in long by
27in wide (93cm x 69cm), with a
conventional five-way rooflight for light
and ventilation, this washroom worked for
my 6ft/12st frame, though I could only
shower standing sideways.
The basin, which opens to reveal a
soapdish and four toothbrush holders,
88 The Caravan Club Magazine
both economises on water and allows you
to get your face right over it. There are now
separate taps for it and the shower.
The wheelarch, boxed as part of the
GRP shower tray, forms a big, low shelf on
which to put your shower gel etc, with the
heater outlet at the end. There’s a double
towel hook, but the clever Force 4 Dry Roll
loo roll holder, which rewinds the toilet
tissue inside as you close it, is a combined
extra with the bi-fold shower screen that
covers the doorway. This is optional as
many customers never use the shower, and
fewer like a curtain in such limited space.
Lack of space is compensated for by a
quality Dometic CT3000 series toilet with
lightweight ceramic bowl, fed from the
main water tank. Storage, though, is
restricted to a cabinet behind the sliding
mirror doors with a deep trough beneath. A
single 8W fluorescent tube high on the
outer wall provides plenty of illumination.
SLEEPING
Bedmaking is easy – with cab seats facing
rearwards, you slide the rear seats forwards
to abut the front seats, leaving a gap at the
back which is infilled with one cushion
each side, stowed in recesses in the offside
wall. Finished size is a generous
6ft 6in x 2ft (198cm x 61cm).
To form a transverse 5ft 9in (175cm)
double, place a hinged, carpeted bridge
board, stored inside the nearside seat,
across the aisle towards the kitchen. Two
brackets slide into the tubular seat frames
at the front, providing a secure base for the
dual-purpose settee backrest.
While a good density for sitting, the
standard Reflex foam cushions might be
too firm for some as mattresses – but as
each Cavarno is built to order, you can
specify a built-in memory foam topper as
part of the upholstery. The cab has plain
grey twill three-quarter-length heavilylined curtains, which pull around easily on
Silent Gliss track. Windows and rooflights
all rely on roller blinds for night blackout.
VERDICT
The Transit gives more space inside than a
VW, nowadays closely matching it for
quality. Horizons’ conversion is
undoubtedly of the highest standard, such
that we were surprised to find a single
minor constructional issue in the gas locker.
Rather like the Murvi, it is a bespoke
product, so there is no reason why it should
not fulfil all your expectations. n