We take a look at the stylish twin axle Sterling Europa 600 touring caravan...

Family, twin axle caravan layouts are becoming more popular as the appeal of caravanning is spreading to younger couples with children in tow.  Swift Group have, for the past two years, have produced family friendly layouts under the guise of the Sprite Quattro and Sterling Europa 600.  The Sprite Quattro is the company's "budget" model and the Sterling Europa 600 has the same layout but more features.  As a user of the Quatrro twin axle it was interesting to contrast and compare the two models.

Layout

The Sterling Europa 600 is a six berth caravan with a front double bed coverting from the living area,two side fixed bunk beds and two nearside single bunks converting from the side dinette.  The upper bunks on both sides have a weight limitation so are really only suitable for children although the lower bunks are suitable for Granny or Grandad if they wish to have the occasional night away with the family.  The interior is light and airy with an almost "Ikea" Scandinavian feel with lots of skylights and feature spot lighting.  The rear washroom is large enough for Mum or Dad and toddler at the same time and includes a usable shower cubicle.  There is plenty of storage in the rear wardrobe and under the basin.  New this year, is the inclusion of metal mixer taps in the shower and basin.  The whole of the interior has removable carpets over a woodblock vinyl flooring.

Living Space

A nice touch that is immediately obvious is the hardwood finishings to the edge of the cabinets and work surfaces.  This adds an air of luxury and is also practical when the kids get a bit exhuberant!  An obvious difference from the Sprite Quattro is the new exterior two part door.  This has a much more practical and stylish handle and a waste bin on the interior.  It also has a window and blind that is absent from the Sprite Quattro.  All of the overhead lockers now have proper individual speung hinges as opposed to the plastic friction type which constantly drooped back to the closed position generally when I was underneath them!

The kitchen is very similar to the Quattro except there is a microwave locker with optional built in microwave.  It has the dual fuel Stoves hob and oven with separate grill.  New for this year is the onboard water pump.  We didn't get to use this as this was purely a look around a brand new van but the advantages are obvious over an external in container pump.

For entertainment, there is a built-in directional TV aerial and booster as opposed to the omni-directional type on the Quattro.  There is provision for a radio/cd player and all the wiring is fitted including the speakers; the player itself is optional.  Having built-in music is a real bonus and saves on carrying a separate stereo.  With modern systems, an MP3 player can be plugged in to enable you to enjoy your whole music collection without grabbing the CDs from the car!

There are blinds and flyscreens on all the windows including the rooflight.  One small but nice feature not present on the 2006 Quattro is the presence of coat hooks near the door.  With four of you onboard and the wardrobe being in the separate washroom, the coats often get abandoned on the rear dinette and these coat hooks satisfy my compulsive tidying habit.  Another small thing that I noticed was that the the handles to the internal doors are more substantial than before.

Heating is provided by the dual fuel gas and electric blown air system as is standard on the whole Sterling range.  A nice touch is that the unserside of the seats and beds are also warmed meaning that if you store bedding under the bunks it won't get damp or be freezing when you come to use it.

Exterior

The sales literature describes the construction as being of one piece, high gloss, thick gauge aluminium side walls on an Al-Ko chassis.  What does this mean to you and me?  Well, the sidewalls are less likely to suffer from dents and dings and the lack of joints means less awkward cleaning.  ior Having seen the caravan up close, this new, thicker construction does seem to do the job.  The exterior has access to the battery box with mains electric inlet.  There is a large nose locker with gas storage and regulator.  The Thetford cassette is also accessed from an outer lockable panel.  

The Europa has alloy wheels as opposed to steel on the Quattro and has a spare underslung steel wheel as standard.  If you intend fitting a mover, this may need to be moved to allow sufficient space.  For towing, the Europa is fitted with an Al-Ko stabiliser as standard although in our experience this layout and chassis are very stable to tow.

Overall

Compared to the Sprite Quattro which has an identical layout, the Sterling Europa offers a little more in the way of refinement and creature comforts.  The sturdier construction is a distinct advantage although this is probably a feature of all the new touring caravans from the Swift Group.  Is it worth the extra money?  Go take a look at both vans side by side if you can.  I for one would probably opt for the Sterling but there again there is really not very much in it and some of the options could be retrofitted to the Quattro if really required.