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Eden Caravans Trackvan 22

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Generally speaking, many a caravan these days which is longer than 6m (20ft) has a bathroom, and it is frequently full width across the rear. I must confess that’s large enough for me and I’m happy with something smaller — but what if a large bathroom is desired?

Well, Sunshine Coast dealer, Caravan World (great name that one, hey?) may well have the solution in the form of an Eden Caravans Trackvan 22. It has a fairly standard layout in the form of a front island bed, nearside kitchen, offside dinette and rear bathroom. However, the bathroom is larger than usual and therefore does have a different layout. 

Getting down to a few essentials, the Trackvan has an external length of 6.75m (22ft 2in) and a GVM of 3310kg. The Tare mass of 2760kg gives a payload of 550kg, which is good given the two 95L water tanks will absorb a fair chunk of that. 

TOWING WEIGHTS

The weight of this van puts it in the 3500kg tow vehicle arena and it’s not a bad fit for something such as the Ford Ranger Wildtrack that I used as a tow vehicle. Even with a fully loaded van, the Ranger will still have a bit of carrying capacity of its own. 

And there’s nothing wrong with the 3.2L turbodiesel that certainly has plenty of grunt (147kW/2500rpm) when needed, nor the six-speed auto that shifts through the gears very smoothly. Nothing makes for easier towing than a vehicle that isn’t working at the edge of its limits.

A point of note about my review caravan is the rather eye-catching colours of the body: the glossy red and grey certainly stand out, and there is of course the obligatory black alloy checkerplate along the lower waistline.

WORK YOUR BODY

Construction wise, the Trackvan has an aluminium frame and aluminium composite cladding. Dometic double glazed windows aren’t a surprise, neither is the Camec security door, except of course for the keyless entry feature using a key fob. Will we see the day when all external bin doors are keyless, not a separate key for each one?

I digress, the van is built on 150mm x 50mm (6in x 2in) railed chassis with a 50mm x 50mm (2in x 2in raiser). A look under the van reveals most pipework and cabling to be strapped up out of the way to avoid damage. All the water tanks are protected by alloy checkerplate, the two fresh ones either side of the suspension mounts and the grey towards the rear. Given the rough road nature of this van, it’s not surprising that it’s fitted with Cruisemaster XT coil suspension with shock absorbers and a Cruisemaster DO35 hitch up front. 

AT THE POINTY END

On the subject of up front, the drawbar is a busy looking place with two gas cylinders, a stone protector and alloy checkerplate storage boxes with a jerry can holder on both sides. The storage boxes are large enough to accept both a generator and something like a Weber BBQ for a bit of al fresco living. 

Given the storage capacity on the drawbar and the front tunnel storage, it would be prudent to do a ball weight check when fully loaded. The standard triple fitting awning lighting includes two LED fittings on the front wall, a bar-style one for general use and a floodlight for use with something like a BBQ. The offside wall isn’t without its features either, there being a mid-wall strip light and a rear storage bin. 

STEPPING ABOARD

Inside the Trackvan, the colour scheme matches the external colours, although there is a bit less glossy grey and a bit more glossy white in mostly the upper areas. The red colouring is mostly restricted to the manchester, including the bedspread and pillows. Even by daylight it is obvious there are multiple light fittings — ceiling downlights, reading lights and LED strip lighting fitted to the overhead lockers. 

One of the design tricks for getting a larger bathroom area is to have a forward habitation door — it’s a space saver. 

To separate the entry area from the 1.88m x 1.52m (6ft 2in x 5ft) island bed, a 300mm (1ft) partition has been built in. That is also handy for a flatscreen TV mounting point and also a small diagonal cupboard in the corner. 

Large windows on either side of the bed plus a good sized roof hatch offer plenty of air flow when the roof-mounted Dometic Ibis 4 air-conditioner isn’t being used. Mirrors are fitted to both of the bedside wardrobes and there are the usual overhead lockers and bedside cabinets for storage. Lighted pigeonholes are fitted to the base of the wardrobe — a clever little storage idea. Lifting the bed gives access to the storage area underneath which is part occupied by the diesel-fired air heater which is vented to the outside underneath the van. 

CHEF’S DELIGHT

Even with the larger bathroom at the rear, the kitchen bench in this van hasn’t been compressed too much, helped in part by its angled design. 

Facing the bench, a stainless steel sink/drainer is to the left and a four-burner hob, grill and full oven are to the right. There’s still a bit of benchtop space and the cooker does have a flush lid. General kitchen storage is quite good with three cupboards, three overhead lockers and four drawers. 

A microwave oven takes up the space of a fourth overhead locker. The corner cupboard at the front end of the bench is interesting because there are doors on both sides giving easy access from the bench front or even when standing outside the door. 

The Evacool fridge is located opposite the kitchen and in between the dinette and bathroom. With a 168L fridge above and a 40L drawer freezer below, it has twin compressors.

It seems to me that just about everything has been fitted to the leather upholstered cafe-style dinette — a multi-fold table complete with cupboard underneath, inwards-facing drawers under the seats, hinged footrests and three overhead lockers. About the only items that could top that list is a mains powerpoint and 12V/5V USB charger outlets — and it has those too!

KEEPING IT TIDY

In a way the bathroom area resembles the kitchen. In addition to the expected rear nearside corner shower and nearside Dometic cassette toilet, the rest of the bathroom is filled with a very well sized vanity cabinet complete with pedestal wash basin plus a considerable amount of cupboard and drawer space. 

Oh, and there’s also a 3.5kg top-loading washing machine and enough benchtop space for folding clothes. 

This is quite a well set up caravan on the power front, with three 130 lead crystal batteries, a 35A mains charger and two 160W solar panels. That is probably a good idea given the 12V compressor fridge and the number of lights fitted everywhere. 

THE BOTTOM LINE

In a way this van looks like quite a few others that are seen on the Australian market. But the larger than usual rear bathroom certainly makes a difference, as does the high level of appointment including everything from the multiple light fittings to keyless door entry. Then again, you might expect that in a van with a price tag just over $90K. The Eden Caravans Trackvan 22 is worth a test drive, that is for sure. 


WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Overall length 9.34m (30ft 8in)          

External body length  6.75 

(22ft 2in) 

External body width (incl awn) 2.39m (7ft 10in)

Travel height 3.22m (10ft 7in)                      

Internal height 2.05m (6ft 9in)                  

Tare 2760kg            

ATM 3310kg            

Payload 550kg  

Ball weight 220kg  


EXTERNAL

Frame Aluminium                  

Cladding Aluminium composite walls, fibreglass composite roof        

Chassis DuraGal box section   

Suspension Cruisemaster XT coil independent         

Coupling Cruisemaster DO35    

Brakes 12in electric                                  

Wheels 16in alloy                                

Water 2 x 95L

Grey water 1 x 100L      

Battery 2 x 130Ah lead crystal           

Solar 2 x 160W        

Air-conditioner Dometic Ibis 4 

Gas 2 x 9kg                                             

Sway control No       

Kitchen (external)Option for Weber BBQ in front storage bin with slide-out


INTERNAL

Cooking Swift four-burner, grill and oven   

Fridge Evacool EL208-01 168L + 40L freezer, dual compressor         

Microwave Mida    

Bathroom Dometic cassette toilet plus separate shower cubicle             

Hot water Swift 23L


OPTIONS FITTED

All standard


Price as shown  $91,990 (Drive away in QLD including 12 months' registration)

MORE INFORMATION

To enquire about this caravan, please contact Caravan World, 7071 Bruce Highway, Chevallum, 

4559, QLD 

Ph: (07) 5445 2215