For many people, motorhomes are typified by those built on either a light commercial cab chassis or a purpose built motorhome chassis. However, one of the more interesting growth areas in the industry over the last decade has been the conversion of large vans into fully self-contained motorhomes. An offshoot, in the case of Mercedes Benz Sprinter vans has been motorhomes with All Wheel Drive (AWD)/Four Wheel Drive (4WD) capability.

Queensland based manufacturer, Paradise Motor Homes, is well known for their range of mostly slide-out fitted motorhomes, commonly coachbuilt on Mercedes Benz or Iveco Daily cab chassis. The exception in the Paradise line up is the Mercedes Benz Sprinter van based Oasis range, but it too naturally comes with the slide-out.

In addition to the offside slide-out, my review vehicle, the Oasis Platinum comes with just about everything – AWD, full width rear bathroom, fitted generator and a standard motorhome door. Instead of fitting into the original sliding door gap, the door actually sits directly behind it thus giving more versatility with the layout. From the rear, the door appears to stand out from the van side a fair bit but it’s a bit of an illusion mainly caused by the curve of the van body rather than anything else. Along the top nearside edge, the curved Fiamma awning keeps a low profile – important especially with the 4WD model. On previous drives of this motorhome it’s mostly been fairly quiet but I’d noticed a few rattles with the Camec security door. Of course Paradise’s Colin Maclean has been on the job and come up with a few ideas to reduce the noise – they do work but I’ve just been asked not to mention what they are!

One of the surprises in the Oasis is the amount of external storage bins that are fitted, which is good because the area often used behind the rear doors isn’t available. There are two bins along the offside, one for the two 4.0kg gas cylinders and the other for a 2.5kW diesel generator. Given the fit of the generator and a little unusually, it doesn’t have a body profile door. Amongst other things it saves making a proper ventilated fitting. Also fitted to our review vehicle was a nearside bin which comes fitted with a slide-out BBQ. Still on outside features I do like the LED strip light – it has quite a low profile but good illumination – although being on the same side as the opened door, there will be a bit of shadow.

Unlike many designs which utilise the rear opening doors as well - which in some way restrict the layout - the Oasis rear doors are blocked off by the full width rear bathroom. Forward of the bathroom, the east-west bed has its bedhead in the offside slide-out. That leaves room for the nearside kitchen and a lounge/ dining area that is a combination of the swivelled cab seats and offside sideways facing lounge. The Paradise decor always looks deceptively simple yet has a certain style about it and is also quite easy to keep clean.

Sitting Back

In a rig the size of the Oasis, it’s important to use every bit of space, which is why the swivelling cab seats fit in well with the sideways facing lounge. There is also a Lagun swivel mounted table and I’d be suggesting a little bit of experimentation before purchase will help determine the optimum position for two people to sit. It more or less depends on who gets up  and down for meals and who stays in situ. When not being used, the table top is stored behind the seat back and the Lagun swivel under the seat, along with an external tripod mount as well.

Catering

Occupying the space where the sliding door used to be, the kitchen bench is certainly, by necessity, very compact. It has a stainless steel three burner cooktop and sink combo in the bench top, two multi-shelved cupboards and three drawers underneath. Given the way the cooktop and sink are orientated, washing and drying up is going to be best done by utilising the swivelling table as well. Above the kitchen bench the overhead locker offers plenty of storage space. Across the way, a Sharp carousel microwave sits atop a Waeco 175 litre fridge.

Sleeping

Fitting neatly into the slide-out as it does, the island double bed has small bedside shelves on either side plus goose neck reading lights. Measuring 1.83m x 1.37m (6ft x 4ft 6in), the bed can be extended by a 150mm/6in bed extension. That naturally cuts down on the walk around space available. With the slide closed up, it does appear that the bed blocks the walk way to the bathroom, but the bed base has been designed to lift easily in order to allow passing traffic. There is quite substantial storage space under the bed.

It should be mentioned that on the nearside wall between the door and rear window, the flat screen TV is mounted such that it can be seen from the bed or the seats at the front. The swivel mount, a Paradise design, means that the TV can be left in position when driving. Whilst mentioning the TV, one of other goodies fitted to this motorhome is a Crystop Autosat 2S satellite installation – very sophisticated! Under the TV are the 12V and antenna connections, 240V power point and a bank of light switches.

Keeping Clean

Getting a full width bathroom into the rear of a Mercedes Benz Sprinter is a bit of a challenge but it’s interesting what can be achieved. In this case an offside shower cubicle, mid station Thetford cassette toilet and a small corner wash basin. The latter sits in front of a small cabinet area with a wardrobe, overhead lockers and shelved area. It’s all quite cleverly fitted in. Other features of note are the mirror along the high side of the rear wall and the hinged shelf above the loo. Out of sight on that same item is the Paradise designed odour extraction system which seems to work quite well.

On the Road

There’s no doubt that the three pointed star base is an attraction as a base vehicle or van conversion. On the road it’s a very smooth performer and the 3.0 litre 140Kw turbo diesel is very well suited to the Oasis. It also came with a five speed full auto gearbox which slid through the gears effortlessly. In addition to normal road driving I also gave the motorhome a spin through some sandy terrain which it handled very well. I’ll just digress briefly here into AWD/4WD matters. Although the Sprinter is described as a 4WD it might be better to think of it as an AWD vehicle. Whilst the 4WD Sprinter is a very capable machine it doesn’t quite have the capability or ground clearance of a Toyota Land Cruiser. That said, having the AWD feature is a tremendous asset in any number of driving conditions – mud, sand, snow and even very wet roads. Ask any Subaru owner!

Final Analysis

Although some things might seem to be a bit fiddly or squashy, in reality they are not really and it is quite surprising to find what has been fitted in and how well it all works together. What also works well for this van conversion is its external width, under two quite different conditions. When driving around city streets, it’s both easy to manoeuvre and park. Similarly, when tootling down narrow bush tracks, the narrower width (when compared to a coachbuilt motorhome) means less risk of scratching the sides.

It’s a little ironic that the same feature might be regarded as both a plus and a minus but that is the way it is with this Oasis Deluxe Platinum. Although it might appear to be a bit cramped inside (which it really isn’t) many RV travellers will like the smaller dimensions of the Oasis van and single people would find size ideal, especially ladies who like the security of self-containment.

Category: Reviews
Written: Sat 01 June 2013
Printed: June, 2013
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