Sun's Up

Here's a van conversion to take a shine to

Words and Images by: Malcolm Street N26735

Sunliner is quite well known for the considerable number of different motorhome layouts it builds. Besides the cab-chassis variants available Sunliner also builds small and large van conversions. The larger Rialta range offers three different layouts based on three different vans – Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Iveco Daily or Fiat Ducato. Newcastle’s Australian Motor Homes (AMH) happened to have a Rialta 1 layout based on a Fiat Ducato Multijet 180 available, so we thought it was time for a test run.

CAB AND CHASSIS

In many ways the Fiat Ducato is an ideal van for this sort of conversion. Fiat has a special product line for motorhome conversions which means items like the cab seats swivel around very easily and the conversion is very practical for the manufacturer. Sunliner has retained the Ducato rear windows but fitted Seitz acrylic double-glazed hoppers along the walls, including in the sliding door. Some van conversions are almost discrete about being a motorhome but there are plenty of clues around the Rialta: The Prostor awning; roof-mounted Air Command Ibis air-conditioner; external shower; Thetford toilet cassette and Truma water heater.

A look under the offside rear also reveals the exhaust for the Webasto diesel heater. One interesting addition is the fridge-style vent on the sliding door – something not always seen. There’s no obvious gas cylinder bin but that is because it’s behind the rear doors under the bed. Questions about legalities lurk here but since regulations unhelpfully differ from state to state, I’m not going to comment except to say that I’d be keeping the rear doors unlocked anytime the gas cylinder is open.

ON THE ROAD

Being a 180 Multijet Ducato, means it uses Fiat’s 3.0-litre, 132kw, 400Nm turbo-diesel. Since it’s the largest in the Fiat stable and powers everything up to an 8.5m cab-chassis motorhome, it’s certainly going to have plenty of underfoot grunt for this model. That’s not a hoon comment; an engine working lightly is going to chew less fuel and offer a much more relaxing drive – especially since it’s bolted up to Fiat’s five-speed AMT gearbox, which means hardly any work at all.

Being only 6.63m (20ft 10in) long and 2.05m (6ft 9in) means the Rialta is highly manoeuvrable, especially around car parks. Since this Ducato is of the latest generation it is equipped with Fiat’s new Traction Plus system which is designed to overcome some of the perceived problems with front-wheel drive.

Travelling along, there were a few rattles and squeaks, most of which can be cured with a towel in the right place. Although it was not fitted to our review vehicle, a TomTom GPS is a standard feature.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Designing van interiors is always a challenge but the Rialta 1 offers a fairly workable layout. Up front, the cab seats swivel to mesh with the table immediately behind the driver’s seat and the two-seater lounge on the other side of the table. The kitchen bench takes up most of the mid wall space and part of the sliding door area, while the opposite side is occupied by the bathroom. An east-west bed runs across the rear.

SITTING BACK

There isn’t going to be great deal of room for putting the feet up and relaxing in a van conversion like this but Sunliner has certainly made the best of it. All the seats are finished in matching upholstery and all have seat belts. The table is of reasonable size and mounted on a Lagun multi-adjustable arm. There are pluses and minuses to this. On the plus side, the table is easy to move around and the leg and arm don’t really get in the way. However, this means that the part of the table furthest away from the wall is a bit wobbly – anything being done that requires leaning on the table should be done close to the wall. In the airspace above the window is a small locker and a door to enclose the area above the cab. The detachable screens for the cab windows fit very neatly.

CATERING

While by no means universal, often large motorhomes have small kitchens and small motorhomes have larger kitchens.

Someone once told me the theory was that people who could afford large motorhomes could afford to eat out more…

The Rialta kitchen bench is a reasonable size and has a three-burner cooktop, sans grill and a round stainless steel sink sans drainer. Both have smoked glass lids.

Given the layout, there is a surprising amount of benchtop area. That is aided by the microwave location. Instead of having it in the overhead locker area, it’s at the rear end of the bench at what might be described as a sunken benchtop height. That is, below benchtop height but with the top above the bench area. That makes it at a user-friendly height, gives some raised benchtop area and allows for a large drawer and small cupboard to be fitted under the microwave.

The remainder of the under bench area is usefully filled by a Waeco 110-litre 12V compressor fridge, four drawers and a cupboard. So that access to and from the door is not impeded unduly, the bench end is curved, the end being used for 240V and 12V powerpoints and the switch for the electric step.

SLEEPING HOURS

One of the limitations of the east-west bed is the length. At 1.85m (6ft 1in) long it will suit plenty of people. Anyone taller might have to consider one of the alternative Rialta layouts which have north-south beds but a more compressed living space as a result. With this bed arrangement there are two reading lights positioned on the offside and overhead lockers on both sides. The side windows ensure good cross-flow ventilation because the windows in the rear doors cannot be opened. A simple insect screen can be rolled down to keep the airflow going but the mozzies out.

Often the under-bed area is just a large open space but in this case, Sunliner has fitted drawers as well as a variety of different sized compartments. Despite the installation of the electrical connections here there’s still plenty of space. Part of that is the 12V fuse box and Sunliner has labelled the fuses so it’s possible to easily trace a fault should one occur. Still, the under-mattress areas are awkward to reach without disturbing the bed entirely because the compartment covers are all separate ply timber pieces, not just a single hinged item.

KEEPING CLEAN

Squeezing a bathroom into something like this layout isn’t going to be easy but Sunliner has managed to fit in one of a fairly practical size. Of course there is a Thetford cassette toilet and a variable height flexible hose shower all vented by a 12V van hatch. When using the shower, there is just enough room to turn around without banging elbows. The shower curtain should keep the door mounted mirror reasonable clean and the similarly fitted loo-roll holder reasonably dry.

Not really a bathroom component but something that will contain clean clothes, is a small wardrobe squeezed between the bathroom and rear dinette seat.

VERDICT

I asked AMH’s Bert van Leeuwarden who were the main buyers of a motorhome like the Rialta. He said there were three categories - couples who were working and still needed a convenient around town transport, couples who simply didn’t want a large motorhome or had motorhome storage/parking issues and singles who just wanted something easy to handle.

It’s quite easy to see how the Rialta fits the bill in all three cases. It’s small enough to be easy to handle, yet offer a relatively comfortable living area.