This is a slightly different review to usual. Mostly because the motorhome, a Sunlight T68, is not yet available in Australia – even though our friends across the Tasman would be very familiar with the brand. I was fortunate to get behind the wheel of a Sunlight during a recent trip to Iceland, hired through McRent (see The Wanderer, August 2025). Sunlight has a considerable presence in Europe, Scandinavia and New Zealand, but sadly not in Australia. Renting one was an opportunity to have a look at how a German manufacturer builds motorhomes, and Australian manufacturers could look to them for inspiration. 

Sunlight Motorhomes, despite the rather Anglo-sounding name, is part of the giant Erwin Hymer group, which includes brand names Hymer and Burstner (Germany), Elddis and Buccaneer (Britain), and Etrusco and Laika (Italy). Erwin Hymer is part of the US manufacturer THOR Industries, which owns brands like Airstream and Jayco (the US company, not the Australian one). All very multinational.

Construction

With a body length of 7.4 metres (24ft), the Sunlight T68 is a reasonable length for a rental motorhome, providing enough space for a practical interior. From the front, the T68 has a very streamlined appearance. The body has aluminium sidewalls and a glass-reinforced plastic roof and rear wall. The bodywork comes with a seven-year water ingress warranty. We found the insulation to work quite well. Even Icelandic summer nights can be quite cool, and we used the Truma Combi diesel heater several times.

In some respects, the Sunlight bodywork looks similar to Australian-built motorhomes, but there are several notable differences. In addition to the door being on the righthand side, there's a big skylight hatch above the driver's cab and a large storage area (75cm x 80cm) right across the rear of the motorhome. 

European manufacturers call this common feature a 'garage'. That's not surprising given its storage capacity, and I don't understand why they're not popular in Australia. We didn't really use the garage to capacity, given we only had our travel bags – but it would easily hold sporting gear like golf clubs, fold-up bikes, inflatable paddle boards or even snow-skiing gear.

Grey water tanks don't usually rate a mention, but this 92-litre one is noteworthy because there's no grey water hose. All the dump points we came across were designed to drive across and just open the valve. There's the usual gas cylinder bin on the right-hand side, but the gas cylinders aren't so usual – two 11kg cylinders made of a composite material that's much lighter than the steel equivalents.

The roof is a little less busy than Australian motorhomes; there's no air-conditioner (not really necessary in Iceland) or solar panels. RV freedom camping doesn't exist in Iceland; everyone has to use a campground. That said, some of the campground facilities we came across were quite basic and we used the onboard amenities frequently.

On the Road

Familiar to many Australian motorhome owners is the motive power: a Fiat Ducato Multijet 140 with a 105kW/350Nm turbo diesel engine and an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Had we wanted one, a manual version was available. The T68 had a tare mass of 2,850kg and a GVM of 3,500kg – somewhat lighter than Australian models. When we were making the rental booking, we were queried about having a licence suitable for driving a 3,500kg motorhome. A normal licence would have been sufficient but my wife and I have LR (light rigid) and HR (heavy rigid) licences, respectively. Once the weight limits were understood, there wasn't a problem.

Iceland, like most European countries, is left-hand drive. Fortunately, I'd experienced this twice in the year prior; but for anyone who hasn't, Icelandic traffic isn't too busy and there are plenty of quiet streets to practise driving on the right-hand side of the road.

A narrower width (2.32 metres) wasn't a problem on Icelandic roads; away from the towns, they are quite narrow with a little verge that falls away quite quickly on either side. This is good for snow ploughing but not so much for stopping to take in the scenery. The lane assist function on the Ducato chimed frequently when travelling around corners!

'Willkommen An Bord'

For those unfamiliar with a European motorhome, the Sunlight represents a fairly typical layout. It's not a flat floor design. From the door, there's a step up to the front dinette/seating area, and in the rear there are several steps to the bed. Typical of the Euro look are the lace curtains on most of the double-glazed acrylic windows, mood lighting and under-floor hatches – simple panels that provide easy access to storage compartments. They're not very big but excellent for items like shoes. All the internal cabinetry felt well screwed together and assembled, and very sturdy.

Up front, like most motorhomes, the driver and passenger seats both swivel around to face the lounge area. Typical of the half-dinette design, the T68 has twin forward-facing travel seats, a large central table and a side-facing seat on the passenger side. It's an arrangement that will comfortably seat two, with enough seating for four - there's an additional drop-down double bed over the lounge that's 1.95 metres long, with a variable width up to 1.4 metres.

Cooking and Dining

The L-shaped kitchen is centrally positioned. It's a typical Euro minimalist setup: quite compact with a two-burner hob, round stainless steel sink and three softclose drawers under the bench. Opposite is a 167-litre Thetford three-way fridge with a separate freezer drawer.

To the rear of the kitchen, there's a Thetford cassette toilet on one side and a shower cubicle on the other. Both can be closed off from the front of the motorhome, together with the rear bedroom. Whilst the toilet cubicle has fixed walls, the shower screens fold in to create more space when not in use. The toilet area has a wash basin, door mirror and two towel rails.

Step Up To The Bed

The bedroom is different to most Australian motorhome layouts that typically have a flat-floor bed. But the step-up bed had a lot going for it and enhances the external storage capacity considerably.

Because of the rear garage, the beds in the T68 are set higher than a more conventional bed. There are twin single beds (2.1m x 80cm), accessed by two permanent steps. A mid-section mattress enables the bed to be converted into a large double (2.1m x 1.68m).

Storage is very generous in this area – with overhead lockers along the rear wall, open under-bed compartments, and cupboards either side with hanging space or shelving.

The Bottom Line

The Sunlight range was once a budget version of the Dethleffs brand, but these days it's anything but. I'm used to European motorhome layouts and quite enjoyed using the T68. I particularly liked the flexibility of the rear bed arrangement. The kitchen, however, required a bit of dexterity, particularly without a microwave,

and we tended to cook simple meals.

Being used to the Australian Fiat Ducatos, I would have appreciated a more powerful version of the turbo diesel. Sadly, unless you are prepared to jump through a large number of compliance hoops, the Sunlight T68 isn't available in Australia. However, if you want to try one out locally, a short trip across the Tasman to one of the McRent depots will get you in the driver's seat.

SPECIFICATIONS

VEHICLE

MANUFACTURER SUNLIGHT

MODEL T68

BASE VEHICLE FIAT DUCATO

TARE WEIGHT 2,850KG

GVM 3,500KG

LICENCE CAR

PASSENGERS 4

MECHANICAL

ENGINE 2.2 LITRE TURBO DIESEL

POWER 105KW @ 3,500RPM

TORQUE 350NM @ 1,400RPM

GEARBOX EIGHT-SPEED GEARBOX

BRAKES ABS DISC

DIMENSIONS

EXTERNAL LENGTH 7.4M (24FT 3IN)

EXTERNAL WIDTH (INCL AWNING) 2.32M (7FT 7IN)

EXTERNAL HEIGHT 2.9M (9FT 6IN)

INTERNAL HEIGHT 2.1M (6FT 11IN)

BED (REAR SINGLE) 2.1M X 0.8M (6FT 11IN X 2FT 7IN)

BED (DOUBLE) 2.1M X 1.68M (6FT 11IN X 5FT)

BED (DROP DOWN) 2.1M X 0.65M (6FT 11IN X 2FT 2IN)

EQUIPMENT

COOKTOP CAN 2-BURNER HOB

FRIDGE THETFORD N4170A 167 LITRE, 3-WAY

MICROWAVE OVEN NO

LIGHTING 12V LED

BATTERIES 1 X 95AH AGM

SOLAR PANELS NO

AIR CONDITIONER NO

TOILET THETFORD CASSETTE

SHOWER SEPARATE CUBICLE

HOT WATER HEATER TRUMA COMBI 6E

HEATER TRUMA COMBI 6E

WATER TANK 122 LITRE

GREY TANK 92 LITRE

GAS CYLINDERS 2 X 11KG

PRICE: RENTAL

Category: Features
Written: Sat 01 Nov 2025
Printed: December, 2025
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