ADRIA CORAL 660SP

GT PERFORMANCE FOR A FAMILY MOTORHOME

WORDS and PHOTOS BY JOHN PAGE

Something of a rare bird, this particular Overcab Adria has the three-litre, 160bhp diesel motor coupled to 6-speed automatic transmission. With less than 4,000 miles logged it was the ideal vehicle for a test. Peak Leisure on the edge of the Derbyshire National Park made the machine available to us for three warm days in August. First registered in 2008 it was in virtually as new condition in and out of its skin. Under lowering skies we headed north to Carsington Reservoir and the scenic Caravan Club site overlooking it. Medium size with a length of 7.31m it was highly manoeuvreable even through Ashbourne’s narrow roads.

Construction

Adria’s description of the 660 as a six-berth is interesting, in that seat positions for six to dine and travel do exist, but the fifth and sixth places do not have lap and diagonal safety belts. You pays your money etc. Overcab designs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, some gawky and angular, others like this machine from Adria have got it sussed with a beautifully balanced shape and brilliant graphics. The attraction is a whole lot more than skin deep however with the construction and the shape of it designed to supply comfortable surroundings and the hassle free operation.

Actually the floor plan of itself is basically straightforward – beds in situ, ditto the shower and it will take you all of a couple of minutes to rotate the cab seats to become armchairs. This bedroom over the garage type has become increasingly popular across Europe for adventurous families because the garage will swallow all sorts of outdoor gear such as boots, bikes and barbeques and the bed above gives mum and dad a cosy private place. Unusual but welcome information from Adria is the 4.035m wheelbase dimension and the walls, floor and roof thicknesses of 31/41/31mm respectively. Payload is 385kgs.

ON THE ROAD

I won’t bore you with the details of how the wheelbase dimension and the low centre of gravity plus weight distribution give the machine the good ride quality and handling that make driving it such a pleasure. Fiat + Adria = 100%. No inexplicable extraneous noises off on the move either. This was a personal first for the three-litre motor with automatic box, known as Comfort-Matic or Robotic. Sounds fanciful but the gist is that the gearbox recognises various road conditions and supplies the appropriate gear needed and the amount of power to apply. It is actually quite impressive – just drive and trust the machinery if you can. There’s no doubt on long journeys especially it will reduce the stress. Operating the gear lever is unbelievably simple – to the right and up is neutral and down is reverse. Move the lever left and + changes up and – changes down. Take it further left and you have full auto. Incredibly it uses no more fuel than the standard manual box. My guestimate; the low twenties to begin with, increasing by stages to the low thirties, as the total mileage mounts. Always providing of course you don’t hammer it. Cruise control, remote locking and cab air con’ are useful options, also the engine transmitted heater for the passengers, although I’m surprised that an airbag for the cab passenger wasn’t included.

Disc brakes of course and ASR – how did we live without them? No sat-nav thank goodness, we continue to prefer a road atlas to see where we are at and where we are going.

PANACHE FROM SLOVENIA

How come that this small mountainous country to the East of Northern Europe is such a power among exporters and one of the top makers of Motorhomes and Trailer Caravans. It may have something to do with their entrepreneurial style, innovation and bags of enthusiasm that permeates through to their retailers. They have been doing that now for about three decades in spite of wars, credit crunches and fierce competition. Joining the European Union has also done them no harm at all, while the Pound deteriorates steadily against the Euro.

So, what is special about this 660 SP? The answer is partly to do with the attention to detail – the ease of rotating the cab seats for example, the practical depth of the roof lockers and genuine comfort to seat and dine a family of four coupled with plenty of daylight and copious ventilation. In fact there are no less than five roof ventilators of various but useful sizes. At mealtimes the table was a sturdy affair and would extend sufficiently to seat five comfortably.

For appearance a tawny shade of wood grain effect for the furniture, including the fridge doors, looks great, contrasting quietly with soft grey and blue fabrics. Well-engineered fittings for a flat screen TV mounted in a roof locker above the offside couch will mean a good view from the cab and dinette seats. A Radio/CD by Pioneer had commonsense controls and exceptional reception. Our only criticism was that some light fittings and the top shelves of some of the roof lockers meant standing on tiptoe to get at them for campers of average height and below. Are Slovenians taller than average campers?

Sleeping

Of all the fixed beds this transverse type above the garage scores well for the cosy and very private position of it and the lavish dimensions of a 2.10m (6’10”) length and 1.40m (4’7”) width. Windows on two sides give plenty of light plus ventilation and with the large Heki roof light you can look at the clouds in the morning to make a weather forecast before climbing out of bed. Two deep steps are the access and a pair of grab handles is well placed. There is generous roof locker space for folded clothes and the wardrobe proper is at the foot of the stairs. Wall pouches for books etc are just above one’s head as well as the pair of easy to reach spotlights. Further encouragement for a lie in is the heater switches on the bulkhead within arms reach without even lifting your head. And they call this camping. Up front the children can also be pampered when they climb the ladder to the Overcab bed. It has an identical size bed, sensible size windows, the roof light and another pair of spotlights. Ingeniously this same ladder becomes the lower section of the one leading to the roof rack area. For the cab privacy pleated blinds cover the windscreen and roll out damp proof curtains clip neatly into place over the side windows. Something of a minor hassle would be to assemble the dinette double bed using the two couches and the table lowered and extended, for visitors perhaps.

THE GALLEY

Slaving is not necessary in this meal creating environment because it is well ordered enough to make the task relatively straightforward and that’s official. How else would we be noshing on vegetable curry, spelt bread and oat porridge? Actually the complete package was praised, for the arrangement of the worktop including the deep drawers below it, for the built in waste container plus fridge and oven within arms reach. Roof lockers built too high for easy access were frustrating but the lighting and the extractor fan operation worked fine. The angled shape of the basic unit and a window handy enough for the chef to catch an occasional glimpse of the countryside also had our full approval. The lack of a cutlery drawer and racks for crockery was commented on. And finally, the switching and information panel of the Thetford fridge were models of clear thinking.

WASHROOM

What would you expect the priorities to be with a Motorhome washroom? Ample space, adequate lockers for the tackle and plenty of light by day or night perhaps. Those are ours that Coral 660SP supplies in good measure. The shower for instance is a separate entity and pleasant to use. A pair of sectioned roof lockers did the trick for the bulging wash bags and the locker under the sink was our laundry basket. An unusual arrangement of mirrors had one angled down at 45o above the sink, ideal for shaving or makeup as well as collecting an image from the door mirror showing the back of madam’s hairdo or progress of sir’s tonsure. On several counts the large opening window with fly-screen and blind had its uses.

STORAGE

Obviously the garage is one of the best ideas ever for storage in a Motorhome because it creates space from nowhere by simply raising the bed. Apart from obvious outdoor gear it the natural place to stash any other bulky object that would otherwise clutter up the living space. Roof storage had containing rails as part of the overall design and a sturdy ladder for access to it. Interesting that all access flaps to the garage, gas locker, water fill point and kitchen waste container have substantial thief deterrent locks fitted, and that the lock for the door to the living quarters was an integral part of the remote central locking system.

Summary

To date one of the best looking Overcab shapes we’ve tried principally because it looks right – balanced from whatever angle you look at it. The handling also belies the shape, feeling more like a smaller vehicle altogether. Noise levels were also low although we didn’t get the chance of driving it in a full gale. Seating mobile or stationary was firmly comfortable and it is not overstating the case to say that the overall design approach is a practical one. Technically the powerful motor and simple to use auto/manual gearbox are brilliant especially at the price of £40,750 for a vehicle first registered in September 2008 that looked virtually as new.

TECHNICAL DATA

Vehicle specification: Adria Coral 660 SP 4/6 berth Overcab Motorhome

Price of vehicle tested:  £40,750

Vehicle kindly loaned for testing by: Peak Leisure, Units 2/3 Howardson Works, Kirk Langley, Derby, DE6 4NJ. Tel: 01332 824 787

CONVERSION

Overall length: 7.31m

Overall width: 2.29m

Overall height: 3.10m

MPTLM: 4000kg

Payload: 845kg

Construction: Aluminium side panels and roof  – moulded sections of GRP. Foam insulation

Fresh water capacity: 50-litres

Waste water capacity: 85-litres

Gas storage capacity:  2 x 13kg cylinders

Auxiliary batteries: 85Ah

Refrigerator:  104-litre Thetford fridge/freezer

Water heater: Truma Combi 6,  gas/electric combined space and water heater

Cab air conditioning and heat exchanger to living area

Lighting: mix of spotlights and ceiling fittings

Upholstery: grey and blue tapestry fabric

Other items fitted: cab air con’ Radio/CD, cruise control, special paintwork, automatic transmission

BASE VEHICLE

Type: Fiat Ducato, LWB Maxi chassis cab

Power unit: 2999cm turbo diesel

Maximum power: 157bhp @ 3600rpm

Maximum torque: 400 Nm @ 1700-2500

Transmission: six-speed Comfort-Matic, robotic gearbox

Steering: power assisted rack and pinion

Braking: servo assisted system to disc brakes with ABS

Fuel capacity:  60-litres

PERFORMANCE

Fuel consumption: 22-24 mpg estimated

Maximum speed: 85mph estimated

Comfortable cruising speed: 65-70mph