Verdict
A competitively priced, well-built motorhome that is let down by the shortage of kitchen storage space and worksurface area.
Pros
Excellent price and a sensible size for two
Cons
Small washroom has a convoluted shower arrangement
Living
Designed for two people only, there is plenty of lounge space, thanks to wide, open, sideways-facing seats. The fabrics are attractive and hard-wearing, and removable carpets are fitted as standard (in the cab, too) with easy-clean vinyl flooring beneath. The interior is well equipped with lights, both spots and fluorescents, and the quality of the wooden cabinets is high. There’s a drinks cabinet, too.
In the front, there are swivelling front seats to provide extra lounge space.
There’s a surfeit of scatter and bolster cushions. You get three 240V sockets as well as 12V and TV aerial sockets, and even audio-visual outputs for a DVD player. The overcab area is relatively open and offers excellent access to the cab area.
Kitchen
You get a 96-litre Dometic fridge, and a Stoves cooker with three-burner hob and an 800W electric hob plate. It offers a decent grill and large oven. However, venting is a bit of a problem – the nearest is in the bathroom and it’s also a shame that at least one of the nearby lights is not positioned over the hob.
Workspace is poor, too. Instead of a built-in drainer, it has a plastic extension that fits over the worksurface, robbing you of somewhere to chop if you need to have dishes draining. The sink is round and elegant, but our preference is always for the more rectangular sink because many more dishes can usefully be fitted in.
An optional extra fitted to our test ‘van was an 800W microwave oven, in its own cabinet located at eye level above the cooker. Trouble was, it took up storage space, and the ’van already suffered from a lack of decent kitchen storage.
Washroom
The Ace has a small washroom tucked into the rear corner of the ‘van – functional and practical, but not beautiful. It suffers from a lack of natural light, apart from that coming through the roof vent. The washroom is equipped with a Thetford swivel cassette toilet with electric flush.
Although the Capri offers the benefit of a separate shower, you create it by pulling the plastic sink away from the wall to make a shower compartment that’s really pretty tight. The sink tap head doubles as the shower head.
There is no storage space in the washroom.
Beds
Bed-making is simple and the bed is a decent size, with strong slatted-wood bases to ensure that plenty of air circulates underneath, thereby allowing the bases to remain free of condensation. A generous mattress depth of six inches ensures that the bed is firm but comfortable.
To make up the bed, you just pull the bed extension away from the lounge seats and then allow the upright cushions to fall down naturally. You finish off by adding an extra folding cushion to fill a gap. With the bed in place, however, it is awkward to get through to the rear cabin.
To keep the light out, there’s a cassette blind on the windscreen with curtains at the side.
Storage
The Ace offers plenty of space and nice, deep doors through which to push bedding. The modern-looking cupboard handles are a refreshing change from the standard door catches fitted to many other competitors.
Under-seat storage is fair, with external access to the seat base on the nearside. Also outside is a roof rack to simplify the fitting of a roof box, although to do so would defeat the point of buying a low-profile motorhome in the first place.
Technical Specifications
| Payload | 315 kg |
| MTPLM | 3000 kg |
| Shipping Length | 5.59 m |
| Width | 2.22 m |
