Autocruise Alto - Practical Motorhome

Read Practical Motorhome's Autocruise Alto review and get the full story on this smart three-berth, with its offside fixed double bed and central washroom

Verdict

While fine for the occasional trip with three people, the fixed-bed Autocruise Alto is really a couple’s ’van. Upmarket, with decent kit levels and lots of storage, this motorhome drives well and is hard to fault.

Pros

Being less than 7m long makes it very manoeuvrable
It has a fixed offside double bed
The central washroom is good for a ‘van of this size and type

Cons

Wardrobe space is lacking, especially if the ‘van is being used by three
The kitchen is compact and basic

Following its takeover by Swift Group in 2007, Autocruise ceased building coachbuilt motorhomes and instead focused on panel van conversions. The Alto is one such vehicle – in this case designed for three people, but in reality most likely to be used as a couple’s ’van.

Like all Swift motorhomes, the Alto is built at the Autocruise factory at Mexborough. Here the workforce has been kept busy as demand for Swift Group motorhomes has been growing. With six different Autocruise models available, the brand offers a good choice within Swift’s portfolio. The manufacturer has a reputation for building quality motorhomes, and the overall finish of all Autocruises is hard to fault.

We took a look at the improved fixed-bed Alto layout, which is based on the latest Peugeot Boxer cab with its smart daytime running LED lights. As with all Autocruise models, you can choose to have a Fiat cab instead of the Peugeot Boxer to have Comfortmatic transmission (not available on the Boxer).

The Alto really proves its worth with its central washroom

Living

In the living area, a front-facing bench seat is fitted with two seat belts. The dining table hooks onto the sidewall and is supported with one leg. An extension slides out so that the table can be more easily used by the occupant of the swivelled passenger cab seat. The table is easily assembled and disassembled.

A bracket for a TV, which is intended to be viewed from the swivelled cab seats, is located above the rear passenger seats (a further TV bracket is mounted on the outside of the washroom wall, at the end of the bed).

Kitchen

The offside kitchen offers limited storage and worktop, but a fold-up extension section to the worktop gives users extra work space.

Washroom

The Alto really proves its worth with its central washroom. It’s fitted out with a cassette toilet, which is set quite high, and a shower with curtain, plus a moulded handbasin and vanity unit and a mirror.

There’s no window but ventilation and natural light are taken care off with a Heki Mini roof vent. Most Alto owners will find the washroom ample when staying on low-facility sites or when wild camping.

Storage

The comfortable offside fixed double bed occupies the back of the Alto. Below the bed is the Truma Combi boiler and ample additional space for storing large items. The Truma controls, along with a duo of chrome-finished mains plug sockets, are on the nearside dresser unit alongside the bed.

Cupboards in the dresser unit offer superb storage. The wardrobe, located between the bedroom and the kitchen, is adequate for two people’s clothing but with a third person aboard, luggage may need paring down a little.