Coachman Sportivo 565 2026

Coachman’s long-anticipated entry into the motorhome market coincided with the company’s first partial and then complete takeover by Swedish company KABE.

That possibly explained why the first few models it produced, the Mercedes-based Travel Master and Fiat-based Avventura (see: our review of the Avventura 565), were both low-profiles that were incredibly high spec (like other Swedish vehicles), super insulated (as you would expect, being designed in a country where winters can get down to -200c) and weighty. However, when it comes to the driving licence to drive the motorhomes, an MTPLM of 4500kg means they are only for those with a C1 driving licence.

The new Coachman Sportivo 565, launched earlier this year, is the brand’s first motorhome to be rolled out with an MTPLM of 3500kg, which everyone who has a driving licence can drive. It’s meant to offer the same levels of luxury, but with trimmings here and there (and a shorter length of 7.45m) to keep the weight down.

Does such belt-tightening work? We took the motorhome away for three nights in mid-December to give it a comprehensive test and find out how it compares to the best motorhomes.

Exterior and cab

There may have been a bit of belt-tightening, but there is still plenty about the way this motorhome is constructed that makes it an ideal all-weather vehicle, ideal for fans of winter motorhoming.

Built on Al-Ko’s low chassis, the motorhome has balanced aluminium side walls and Ecoprim insulation, as well as a sandwich construction floor with internal bracing for added strength – with more Ecoprim insulation. While the vehicle is not strictly speaking monocoque, there are fewer external joints than you might see elsewhere, with a single panel extending from the rear panel to the front.

The motorhome alloy wheels add a classy finish, while the roll-out awning can (for £1950 extra) be an electrically operated model (you still have to pull out the support legs). However, thanks to the layout (which we suspect might have been flipped for UK right-hand-drive models) external access to the cassette toilet is right next to the Hartal door.

The low Al-Ko chassis means that there is no need for a roll-out step for this door (which also features a window). However, there is a large step in front of each of the cab doors, a handy feature that is often overlooked in other motorhomes.

The cab itself comes with very comfy vegan-leather branded captain’s seats with two armrests.

In a Sprinter cab you don’t get central drinks holders as you do in a Ducato, but there are plenty of spaces to store your mobile phone under the large MBUX infotainment screen that includes a reversing camera (you can always consider getting the best dash cam for a motorhome for peace of mind when you’re on the road, too).

Our test model did include a front dinette that incorporated two forward-facing belted travel seats. This has been dispensed with for production models in favour of parallel settees, with no travel seat option. A bit of a shame, because while our testers had this motorhome two twenty-somethings sat in these seats for three hours on a motorway journey and had no complaints about comfort. Neither did our tester as the driver.

The automatic gearbox, impressive torque and a mountain of other driver assistance features makes you almost forget you are driving a 7.5-metre motorhome. There is central locking on this motorhome, too, for everything except the garage door.

Lounging and dining

We were a little surprised about Coachman changing the layout in the front lounge to parallel settees, because there’s quite a step between the cab and the main habitation area. In the new-look lounge the face-to-face settees are positioned entirely beyond this step, but the layout does now include a foldaway table, stored conveniently nearby underneath the offside settee.

In the model we tested there was a clip-on table with a serious extension that you could also fold back if you wanted more legroom, always a welcome touch in the best luxury motorhomes. You can still get the layout we had on special order, although you need to bear in mind it is slightly heavier than the parallel-seat layout – with all that extra seat structure – and so it could eat into your 450kg payload.

While foldaway tables are fine in a caravan front lounge we do find that, particularly if you are long legged, they tend to get in the way a bit more in a motorhome, where you are frequently trying to get past the table to the cab area. Having the step will slightly restrict your ability to move the table to get past, too.

Having said that, the cab seats swivel easily and are incredibly comfortable, with spotlights nearby for reading, always enticing features to get when you’re choosing a motorhome. There are spotlights in the main lounge area, part of a sophisticated lighting system that includes ambient light and mood lighting, too. During the day, light floods in through the sunroof.

None of these spotlights have USBs in them, but that is not necessarily a problem, because on a shelf next to the door there is a wireless charging pad. Here you will also find plenty
of space for fobs and keys where you need them, while above the door is one of the most sophisticated control panels we have ever seen.

The new layout includes a TV bracket with appropriate sockets above the wireless charging pad to the right of the door, so you can sit back and relax while watching the best motorhome TV.

The kitchen in the Coachman Sportivo 565

A motorhome’s kitchen could possibly be the most obvious area to bring the motorhome weights down. Apart from this one being smaller overall in size, the hob only has two burners and there’s no electric plate, although you do get an extractor fan.

There is only a combined oven and grill, and there is no microwave at all, nor any obvious space where one could be retrofitted.

When it comes to the motorhome fridge, you do get a good slimline AES fridge, while the square sink is large with a solid cover. There is plenty of space to stow a kettle behind the sink, just under the mains sockets. The whole area is very well lit, too.

The washroom in the Sportivo 565

The smaller size of motorhome and weight also come into play with the washroom. Unlike Coachman’s Travelmaster and Avventura, the washroom here is not sprawled across the full width of the motorhome – it is all on one side (the nearside, which accounts for why the cassette loo access is so close to the main door).

That said, the washroom is well lit, with both a large roof vent and plenty of artificial lighting. The large circular basin is sunk in with a good-sized mirror behind it.

Strictly speaking, there is no separate shower cubicle, but the large concertina door separates the shower off nicely. There is only one drainage hole, but here is the clever thing: this washroom includes a pump that will drain all the water for you. We used it twice and it worked superbly. No more waiting around with a wet washroom while the water drains down, although your feet might need to get used to the drainage ridges in the floor.

There’s also a firm brace on the washroom door and it closes very firmly – it never once opened up to flap about while we were on the road.

Sleeping in the Coachman Sportivo 565

There are two steps up to the single beds, and to the left of them as you head back is a switch panel which lets you control (either turn on and off or dim) all lighting beyond here.

Both beds are very comfortable, and long enough for all except the very tallest among us. Our 6ft 6in tester found that they just had to move their feet into the open space at the end.

The ends of both beds can be raised up for reading – there is just about enough head space under the overhead lockers to be able to do this, although you have to reach back to adjust the spotlights.

There is a large shelf between the beds where you could easily leave a breakfast tray, and there is also a handy night-light on the edge of the steps you can turn on from your bedside. This is bright enough to guide you to the toilet at night, but not so bright that it will wake your partner.

Because there is no central partition shutting off the bedroom you can’t opt for complete darkness inside here, as you can with most motorhomes that have a central washroom. There is still a small light emanating from the fridge in the kitchen – a minor niggle.

Storage in the Coachman Sportivo 565

This may be Coachman’s ‘small’ motorhome, but the large garage at the back is big enough for most bicycles. If you have one with a particularly large frame, the roof of the garage can be raised marginally (without affecting the inside) by releasing a simple catch. The garage is heated and lit, although you have to remember to turn the light off when you close the doors because this is the one light that does not appear to be controlled centrally, and it does shine up through the beds above.

Inside, there are two overhead lockers in the front lounge, and four smaller ones across the back of the bedroom, with two open shelves down the centre of the back wall underneath them. There is also some storage space beneath where you stow the table.

You’ll find large lit wardrobes with shelves under the foot of each bed. They can only be accessed through a side door, and unusually there isn’t any hanging space anywhere in the motorhome, although there are coat hooks by the door. Some people might think this is a good thing – after all, how often do you take clothes that always need hanging up with you in a motorhome? There are wetsuits, of course, but they can dry out in the washroom and then be folded away.

In the kitchen you get three overhead cupboards, although the one on the right is mostly taken up with the housing for the extractor fan.

There are three good-size drawers under the ‘L’ part of the base unit , and then a drawer above and below the oven. But what looks as if it is going to be a huge locker under the fridge turns out to be oddly shallow. Kitchen storage is really just average.

Washroom storage consists of two shelves behind the mirrors.

Equipment

The Sportivo, as you would expect, comes with Alde wet central heating. But there’s a great deal more in here that, put all together, meant that we never once felt less than cosy throughout our time in the ’van, despite temperatures outside only a few degrees above freezing. Even if the wind howled and the rain lashed,we felt cosseted inside.

That Alde heating is assisted by AGS II water-borne underfloor heating, while aluminium internal walls help distribute the heat even more evenly. These walls have a ventilated covering that also aims to eliminate condensation and increase soundproofing. We certainly noticed less outside noise, although the difference wasn’t quite as noticeable as in the monocoque vehicles we have tested.

So that’s all positive, but the kitchen in the Sportivo could only be described as adequate, with a gas-only two-burner hob, only a combined oven and grill and no space for a microwave.

The water tanks, also, may be heated to see you through the winter, but they are only 87 litres, for fresh water, and 90 litres for waste. Some of the best luxury campervans have bigger capacities than that. Still, there has to be some weight saving somewhere to bring the MTPLM down, and huge water tanks are bound to be something that adds to the weight. There was more than enough fresh water on board to see us through three days (and don’t miss our advice on how to maintain fresh and waste water tanks, either.)

There is more on the positive side, however, in addition to the heating and soundproofing. We have already mentioned the self-emptying shower tray, but we should also mention the lighting system and in particular the control panel above the door which ultimately directs it.

There are switches elsewhere in the ’van, but from this panel you can turn on or off any light inside and dim most of them, too. You can adjust lighting according to whether it is standard lighting, mood lighting or ambient lighting, or according to location. So, for example, you can solely adjust kitchen lighting, or lighting at the back or front.

It also controls the fridge and the heating. You really do not have to go anywhere near the individual panels on these items; in fact you are encouraged to use the control panel for everything.

Nor is that all: there is some seriously high-end technology here. As an option, for example, you can subscribe to an app that allows you to control the heating remotely, including turning it on several days before you are due to set off. This again seems like something very suitable for icy Sweden, but perhaps a little over the top for Britain. Still, it’s clever.

Even more useful is the alarm that lets you know when the fresh water tank you are filling up is almost full. We tried this out and it certainly alerts you well. No need to stand with your neck craned watching the percentages go up.

But what is most impressive about this control panel is that, while it is clearly symbol led, everything is also labelled – and in English. So there’s no more guessing what the graphic designers had in mind, only to end up pressing the water release button when you were simply after the awning light.

Grey waste water can also be ejected from a switch on this panel, although if you forget to do this before you set off from your pitch, there is still a button on the dashboard you can press to empty the tank if you stop at the motorhome service point on your way out.

This kind of sophisticated technology goes a long way to explaining the Coachman Sportivo 565’s price.

Alternatives to consider

You could take a look at the 2025 Auto-Sleepers Burford Duo, which, when we tested it, came with what we thought were enticing upgrades to make an appealing vehicle even better, although you will need a C1 licence to drive it.

Alternatively, you could take a look at the Adria Matrix 670 SL 60 Year Edition, a motorhome which comes with some good anniversary goodies and a spacious lounge.

Technical specification

• Price: £113,710
• Sleeps: 2
• Belts: 4 (on test vehicle, 2 as standard)
• Base vehicle: Mercedes Sprinter
• Engine: 170bhp with automatic transmission
• Length/width/height: 7.45/2.39/2.91m (24’5”/7’10”/9’7”)
• MTPLM: 3500kg
• Payload: 450kg
• Water (fresh/waste): 90/87 litres
• Leisure battery: 130Ah AGM jGas 2 x 7kg
• Web: coachman.co.uk

Base vehicle

Chassis Mercedes Sprinter Engine 2.0-litre turbodiesel Power 170bhp Torque 400Nm Transmission Automatic

Conversion

Braced aluminium sidewall and roof construction with Ecoprim insulation core, sandwich construction floor with internal bracing for added strength and Ecoprim insulation core, pre-installed rear bike rack mounting points, Hartal Evolution habitation door, aluminium internal walls with ventilated wall covering to eliminate condensation and enhance soundproofing, ventilated overhead lockers, angled ventilation boards and cable trays for better air and heat circulation, thermal heating wall between cab and habitation area, sound insulating soft ceiling

Lounging and dining

Flyscreen to habitation door, wireless charging pad, cranked locker doors with soft-close hinge and positive catches, matt-black furniture handles, foldaway table, touchscreen control panel, dimmable LED lighting, DAB radio, TB station with mains, 12V, satellite and aerial sockets, Status 570 TV aerial with AM/FM/DAB reception

Kitchen

Thetford slimline fridge, two-burner gas hob, combined
oven and grill, high-gloss worktop, lockable drawers, integrated waste bins, extractor fan

Sleeping

Two single beds 1.96 x 0.78m

Equipment includes

Alde wet central heating, AGS II water-borne underfloor heating, control panel with alarms for water level, Thetford toilet, drainage pump in washroom

If you’ve enjoyed reading this article, why not get the latest news, reviews and features delivered direct to your door or inbox every month. Take advantage of our brilliant Practical Motorhome magazine SUBSCRIBERS’ OFFER and SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER for regular weekly updates on all things motorhome related.