Verdict
This versatile, spacious four-berth motorhome is best suited to couples looking for comfort with the added flexibility to take extra visitors occasionally. They will find the 2014 Elddis Autoquest 155 an interesting prospect.
It offers the convenience of a fixed bed, parallel lounge and practical kitchen but has another trick up its sleeve: two folding travel seats. This clever solution side-steps the problem of needing a half-dinette with in-line travel seats, and the space required for it. Using seats that fold out from the parallel lounge seating gives a clear line of sight from the cab to the motorhome’s rear, making everything feel open and airy.
So you get four travel seats and four comfortable berths in a well-equipped, smart motorhome, with a 10-year bodyshell integrity warranty, for less than £40,000.
Pros
You get a decently sized fixed double bed
Cons
It’s more than 7m long, so do check the length of your drive
The washroom is rather compact
Its innovative seating and clever use of space make the Elddis Autoquest 155, a mid-range low-profile motorhome, an ideal choice for touring couples who want to accommodate occasional visitors.
The County Durham-based brand has a great reputation for building affordable, value-for-money coachbuilt motorhomes, and the low-profile Autoquest is its mid-range offering, sitting between Accordo, the new compact entry-level range, and the upmarket Aspire. The popular Autoquest provides the basis for dealer-special versions, too, such as the Marquis Majestic 155 and the Richard Baldwin Musketeer Athos.
Elddis also manufactures several ranges of touring caravan, and you can see this influence at work in the Autoquest 155, which features a classic caravan layout – parallel lounge seating, rear fixed bed and corner washroom – all achieved on a floorplan that’s just over 7m long.
This makes the 155 an ideal model for caravanners looking to move over to a motorhome, as they’ll know just how well this layout works.
But there’s more. An update for the 2014 season saw the inclusion of a pair of forward-facing folding travel seats that stow in the lounge’s seat boxes when not in use. Now couples can take other family members away with them on tour, rather than just welcome them as overnight guests – perfect for children or grandchildren. They’ll be well catered for, thanks to a spacious make-up double bed across the lounge. The 155 is therefore a capable four-berth with two full-size double beds that now has added flexibility.
With all this, plus a good specification for a smidgeon under £40,000, the Elddis Autoquest 155 seems a tempting proposition for touring couples – read more in the Practical Motorhome review.
It offers the convenience of a fixed bed – and two folding travel seats
Living
With its parallel seating, the Elddis Autoquest 155’s lounge is a very sociable place. Both seat benches are wide enough for two people, so four can lounge in comfort, with another two places available if you rotate the cab seats.
Downlighters placed at each end of the seat benches and on the underside of the overhead lockers offer four reading positions, and there’s plenty of natural light, thanks to two large windows on either side of the lounge.
For mealtimes, just retrieve the folding-leaf table from the wardrobe and position it in the gangway. Having done this, our testers felt there was plenty of room to sit down to eat, but noted that access to the rear of the ’van would be impeded with more than two people sitting around the table.
Kitchen
The 155’s galley is located on the offside of the vehicle, opposite the habitation door. It will easily cope with the demands of a couple, and more besides, with an equipment list comprising three gas burners, a separate oven and grill, a 95-litre refrigerator with a separate freezer compartment, and a reasonably sized oblong sink.
The standard specification does not include a microwave, but one can easily be accommodated in the left-hand overhead locker if desired. Both locker doors feature cream sections that match the colour of the work surface below. Our testers liked the handy worktop extension that pulls out from above the fridge, and found it ideal for resting plates on while serving food.
Two plug points on the left-hand side of the kitchen unit offer the flexibility to operate a kettle and toaster simultaneously, and two separate switches allow you to control the ceiling and task lights independently of each other.
Washroom
A door with a domestic-style handle permits access to the Elddis Autoquest 155’s compact corner washroom. To make it more space-efficient, Elddis has opted for a swing-out sink, which unclips from under the corner vanity unit to sit at waist height above the swivel toilet. As typical in compact washrooms, the shower tray doubles as the washroom floor and a bi-fold door is used to separate this area from the rest of the space to keep shower spray contained.
Size-wise, the washroom is certainly cosy, but it’s an acceptable compromise for having the comfort and convenience of a fixed bed. Practical Motorhome’s reviewers welcomed the practical touches, including decent storage in the vanity unit and a towel ring, but would have preferred plastic walls instead of wallboard in the shower area. More plus points come courtesy of a blown-air vent to keep the washroom warm in colder conditions.
Beds
The unique selling point of the 155, of course, is its rear double bed. Measuring 1.92m x 1.35m (6’4” x 4’5”) at its widest – it tapers off towards the foot of the bed to allow access to the corner washroom – it’ll be large enough for most couples and its firm mattress will provide plenty of support.
Two downlighters at the headboard end provide illumination for reading at bedtime, and small essentials like spectacles and mobile phones can be stowed on the small shelves that are situated above either end of the padded headboard.
Two additional berths are available in the lounge. The parallel seats combine to form a double bed measuring 2.1m x 1.3m (6’10” x 4’3”), made up by pulling out sliding slats from the bed box frame into the middle of the gangway. The lounge sofas and backrest cushions can be easily rearranged in seconds, sitting snugly atop the beech slats. The Practical Motorhome reviewers found the seat knee rolls quite pronounced, so rotated them through 180 degrees.
The two sleeping spaces can be separated by a cream-coloured concertina partition that pulls across from the foot of the rear bed, although those in the lounge will have to disturb the occupants of the rear double bed for small-hours’ access to the washroom.
Storage
At 7.2m long, the Elddis Autoquest 155 was never going to be a slouch in the storage department. Thanks to a bed frame that lifts right out of the way easily on gas struts, the rear fixed bed also doubles as a rather large storage area. The mains consumer unit, gas locker and water heater take a nibble out of the available space, but you’ll still be able to fit in plenty of bulky items, loading through the top, or from outside the motorhome, via a hatch on the nearside.
Overhead lockers abound, with four in the lounge, two in the kitchen and four in the rear bedroom. The kitchen has two drawers and a cupboard with a shelf, and there are two shelves on the end of the kitchen worktop. The large wardrobe at the foot of the fixed bed has two hanging rails and a shelf underneath, so touring couples can take a full complement of outfits with them. The folding-leaf lounge table stows on the right-hand side of the wardrobe in its own vertical compartment.
Further storage space is available under the parallel seat benches in the lounge, although the folding travelling seats will rob at least half of the available storage in each seat box. For the flexibility of having the travel seats, though, this is a reasonable trade-off.
Technical Specifications
| Payload | 520 kg |
| MTPLM | 3500 kg |
| Shipping Length | 7.2 m |
| Width | 2.2 m |
