Lunar Moonstar 580 - Practical Motorhome

Verdict

If your key priorities are options and build flexibility, this is a serious UK-made contender.

Pros

Generous specification backed up by an extensive options list.

Cons

The high price is, initially, off-putting.

Living

The rear lounge is U-shaped (with a central chest of drawers as an option), and a free-standing table is provided. We do take issue with storing tables in wardrobes – it may make sense in the showroom, but it proves frustrating when you’ve a wardrobe full of clothes to negotiate. So a point to Lunar for the dedicated table storage locker.

The overhead lighting is good, and there are also six adjustable reading lamps dotted around the lounge. A fold-down table offers space for a television set. Blown-air heating is standard, and the main rooflight is over the kitchen area.

Kitchen

The Spinflo cooker has three gas-only rings, but neither workspace nor storage is especially impressive here. There’s some extra work surface to be had at the right-hand end of the kitchen, although it seems neither practical nor safe to have a worktop which folds out across the main exit point from the living quarters.

Washroom

Located behind the driver’s seat, the Moonstar’s washroom seems a bit of a throwback, with its grey and white vanity unit and Whale mixer taps. Its dimensions are comparable with most others in its class, and the toilet is a Thetford cassette unit.

Beds

The lounge seats convert easily to two singles or one large double bed at the back, while at the other end of the ‘van, the overcab bed uses a loose board which can be pushed up and out of the way if you want the cab-roof cutaway effect.

The overcab area has a window each side, with lighting in the middle, and the ladder is easy to get at from its upright position between the cab bulkhead and washroom wall.

Storage

Many ’vans of this type have exterior-access gas lockers but not all have the facility to take two 13kg propane cylinders, as the Moonstar has – that is if you remove the pull-out section altogether.

Also, don’t forget you have that wonderful overcab area which can be used for storage. Lunar even provides the option of lockers here instead of a bed.