Auto-Trail EXCEL User Manual download pdf

In place of the usual problematical Fiat

radio/CD that times out in 20 minutes

was a detachable-face radio/CD player by

RM Audio. This sounded fine but had the

annoying characteristic of changing radio

programme with no human intervention.

This may have been due to its menu

having been set to prioritise Traffic

Information channels, but we did

not have time to experiment.

Once again, a tyre repair kit replaced a

spare wheel, a practice that still seems to

lack support from the vehicle assistance

and recovery industries.

The 5in-thick flat cushion of the rear

travel seat gave insufficient support for

my grand-daughter’s child seat, which

tended to slew sideways into the aisle if

placed on that side. Moving it to the

window position entails removing the ‘L’

section of the settee for foot room, but it

is more stable there. Auto-Trail’s Technical

Manager is looking into this as it is the first

time it has been pointed out to them and

is not a unique problem.

LIVING ABOARD

The expense of electric steps has been

designed out, with steps of 14in and

10in in the entrance well. This no doubt

helped finance the Seitz entrance door.

A grab handle would be useful though

and is being assessed for production

vehicles. For ease of production, all

layouts have their door in the same

position, with a 125mm (5in) step up

to the front seating.

DECEMBER 2008THE CARAVAN CLUB MAGAZINE

TEST EXCEL 600S FROM AUTO-TRAIL

GEORGE HINTON TAKES A CLOSE LOOK AT A

STYLISH NEW FIAT DUCATO-BASED COMPACT

COACHBUILT FROM GRIMSBY

The three roof locker doors are

brightened by silver-painted lower bands

and strips of bright plastic trim. Other

clothes storage is at the rear of the vehicle,

where the wardrobe tops a chest of four

drawers. We had problems with one of

these coming open once weighted with

clothes, but this should not be a problem

in future production. The double-doored

wardrobe has a 19in rail and gives a

/2in drop.

Lighting is all by power-saving LEDs

and features two strips in the Heki

rooflight frame, plus a spotlight on each

side, and proved fine for evening meals.

There is no mains socket outlet actually in

the living area, the sole power point being

centrally located just aft of the travel seat

backrest, behind the kitchen sink.

We are told extra sockets can easily be

installed by dealers if required.

Heating is diesel fired via a Webasto

Dual Top unit located under the shower. It

runs virtually silently on low heat settings

but can emit some noise on maximum

output via the air tubes that emerge under

the lower rear bunk. Water tanks are all

external, the rear-hung fresh tank being

clad in insulation, while the offside-

mounted waste tank has a nice big rigid

outlet with easily-operated valve. This

leaves both seat bases free for storage, the

nearside one having a front access flap.

KITCHEN

The kitchen area is just 1.03m (3ft 4

/2in)

long, housing Spinflo’s triangular three-

burner hob with press-button ignition and

matching stainless steel sink, both with

glass lids. This leaves a similar-sized

triangle, about 66cm along the front

and 38cm deep (26in x 15in) as your

working surface, and although male

designers seem to think you can prepare

a meal with both glass lids closed, we

caravanners know you can’t!

There is a vital plate-width shelf in

front of the wardrobe (where the lighting

is poor) and the result in practice is that

you end up partly plating meals on the

bottom bunk, so our first plea would be

for an additional folding or sliding work

surface, or both, such as a pull-out above

the chest of drawers or a fold-down

flap on the end wall of the bunk.

A clear wind-up Mini Heki rooflight

provides extra cooking ventilation.

Lighting is good, with the single mains

power socket mentioned earlier.

Production vehicles will be sealed around

the worktop, but the prototype wasn’t.

Food storage is limited, with our

non-favourite Dometic RM7271 77-litre

fridge that has the salad box on the door,

alongside the excellent Spinflo Duplex

oven/grill. There’s no dedicated crockery

storage while the cutlery drawer is

inconveniently located inside the

THE CARAVAN CLUB MAGAZINE

HINK AUTO-TRAIL motor

caravans and you tend nowadays to

think of upper-end models, often

with tandem rear axles, suited to serious

Continental touring or even full-timing.

However, that would be to ignore the

Tracker, a compact model originally based

on the Fiat Scudo, which has now grown to

be a 3.5-tonne Ducato-based single rear-

kitchen layout design with long or short

settees, with or without overcab double

bed, and built to echo the full-size models.

Auto-Trail decided, with the advent of

so many Continental compact offerings,

it was time for change, so it took a clean

sheet of paper and came up with the

Excel, which it is promoting as a new

brand rather than an Auto-Trail range,

and additional to its present ranges.

CONSTRUCTION AND LAYOUT

A big effort has been made to reduce

weight, so all four Excels have a 3300kg

chassis, with the bonus of making the basic

100bhp Fiat Multijet engine the ideal

power unit. This was all part of achieving

the £36,000 target launch price. Three

models are 6m (19ft 8in) long, with the

garage model 600G at 6.4m (21ft), with

excellent claimed payloads of 550kg

minimum for the 6m models (which our

test prototype failed to achieve). Their

layouts comprise a common front lounge,

offside kitchen and corner washroom

combined with either a nearside corner

fixed bed or fixed bunks or a single

dinette. The garage model’s transverse

rear bed simply displaces the washroom

to the nearside, just aft of the entrance.

We borrowed grand-daughter Paige (six)

for the weekend so we could properly

assess the 600S with nearside bunks.

ON THE ROAD

Anyone expecting a softer ride in a 3300kg

Ducato than a 3500kg version would be

disappointed – subjectively the ride feels

harsher if anything, but this might have

been down to tyre pressures, which the

door-jamb sticker proclaims as 72.3psi

front and 79.5psi rear. However, a hard

ride can be expected to show up rattles in

poor construction, and there weren’t any!

In particular, the cooker travelled silently,

though there was some rattling from the

window blinds, specifically those in the

cab which, surprisingly, are included

in the price.

To keep launch prices down, the cab

has remote central locking, but lacks the

heated electric mirrors we have become

accustomed to on most other conversions.

However, the mirror glasses are the same

and once set it should only be necessary

to adjust them if you swap drivers, so it’s

really just the heating one is likely to miss,

if winter touring. There’s no rear window

in any layout.

Performance is quite satisfying from

the 100bhp power unit with five-speed

gearbox, reaching 50mph in under 16

seconds from rest and well able to keep up

with traffic, even on the motorway. On our

uphill reversing test it DID judder, but

only slightly, with an empty vehicle, the

gear ratio obviously too high. Manoeuvring

onto a level pitch with three people and

luggage aboard was no problem.

The ‘S’ layout has a cab dinette with

removable ‘L’ section at the front of the

offside settee so that two can sit facing

forwards wearing seat belts. This is

optional with the other parallel settee

layouts at extra cost. Then there’s a 30in-

wide settee below the nearside sliding

window (avoids clashing with the door).

For meals there’s a good-size free-

standing table (21

/2in x 37

/2in x 28in

high) that can double for outdoor use, but

it’s a real pest to get into place so three or

four can eat. We show it lengthways,

which suits two, but with one short and

one long tubular foot, it will only fit one

way round, lengthways or crossways. One

instance where two tables on pedestals

fitting into floor sockets might be more

convenient? Good thing is that the cab

seats have sufficient height adjustment to

bring them level with the rather high

(21in) caravan seating.

Because of the raised floor, headroom

under the frame of the Heki rooflight is

only 5ft 10in, but it is 6ft 4

/2in under the

dome of the rooflight, the same as in the

rear of the vehicle, and at 6ft tall, I had

no issues with it.

Upholstery is an inoffensive abstract

beige design with brown leatherette

piping, but there is an alternative in the

Sport model, which includes two-tone

metallic paint on the outside, drop-down

TV/DVD player and aerial, removable

carpets, graphite coloured worktops and

blue-grey Le Mans velour trim, for an

additional £1050.

ABOVE: Careful

specification

means you get a

Seitz door, awning

and cab blinds, but

non-electric

mirrors and steel

wheels. Two-tone

paint is a Sport

pack option

CLOCKWISE

FROM TOP: Table

can go lengthways

or widthways, but

both are tight fits;

plating a meal for

four on the kitchen

triangle is

impossible; gas

locker has space

for a pair of 7kg

cylinders, but door

is rather small

EXPECTATIONS?

EXCEL-LENT

1 2

EXPECTATIONS? 1
Technical 2

Summary of Contents

Page 1 - EXPECTATIONS?

In place of the usual problematical Fiatradio/CD that times out in 20 minuteswas a detachable-face radio/CD player byRM Audio. This sounded fine but h

Page 2 - Technical

80THE CARAVAN CLUB MAGAZINETEST EXCEL 600S FROM AUTO-TRAILlower hinge. We improvised with a coffeetable from home, as supplementary bedslats to infill

Auto-Trail EXCEL User Manual

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Auto-Trail EXCEL User Manual

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