Off-road test: Ultimate Campers X25

Designing the ultimate camper trailer is a pretty simple affair; something that’s been written on beer coasters and dreamt up late at night all across the country. Forgetting the fact you’d need to actually find some way to build it, there are a few key features you’d be looking for right out of the gate.

It’ll need to be lightweight for easy towing; ultra-capable, because you wouldn’t want your camper being the reason you can’t make it to camp; it should be quick to set up; and it needs huge storage options and comfortable bedding. A space out of the weather to play a game of cards in the rain would be fantastic, and if we’re throwing caution to the wind with our eternally optimistic wish list, it’d be fantastic if the camper was cool inside on hot days and warm inside on cold nights.

In the real world, things aren’t always so easy and most camper trailers are a compromise. Sometimes with budgets, other times with the manufacturer’s abilities, or lack thereof. However, Ultimate Campers isn’t your average camper-trailer manufacturer; it thinks so far outside the box there isn’t even a box at all.

After hitting the tracks and rolling out the sleeping bag for a night in its top-of-the-line, limited edition X25 camper, we definitely understand why it has developed a cult-like following among its customer base.

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GETTING DIRTY

Let's get one thing clear right from the get go: If you have a camper trailer that is brilliant when set-up but stops you from travelling off the beaten track because it’s so cumbersome, then you don’t have a camper trailer, you have a house. With that in mind, the first thing we were looking for in a camper that literally calls itself ‘Ultimate’ is off-road ability.

Heading to the hills on the NSW South Coast and the X25’s light-weight 1100kg tare was immediately obvious. Our bi-turbo Everest never once struggled lugging the camper around through stop-start traffic, or powering up long climbs in the scrub.

It packs an even more impressively low tow-ball weight of just 80kg. Rough guidelines typically state a 10 per cent tow-ball weight is ideal; but with a relatively long wheelbase and minimal rear overhang, the 7.3 per cent tow-ball weight kept trailer sway easily under control without overloading the Everest’s coil-spring rear suspension.

It uses the tried and tested DO35 V3 hitch, for a solid and secure engagement between the tow-tug and trailer without limiting articulation. The combination means the Ultimate X25 is easy to tow in rough, undulating or soft terrain and would pose most 4x4s little concern on any of the popular sand islands.

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The X25’s unique high-riding body made us comfortable ducking and weaving through overgrown tracks, knowing that any wayward branches or logs hiding in the long grass weren’t going to pose the camper any danger. The lower quarter of the body and front storage box are coated in a sturdy bed liner, helping ward off any deep scratches. The short rear overhang is another welcome feature, making us more than confident negotiating tight turns in the scrub. Despite our Everest wearing a few battle scars, the Ultimate looked brand new after a hose-off.

The X25 range rides tall on a high-tensile steel A-frame chassis. The Duragal steel is hot-dip galvanised before being welded together and getting a final coat of spray-on bed liner to seal and protect it against stone chips. The suspension is the ever-dependable independent Cruisemaster XT range, with air suspension available as an optional extra – the standard offering is coil springs and Ironman shock absorbers.

It’s one of the wider campers on the market at a full 2000mm in width – that’s 140mm wider than the Everest we were towing it with. We weren’t able to see past it with our standard mirrors and needed to keep a watchful eye negotiating traffic to and from the tracks. It’s far from a deal breaker and something you should easily get used to with tow mirrors.

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THE SET-UP

While the Ultimate X25’s underpinnings might be traditional, the camper’s body and set-up is far from conventional. Riding high on the chassis is a full fibreglass tub that sets up a little different to most campers. Rather than traditional wind-up style stabiliser legs, the X25 uses an L-shaped brace that pins roughly into place using the jockey wheel to raise or lower the camper to get it level. It’s an interesting take that was easy to use, helped keep weight down, and removed another point of failure. That could almost be the Ultimate motto at this point.

The three legs are positioned strategically – one on the rear left and two on the right-hand side. With the legs clicked into place, there are a few latches to pop before an electronically operated actuator steadily winds the lid up and over to the right; the two right-hand stabiliser legs being more than enough to ensure everything remains planted. A tap over the balance point by hand, then the actuator winds in until the bed lid is parallel to the ground. A wireless remote controls the process, although there are hardwired switches and a mechanical backup.

With the lid firmly popped over, there are a series of buttons around the edge pinning the canvas into place and ensuring any rain doesn’t pool into the body itself. On the inside, a couple of poles clip into place and a three-piece king-sized memory foam mattress needs to be slid up from the internal dinette on to the bed. It takes a bit of manhandling, but is easier than expected and well-worth the effort.

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Finally, the external awning needs to be popped into place. It’s an ingenious 360º design with eight flexible poles that require no adjustment – just pop them in on one end and slip them into their corresponding mounts on the body. Integrated tie-down points make for an easy peg-down if high winds are expected.

All in all, with one person, you’re looking at less than 10 minutes set-up time to go from arriving at camp to going to sleep. There are a few oddities such as the folding mattress and the stabiliser legs, but they’re there to benefit the overall design and don’t add any fuss.

The only real downside we could find is that the awning offered protection for the camper from the elements, but really didn’t provide much in terms of outdoor coverage. You won’t be hiding from the rain beneath it, playing drinking games with friends.

Ultimate includes some brilliant clear-plastic window coverings for the camper, so if you’re hunkering down from the elements, you can let natural light in without letting the rain in. It’s one of those small areas where the attention to detail shows they’re designed by people who use them.

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THIS IS LIVIN’

A unique aspect of the Ultimate range, and something we rarely see in any camper, is the indoor living design. In many campers, the inside is just where you sleep. Walking up the drop-down staircase into the interior and you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in a caravan.

To the left is a galley kitchen with a recessed triple-burner stove top and sink. They’re set into a carbon-fibre bench top with an additional shelf above. Ample storage space underneath with soft-close drawers and a 130L Bushmans upright fridge to the side make it a true off-grid kitchen, rather than just a space to cook your food.

Company is welcome with a U-shaped lounge wrapped in leather and sporting a swivel table. Carbon fibre is used extensively to differentiate the limited-run X25 from the budget-focused models in the line-up; though all sport a similar layout.

The kitchen serves as the electronics hub, the X25 sporting a 24V Victron power system with a monstrous 5.12kW battery. It’s all controlled via a touchscreen in the kitchen monitoring everything from water-tank levels to input charge from the 620W solar array.

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The powerhouse electrical system is required to run the reverse-cycle air-conditioning system completely off-grid. If you’re after more efficient heating, there’s a Combi gas heater that’ll heat not only the kitchen water and external shower, but the tent as well. A clever extendable duct from the heater can be poked under your blankets on really cold nights.

The X25 also sports a top-of-the-line Fusion RA770 stereo linking a phones’ Bluetooth music to both the internal and external speakers. Both are controlled independently so your neighbours won’t know if you slip a little Barry White on late at night.

The main bed requires you to step up and over the lounge which isn’t always ideal; but once you’re up there, you’re treated to the best night’s sleep you’ll have on the memory foam mattress tucked in behind the privacy curtains. There are power outlets and reading lights too, as well as storage pouches.

If camping in an area you’re not comfortable with, the Ultimate’s solid door will give you peace of mind, thanks to its internal lock.

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WHO SHOULD BUY ONE?

The specced-up X25 will cost you a little less than $100,000 depending on the options you’re looking for, and while that really puts it in a different market to your typical budget-orientated camper trailers, so should its features.

From the quick set-up times to the internal layout at camp, the Ultimate range is more in line with a caravan than a camper once you’re set-up. It also combines that immense and luxurious interior with low weight and high clearance, making it an unbelievably capable camper trailer in its own right.

If you were to rank any campers higher for their off-road performance, it wouldn’t be by much, and you’d be giving up a lot of the modern conveniences and comfort in the process.

If the idea of a $100,000 caravan seems alien to you, then the Ultimate probably won’t be on your shopping list. However, if you’re eyeing off caravans for big adventures but want something that will go wherever you want it to, then the Ultimate range and, specifically, the X25, is well-worth a look at. You just might have to explain to your neighbours why you now have a spaceship parked in your driveway.

AVAILABLE FROM: ultimatecampers.com.au
RRP: $95,990

Ultimate Campers X25 specs