2016 Adria Twin 540 motorhome review

Happy Anniversary!

There’s a big bonus with certain Adria motorhomes this year. The complimentary Anniversary Pack, commemorating Adria’s 50 years building leisure vehicles, gives you plenty of extra kit. But, there’s a sting. You still have to pay an extra £1,699 for a Driver’s Pack, that’s hard to see as anything but essential – passenger airbag, cab air conditioning and cruise control.

The silver exterior is an extra too, but it’s easy to see why many buyers will consider it worth specifying.

It certainly complements an interior style that’s a world away from the wood-and-velour themes of not just yesteryear but – in some cases – still today. Instead, you have here a colour scheme that’s all automotive black and grey, with a smart, white gloss finish to the table top and locker doors that should prove easy to just wipe clean. Don’t like the look? Ask your Adria dealer about the Forest interior alternative.

A little ironically, then, Adria is celebrating 50 years of leisure vehicle manufacturing. Hence the Anniversary Pack here – aluminium skid plate and LED day-running lights, captain’s style front seats, cab window blinds, electric step, floor carpets, leisure battery, ambient LED interior lighting, gas and electric operation for the Combi 4 heating and hot water system (as well as Secumotion for en-route use, and iNet-ready control panel), TV holder and more.

And, what it’s done with the 540 is compact everything into a 5.41m overall length Fiat Ducato that’s considered short these days (medium, if we’re being pedantic). There’s a forward lounge for four – just, that rear seat is rather narrow – a kitchen just inside the sliding door, (note it’s not switched over for our UK driving) with a washroom diagonally opposite that extends out when you want to take a shower.

The crowning glory of all this is the transverse double bed, on a slatted base, across the back. It’s a handy enough 1.96m x 1.45m, tapering to 1.16m – and few will dispute the benefit of sleeping on proper mattresses rather than seating converted to a bed. There’s also the option of a third bed, in the lounge (it’s 2.19m x 1.56m).

The kitchen is more campervan in its offerings – a Dometic two-ring gas hob and Isotherm 65-litre compressor fridge – with no obvious space for a grill/oven/microwave, but decent storage in terms of open shelving, slide-out wire baskets and a drawer.

As you can guess, it’s not over-endowed with worktop space, although there’s a useful higher-level ledge and the lounge table, with its swing-out extension, is close by.

Access to the washroom is via two tambour doors and there’s a Thetford swivel-bowl toilet and a fixed corner basin with a trigger-operated mixer tap for showering. Those doors slide all the way round so you actually take your shower in the corridor area, where there’s an inset tray. It’s probably best reserved for emergencies.

Overall storage offers some useful touches. The overcab area is a full-width locker. Unusually, for imported motorhomes, there’s storage space in the rear seat base (where a lot of folk usually put the fresh water tank). Overhead lockers aren’t the largest, but they all have easy-to-operate positive locking mechanisms. Plus, you can fold back that rear bed to create a truly generous cargo bay, complete with floor-level lashing rails.

Fiat’s Ducato has its usual excellent road manners here. That standard 130bhp engine is more than adequate and it’s easy to see why a vehicle like this can be considered for daily driving duties. As for the conversion, if it’s all a bit of a squeeze, maybe you should consider trading up – its sister model, the Twin 600 SP offers the same floorplan, but overall length is a centimetre under 6m.

Verdict: Thoughtful compromises mean camper size with full facilities

Plus: Compact dimensions for easy driving, comfortable bed

Minus: It’s all a bit of a squeeze, no dedicated table storage

In-a-nutshell: Shorter Twin still packs it in

There’s more information on the Dreamer ranges on the Adria website. Find out more about insuring this or your motorhome on our motorhome insurance discounts page.

Alternatives: Dreamer Select D43, Globecar Roadscout, Westfalia Amundsen 540D