Specification
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Year: 2018 |
Layout: Rear Door front seats |
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Dimensions: 5.10x2.28x2.59m (LxWxH) |
Colour: White |
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MTPLM: 1207kg |
Warranty: YES |
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MIRO: 916kg |
Payload: 111kg |
Description
Swift Basecamp 2 Plus 2018
Motor Mover Fitted
Verdict
The Swift Basecamp lives up to its name as somewhere you can use as a base for your outdoor adventures. It’s perhaps not surprising that, in America, Airstream has used the same name for its compact tourer aimed at a similar market.
But the Swift is more than that, too – it’s somewhere that’s comfy and cosy enough for you to want to return to.
Swift has pulled off the tricky feat of including a good level of spec without weighing down the van, and on the outside there are so many variations on the decal choices that it’s unlikely you would ever feel you were buying just another white box.
As long as you really are active – which will enable you to master things like the large step out at the back – the Swift Basecamp is a definite contender.
Pros
You don’t need a massive tow car
It’s practical and stylish, yet still a comfortable, well-specced caravan
We like the bags which also function as overhead lockers
Pitching & Setting-up
With its relatively light weight and large but unobtrusive grabhandles, the Swift Basecamp was easy to manoeuvre onto the tow car’s hitch, or onto a pitch.
The steadies are all easy to reach, and feature pivoting bases to account for the rough ground you may encounter when out adventuring. But don’t forget your step when you do: that back door is relatively high off the ground, so even the tallest of us found it took a couple of big bounds to get into the van or out again with bikes.
The rear door and awning channel means that services can be on either side without getting in the way, although the external 230V socket is covered by the awning once inflated – so Vango has added a neat access flap.
The curved awning fits in with the curved van, although it does make initial assembly a tad trickier. Once inflated, and pegged out, though, the bespoke ‘Swift RVR-1’ doubles the available floor space.
Swift says that it deliberately designed the Basecamp to be lightweight so that campers looking to move up to caravans will not be put off by the cost of having to buy a new tow car.
The MTPLMs of both the standard model (990kg) and the Plus (1015kg) are well within the capabilities of our compact tow car. In 2.0 Multijet 4WD form the Jeep Renegade has a kerbweight of 1502kg, making it a 68% match.
As you might expect, it pulled the Basecamp with ease and felt secure, despite the lack of a hitch stabiliser or stability control. The latter is a £325 factory option, but unlikely to be needed unless you are nervous or new to towing.
At 2.28m, the van is marginally wider than even the mightiest of Swift’s more conventional caravans. But much of that extra width is taken up by the slightly protruding wheelarches, and the Basecamp certainly doesn’t feel that wide on the road.
That curved front end means that you have a wider view of the van in its entirety – useful when driving down a road with large overhanging trees – and the prominent wheelarches make it easy to position the van when reversing onto a pitch.
