CarAdvice.com are experts in all things cars. We recently took senior editor, Matt Campbell, out of his comfort zone to review our Trakkadu AT… For 5 days Matt experienced the drivability of a Volkswagen T6 Transporter and outdoor lifestyle provided by our most luxurious pop top campervan. They ventured to the Blue Mountains and Lithgow areas where temperatures where a low of about 1 degrees Celsius. Around the $120K mark you’re looking at cars such as Range Rover Sports, BMW M3, Audi A5 and Mercedes-Benz E300… But what the Car Advice team found was this Volkswagen Transporter was not only going to give you sleeping, cooking, dining and showering facilities but the luxury camper offered a significant amount of flexibility as to how you can travel.

Whether it be refrigerating the kids drinks for Saturday sport, short weekends away or longer term outback travel – we’ve made it simple. Pack the cupboards with essentials and get on the road. No need to hitch anything up behind the vehicle.

Photo: Glen Sullivan

There are no cutting corners with how this campervan is put together. The lightweight roof for instance is a composite ply and foam construction, making it incredible strong but easy to lift and pull down. The cabinetry is a Europly construction, drawers are soft closing and include crockery storage. The roller shutter doors minimise any interior space obstruction and we’ve made sure to build the water tanks into the vehicle so ground clearance is affected.

The rear seat slides along two rails to increase boot space, create a dining area and operate the bed. The seat also comes complete with foldaway headrests and lap sash seat belts built into the Trakkadu AT seat so passenger can travel at any position along the rail. Full specifications can be found on the Trakkadu brochure. What CarAdvice.com thought…

When is a Volkswagen Transporter van more than just a van? When you can cook, sleep and shower in it! Easy pop-top operation; all the essentials are there, including sink, heater, cooktop and storage; strong bi-turbo diesel engine; easy to drive!

Photo: Glen Sullivan

What’s different between our Trakkadu AT campervan and motorhome models is our Torino, Jabiru and Trakkaway models use the patented Switch Mode Bathroom module (toilet and shower), whereas a pop top campervan is designed to do things like get into underground car parks and household garages so there’s not the height for a permanent standing bathroom. As Matt mentioned, we have the rear hot/cold water, hand held shower at the rear of the vehicle. As well as set up the rear annexe over the back door for privacy, what you can also do is carry the Thetford Porta Potti under the boot (see below).

Matt mentioned the rear annexe and electric awning are easier to set up with 2 people as opposed to one, which of course is always going to be the case. But we’ve made sure they can still be mastered easily by one person with a little practice.. check out our demo videos below!

See full review with video HERE!