Verdict
Essentially, this is an affordable, functional family caravan. The seating space and beds give a family of four plenty of room to move around, and it can easily accommodate six at meal times and overnight. The kitchen, although short on worktop space, offers good spec for a van in this price range, and the washroom should be adequate for families.
Crucial to the Zenith’s appeal, however, is that it doesn’t feel like a budget van, thanks in no small measure to the nicely finished interior. Compromises have been made to keep prices low, but it’s all been thoughtfully done.
Pros
Overall finish
Front access to lounge storage
Lights in rear bunks.
Cons
Non-extending chest table in the lounge
Combined oven and grill
Shortage of kitchen work surfaces.
Pitching & Setting-up
Lunar sticks with the ever-familiar Al-Ko chassis, and fits it in conjunction with a buttonless handbrake. As it’s a single-axle tourer, the Zenith should be easy to manoeuvre on site, even though it’s seven metres long and over two metres wide.
There’s a spacious, full-width front locker that’ll take more than just a couple of gas bottles, and the waste pipe is sensibly sited on the side.
Living
You won’t feel cramped in the lounge, which is light and welcoming, but you may well wish you had an extendable table top on the central chest if six of you are eating.
Lighting provision is good and varied for an entry-level van, Lunar providing a Heki rooflight, a mains ceiling light, two adjustable spots and two fixed corner lights. Specification is relatively modest, as you’d expect at this price, so no radio/CD player or speakers, but there is a power point and an aerial socket.
Kitchen
Despite the modest price tag, the kitchen specification is quite good. You get a three-burner hob, recessed sink and drainer, a good-sized Thetford fridge and a power point. A shame, though, that the oven and grill are combined into one unit so cannot be used separately. It’s also a pity that there’s very little worktop space, and you will be looking beyond the kitchen for food-based storage space despite the two overhead lockers, which hold racks for cups and plates.
Washroom
It’s functional rather than luxurious, so if you’ve a full complement of holidaymakers, you’ll probably want to use site showers.
A Thetford swivel toilet helps make the most of what space you have, and there are a couple of shelved, if narrow, cupboards under the basin. It’s all accessed via a domestic-style door.
Beds
Beds are what the Zenith is all about, as it’s designed for big families. That means a double bed for mum and dad plus four bunks for the kids.
The front lounge can be converted easily into a large, comfortable, lengthy double using slats pulled from the centre chest. The lounge seats can also be used as twin beds.
In the middle of the van, the nearside dinette converts into a single and a fold-down top bunk, and the table becomes the base for the lower bed. The cushions for the dinette become the mattress, although these are a poor fit when the top bunk is also set up.
That top bunk folds out from the wall easily once the dinette cushions have been removed. Separate guard rails aren’t quite as easy as integrated ones, and wooden ladders rather than metal ones would have been nice. Still, these are minor quibbles. For the most part, this design works well. The rear bunk, extending the full length of the back wall, can be separated off by means of a curtain.
Storage
Large families need a lot of storage space and, the kitchen aside, this van provides plenty. Once you get all the clothes, toys and equipment you need onboard, you should find a place for everything. The underbed storage areas throughout the van are particularly cavernous.
Capacious overhead lockers run through most of the Zenith, broken up by the cubby holes sited at the front corners.
Technical Specifications
| Berth | 6 |
| MiRO | 1059 kg |
| Payload | 241 kg |
| MTPLM | 1300 kg |
| Shipping Length | 6.99 m |
| Width | 2.16 m |
