Caravan Review – Viscount V2

Article by · 16 March 2019 ·

If you knew next-to-nothing about caravans, there’s a good chance the ‘next-to’ would be the name Viscount. At one time it was a powerhouse in Australian manufacturing, producing seven out of every 10 caravans on the market. It even owned the second most well-known brand in the country – Millard, at one point. Although all dynasties must come to an end and Viscount, from its lofty heights of the early 1980s, never recovered after a few bad decisions. Still, the name was in use well into the 2000s until the then-owner was barred by ASIC from owning a company. After that the name was aquired by a third-party when the trademark lapsed, and it was sat on for years. Until this year, actually, when Concept Caravans bought it and resurrected one of the greatest names in Aussie caravanning (apart from ROAM, of course).

So, here I am, in one of the first Viscounts to roll of its new production line, to find out two things – is it anything like the Viscounts of old, and more importantly, is it any good?

viscount caravans review

I’m in the V2, a 19-and-a-half foot, dual-axle van for two people. It weighs 2118kg at tare and can handle another 400kg of stuff, which, if you can sacrifice 18kg of load capacity, makes it ‘old’ Prado-friendly. It rides atop load-levelling leaf springs and has a reasonably light ball-weight of 101kg, which gives it plenty of room to be loaded up forward of the axle. 

There are three Vs to the new Viscount range, largely separated by length and chassis dimentions. The V1 is just 5.5-metres on a single axle with a 4in chassis, while the V3s are six-and-a-half meters long on a six-inch frame. The only aberration in the line-up is the V2 family version, which is the longest of the lot, but sat on the 4inch chassis. 

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The V2 is purely an on-road van, though. If you want to head off-road (well, gravel roads), the V3, with more ground-clearance, larger tyres and the sturdier chassis, is what’s recommended. On road, though, the V2 tows great. With both water tanks full (they’re forward of the axle) and some gear in the forward tunnel boot, the ball weight increases enough to steady it. My old LandCruiser’s not that willing to get a van this big to 100km/h, but when it did (mostly down hills), it tracked very comfortably. 

viscount caravan towing review

At camp, the Viscount offers everything you need and more than I was expecting, really. The rear-ensuite, café-lounge layout works well and I needn’t waste too much space telling you where everything is. Considering the brand’s motto is ‘the affordable lifestyle,’ there’s a significant amount of high-quality features inside. 

The kitchen, for example, features a Thetford Caprice MkIII four-burner stove, grill and oven. The fridge is Thetford’s new slimline N3141 (3 = three-way and 141 its capacity in litres) fridge. There’s also a range hood and microwave, filtered water and LED lighting, which is over and above in an ‘affordable’ van’s kitchen. It’s quite a long-affair, too. The slimmer fridge (about half the width of a traditional one), means more bench-space further down. The fridge itself is quite good, too. Double doored, I was expecting the freezer to be at the bottom, but that’s actually a pull-out drawer for tall bottles and the like (they won’t fit in the door trays), while the freezer is up top. It’s also tropical rated, so should be fine up north if you stay longer than you should. 

viscount caravans interior

One thing the kitchen (nay, the van) is missing, is shelves. There’s not a single shelf in any of the cabinets anywhere in the van. While all of the cabinetry looks great and is excellently presented, opening any of the doors reveals quite large, open spaces that would be a nightmare to organise. And I find it hard to believe it’s an acceptable cost-saving exercise – the van has its own washing machine. You can’t tell me people would rather the occasional convenience of being able to wash six tea-towels and a pair of nickers (about all that’ll fit in a 2.5kg ‘mini automatic washing machine’) over the everyday convenience being able to organise their stuff. And surely in a CNC machined cabinetry shop, shelves for eight cabinets would cost less than a ceramic, counter top basin with a stainless steel, designer tap.

Saying that, the ensuite is nice. It’s got a 2.5kg ‘mini automatic washing machine’ and ceramic, counter top basin with a stainless steel, designer tap… The shower area is quite generous and there’s actually one of the van’s two shelves by the cassette toilet (the other’s under the dinette table). Lighting in there is great and there’s plenty of storage, both over and under the counter. There’s also two roof hatches with extraction fans. 

The dinette is comfortable for two, although as it’s over the wheel arch, there’s not room for four at it. Conveniently, there’s a tri-fold table, reading lights over both seats and a power-point with USB charging outlets right at hand. I’ve been sitting in it for hours writing this review so can vouch for its comfort. 

To the front, the island bed is six-feet, five-inches long, once you’ve added the extension. It’s got an innerspring mattress which is of medium softness. I slept quite well on it. The base lifts up and underneath you’ll find the 100ah battery and 25amp charger. Around the bed head is the stock-standard hanging robes, overhead cabinets and narrow drawers. Both sides also have cubby holes which have a power point in them and reading lights for him and her. As is pretty common on 19-foot vans, there’s not a lot of room around the bed. To get to either side you have to squeeze past the dinette or kitchen by doing an awkward sideways waddle. 

viscount caravan review

There are other comforts on board, too. In the roof is a Gree (I’ve never heard of them, either), 3500W reverse cycle air conditioner; a 24in telly sticks to the wall at the end of the kitchen and there’s a stereo with internal and external speakers. 

Which is a longwinded way of answering question two – is it any good? Yep, the new Viscount is pretty good. The van is well made, tows fine, is reasonably comfortable and well-priced. It’s a good caravan. 

The answer to question one is a little harder, though – is it anything like the old Viscounts? There are certainly some similarities. The Viscounts of old (and I’m talking up until the Ultralite (but not including the Aerolite) were simple, inexpensive caravans for the everyman. This new one is, maybe, a little more-fancy than what the everyman needs, but it comes pretty close. Like the old Viscounts, the range is also very simple – there are basically four vans to choose from and if you don’t like them, buy something else. I like that. 

viscount caravan review

It’s not aluminium framed, though, which was a hallmark of the old Viscounts, and that’s something that would improve this van. Timber framing, while serviceable, is an old way of building vans and has too much potential for trouble, down the track. It also doesn’t have a yellow and green stripe down the side, which is probably the biggest disappointment, for me. Those stripes are iconic.  

All that said, I fall back on my answer to question two. Name and heritage aside, this is a nice caravan that’ll treat a traveller well. There could definitely be some work done prioritising features (shelves before washing machines), but otherwise it’s backed by a company with a great reputation and sold at a great price. Hard to argue with that. 

viscount caravan review

The Basics
VISCOUNT V2

Chassis
Style – Touring caravan
Chassis – Galvanised steel
Suspension – Roller-rocker leaf springs 
Hitch – AL-KO on-road ball

Dimensions and Weights
Body Length – 6020mm
Towing Length – 7870mm
Width – 2460mm
Height – 2910mm
Tare Weight – 2118kg
ATM – 2518kg
Tow Ball – 101kg

Capacities
Water – 157-litres
Grey Water – NA
Gas – 2 x 9kg
Fridge – 141-litre Thetford
Battery – 1 x 100ah
Solar – 120 watt

Warranty
12 months 

Price
From $52,990 plus on roads

CONTACT
Viscount Caravans
viscountcaravans.com.au

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13 Comments

  • comment-avatar

    Michelle Drought

    We have a V3 …bed won’t stay up, shower leaks, hot water system appears to be leaking too and the benchtop just chipped all of it’s own accord! Not all that happy with the new Viscount!

    • comment-avatar

      Kevin

      We have V1 since Jan2019 and couldn’t be happier! No issues with bed, bench chipping, hot water etc. The shower did leak just from bottom of the door, due water escaping from small plastic seal on bottom of the shower door.The van now comes with a larger door seal, dealer fitted it when we took it for service, 2 min free fix, no leak! Highly recommend Viscount.

  • comment-avatar

    Egon Tokessy

    We have been living in a V2 for 6 months and towed it for over 5000 km. So far no leaks however as far as the counter chipping I found that in our travels some of the push buttons on the cupboard handles vibrate loose and fall on to the counter. They are metal and quite heavy, hence the chipping. Personally they are a great van. As far as the bed not staying up I agree.
    This is my 4th caravan and probably the best one to date.
    Egon & Carol Somewhere in Qld at the moment.

  • comment-avatar

    Peter Findlay

    We have a V2 and love it, we have only done about 2000 kms in it but no problems so far, I do agree with the reviews that it could have a few shelves from new But I installed a couple and it was easily done.
    We purchased ours from Bendigo Concept Caravans and I could not speak more highly of them, they walked us through the van and answered every question we had. Top job Bendigo Concept

  • comment-avatar

    Egon Tokessy

    V2 caravan. We have now been living in 0ne since mid March.
    Towed it from Gold Coast to Port Douglas. Normanton. Mt Isa. Darwin. Uluru. we are now in Alice Springs. We only use sealed
    roads. Free camp for 2 days at a time and rely on the solar power.
    Still the best van that I have owned, cant fault it.
    Egon and Carol somewhere in the Northern Territory

  • comment-avatar

    Robert Millet

    We have just ordered a Viscount V2 Premium.
    Great service, down to earth service so far

  • comment-avatar

    David Duthie

    We have ordered our V2 premium plus with an extended A frame 6″ and tool box for our gen set and grey water tank. Curious to see the statement on the non aluminum from because there is minimal resilience to work hardening of Alloy frame, and so when they crack they are done, since frames are always moving when travelling I don’t see any benefit over well treat Mirante. Certainly agree about the shelves.

  • comment-avatar

    Pat Case

    We have a 2020 V3 mostly happy with the van, it is our home and trying to travel around, our main problem is the tunnel boot hinges have snapped off and the shower falls down, and we have resorted to using glue to keep cupboard nobs on and the fan in toilet stopped working

    • comment-avatar

      Egon Tokessy

      living in our V2 since March last year. To date towed it 26000 k.
      Still loving it. Problems well yes as follows.
      Thermostat in hot water system replaced also fixed a leak there.
      Aerial replaces as no reception.
      Fan in toilet area has on and off mode but now out of warranty stopped working.
      240 volt power inlet on side of van full of water as sides and bottom of module sealed but not the top.
      12 volt system failed had no power for 3 days which caused problem with fridge not igniting on gas. Problem solved , poor wiring , fixed under warranty.
      However travelling Qld and NT talking to fellow caravanners we have heard some horror stories on all different brand of vans. So we think we are lucky only to have few problems which was sorted out over time. Yes still loving the van.
      Oh when the first knob fell off I just glued all other ones back on, no more problems.

  • comment-avatar

    Bill Arnold

    We have just ordered a new V2 and are very happy with the way we have been treated so far. Daniel was most helpful and very patient with us as we asked lots of questions. If the after sales are as good as the pre sale we will be recommending it to our friends as well. Thanks guys at Explorer Caravans in Prospect South Australia. Can wait for it to arrive.

  • comment-avatar

    Judi Endersby

    We bought a V2 in November 2019 from Bendigo Concept Caravans when our existing van developed too many issues. Like Peter Findley, we found them excellent to deal with. The shelf issue was easy to solve as my husband Tony is a very capable handyman and installed extra shelving in all cupboards. We live in SA but had no difficulty getting warranty issues solved locally, after negotiating with Concept. We love the van and have towed it over 14,000 km in 2 years with no major concerns.

  • comment-avatar

    Clive Reginald cartledge

    great van every thing works well cabinet handles work loose and so heavy ideal to screw a bolt in knob and use them for sinkers, then replace them with something lighter maybe viscount could organize

  • comment-avatar

    Ron R

    Have a V2 same problem with doors put some glue fixed the problem also put shelves in plenty of room now
    Very happy 😃
    Have a single bed 🛌 van had to put things under needs drop down doors on side


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