X Series RV Surge reviewed at Camper Trailer of the Year 2024

KATH HEIMAN— Heiman Habitat

Intended purpose

X Series RV comes into the industry with a solid focus — to offer the market a range of campers with sufficient capacity, capabilities and componentry to suit anyone from solo travellers to large families who want to take all of their toys into the great outdoors, whether that’s bikes, buggies or boats. As Kelvin describes it, the idea behind X Series RV is to create a suite of campers that provides what other brands don’t.

X Series RV brought along one of the very first Surge campers to come off the factory floor. This camper was so new to the market that there was only one other in existence at the time of judging. It’s called the Surge, and by George does it have surge capacity. Unlike others, it provides dedicated bed spaces (including mattresses) for more than two people without the need to rely on add-ons like annexes, swags, stretchers or otherwise compromising an existing capability to create additional sleeping space.

Innovation

Open the door and peer inside towards the nose of the pod, and you’ll see a full-sized queen bed with a 100mm pocket spring mattress in a space-maximising east–west orientation. Meanwhile, on the right there’s a 2m (6ft 6in) long pair of bunk beds, also configured east–west. If you were a solo tourer or a touring couple, the bunks can be converted into a lounge to watch TV or, alternatively, they’d make perfect storage area for more dry goods, fishing rods, tackle gear, a firearms case, or a fur-baby for that magic Big Lap. For families bigger than four, the frame and roof rack of the camper has a static Safe Working Load of 500kg. This means you could easily secure a rooftop tent to the Surge to increase the sleeping capacity to six. Or put a lounge up there to watch the Bathurst 1000, or a kayak or two to go fishing.

Kelvin stated that the Surge is designed to get a family on the road and offroad quickly. And I can see how. This camper is a cross between a pop-top (minus the pop) and a traditional teardrop that combine to create a ‘mega-pod’. The Surge has heaps of dedicated internal storage cupboards and drawers and additional storage space under the main bed (which I personally would like to see a touch deeper). For those who want to get out of the driveway with the least possible delay, simply throw a few duffel bags onto the open plan floor, close the door, and be on your way with caravan-like convenience.

Quality and build

X Series RV has its main factory in China. But before you make any negative connotations based on this fact, it’s important to remember that there’s a difference between being ‘Chinese built’ and ‘Chinese made’. Consider, for example, the car brand MG. It’s now Chinese-owned and made, and Tesla (a non-Chinese company) also make the bulk of its vehicles that come to Australia in China. The bottom line is that getting a quality product from an overseas supplier comes down to quality assurance and quality control practices. And the Surge is a high-quality Chinese-built camper fitted and filled with quality aftermarket components such as the Australian-made REDARC RedVision, TVMS Rogue and inverter.

The camper’s exterior is a sandwich panel (fibreglass 2mm outside and 1.5mm inside) filled with 33.5mm of XPS foam with a metal structural frame. This composition makes it incredibly strong and lightweight, and that explains how the camper achieves such a massive 750kg payload.

Despite being black on the outside, the interior of the cabin didn’t get hot on our sunniest of days on the road. Having spent many hours closed up, and in the Queensland sun during photoshoots, at the end of the day I opened the door and stuck my head inside to find a cabin that was notably cooler than the ambient conditions. I’d love to take a Surge up into the Australian Alps to test it in the cold because I think these insulative walls would work a treat there as well. As for taking one into the Red Centre, there’s a built-in, roof-fitted, ventilation fan and twin port and starboard windows to create airflow that would help battle the heat.

SCOTT HEIMAN — Heiman Habitat

After a long day on the road, is there anything more appealing than a bed that’s accessible by simply opening the camper door? It’s this characteristic that distinguishes the Surge camper by X Series RV from similarly appointed 15ft hybrids on the market.

Ease of use

This isn’t a hybrid — it’s a ‘pod’ camper and that means it’s not intended for occupants to stand up inside. Instead, the Surge provides a tempting sleeping compartment offering a TV, queen bed and two bunks that are surprisingly long and can also be configured as a lounge. This length is achieved by the east–west orientation of the beds allowing them to extend almost the full 2.06m internal width of the camper. Equipped with a 100mm pocket spring mattress for the adults and 70mm for the bunk users, there’s no risk of sore backs or squished legs for anyone.

Comfort

While comfy when the weather’s kind, ventilating the internal space looks like it could be a challenge. With a midge-proof door, two small windows and a roof vent, it may be difficult to generate sufficient airflow around the inside of the camper. The addition of a couple of electric fans may go some way to addressing this issue but some buyers may elect for the optional air conditioner to prevent hot sticky nights.

There’s also room to improve the configuration of the internal storage. While there are small luggage cupboards inside, a more space-efficient configuration might see the bed raised to create a bigger under-bed storage compartment, with the overbed cupboards shortened accordingly so that leg room isn’t compromised. In its current set-up, it’s easy to see how an otherwise welcoming sleeping space could become cluttered with luggage.

Outside, there’s plenty of cover provided by the 270-degree freestanding Firefly awning with no need to battle with tent poles when you want a quick set-up. The kitchen galley is basic but functional featuring a slide-out sink/Dometic stove combo that pivots so that the cook or bottle washer isn’t left squeezed in next to the camper’s entry door. Pantry and preparation spaces are ample with the biggest space accessible at the rear of the camper. To my knowledge, the full-width pantry on the Surge is unique among campers of this body shape, and it really offers the kitchen hero an opportunity to shine. Dry goods are easily accessible without dumpster diving through a drawer, and there’s plenty of space to spread out when preparing and presenting food. There remains scope to improve the configuration of the cupboards and surfaces to maximise their size and utility, but this is a relatively minor quibble. With the addition of a few Tupperware boxes, it shouldn’t be too hard to keep things in order.

Value for money

At just $50,790 as judged, the Surge offers a solid walled ‘home away from home’ without the added height that’s characteristic of caravans. This is a camper you can buy once and use for a lifetime. Take it on family holidays as the kids grow up, on fishing weekends with your mates and then enjoy it as a couple, using the bunks for storage or as a lounge when the weather turns foul. Whichever stage you’re at, you’d be hard-pressed to find a hard walled camper with this level of versatility for less coin.

TIM VAN DUYL — Camper Australia Creative Director

Watching the Surge roll into camp, I was surprised by its overall size. It has the silhouette of a hybrid and is bigger than a lot of older caravans but what shocked me the most was how much is packed into it. A hard-walled camper with 2m beds for four and a massive rear kitchen? This is a first.

Self-Sufficiency

Here’s the issue though, more people means more water, power and storage are needed. It does well on storage, especially if you consider it has a load-rated roof (500kg) and a payload of 750kg. You could pack as many duffle bags of clothes as you want inside and a tinnie or rooftop tent on top.

On our test Surge, there was a shower cubicle fitted to the far side of the camper, perfect for a portable cassette toilet or a, wait for it, a shower rose. With 150L of water capacity a family of four can see a around four days from just drinking, cleaning up, cooking and showering a couple of times a day using the standard Firefly water heater before they need to reach for the reserve jerry cans (there is space for two on the drawbar). If they minus the showers, they can probably see at a week with careful water use.

Power is decent. Charged by a REDARC charger and monitored by RedVision TVMS Rogue, standard there is a 150Ah Volta lithium battery. You can option on a second battery, but with only the fridge and lights to run you will get nearly a week from it. You’ll only need the second battery if you choose to add on a powerful inverter and use it a lot.

There is no solar fitted as standard. You could put a decent fixed panel on the roof, just remember to take the tinnie off when at camp. Otherwise, bring a 180–200W solar blanket and you’ll probably never run out of power.

There’s plenty of food storage. The optional Firefly 95L fridge is a good size for a family of four and with the style of kitchen on the back of the camper, there is a good amount of usable dry-good storage.

Offroad and towing

One area I was concerned the Surge would struggle on was offroad driving. It cannot hide its weight and size but for clearance over ruts and washouts, it did surprisingly well.

With an ATM of 2250kg, you will need a decent tow rig, which we had in a LandCruiser 200 Series. The 200 Series is one of the best tow rigs you can buy. I’ve towed trailers at the limit of their legal capacities and felt there was still room in the big V8s power to haul more. A modern double cab 4X4 ute would be a good fit but equally, you could save some money and go with an older ute or mid-sized SUV like a Toyota Prado or Isuzu MU-X.

Under the Surge is Cruisemaster XT coil trailing arm suspension, easily the best in the business for reliability, build quality and ride with its supplied twin shocks on each side. Coming down Mount Kaputar, NSW, the weight of the camper was an obvious concern with each run down a slippery slope needing intense concentration but once on the flat, the trailer followed the 200 Series perfectly.

At Janowen Hills, Qld, we met more rain which led to the call not to take the Surge on as many challenging tracks as other campers went but we did a couple of runs through the moguls where the big camper performed exceptionally well, never even coming close to digging a corner of the camper into a steep mound.

X-Factor

The X-Factor for the Surge has to be its interior layout and space. Yes, it’s not a compact camper but it’s still not what would I call full-size, so to design in 2m long beds for four is impressive. Add on its fantastic payload and the flexibility that gives you to add on a rooftop tent or boat carrier and the Surge quickly makes a lot of sense as a long-distance tourer.

The wrap

The X Series RV Surge is affordable, it’s flexible with its massive payload and interior layout and with its sandwich panel construction, it should be very comfortable to live with. The kitchen layout and massive pantry will appeal to entertainers under the bat-wing style awning. It might miss a few options that other campers come standard with, and it might be light on water capacity, but otherwise this is an innovative camper that is hard to argue against for a touring family.

X SERIES RV SURGE SPECS

Weights and dimensions

Construction

Power, water and cooking

X Series RV Surge price from $48,990

Options fitted

• 95L Firefly fridge
• Shower cubicle
• 
  

X Series RV Surge price as shown $50,790

More information

X Series RV

59 Alta Road

Caboolture Qld 4510

P: 07 5499 2250

E: enquiries@xseriesrv.com.au