News from Caravan Guard

IH Oregon RL exterior

The IH Oregon RL is one of the longest - and most luxurious - high-top campers on the market.

The cab seats twist around with enviable ease and it boasts a lounge that puts most other high-top campers to shame.

Once on site and with the full-height door slid right back the IH's interior feels even bigger - not that you're short of daylight with the door closed, thanks to plenty of windows and a Heki sunroof.

The Oregon's long L-settee is big enough for three to sit on for a natter, while two more can be accommodated by the cab's armchairs.

Inside the Oregon looking back

The free-standing table slides out from its slot close to the TV and proves just the right size for dinner for one or two. It's big enough, but doesn't dominate the vehicle, leaving plenty of room to get by to go to the galley or the bathroom.

You'd have to sit one forward-facing and one side-facing on the settee, though, for meals - the cab seats are at a higher level and the higher cab floor has been continued thereafter so that feet don't dangle.

At bedtime, the bed is incredibly easy to make up and is extremely comfy. The bed base simply slides out and you sleep head to the cab end, as the 6ft 1in double tapers towards the kitchen.

Inside the Oregon looking forward

If you're tall it's best to point the driver's seat to face forward so you don't head-butt an armrest in the night, and if you're above average height, there's a slot-in cushion to extend the mattress to a usable 6ft 6in length on the side nearest the offside wall.

Which Motorcaravan tested the Oregon on a campsite with no showers and just a single WC - the RL's facilities are positively palatial for a van conversion and should embarrass the designers of a few coachbuilts.

Of course, the extra space back here is the main gain over the standard 365mm (13in) shorter and £2000 cheaper Oregon R.

The washroom in the IH Oregon RL

The use of the extra-long Ducato panel van, rather than the much more commonly used sub-six-metre long-wheelbase, means that IH have found space for a proper washroom and changing room right across the back of the 'van. And it's a cracker.

Step through the central washroom door and ahead of you is the sort of large wooden worktop that only the most beauty-obsessed could begin to cover with make-up and hair products.

And to the left of that space is a neat stainless steel basin, rather than a cheap plastic one. The basin's tap pulls out and clips to the wall for showering, while a switched extractor sucks away the steam.

The loo is the increasingly rare bench-type Thetford cassette, which seems the best choice in this layout and comes with a wheeled cassette.

The kitchen inside the IH Oregon RL

Verdict:

The Oregon has all the kitchen you could need, it has a lounge that is simply superb and the bathroom is the best there is in a van conversion. Only the small capacities of the fridge and the water tanks (especially the waste) count against it in comparison with coachbuilts.