Fusion reaction

It’s a bit of a British phenomenon, but we do love a big rear lounge, and that’s exactly what the Fusion 330 from Italian marque McLouis offers. What’s more, this 2025 version also features a second lounge – and both boast drop-down beds.

Fusion is a four-model line-up for the season ahead. The 330 here is the baby of the Fiat Ducato-based coachbuilt line-up, but it’s still a full four-berth. The starting price for 2025 is a pretty keen £77,495, and for that you get the 140bhp engine with six-speed manual transmission. Eight-speed automatic and 180bhp (auto only) are available as options, at £4,000 and £6,500 respectively.

Build quality – 82%

McLouis’ bodywork is completely timber-free and boasts a tough GRP outer. The biggest selling point, however, is likely to be the switch to silver sides that are so much in vogue right now.

The vehicle is a bit wider for 2025, while the habitation door is on the UK nearside (not always the case with imports). There’s a garage storage area – complete with lashing points, nearside light and a mains socket – but its dimensions restrict it to the likes of outdoor furniture, barbecues, etc. Other premium features range from flush-fitting windows to alloy wheels and a 120W solar panel.

There’s a choice of chassis weights – 3,500kg, 3,650kg and 4,400kg. Even in standard 3,500kg guise, as here, there’s a decent enough 590kg payload.

Driving – 76%

It’s a relative rarity to be driving a coachbuilt motorhome based on Fiat’s Ducato these days, such is the influence of Ford. The 140bhp engine is a willing enough performer, although you can find yourself stirring the gears for inclines in an otherwise fuss-free drive.

Latest Fiat cabs are better equipped than ever, featuring electric parking brake, cruise control and limiter, digital display for the main instrument panel and more. McLouis also adds a rather sophisticated Pioneer infotainment system that includes a colour reversing camera, alongside automatic air-conditioning and a wireless phone charger.

Daytime – 82%

There’s a real change from the outgoing 330 as far as the interior look is concerned. The floor is different, there’s a new composite material for some of the walls, locker doors have been changed (the catches remain particularly easy to operate), and the undersides of the beds feature a corduroy-inspired fabric. There’s a feeling of more space, especially width, although in truth it’s grown by just 2cm across the bows. The rear lounge is certainly roomy, featuring opening windows to its three sides. The seating is noticeably firm, which bodes well for long-term use. The table top is hinged and on a fixed pedestal leg, with full fore and aft as well as height adjustment. You can also watch television from here – there’s a bracket fitting for a flatscreen monitor and all the wiring and sockets are in place.

The front lounge is smaller, with an L-shaped rear seat as well as swivels for the cab seats, although the table dominates somewhat here.

Heating and hot water are from Truma’s Combi 6 system, with more blown air outlets than is typical.

Night-time – 85%

The main bed is the double over the rear lounge – dimensions are 1.95m (6ft 5in) x 1.30m (4ft 3in) tapering to 1.10m (3ft 7in). It glides into position electrically and there’s a ladder to hook on for access. And then there’s a single bed (1.91m/6ft 3in x 0.81m/2ft 8in) over the front lounge – again with ladder access. Just note it does cut across the doorway. Both ladders stow in the garage, along with a panel to be added if you’re converting the rear seating into a single bed.

Kitchen – 65%

Perhaps the one weak link in the Fusion 330 is its kitchen – mainly due to its lack of worktop space. The orientation of the two gas rings may not find favour, nor the splash panel, which doesn’t meet the worktop. There’s a combined oven and grill under the circular sink – some kind of cover for the latter would have helped with the worktop challenge. Storage is good, with a large, shelved overhead locker, metal shelf for smaller items, drawer that includes a slide-out cutlery tray, and two floor lockers.

Washroom – 76%

There’s a step up as you go into the washroom, where there is space for a cubicle with folding doors for showering. The removable wooden duckboard sits in a rather shallow footwell, but there are two plugholes to help with drainage. To the right of the swivel-bowl toilet, the fixed handbasin has generous proportions with pull-out tap to clip onto the ceiling as the showerhead. There’s no window, just a small rooflight for ventilation. Storage includes a high-level locker and a metal shelf. There’s a large wardrobe adjacent to the washroom.

Details – 79%

One or two more mains sockets would be useful, but both lounges have a double USB portal, and the reading lamps on stalks for the double bed also feature one USB apiece. There’s plenty of interior lighting, especially as the underside of each drop-down bed features half a dozen downlighters. Storage includes lockers to the undersides of the main beds, too. Features such as a full flyscreen for the habitation door, central locking to all three doors, the opening overcab sunroof and floor carpet sections complete a very positive picture.