Swift BaseCamp

i saw it at the show yesterday, looks to be well received. actually a differet/viable alternative to a young couple buying a VW campervan and going off with their bikes/surfboards etc...

no need to upgrade the towcar for most....

Attended the NEC show on Saturday. Saw the new Swift Basecamp, ordered one, collect mid Nov. Added the Plus pack, ATC and Vango Airbeam awning. Did a trade in with our Lunar Clubman SI. From one extreme to another. Can't wait. P.S. anyone after a full awning from the Lunar?

Good to hear! Hope it becomes a commercial success for Swift, just very disapointing the CC were offering a Knaus as a prize at the show instead of supporting the home manufacturers - as did the C & CC with a Sprite (albeit hooked upto a Hyundai) ...... surely a Basecamp would have made a great prize?!

I guess it depends what the clubs have been given to use as a prize flatcoat. 

Attended the NEC show on Saturday. Saw the new Swift Basecamp, ordered one, collect mid Nov. Added the Plus pack, ATC and Vango Airbeam awning. Did a trade in with our Lunar Clubman SI. From one extreme to another. Can't wait. P.S. anyone after a full awning from the Lunar?

So which graphics style did you go with?

Standard graphic, others were nice but at £795 to change was a bit too much.

Hi, we also attended the NEC show, and were similarly impressed with the Swift Basecamp - if something like this had been available before now (We're aware of Knaus's offerings) we might have become caravanners years ago. We were always put off by the overly gilt-plated, frilly velour look of earlier British vans.

HOWEVER, impressed as I am, I couldn't help but notice that the quoted noseweight for it is 100kg. I did a total double-take when I read this in the brochure, and thanked God I hadn't ordered one at the show, as my tow car certainly couldn't cope with that.

Interestingly, Swift's brochure shows it being towed by a Fiat 500X, which has a maximum towball load of 60kg.

What is going on here? - surely Swift haven't released to the market a van which no small car (and many larger ones) can safely tow.

I did also notice Wingamm's similar offering at the show - this also had a noseweight of 100kg.

Am I missing something?  

Is the 100kg quoted not the max hitch weight? 

Hi, we also attended the NEC show, and were similarly impressed with the Swift Basecamp - if something like this had been available before now (We're aware of Knaus's offerings) we might have become caravanners years ago. We were always put off by the overly gilt-plated, frilly velour look of earlier British vans.

HOWEVER, impressed as I am, I couldn't help but notice that the quoted noseweight for it is 100kg. I did a total double-take when I read this in the brochure, and thanked God I hadn't ordered one at the show, as my tow car certainly couldn't cope with that.

Interestingly, Swift's brochure shows it being towed by a Fiat 500X, which has a maximum towball load of 60kg.

What is going on here? - surely Swift haven't released to the market a van which no small car (and many larger ones) can safely tow.

I did also notice Wingamm's similar offering at the show - this also had a noseweight of 100kg.

Am I missing something?  

 

Write your comments here...

In common with other vans built on an Alko chassis, the caravan A frame CAN be leaded to 100kg. That's a max figure, not a requirement. So if it's hitched to a car with a lower max hichweight, then the cars limit defines the maximum nose weight allowable. 

Am I missing something?

Yes, the 100kg is the MAX hitch weight, in common with most UK Al-Ko underpinned caravans.

With an MTPLM of 990kg, and the 60kg nosewight limit, the little Fiat 500X, will have a nose weight ratio of 6%.
Bang in the middle of the 5% - 7% recomendation.
And more than I achieve with my regular Bailey on my 75kg limited Mercedes. Not a problem.