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Kedron’s new ATV is A Tough Vehicle all right. After a gruelling 12-hour day dragging it through some rough-as-guts terrain in Queensland, I was beat and it was still asking for more Words and photography by Gil Schott Okay, right at the start I have to tell you that the fix was in on this review. I mean, a trip up the beach with the Kedron boys (Barry, Glen, Dave, Danny and Peter), a slap up lunch and a couple of Goldies thrown in is enough to keep the most jaded ‘van journo mellow. Add in that all but one of the Kedron boys are Cane Toad maroon and I’m kind of Cockroach blue in colour and you have a good recipe for a fun day on the sand (especially since the Blues whacked the ‘Toads in the State of Origin). The object of the exercise was to see how the new Kedron ATV handled itself on the sands of Cooloola Beach, running from the Tewantin Ferry up the beach to Double Island Point, across to Wide Bay and along Rainbow Beach. Now, you might say that running the beach at low tide is no test – true, but wait, there’s more… The beach run was fine until we arrived at the crossing behind Double Island Point at half tide. Unfortunately for our plans, the sands of Rainbow had been chewed out some, and the beach (and the vital run around Eight Mile Rocks) was navigable only if the ATV was a DUKW or a LARC (you ex-army blokes will know what I mean). Our alternate route was either back down the beach to Noosa on a rising tide, or else have a feed at Freshwater Creek and take the Freshwater Track across to the Rainbow Beach road. We chose the feed, and the Freshwater, but more on that later. On The Outside The Kedron ATV is a good looking van, sitting high, wide and handsome on its Cruisemaster independent suspension and heavy gal ‘Top End’ chassis. It carries three water tanks beneath and two spares wheels on the rear bumper. Drop down jacks are mounted on the corners, mud flaps behind the wheels and there’s a pull-out step at the door. Chequerplate cladding surrounds the ATV, with a soft vinyl covering on the upper forward wall. The aluminium wall cladding is a soft silver/grey. LED lights at the rear are high and easily visible, as are the clearance lights. On the A-frame the twin gas bottles and outboard bracket are protected by a mesh stone shield, forward of a big front boot. A gal mesh gusset is mounted across the base of the A-frame, which on this day carried a load of firewood (to get those oysters Kilpatrick sizzling). Galvanised jerrycan boxes are mounted outboard of the A-frame and a water tap is tucked in behind the passenger side box for protection. There’s also a protective gal pipe running from the A-frame back along the edge of the body to the front axles. Below and behind the boot is a through locker just right for two-piece beach rods, awning poles and so on The power pack comprises 3 x 150a/h AGM batteries, 3 x 120 watt solar panels, 70 amp float charger, 12/240volt transformer and solar regulator. Other external fittings include a rollout awning, speakers, TV bracket, shower, 240v power inlets, generator box and double glazed Dometic windows. Up top is a Winegard TV antenna, air conditioning, four seasons hatch and Fantastic hatch. In The Kitchen The business end of the kitchen is at the rear, to the right of the entrance. Here there is a Swift four-burner stove, grill and oven, alongside a stainless sink with flickmixer and pump tap. Storage is plentiful both above and below the sink area, though bench space is limited. Having said that, the dinette table is within easy reach. A CD/DVD player and clock is mounted in the bulkhead above the stove, with a rangehood mounted beneath. The kitchen area is well lit with overhead and bulkhead lights, a rear window and of course the door and overhead hatch. Along the driver’s side forward of the bathroom is a 230L Vitrifrigo fridge/freezer and another bench, above which is mounted a microwave. A gas/electric hot water service is fitted beneath the fridge and there are additional cupboards below the bench. At The Dinette The dinette is positioned to the left as you enter and will comfortably seat four. There is storage beneath the bench seats, with an access hatch in the doorway and a slide out drawer opposite the fridge area. There are storage lockers overhead on the passenger side. A small window behind the dinette, overhead lighting and hatch, and individual lights under the bulkhead let you see what you’re eating. As with the rest of the ATV, all the interior fittings and timberwork are very neat and tidy, well finished and practical. It’s not a fancy fitout by any means, but this is an ATV, after all. In The Bedroom A double bed occupies the forward section of the ATV, flanked by mirrored robes above decent bedside tables. You can actually sit breakfast on them if you wish. Beneath these are drawers and cupboards. On the front bulkhead are more storage cupboards and individual reading lights. Overhead lighting, hatches and big flanking windows make the bedroom pretty light, with good airflow available. Keeping Clean Positioned in the rear driver’s side corner, between the kitchen and the fridge, the bathroom is a toilet/shower combo with a chequerplate floor base that looks neat. The moulded toilet unit has a fold down vanity basin with a narrow mirrored cupboard above. It’s a practical set up in a van of this size, but it’s essentially a one-at-a-time job. Doesn’t matter too much though, since there’s an external shower too. Back On The Road As mentioned earlier, we took the Freshwater Track, which proved interesting right from the start. Some of the boys had their doubts about the first big corner off the beach. The doubts were justified – the corner was your common, everyday hairpin, but with a twist; high, straight banks on either side with a track of powder-soft sand. After a while (quite a while) the ATV got around the corner, with the help of another pull from Glen’s Toyota ute. Vans just ain’t supposed to negotiate such corners! The rest of Freshwater was uneventful and it looked like an easy run home. Until, that is, Dave recommended a shortcut. Yes, well. This little timesaver was the Cooloola road that runs through the Great Sandy National Park and the Toolara State Forest to Kin Kin. “It’ll save us heaps,” said Dave. Yep, it would have, if the road had seen a grader in the past 20 years. The first thing we saw as we came down this ‘shortcut’ was a sign. “Warning, 30km of flood damaged road. 4WD only.” And it was – 30km of ruts, bogs and potholes with a bit of gravel scattered in between. Barry reckoned it was worse than the Gibb River Road. And once we got through that there was the another sign with a similar message – another 15km of the same stuff. Some bloody shortcut! But despite the track, the van just kept on following the ‘Cruiser. (Danny had a tinny in tow, and had to stop a couple of times to re-secure it. We were surprised to see the motor on the back at the end.) My real regret is that I can’t show you what the road was like – it was dark, and my camera battery was as dead as my numb backside. One impressive feature of the ATV was the suspension. Nothing fazed it – the soft sand at the beach entry and exit points, the bend in the Freshwater track or the big, muddy bogholes and ruts on the Cooloola Track. The ATV took all in its stride, surprising given that its weight on this run was over 2400kg. I was also impressed with the way the Kedron crew were happy to punch the van into the rough stuff. Obviously they were confident this van could take it, and it did, without dramas. Worth Buying? The Kedron ATV was built with a specific purpose in mind – to handle Top End touring on rough roads. Judging by the performance on our little jaunt, the ATV will do just that. The entire fitout is aimed at rough road operation and it does the job. A point worth noting is that the Kedron crew take all their RVs out into rugged ground and push them hard to make sure they do what they say they’ll do. The Kedron ATV is not a cheap unit, but if you want an RV that is well designed and a proven performer on some seriously tough terrain (it proved itself in my eyes on this trip, at least), then yes, it’s well worth considering. THANKS TO Thanks to the Kedron boys for providing the ATV and not being afraid to give it some stick, and for putting on a fair old feed to boot (prawns, lobster, oysters, cold chook – yum). FACT FILE |
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