Discover the Maui Cascade!
As part of its operations, thl runs a large fleet of rental motorhomes. Everything from pop-top campervans to six-berth motorhomes, with a few four-wheel drive campers thrown in for good measure. I have used several of them over the last few years, most recently the Maui Cascade, known as the KEA Discovery M660 in the retail world.
I borrowed the Cascade to use at the CMCA National Rally in Orange last year. It’s a motorhome with an external length of 6.66 metres (21ft 1in) and no Luton peak, which belies the fact that it's a four-berth motorhome.
ON THE ROAD
When I’m at a rally, I like to have a motorhome with a bit of work space and a fixed bed that I don’t have to make up every night, so I was keen to get a minimum four-berth rig. Like much of the Maui fleet, the Cascade is built on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 315CDI cab chassis. Powered by a 2.0-litre 110kW/340Nm turbo diesel engine with a nine-speed automatic gearbox, the Cascade gets along quite smoothly, both along the highway and around town. My trip from Sydney to Orange took me over the Blue Mountains, along the Great Western and Mitchell highways, which was quite a pleasant journey in the Cascade. Being under seven metres long, the motorhome is quite manoeuvrable, which I appreciated when parking overnight at my home. With a bit of careful turning, it fitted into our front yard, saving the need for street parking.
OUTSIDE
Like much of the thl fleet, the Cascade has a fibreglass composite body with large windows. All the windows are tinted glass and all open except for the large rear window. The sliding glass windows have their advantages over the acrylic hopper style, except of course in the rain!
The external bin capacity is a bit limited. A retrofitted (and convenient) barbecue takes up a chunk of storage space on the nearside. However, it's still possible to reach the under-seat area from the inside. It’s a good space for storing camping chairs and the like, but not so much the table that Maui supplied.
INSIDE
The interior layout of the Cascade makes full use of the drop-down bed in the rear. It's a ‘have-your-cake-and-eat-it- too’ layout. Under the bed is a small club lounge, which can also be converted into a double bed if needed. That leaves enough room in the rest of the motorhome for a nearside kitchen, mid bathroom and a front lounge area. Both driver's cab seats swivel, making the most of the space. An attractive feature of this layout is the front lounge, which, for a couple, means that if one partner wants to go to bed using the drop-down, the other partner still has somewhere comfortable to sit.
A downside of the day/night lounge is that the second bed base boards and cushions take up valuable cupboard space. I didn’t need the extra bed so I left the surplus bedding at home, but I appreciate this isn’t something most renters can do.
The internal storage isn't too bad for a rental motorhome, and I made better use of it with packing cubes and a couple of plastic boxes for keeping things neat and secure when driving.
The Cascade is a four-berth motorhome, but the reality is it’s better suited to a family of two adults and two children. If four adults were on board it could be squishy and you'd have to stay in caravan parks, otherwise the morning ablutions would take forever.
While I was at the rally, a few visitors dropped by, curious about the motorhome's relatively short length and lack of a Luton peak. All were impressed by the drop-down bed but asked: “What happens if the electric drop-down mechanism fails?” I, too, had wondered, but discovered there's a manual crank that fits into an access hole under the bed, which was reassuring to know.
MID AREA
Like many rental motorhomes, the Crusade’s kitchen is relatively compact but fully functional with a four-burner hob and grill, a 113-litre compressor fridge and a microwave oven. Not that I used the latter, but the kitchen is quite practical and has a reasonable amount of storage. The lower drawer has a purpose-made holder for plates and cups, but it had obviously been made for a different size than the ones supplied.
Across the way, the combo bathroom has a shower, wash basin and cassette toilet. In my preserving power mode, I was the master of the short and sharp shower. Curiously, there was nowhere to put a toilet roll.
BATTERY AND SOLAR CAPACITY
At the CMCA rally, I knew I wouldn't have mains power and wondered how I'd get on for the week, given the 105Ah AGM battery and the 190W solar panel. I was careful with my 12V usage by keeping the fridge on a low setting and having short showers. My only guide to the battery level was the voltmeter on the simple control panel. Incidentally, a slight irritation here was the lack of a light switch near the doorway. The only switch for the entire front and mid area of the motorhome was on the control panel above the rear passenger seat, which was not convenient if you want to leave one light on. That niggle aside, I was pretty impressed with how long the battery lasted with a bit of careful usage.
THE BOTTOM LINE
I quite enjoyed my Cascade travels. Although a little compact, the Maui motorhome offers an excellent layout for those who don’t want a huge rig but still desire a few comforts and a bit of flexibility in how the seating and beds can be used. This particular layout has been around for a few years now, but it can still hold its head up among its contemporaries.
MAUI CASCADE SPECIFICATIONS
VEHICLE
MANUFACTURER MAUI
MODEL CASCADE
BASE VEHICLE MERCEDES BENZ SPRINTER 315 CDI
TARE WEIGHT 3,074KG
GVM 3,550KG
LICENCE CAR
PASSENGERS FOUR
MECHANICAL
ENGINE 2.0-LITRE TURBO DIESEL
POWER 110KW@3800RPM
TORQUE 340NM@1500-2400RPM
GEARBOX 9G-TRONIC
BRAKES ABS DISC
DIMENSIONS
EXTERNAL LENGTH 6.66M (21FT 10IN)
EXTERNAL WIDTH 2.2M (7FT 3IN)
EXTERNAL HEIGHT 3.2M (10FT 6IN)
INTERNAL HEIGHT 2.06M (6FT 9IN)
HEIGHT UNDER REAR BED 1.76M (5FT 9IN)
BED SIZE (UPPER) 2M X 1.4M (6FT 7IN X FT 7IN)
BED SIZE (LOWER) 2.1M X 1.45M (6FT 11IN X 4FT 9IN)
EQUIPMENT
COOKTOP MOBICOOL 4 BURNER AND GRILL
FRIDGE ISOTHERM CR130 EL 12V COMPRESSOR
MICROWAVE OVEN NERO
LIGHTING 12V LED
BATTERIES 1 X 105AH AGM
SOLAR PANELS 190W
AIR CONDITIONER DOMETIC
TOILET THETFORD CASSETTE
SHOWER COMBINATION CUBICLE
HOT WATER HEATER SUBURBAN 23L GAS
HEATER NO
WATER TANK 97L
GREY TANK 97L
GAS CYLINDERS 9KG
Supplied by
Maui Sydney
125 Nancy Ellis Leebold Drive
Bankstown Aerodrome, NSW
maui-rentals.com
