Caravan Review: Tango Caravans Sarah Series

Is it just me or does the rear club lounge, of which we are all so familiar, work incredibly well for larger caravans, such as this 21ft 6in Sarah Series by Tango Caravans?

Tango Caravans is a small, unassuming business in Australia’s caravan manufacturing capital, Campbellfield, Vic, with a relatively high output of caravans for its size. It offers for sale a mix of caravans built by other companies, while offering a selection of caravans under the Tango umbrella.

Despite the acres of living space on offer, the 21ft 6in (external length) Sarah Series is quite a manageable, manoeuvrable caravan. I towed it legally with my 3000kg-rated MU-X, since the van was empty, but to make the most of this van’s payload capacity, you’re in Land Cruiser territory. That said, let’s climb aboard to find out what the Sarah Series offers.

TANGO CARAVANS GOES CLUBBING

At first glance, the layout is all about the rear club lounge. While I personally prefer smaller rigs, one of the best things about larger caravans is the ability to fit a club lounge in the back – they are particularly good for entertaining. They provide greater comfort than their L-shaped or cafe counterparts, and they set the layout up for an amidships split bathroom. 

In the case of this Tango Caravans Sarah Series, the bathroom splits the layout into three distinct zones: the bedroom is in the front, the club lounge and kitchen are towards the rear, and the bathroom separates the two. The result is very comfortable.

The kitchen comes equipped with a griller and oven, and a four-burner cooktop recessed into the bench. Opposite that is a T-rated three-way fridge with a microwave above. There’s also a pantry comprised of two separate compartments, with the top one only having pull-out shelves. Further back, still on the offside, is a cabinet containing a 3.5kg top-loading washing machine.

The bathroom, with the shower on the nearside and the cassette toilet and vanity on the offside, is separated from the living quarters and the bedroom by two sliding doors. The large, moulded-fibreglass shower cubicle comes with a 12V extraction fan, as expected, while the vanity features small linen storage space, a mirror and washbasin.

Sitting in the nose of the van, the bed is surrounded by overhead lockers and wardrobes, each with a niche complete with 12V and 240V powerpoints, and there’s a TV mount on the wall at the foot of the bed, with the antenna point mounted to the ceiling rather than the wall. The TV that’s supplied is a 24in flatscreen with built-in DVD player. And yes, a stereo system linked to two internal speakers and two external speakers is provided, too.

Astute readers might have noticed that this caravan has a flat floor, with no wheel arch protrusions – the upshot is more living and storage space, though it means the van does ride quite high. Fortunately, Tango has provided a set of fold-out steps at the entryway.

The interior really isn’t lacking any crucial equipment, and the layout has a great deal of appeal. Would I add anything? Well, I’d want filtered drinking water in the kitchen and I’d consider adding a dedicated 12V point in the dinette area rather than rely on the in-built USB points of the reading lights. But other than that, the interior of the 21ft 6in Tango Sarah Series stylishly covers all of the main bases. Two people would be very comfortable indeed inside of this van.

TRIED AND TESTED CHASSIS

The Tango Caravans Sarah Series is not a hard-core offroader. It won’t be seen on the Great Central Road, for example. But it’ll serve you well on bitumen-bound adventures with a few light-duty/semi-offroad conditions thrown into the mix.

As standard, it has a 50mm ball coupling – nothing wrong with that – along with a 12-pin plug and the connection for the reversing camera. There’s also a couple of 9kg gas cylinders and a slimline toolbox on the A-frame; however, it does not contain any slide-out trays. Think of it as a place to store the jockey wheel, some camp chairs and tools.

It is built atop a 6in RHS steel chassis on load-sharing leaf-spring suspension and 16in wheels, with the A-frame running back to the spring hangers. It is a tried and tested chassis setup.

As standard, it comes with two 95L water tanks, each protected by galvanised sheeting, positioned forward of the axle set so it’l worth keeping your eye on the ball weight when they’re full; however, given the starting ball weight of 199kg and the fact this van is likely to be towed by a car with a TBM of 350kg, there should not be any issues here. There’s also a grey water tank but that is mounted towards the rear.

A large and luxurious van such as this needs lots of external storage space, and while the A-frame storage box is on the small side, there’s a tunnel boot towards the front and an excellent storage space at the rear. This space is accessible from both sides of the van.

While there is some exposed piping underneath this van, I’m not particularly concerned, since this van is not designed for protracted offroad work. I was pleased, though, to note that the wiring to the electric brakes is shrouded in conduit with not a dangling terminal block to be seen.

It also needs a decent 12V system, and in this case we have a single 200Ah lithium battery (located inside a steel box on the offside chassis rail, protected by checkerplate) and two 190W solar panels – it’s a decent middle-of-the-road system supported by the onboard BMPRO ASPERO power management system, which comes with an internal display showing the real-time battery state of charge and water tank levels. Oh, there’s a 50A Anderson plug, too, which will assist in charging the battery off the car or via some portable solar panels, should you wish to augment the roof-mounted panels.

GORV’S VERDICT

Overall, the high-riding Tango Caravans Sarah Series 21ft 6in Rear Club model presents as a serious contender for big trips on the blacktop. With its decent 12V system, reasonable water supply, excellent layout and all the comforts described above, it should be a very faithful home away from home.

THE SCORE 

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HITS & MISSES

COMPLETE SPECS