Robeta, the manufacturer that received the prestigious Campervan of the Year 2024 award for the Robeta Adonis model, also presents the family-oriented Robeta Helios model in its range. This model could also be in the running for the title of best campervan for families. We took it under the microscope on a route of more than 2,100 kilometers.
Category camper van travel vans designed to a 6-meter van, such as Citroen Jumper, Fiat Doblo and Peugeot Boxter, is extremely diverse. With their unique styles and approaches, different manufacturers strive to attract customers with innovative solutions and create the ideal campervan for families. The Robeta Helios seems to hold a few trump cards that can be crucial when choosing your campervan.
One of the main assets Robeta, with which he appeals to customers, is their newly developed revolutionary furniture Robeta Air, which allows the motorhome to be much lighter than the competition - by up to 200 kilograms. This undoubtedly results in lower fuel consumption and allows the permissible total weight of 3,500 kilograms not to be exceeded. In other words, with this motorhome you can take more luggage on vacation without worrying about exceeding the permissible total weight of 3500 kilograms, which is especially important for active families who often take many activity toys with them, including electrified ones, which are not light .
In the case of a motorhome intended for to four people and a little more than 6 meters long, the layout of the sleeping areas is of key importance. With the Robeta Helios model, this is really thought out. In the rear part of the vehicle there is usually a large bed with a width of 178 cm and a length of 187 cm, on which our family of three felt great. It was especially pleasant when we opened the roof tent for the child, which extended to 145 cm wide and 220 cm long and turned into a spacious playroom that offered a lot of privacy and the possibility of a teenage retreat. The Robeta Helios motor home is really comfortable, and the mattress is also praiseworthy, as it is not overly hard and ensures an excellent sleep. I slept better there than at home.
The bed in the back can host up to three adults, and of course there is also room on the roof, where the bed is even longer.
Even at spring temperatures, which varied between 6 and 18 degrees Celsius, the sleep was more than pleasant. The nights were warm and temperatures inside the RV remained comfortable.
When it comes to temperature, it is of course logical that the modern, in our humble opinion, candidate for the best campervan for families in 2024, has a webasto diesel heating - Truma 4D, which, of course, heated the van without any problems even at temperatures close to freezing and with an open roof space. In principle, it is consumption so small, that we left the webasto on even during city tours set to 17 degrees Celsius, but realistically the van was always a bit warmer when we arrived, which spoiled us with a pleasant warm living environment. So, we can only praise the insulation and heating. We also thought it was great to give away the entire campervan darken with curtains and thus create a practically "sleeper" van, since you really can't see inside. At the same time, this matter also acts as an insulator. The campervan floor is also warm, which even surprised us a little, since they are not heated, and we were barefoot most of the time in the camper, just like at home. Of course, this is part of Robeta's commitment to comfort, quality and good insulation.
Simple management via the modern console of the campervan system and Truma.
The comfort of heat naturally also refers to hot water, which was no problem when showering from 100 liter fresh water tank. So we used this possibility of showering with advantage. Because we are campervans Robeta Helios tested in Italy (this record will be published later), we did not have any problems with the discharge of gray water or the cleaning of the cassette chemical toilet, since Italy is the land of campervan culture. Robeta richly equipped the Helios with a large "grey water" tank, which is released at a suitable place by pressing a button electronically, just like most modern campervans.
Campervan Helios of course, it was also equipped with an interesting arrangement of the kitchen, where in the evening we could even prepare Spanish paella in a larger "pan". This means that the two cookers are separated by a sink, which also allows for placement slightly larger dishes on the stove as usual. In principle, I praise this solution, as long as you will use the kitchen for something more than just making morning coffee. Of course, there is also a pleasantly hidden refrigerator that offers 90 liters of space and spoiled us with depth. The surface in the kitchen is just big enough to arrange everything properly. But there is even some counter for henna preparation.
I have to praise the furniture Robeta AIR, which turns out to be truly indestructible in the "crowd" that occurs in a campervan. Namely, during the week of the test we did not notice any signs of wear or damage, which means that even after several years of use the campervan will look great inside. Also, the campervan is built extremely solidly and well Tuscan roads it wasn't too loud inside and the furniture didn't make too much noise. But it is true that, as experienced travelers, we were really careful about what and how we organized things in the drawers. Personally, I appreciate the quality of the materials - this is the most important thing to me, and I was surprised that after a week's test I was able to return the campervan undamaged. Important if you don't want to shout excessively at family members. If I were to order my own, I would definitely like to have some things a little differently, which is never a problem at Robeta, because they really adapt to customers and cater to you personally in a wide variety of wishes, for example when choosing upholstery materials.
Speaking of "electrical" matters, it's worth noting that it's a campervan Robeta Helios ready for independent use off the grid, as a solar cell was installed on the roof of the test model with a power of 130 W, which supplemented the electricity in the battery for the living area during the early spring sunny days. So we didn't connect to the electricity grid for a week. Despite the fact that we drove 2100 kilometers and charged the battery even while driving with the alternator, we were practically self-sufficient and could have camped at the site for at least 3 days without major problems. Then we would probably run out of water too, so a visit to the pump would be necessary. We missed it inverter for 220 V, which would allow charging a laptop or connecting other devices to 220 V. The test model did not allow this, so we took our own Jackery portable battery with inventory, which we otherwise use for overlanding. It is my misfortune and at the same time happiness that I have to work at least one or two hours every day, including during this campervan test. An inverter in a fat van is a necessity.
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The weakest part of the campervan is actually the base, the Citroen Jumper, which, despite almost zero kilometers, is not a good car to drive and does not follow the philosophy of the Robeta brand, which aims for a higher segment than the industry average. Otherwise, after talking to various experts, I hear that the Fiat Doblo is basically the best of the lot offered, but maybe a bit more expensive. At Robeta, you can definitely choose the latter when ordering.
Robeta also offers an option 4×4 drive on the same platform, which is especially interesting for those who want to spend more time in more remote and hard-to-reach places, which is possible mainly due to the light construction of furniture Robeta Air. Definitely an option worth considering if you are tempted by the quite popular northern part of Africa.
So, if you are an active family that likes to pack more than necessary for a holiday, use the winter days to ski or load up electric bikes in the summer, then the campervan will Robeta Helios the right home for an ideal family holiday. Also due to its advantages such as weight, there will be much less to worry about than with some competitors.
All of the above makes it a campervan Robeta Helios undoubtedly a contender for the title of best campervan for families. And perhaps also because it comes from Slovenia, which has the largest number of campervan manufacturers in the world. It's right between them Robe the one that this year bears the title of campervan of 2024.
