Adria Coral 670 DC Plus - Practical Motorhome

Typically continental, the new Coral looks great; but will the touring experience match up to first impressions? Our test team takes a look.

Verdict

The Coral 670 DC Plus looks stunning, particularly inside, and its new parallel-seating lounge layout is ultra comfortable. It should provide a good touring experience for a couple, with perhaps the occasional visitor.

It’s true that much of what makes the Coral really comfortable comes in option packs, which take the price of this motorhome above that of some of its rivals – many of which include a few of these add-ons as standard.

However, this is still a classy ‘van, and you’ll also be purchasing Adria’s reliability – in our Owner Satisfaction Awards 2019, the company emerged top manufacturer for both new and pre-owned ‘vans – impressive stuff indeed.

Pros

The fantastic rooflight is huge and really lets in the sun
The spacious washroom is almost overloaded with accessories

Cons

A drop-down TV might be fun – but it uses up valuable locker space when storage in this ‘van is at a premium

Parallel sofas have been all the rage in motorhome design this season. At many range launches, the trend seemed to be implanting them into existing layouts.

Adria is no exception. For its 2019 season, it has a new ‘DC’ moniker in three ranges, denoting this layout, which it calls ‘open salon’.

One of them, the Coral 670 DC Plus, has been our long-term loan ‘van. So, what does our team think of the new lounge design?

Living

Our test model’s soft furnishings came in a beige, amber and cream striped pattern known as Sagrada; one of two options alongside a blue and floral patter, Casa Mila. The original purple and grey Catalan is also available.

A well-positioned heating vent under the cab step keeps you warm, and the sizeable rooflight brings in more light in addition to the windows, which are heavily tinted in the lounge.

Three individually switched and directional spotlights illuminate the lounge at night, although the cab remains a bit dark. There is an individually switched LED on the ceiling and a non-directional spotlight, which comes on with the awning light.

This area is well-connected in terms of electrics: there are numerous mains sockets, including two near the floor at either end of the sofa, one of which also features a pair of USB sockets – handy for phone or tablet charging.

The control panel for all electrics is above the door, next to a useful cubbyhole for key fobs and mobiles.

Up here you will also find a 12V and TV socket. A TV there would be great to view from the sofa, but not quite so great from the travel seat or the passenger cab seat.

A small pedestal table (stored in the wardrobe) sits between the swivelled cab seats. It’s probably only big enough for snacks, though.

There is a step between cab and lounge, so it’s too high for anyone sitting in the lounge. For the same reason, the foldaway table, stored in the small Luton above the cab, is probably too low for the cab seats.

Kitchen

You get a three-burner hob, and it’s gas only. There is a combination oven and grill, with a tiny locker below, but no microwave. We might have expected more at this price, but perhaps it’s a sign of Adria’s Continental origins.

You do get an extractor fan, plus a large window behind the hob. The window has lighting built into its surround, and there are two large LEDs over the hob and one over the sink, providing plenty of light, day or night.

The three burners on the gas hob are set in a row, but there is still space to the left, where you can place a kettle to be as near as possible to the one mains socket on the underside of the overhead lockers next to the switches.

Three drawers located underneath the sink (one of which includes a cutlery tray) are a reasonable size.

The hob is set back, giving as much room as possible for workspace, with the oddly shaped sink cover doubling up as a chopping board.

There’s a spice rack handily placed on the wall here, while the fridge across the aisle, at 142 litres, is huge for the food of three.

If you are the right height to reach it, the locker above the fridge should be good for storing dry food, too.

Washroom

A simple folding door lets you into the washroom that stretches across the centre of the motorhome, while a sliding partition on the other side can enclose you if you value your privacy.

The shower cubicle on the nearside is a good size, even with a partial obstruction from the wheel arch, and comes with an adjustable shower head and two drainage holes. There is also a removable rail for drying wet clothes.

Across the way, the main washroom, with a swivelling toilet, is loaded with great accessories. You get a large salad-bowl-style handbasin, with a well-lit mirror, and there are cupboards below the basin and above the toilet, so there is room for pretty much anything cosmetic.

You also get a soap dish, toothbrush holders, and no fewer than three towel hooks – one for each person, just as there should be.

Beds

At a massive 160cm wide, the island bed is one of the most comfortable we have used (possibly helped by the £275 bedding set that Adria can supply).

The bed is also a fairly good length, at 1.95m and – now Adria has moved away from the fad for having a central pillar at the end of the bed, to house a basin on the other side – even taller people will be able to stretch out.

The rear island bed can be raised to make more room in the garage below, but raise it to the top and you might feel the space around it becomes too narrow.

Two elegant lights – with proper lampshades and two brightness options – and a striplight across the headboard make night-time reading a pleasure; while the large rooflight lets in plenty of daylight if you prefer to read during the day. You will also find more USB sockets here, and a mains socket on the left of the bed base.

Our test model was fitted with a Truma Aventa air-con unit in front of the rooflight. That’s something you might not need if you only tour in the UK, but it is a £1530 option and it doesn’t impede headroom too much.

At the foot of the bed, you will find a handy pocket for magazines to the left of the door as you come in, and useful dressing gown hooks on both sides.

So much for the main bed. But this is a three-berth ‘van, and the the third bed is made by lowering the pedestal table and linking it up with the sofas in front – in theory.

In practice, making up the single bed involves unscrewing a support strut from its storage position in the garage, and putting together a fairly complex jigsaw of cushions. This is not something we’d want to be doing late at night, at the end of a long journey in the pouring rain.

We also suspect that whoever sleeps here would possibly only want to do so occasionally. At least the control panel does not emit any annoying light at night, so it won’t keep them awake.

Storage

The rear garage in this ‘van is huge, especially with the bed in the highest position. It’s also fully lit, and comes with holds for any cables you might need to strap your bikes down, as well as that spare wheel included in the Luxury Pack.

Storage inside, however, is a little less satisfactory. The underside of the island bed is partly taken up with a water tank, but there’s still room for a large drawer, which you can also access by lifting up the slats, and a cupboard below that.

The two wardrobes either side of the bed are only just big enough, especially when you consider that this is the only hanging space in the whole ‘van. Whoever sleeps in the front section doesn’t get any wardrobe at all.

Other storage in the front isn’t that plentiful, either. The whole area under the sofas is taken up with equipment. And, because the overhead locker on the offside has the TV housing inside it, even if you don’t fit a TV, you only have a very small space in front of it for storing your gear.

That leaves only the two overhead lockers on the nearside, neither of which is particularly big. You do at least have two overhead cubbyholes either side of the cab, and more cubbyholes in the floor for shoes.