I WANT ONE! Peter Vaughan’s favourite test ‘van of the year so far is a gas-free luxury campervan

Winner of the Campervan of the Year 2023, Globe-Traveller has followed up its fabulous award-winning Voyager Z with the equally impressive Falcon 2XS, based on the Volkswagen Crafter. With a completely different layout that seems perfect for UK buyers, a huge spec, no gas (all-electric cooking, diesel heating) and a Clesana toilet that massively enhances its off-grid capability, has Peter Vaughan found the campervan of his dreams? Maybe when the kids have left home…

If you would like to see more videos like this you can help and support us by giving us a thumbs up, leaving a comment or subscribing to our channel.

◼️ REVIEWED BY: Peter Vaughan, Group Motorhome Road Test Editor for MMM magazine and What Motorhome magazine Editor. Peter has been writing about motorhomes since the age of 14, has a love of touring France and is mad about old Italian sports cars.

◼️ ANY QUESTIONS? We love reading your comments so don’t forget to leave a comment and we will do our best to answer your questions.

◼️ VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes for the latest on motorhomes and campervans and how to get the very best from your life on the open road.

◼️ MMM MAGAZINE https://motorhome.ma/mmmpocketmags This video is by MMM magazine, which has been Britain’s best-selling motorhome magazine for every one of the past 53 years! To find out more about this fantastic magazine, which is packed every month with motorhome reviews, inspiring motorhome and campervan tours in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, all the latest motorhome news, technical tips and DIY projects to improve your ’van and the latest buying advice and tips just follow the link above.

◼️ WHAT MOTORHOME MAGAZINE https://motorhome.ma/whipocketmags Our team of experts also produce What Motorhome magazine, which is packed every month with detailed information on new motorhomes and campervans, as well as expert buying advice and tips to help you find the right motorhome for you.

◼️ CAMPERVAN MAGAZINE https://motorhome.ma/cpvnpocketmags We also create Campervan magazine each month, which is for those who enjoy life on the road in a more compact home from home. Each month Campervan magazine features superb tours, campervan reviews, the latest camper news and views and top technical and buying tips.

◼️ MORE INSPIRATION Join in the motorhome chat on our social channels too https://www.facebook.com/motorhomemags/ https://twitter.com/mmm_magazine

[Music] [Music] hello I’m Peter Vaughn and today well I’ve just arrived at the Southport car motor home Club site with this my latest test van the globe traveler Falcon 2xs now regular viewers of the channel will remember that Globe traveler this premium polish camper van manufacturer really surprised everybody when they debuted in the UK with their Voyager Ed and immediately took the 2023 Camp van of the Year title now those Voyager models and explorers um were all based on the several van fats and persos and they followed it up with two Falcon models new for 2024 there’s this 6m model and a longer 6.8 M Falcon 2 Z with a very conventional uh single bed layout at the back but this one is the 6m van more Compact and with a totally different layout something that well we haven’t really seen perhaps anything quite like it um and certainly different to other crafter based Camper vans on the market today now this is very much a premium camper van to go with the premium Volkswagen base vehicle not only is it a crafter but it’s a topof the range crafter so you get the 177 horsepower engine the 8-speed automatic gearbox things like the LED headlights front fog lamps parking sensors front and rear I will go on in more detail as we go on the metallic paint that’s standard too but yeah there is a premium price to pay of course I’ve just picked this one up from es Harley um Globe Traveler at elmir Port and the price of this particular vehicle is125 995 and that includes everything that you see on this vehicle by these alloy wheels now you get Volkswagen uh 17-in alloy wheels are standard but if you want these chunky off-road wheels and tires well that will add another 995 to your bill other than that I as I say this is a standard spec vehicle so even things like the awning are included in the price so before the rain that’s forecast arrives let’s have a quick look around the exterior of the Falcon well for a start you get these flush fit windows and I like the way they’ve blacked out the whole of the sort of window area gives it a much more Automotive look I think and the black awning suits the style of the van with these black moldings down the side and the wheel Arch moldings all looks quite chunky doesn’t it right dimensions 5.99 M long 2.93 M High because Globe traveler fit their own extra high roof onto the crafter now it’s got a double floor inside so flat floor through the living area much better for winterization because you’ve got your tanks and plumbing and sewing in that double floor and well it’s more like a premium coachbuilt motor home in in having that double floor aspect overall width 2.04 M it’s a 3 and 1/2 ton base vehicle 3,500 kilos and that gives you 520 kilo payload and of course you can drive it on a standard car license now the other thing I should point out is that this is a rightand drive vehicle with a leftand sliding door unlike a lot of imported camper van it is properly UK handed now you can see the Main’s hook up down on the near side corner there let’s go and have a look on the other side now there’s actually not a lot more to show you down the offside apart from now without the awning on this side you can more clearly see Globe traveler’s additional height roof two flush fit Windows on this side and your fresh waterer filler now freshwater tank is 85 L and the waste tank is 80 L just a tiny bit smaller than perhaps we’d like now you’ve actually got parking sensors down the side of the vehicle as well as front and rear and the interesting part perhaps of this van on the outside is at the rear you’ve got that reversing camera at the top again this look of a glazed panel when there are in fact actually no rear windows but the interesting bit is when you open the back doors and you find storage you can’t get into the van this way but they’ve neatly attached the um awning winding handle you’ve got your external shower point you’ve got storage for things like your leveling wedges you’ve got these useful pockets for Mains Le bits and Bobs and then really generous cupboard in the corner here although perhaps it might be nice to have a hanging rail in there maybe for wet gear when you’ve been skiing or something like that and then here in the corner you have your leisure batteries two 200 amp hour lithium batteries because this is the no gas version of the Falcon 2 XS if you W version with gas cooking um gas heating that will save you £ 6,400 but go for this no gas version you get an induction hob you get 320 wats of solar panels on the roof these lithium batteries as an upgrade you get just one lithium battery with the gas version so two of these 200 amp batteries lithium batteries with the no gas model now the sky is getting darker I’m starting to get wet and so more importantly is the camera just quickly time to show you you have an external electric step now that is Switched just inside the door but it doesn’t appear to have any buzzer or automatic retraction which is a bit of a shame in here you have your uh waste tank dump valve and here you got interesting access to one of the kitchen cupboards could be out could that could be really useful if you’re eating outside and of course when you are outside you want to keep the bugs outside with the fly screen and I’ve just spotted down here you also got an external main socket just one more feature you have a remote control for the awning light and it’s dimmable how about that so day two of this road test I slept well last night and whatever you were expecting inside this globe traveler fulcon I don’t suppose this was it this is about as different from your average Continental camper van as you can get there’s no fixed bed it’s a very open very UK type of layout with this long CTI more than 6t long that C Cab seats both spin round very very easily without opening the cab doors you got this full height Headroom in the cab and then with a uh an open shelf above I’ve got my laptop bag and coats up there because well it’s a right a bit rainy but also because there’s no wardrobe no hanging space in this van but look at this open space there’s a flat floor right the way through the living area and also notice the storage so you’ve got a storage bin there little trap door to one of your water tanks for servicing because both water tanks as I mentioned are in board at the back there’s access to your drain valve for the uh boiler and also a pump that uh pulls water out from the shower tray and under this trapo as we’ll see in a minute is the table up front here I like this little cupboard area you got a little shelf two USBS and a main socket and a wireless phone charging pad and it just makes this practical area when you haven’t got the table in place there’s also a genuinely premium feel inside this van not only is it fully winterized with the onboard tanks but you’ve got uh truma Combi 6 uh d6e heating so Diesel and electric and the more powerful 6 Kow unit love this sort of hexagonal patterning on the upholstry on the walls uh on the cab seats too with this part leather finish nice stitching it’s all very nicely done in here you got this nice soft touch sort of vour style headlining too and look at the headr room 2.03 M or 6’8 so you’re not going to be banging your head anytime soon the only thing perhaps isn’t quite as premium as it could be is the roof light because it’s the the cheaper pushup type rather than the crank handle one but everything else is very nicely finished now you may have noticed on the uphol stre that it does seem to rock up when you’ve been sitting on it but actually it does seem to go back into shape when you get off the seat so I’m not too worried about that now the table as I said lives in a compartment in the floor so just lift up the floor panel extract the leg and then the table itself even stores in a bag egg so it doesn’t rattle I have to say this van really doesn’t rattle on the road we just had one slight chatter from a blind but I think that should be easily silence at PDI time so this will be one very quiet camper van to drive the table leg Yeah get it the right way up and that just slots onto a rail and then tightens to the rail and then the table itself just slots in on top now if we did camper van table of the Year well this would get my nomination for a start it’s nice and sturdy and then well you can have it tucked here so you sit facing your partner on the end of the sofa there or you can sit side by side in the two cab seats if you prefer or you could have the table lengthways for a more open living area maybe just for coffees and snacks like that or you can even swing it right the way around have it over the sofa and then it’s ideal for extra space for the chef while you’re certainly not short of space to put your feet up with this long long sofa even with the table as I’ve got it now well you can really comfortably stretch out all I need is a scatter cushion or a pillow for my back here and I could be very very comfortable just whing away a few hours while it’s raining and miserable outside I can even reach across and get myself another drink without getting up but maybe that’s just a bit too la um one thing to note though is that if you’re a teley addict well maybe you’ll have to watch TV on your laptop or something because the screen up there over the sliding door even when you’ve pulled it out is not really ideal um you can watch it from the cab seats or you can one person could watch it from here but it’s still rather high up it’s rather like sitting in the front row at the cinema in contrast don’t you just love these wooden slats behind me what a nice touch also behind me here is another wireless charging pad a main socket and more USBS and then to mention lighting because it is pretty generous you’ve got these strip lights under the top lockers mood lighting at ceiling level and this dimmable light along the bottom of the kitchen the only thing that’s missing perhaps is reading lights in the [Music] cab so that was lounging what about cooking well remember that this is the gas free version of the fulcon so you’ve got a two ring induction hob and that’s actually fitted by the dealer in the UK and as part of the no gas package you of course you get the extra solar panel panels and the extra lithium battery and up here you have a switch for your 1800 WT dtic inverter so you’ve got Main’s power even when you’re not hooked up to a domestic Supply and of course that means you can use your induction hob off grid alongside your cooker you’ve got your sink and it’s an unusual sink because it’s very very deep but quite small if I demonstrate with a standard size plate you can see well the surface area isn’t quite as big as a plate but plenty of room to dip the plate down into the hole and look at this weird tap it’s as if it’s made of plasticine what a neat little idea that is uh main socket up here as well as the ones you’ve already seen top lockers everywhere these ones are shelv this one I’ve used for clothes quite shallow these top lockers because remember the craftter is a bit narrower than say uh F duar moving back through the van we’ve got covered space good covered space here this is the one that’s also accessible from outside then you’ve got a couple of drawers two bins one for cycling of course your 50 L compressor fridge more cupboard space at the back and then one of my favorite features this slide out storage very neat for non perishable foods and then of course there’s more storage down the opposite side of the vehicle over the CTI now two of these lockers are shelv and two unshelved the unshelved one well it’s got nice deep lips I wasn’t too worried about putting my camera bag in there none of these are are positively locked cupboards um but they do all soft clothes as you can see and then well you might be thinking that worktop space isn’t very good and particularly if you don’t want to use the table but we have this SL Li out um I think it’s ideal for serving because then you can just put your plates on here serve up from the cooker and look how sturdy that is that’s not going anywhere um it’s a very solid bit of Kit across the back of the van a sliding door leads into the washroom which goes most of the way across the back of the van remember you’ve got that corner cupboard in the the garage area now not much cupboard space in here couple of very high level cupboards and just this shelf unit but really really good space for showering and no horrible sticky shower curtain nice wooden uh duckboard on the floor as well and you can see if I demonstrate the shower hose loads of hroom loads of space details well you’ve got two-way fan in the roof vent and a tip up Basin hides nicely behind the toilet pull it down for years with gas struts and you’ve got uh smart matte black fittings for the Taps and so on the only thing with the wash Bas is that it’s a backless one so all the time you’re running water it’s just wasting water down the back of the Basin it cannot actually hold water in there the most interesting part of this washroom and I never thought I’d say the most interesting part of anything is the toilet so there’s no standard cassette toilet here this is the clana C1 from Switzerland said to be the world’s first mobile waterfree toilet with sanitary bag welding so no water no chemicals and a saving of 10% in terms of CO2 sayic maker compared with normal cassette toilets to use it you insert a foil liner which you can see here under the seat and it’s recommended that you always sit to avoid splashes damaging the mechanism but it can cope with female Sanitary products and even nappies now don’t worry this is just water but that just goes into a bag and then when you’ve done what you need to do it’s a soft closed lid and you just press one of the buttons the small button for liquids only a larger button for number twos and then there’s some wearing as the L does what it needs to do well I’m glad I got that over with am I feeling flushed maybe not um there are two things I like about this toilet number one and number two no seriously the really good thing about this loot is it gives you greater Independence when you’re off grid often you can fill a cassette toilet not a nice subject I know but you can fill a cassette toilet very very quickly and do you really want a spare cassette somewhere in your van maybe in the garage but this is odorless it will last longer off grid and give you more independence from site facilities and for that it gets my vote so before we go for a drive that just leaves the bed and it’s quite simple just undo the catch on the back rest lift this strap and the whole city moves up and over and then nice vented panel slots down behind you’ll notice in the middle there there’s plenty of room for all my sleeping bags there’s double duvet and two pillows in there and you got a little bit of storage on either side and then that infill around this back rest just slot in and because they’re nice tight fit you really don’t notice any ridges in the bed at all I slept really comfortably in here last night bed itself 1.89 M long 1.24 M wide that’s 6’2 1/2 by 4T and half an inch got nice pleated blinds full cab blinds as well everything you need and with the bed made up there’s still plenty of floor space up front to get undressed and you can still use the cab seats so one of you snoring and the other one wants to get up no problem now the cooker and the fridge are still accessible but just remember to leave your cups out for that morning Brew you can sleep on either way round of course but I prefer heads at the front because then it’s nice and easy to slide off the end of the bed if you need that clana l in the night time to go for a drive [Music] so driving this crafter well for a start it’s the 6m van and that makes a huge difference those 6.8 M uh Crafters really do feel quite large when you’re maneuvering them just the length of the wheelbase Mak makes them uh so much less maneuverable this it feels like a a big transporter and it has all the toys you’ve got uh your traffic sign recognition in the display here and your satav instructions in in between the two dials as well of course you’ve got your 8 in discover media system there um that does Apple carplay and Android auto as well as having the built-in Volkswagen satov you got uh da Radio of course and reversing camera is on that screen as well other than that yeah you’ve got the digital air conditioning so set the temperature you want um and at The Other Extreme you’ve got heated seats and a heated steering wheel very luxurious um you get the 177 horsepower engine as standard with this vehicle and the 8-speed automatic gearbox too so it’s an effortless smooth drive um I’ve really enjoyed driving up from elsir Port yesterday and just pottering around the Southport area and with the parking sensors all around it does feel as if um yeah you have all the the worry taken out of it it’s it’s just a a nice easy vehicle to Pilot no rattles um lovely and quiet on the road um even those big wheels and tires haven’t made the the ride uncomfortable um which I feared they might uh have a detrimental effect but no theyve seem fine seats are excellent you’ve got the Tipping uh squabs to just give you a bit more support under your knees um electrically adjustable Lumber support as well and of course the twin armrest and all nicely properly retrimmed so definitely feels like a premium vehicle from behind the wheel um typical Volkswagen steering wheel of course with the uh cruise control it’s adaptive cruise control which apparently works up to 160 km an hour or not 9 mph must be for the Germans that one yeah so you’ve got all the [Music] toys and just to emphasize that you really do have all the toys well the wing mirrors fold in when you lock the van and unfold when you set off and then you’ve got all the assistance systems you’ve got light assist which I presume means it dips the headlights for you you’ve got Lane assist side assist rear traffic alert uh forward Collision warning front assist and of course the park pilot I’m not quite sure what all those do but it certainly gives you all the toys all the safety systems of a modern vehicle it’s evening long after I thought I’d finished filming and what do I discover but another little feature a little drinks table just a pop out work toop like the the other one that you saw earlier but this one is absolutely ideal as a drinks table for the sofa and of course you got this shelf down the side as well for odont drinks phones yeah so final verdict time on this globe traveler Falcon 2xs with the video of course brought to you by mmm magazine and our website out andabout live.com cuk so what don’t I like about this van well that backless wash Bas does waste water and with the water tanks not being as generous as perhaps some Rivals then that is a bit of an issue for me the TV well I’m not that worried about it but that TV position really isn’t very good um other than that I like most things about this van I like this quite different layout to the typical Continental camper van I like this long sofa and earlier when I when the sun actually finally came out and had the sliding door wide open well it was very appealing be nice to have some reading lights in the cab be nice to have somewhere to hang um a wet coat or two but other than that I really like a lot of things about about this fan and that clana toilet really does give you greater Independence uh greater off-grid capability with of course you’ve got the lithium batteries and the solar panels as well so a great offgrid camper and that toilet I think is quite a USP quite a selling point for the van other than that yeah I can see this appealing to people that have topend T6 Camper vans and just want to trade up to something a bit bigger with a shower and toilet because this does feel very much still a VW still a premium product and yeah I could see me wanting something like this if the kids are left home and a pure two birth van was back on the shopping list thanks for watching hope you’ve enjoyed this latest review many more camper van and my homes coming along on the channel soon for