Cub Campers C16

A little while back there was a pretty smart fella called Sir Isaac Newton. He was famous for a whole bunch of smart stuff like advanced maths and figuring out gravity. But one thing he said has always stuck with us. “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” How does this relate to the Cub Campers C16? We’re just getting started.

The concept is pretty simple, nothing is designed in a vacuum. It’s all incremental improvements on the groundwork someone else has already put in. With few exceptions, every single camper or caravan on the market today has taken someone else’s concept and slightly tweaked it. Cub Campers are that exception, and it’s why the C16 being such a giant leap forward is so interesting to us.

They’re the original giants. They’ve been building rugged go-anywhere campers right here on Aussie shores since the 1960s and 50 years later, they’re still family-owned. Still proudly Australian. And still constantly building on their past models to ensure the Cub lineup offers everything the campers of the day want.

A solid foundation

Before we dive into all the ways the C16 is a vastly different beast for Cub, let’s look at the ways it maintains that Cub heritage. Underneath you’d be forgiven for thinking it was another of Cub’s forward fold campers, just supersized.

The chassis is that tried and tested manufacturing style of Cub. It features Aussie Bluescope steel front to back. Galvanised and powder-coated, it ties into a 150mm x 50mm x 3mm drawbar topped off with either a DO35 or AL-KO hitch depending on the customer’s needs. The whole lot rides on AL-KO Enduro X suspension. 12-inch electric brakes are standard, as are the 17-inch Advanti wheels and BFGoodrich mud tyres.

Cub has put safety first with the C16 too. As standard, you’ll get AL-KOs tow assist, a clever system giving your van anti-lock brakes and sway control on-board.

Easy towing

There are a couple of key factors that affect how a camper or caravan tows. Quality suspension is the obvious one, but good towability starts at the design stage. The first is keeping the weight down low. Inside and out it’s obvious there’s an intentional design choice to keep the Cub Campers C16 centre of gravity down low. There’s minimal cabinetry up high inside, the batteries are sunk deep into the floor, and anything that can be positioned down low is. The result is the van is rock solid in undulating terrain with minimal trailer sway from side to side. It seems minor, but things like that add up to an easy towing experience.

The second major factor is the total weight and where it’s carried. There’s no timber framing in the C16, the whole exterior is lightweight composite panelling. The result is a tare weight of just 2000kg. That’s around 20% lighter than many of its competitors thus making it easier to get off the line, less likely to bog you down in soft terrain and easier to stop.

The final factor is ball weight. Unladen, the Cub Campers C16 puts just 140kg of weight on your tow-ball. The less ball weight, the less you’ll get jolted around in your tow-tug as the camper hits washouts and potholes. It’ll also mean towing in coil-sprung wagons won’t overload the rear suspension. Loaded to the hilt for an epic camping adventure you’re looking at around 190kg total weight.

High class hotel

It’s not often the design brief for an off-road caravan is to make it feel like a high-end hotel. It’s even less often that it’s exactly what we were thinking before they filled us in. Stepping up into the C16 feels like stepping into a hotel room.

The windows are simply huge. Some of the biggest we’ve ever seen in a caravan. They make you feel connected to the environment you’re in, rather than huddled away from the elements. Of course, there are privacy screens and light-blocking screens, so you decide how open you want it to feel.

The composite construction means you get ample insulation already, but carpeted walls around the sleeping area help even further. Included in the price is an AC setup, diesel heating, and a king-size bed with a pillow-top mattress. Comfort isn’t something you’ll ever find lacking in the C16.

There’s a neat storage area at the bedhead. It features charging ports for your devices, storage, reading lights and speakers for the built in-stereo. External speakers are selectable as a zone if you want some tunes while using the outdoor kitchen. The bed easily lifts up for a huge under-bed storage area.

A unique split dinette setup features a two-piece table. It sounds a little odd but works well, allowing unhindered access to the bed, two separate tables when wanted, or one larger table when required.

“Comfort isn’t something you’ll ever find lacking in the C16”

At the tail end of the internal space, there’s an internal kitchen. It features plenty of dry food and utensil storage. There’s an included 110L upright Dometic fridge, hot and cold running water to the sink and filtered drinking water. There’s also plenty of bench space to run an induction cooker inside if wild weather makes the external SMEV cooktop an unappealing prospect.

Step through the huge sliding door and you’ll find one of the largest ensuites we’ve ever seen in a caravan. It features standard fare like a cassette-style toilet, shower and extraction fan. The standouts for us were the clever quality of life upgrades. A teak floating floor, towel hooks and even hotel-style shampoo and body wash holders. All of this drives home that off-road luxury hook Cub are trying to hit.

Is it worth the money?

The Cub Campers C16 will cost you $129,990. That’s over double their next most expensive model. It’s going to be a tough pill to swallow for people used to Cub’s more modest pricing for more modest offerings. But it’s in line with the rest of the market. It’s actually a fair bit cheaper than many of the other Australian-made competition.

You do get a lot for your money too. The AC and diesel heating is all standard. As is 400Ah of lithium batteries. There’s 720W of solar standard and a full Redarc system as well.

From the other side of the campground, the C16 might resemble most other caravans, but it really is its own unique thing. Cub Campers have earned themselves a solid following over the years. People who want clever designs to make their life easier. People who want lightweight construction and are happy for things to be a little rough around the edges if it means they get serious bush ability in return. And when those campers want to trade the deep river crossings of the Old Tele Track for hotel-like comfort parked up at Punsand Bay, the C16 is the Cub they should be looking at.