Review: Bürstner Lyseo IT736

Year by year the changes to Bürstner motorhomes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary and, externally, this is true of the 2019 edition of the Lyseo IT736.

Following the same theme, the white body and cab are distinguished with a black, silver and red panel around the motorhome windows. Riding on black and silver alloy wheels, the IT736 looks neat, tidy and very Bürstner.

On the driver’s side the only opening apart from the habitation door is the hatch to access the rear garage, home to the full-size spare wheel. The rear panel is clear, but kerbside there are four openings, a second door to the garage and one each for the toilet cassette, LPG bottle locker (2 x 9kg) and the service point locker.

Up above is a 4.5-metre-long awning, part of this year’s IT736 package. Built on a Fiat Ducato cab chassis with the wide rear axle, it is driven by the Fiat 2.3-litre Multijet Euro 6 turbo diesel engine working the front wheels through a six-speed AMT auto gearbox.

It is a successful combination that continues to power the majority of European-built motorhomes. It is well suited to New Zealand’s roads and terrain.

Come on in

The monitor panels are user-friendly and stylish

Press a button and a step pops out to welcome you aboard. Note that it doesn’t retract automatically when the ignition is turned on so the driver needs to ensure it is ‘in’ before driving off. On entry, to the right is the dinette/lounge, with the kitchen straight ahead.

To the left are the ablutions, bedroom and a 145-litre Dometic fridge/freezer. Wall-mounted above the shelf on top of the fridge is an RSE HD-LED TV with all the latest features.

Here you will also find the 12-volt switchboard and monitor panel for the batteries and water tanks, plus the separate Truma ‘iNet Ready’ control panel. These panels are well located, easy to get at, easy to see, but out of harm’s way.

New and different

The tabletop folds, allowing easy access through to the cab

It is inside that a revolution has occurred. The favoured dinette layout, two forward-facing seats fitted with passenger seat belts, is gone. In its place are a pair of two-seater settees, one each side, facing one another.

While new to Bürstner, this layout is popular in the marketplace as it has a lot of benefits. It both looks and feels more spacious and the dinette area is easier to move into, out of and through.

And it is easier to get things into and out of the lounge overhead lockers. In its new convenient location, the table can be used for meal prep and serving.

As before, the cab seats when rotated are still part of the living area.The trade-off is that forward-facing seat-belted travel seats have to be made up each time passengers are carried. This is easily done.

Out with the dinette, in with the twin settees

A seat back (supplied) is installed. One of the two settee seat cushions is removed and part of the settee base is folded up out of the way, transforming the settee into a travel seat.

It is not perfect, but for most it is an acceptable compromise, especially considering how infrequently passengers are carried. Hinged down the middle, the dining table top folds back on itself, providing much clearer access through to the cab.

The side settee cushions have ‘Sydney Swing’ upholstery over foam that is thicker for the seat cushions and slimmer for the backrests. I found the seat backs a little too upright; more a place to park briefly rather than for long-term comfort.

Bed overhead!

A ladder is provided to access the drop-down bed

The east/west drop-down bed (2000 x 1350/1250mm) is controlled by an on/off key switch plus buttons for up and down. Once the settee back cushions are laid flat, hit the ‘down’ button and hold it until the bed stops moving.

Going up is the same; hold the ‘up’ button until the bed stops rising. Fabric privacy screens at both bed ends rise and fall with the bed. An access ladder (provided) is needed, as there are no furniture footholds for climbing into bed. The bed has a very comfortable memory cold foam mattress.

The hub

The compact kitchen bench, with oven below

The kitchen is compact, crisp and neat. Ivory drawer/door fronts contrast with the slate grey benchtop. The new layout opens up easier access through to the dinette table.

The L-shaped benchtop still provides a corner refuge for the cook out of the traffic flow through to the bedroom and ablutions. There are three hobs in a row on the aft wall and an attractive tower faucet overseeing the circular sink on the side wall.

There isn’t a lot of worktop space, but the dinette table is available if needed. The extractor fan is of the charcoal filter variety rather than Xpelair, but the adjacent opening window should deal with most steam and odour issues.

On the wall is a coffee capsule rack and a space is ready beside the overhead locker for a capsule coffee machine. Below the benchtop is a small Dometic oven and five drawers that, along with the Dometic 145-litre three-way fridge/freezer opposite, should take care of kitchen storage requirements.

Here and there

The garage with the island bed in the low position

Motorhomers like motorhomes with good storage. Overhead lockers are a firm favourite and the Lyseo IT736 scores well here, with four in the lounge, two in the bedroom and one in the kitchen.

It has a couple of floor lockers, too, which are good for stowing bottles and cans, while above the cab is a full-width shelf, handy for cameras, phones, reading material and a warm sweater or two.

The little room

There isn’t a lot of benchtop space but the dinette table is available if needed

Constructed from easily cleaned acrylic panels, the shower, despite its odd shape, has more than enough room to do the job. And it has all the other necessities a good shower should provide; a shelf for the soap and shampoo, a stylish wall-mounted shower handpiece, lights, a roof vent, twin plugholes for better draining, and a two-piece folding door.

Everything you need in a compact separate shower stall. A full-length mirror on the outside of the door announces the washroom behind. It is a smart set-up, with a Thetford swivel toilet tucked in beside the handbasin cabinet. The easily cleaned vanity top is a one-piece moulding that includes the handbasin.

Above, a slim shelf ties the mirror to the medicine cabinet. There is a small ceiling hatch that matches the one in the shower stall. With the door shut, there is sufficient room to accomplish the tasks at hand.

However, if the door is opened 90 degrees, it closes off the front of the motorhome and a sliding door can close off the bedroom to turn the ablution space into a private ensuite.

40 winks time

This island bed can be raised 150mm to accommodate tall items in the garage below

Motorhomes with queen-size island beds are popular right now and this one is up there with the best. It has a 1900mm x 1450mm memory foam mattress over sprung wooden slats for comfort, and plenty of headroom for sitting up in bed.

Note that the corners of the mattress are cut off to improve access around the foot of the bed. With a reading light and a large shelf each side, it is tailor-made for those who enjoy a cuppa while reading in bed.

Lifting the mattress (gas strut-assisted) reveals a small storage space under the foot of the bed and a view of the contents of the garage. Access to the garage by this route may be possible. I didn’t try.

Each side of the bed is a cupboard. The one to the left is set up as a hanging locker, and the one to the right is shelved. For privacy there are roman blinds on each window, as well as the usual built-in insect screens and blinds.

Along with these windows, a medium-size hatch in the roof offers ventilation options.
This island bed has a feature that is not immediately apparent, one that makes it different from most others on the market.

It can be raised 150mm from the position shown in the images. So to accommodate taller items all you need to do is raise the bed by winding on the handle provided.

The IT736 is certified self-contained, has 120-litre fresh and 90-litre grey water tanks, 2x12-volt house batteries with a total capacity of 180amp hrs, a 1000-watt pure sine wave inverter and a 150-watt solar panel.

With a large garage for touring and a large awning for staying, the Lyseo IT736 has all the bases covered

Heating is provided by a Truma Combi 6E heater (LPG and 230-volt). This group of features make the Lyseo IT736 very suitable for freedom camping and worth inspection by buyers with adventure in mind.

Specifications

Price: $167,900

Pros

• The new dinette/lounge layout. Better access. More sociable.
• The variable height island bed.
• The washroom spaces that combine into a practical ensuite.

Cons

• The side settees are too upright for comfort.
• The outside step doesn’t retract automatically when the ignition is switched on.

For more information, visit smartrv.co.nz.

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