Review: Bürstner Lyseo IT744 Harmony Line

The clever Bürstner Lyseo IT744 Harmony Line has a few tricks up its sleeve in order to make the most of its dimensions. Add in premium touches, such as the thoughtfully recessed lighting, elegant tapware, and storage solutions aplenty, and this motorhome offers a heck of a lot for the sticker price.

Bürstner’s Lyseo IT744 Harmony Line arrives with some practical magic onboard. While retaining a spot in the ever-popular 7.5-metre length class, it still manages to provide occupants with a rear lounge and two separate double beds. Coupled with a dedicated dining nook amidships, the Lyseo IT744 represents four ‘rooms’ on one set of wheels.

Electro duo

Come nightfall (or even a cheeky mid-afternoon nap), the motorhome’s drop-down electric beds completely transform the spacious daytime set-up with two serene sleeping spaces. When not required, both mattress platforms tuck away nicely overhead. And even with the front bed placed above the dining area – and above the main entry/exit door – there’s no compromise on available headroom. Nor natural lighting, with the Bürstner’s ‘Skyview’ roof over the vehicle’s cab adding to the airiness already apparent. This is thanks to plenty of glass in the dining and kitchen areas, as well as a decently sized pane in the main access door.

There are slight dimensional differences in the two beds, with the double above the rear lounge measuring in at 2000mm x 1550mm and the forward bed measuring 2000mm x 1350mm. But millimetres aside, both operate in the same manner. Utilising a simple wall button, each mattress platform raises and lowers at a steady pace: the inbuilt window shades that descend/ascend with the bed at the head and foot of each is a nice touch.

The wall buttons for each bed are also lockable with a key. This might prove handy for dissuading curious little fingers to muck around with the mechanisms. Additionally, it may also give pause for thought before bringing the beds down for the night, allowing time to double-check that everything needed has been removed from underneath their lower resting positions.

For the rear bed, this will involve laying the backrest sofa squabs flat (or stacking them along the built-in wall cabinet in the lounge, as there’s plenty of floor space back there). Up front, one backrest squab from the dining seat opposite the dining table needs to be removed, along with anything precious or bulky from the dining table before you turn in for the evening.

Store it all

As to be expected, there’s plenty of storage space in the Bürstner Lyseo IT744, with even the way the beds are accessed, providing clever stowage solutions.

Even at their lowest stops (slightly above waist height for your current six-foot-nothing correspondent), both beds will still require a little assistance in getting onto for all but the gymnastically gifted.

A shallow hatch below the floor alongside the kitchen reveals a ladder, which clips into the frame of the forward bed. It was good to discover that with the ladder firmly in place, there’s still easy access to kitchen cabinetry and the bathroom opposite. Things get even cleverer in the rear: at first glance, what looks like a simple pull-out drawer at the base of the wardrobe turns out to be a box, which doubles as a step up onto the rear bed. It’s sturdy to stand on, being flush with the motorhome’s floor, and features a stop latch to prevent it from rolling back into its recess and leaving you high and dry. I’d suggest Bürstner has also provided occupants with the perfect place to store their pyjamas.

Both the kitchen and bathroom, as well as the rear lounge, feature decent amounts of hide-away storage. At 145 litres and with a 15-litre integrated freezer, the three-way Dometic fridge offers an abundance of cooling space, too.

Below deck, the rear garage with access on both sides of the motorhome measures in at 740mm wide x 2180mm deep x 570mm high. This is supplemented by two other smaller hatches, with the usual power, gas, and water access points present. A full-length Thule Omnistor pull-out shade completes the exterior picture.

Get cooking

The L-shaped kitchen work surface allows the resident cook to ‘tuck in’ out of the way of foot traffic between the front and rear of the motorhome, which suggests good packaging in this 2300mm wide model. The kitchen features three gas hobs, a combination oven/grill, and an extractor fan. Between the recessed lighting, directional spotlights, a window directly above the hobs and a skylight overhead, it’s an admirably bright place to stand and cook.

The fridge is at arm’s reach and, as with other ‘rooms’ in this model, there’s ample storage above and below the work surface. There’s even a built-in spice rack.

Across from the kitchen, the combined shower and toilet are similarly bright and feature two cupboards and tapware that feel premium. There’s capacity for 120 litres fresh, 90 litres grey, and 10 litres of hot water aboard this freedom camping certified model.

Light fantastic

Something that really ups the feeling of quality is Bürstner’s use of subtle house lighting throughout the interior. There’s a combination of well-considered recessed LED lighting along the leading edge of cabinets and partitions. In addition, there are fixed downlights, and moveable spotlights on tracks, all combining to make the interior both inviting and configurable, as well as adjustable depending on the time of day or activities underway, such as meal prep in the kitchen.

With a touch of one button on the main control panel inside the door, all lights can be turned off simultaneously, mitigating the need to go around flicking individual switches. However, outside see-me-home lights can remain on independently of this system.

Road-worthy

Underneath its capacious bodywork, the Lyseo IT744 is built on Fiat’s well-proven Ducato chassis. Power and torque from the 109kW turbo diesel under the hood is plentiful, and the motorhome sat comfortably at motorway cruising speeds. Bürstner is famed for its engineering, especially when it comes to noise suppression: the double-floor base of the Lyseo IT744 and the high level of insulation combated road noise – the bane of any cross-country trek around the less occupied parts of New Zealand – extremely well.

Open road peace of mind comes as standard here, too, it would seem, with a variety of Fiat safety spec in play. This includes dual airbags for the cab and Electronic Stability Program (ESP) technology that incorporates Traction Plus and Hill Holder (the latter to stop the motorhome from rolling back when moving off again from a standstill on an incline). There’s a handy reversing camera as well, along with a simple dash-mounted warning light that lets you know if you’ve forgotten to tuck the electric retractable entry step back under the bodywork before moving off.
The Bürstner Lyseo IT744 Harmony Line comes fully certified for gas and electrical fitness as well as for self-containment. Bürstner distributor and licensed motor vehicle dealer, Wilderness, offers a three-month chassis and fit-out warranty, plus the balance of the manufacturer’s water-tightness warranty.

Purchasers of pre-owned vehicles receive their motorhome with all available current certifications up to date and two full gas bottles, in order to hit the road with haste. This model from the trusted German manufacturer will make life on the road a breeze, even for four.