Zion Carthago Chic E-line I 64 QB Review

The luxury motorhome market is going from strength to strength, and Paul Owen reckons he’s hit paydirt when reviewing Zion Motorhomes’ latest acquisition, the Carthago Chic E-line I 64 QB.

Despite some predictions of a looming recession, next year is shaping up to be an exciting one for Zion Motorhomes, the multi-franchised purveyor of high-end mobile homes located in Pokeno, the rapidly ballooning border town between Auckland and the Waikato. For Zion is expanding as fast, if not faster, than the geographically blessed town that surrounds it. A large chunk of neighbouring land is being prepared to provide the site of Zion’s new showroom, and when that is built, the existing showroom/workshop will be totally dedicated to the preparation of new motorhomes for sale.

The construction of a larger showroom and expanded workshop facilities is being driven by the growing number of German motorhome brands within Zion’s portfolio. To Dethleffs, Frankia, Niesmann and Bischoff, and Morelo, Zion’s owner, Jonas Ng, has recently added Carthago. Add in the distribution and sale of Goldschmitt parts and accessories, and the company’s McRent motorhome rental operations, and it’s easy to see why the homebase of Zion Motorhomes will triple in size next year.

But, I asked Jonas, what if the predicted economic contraction happens? “Our customers are cash-rich, so I expect any contraction in motorhome sales to happen to more budget-oriented brands,” he says.

That confidence is reflected in the way that Carthago joined the Zion Motorhomes family of luxury motorhome brands. The Carthago factory, based in Aldorf, Germany, invited Zion to take over the New Zealand franchise for the brand “…because they thought we could do a better job”, says Jonas, who instantly saw an opportunity to expand the range of platforms available from Zion.

“We can now give our customers the choice of front-drive Mercedes Sprinter-based motorhomes from Carthago, and they complement the rear-drive Mercedes motorhomes from Frankia, the Iveco Daily and Eurocargo based motorhomes from Morelo, and the front-drive Fiat Ducato-based motorhomes from Dethleffs,” says Jonas. “When the new Ford Transit-based models from Dethleffs arrive, we’ll have yet another motorhome platform for our customers to consider.”

So, how this flagship $425,000 Carthago Chic E-line I 64 QB drives is as vital to the sales appeal of the model as the beautifully furnished and space-rich cabin, given that Zion has such a wide range of luxurious A-class motorhomes built on other platforms on offer. So, let’s go.

Easy Driver

The road from Pokeno to Tuakau for the riverside photo shoot is typical of many New Zealand secondary roads – ravaged by heavy trucks and trailers travelling to and from an adjacent quarry, lifting patches of the coarse chip surface to create mini-potholes and rippling up the many bends. Yet the large six-wheel Carthago lapped it all up with similar decorum to one of Merc’s passenger sedans. Perhaps the brand name should read CARthago…

Helping this car-like impression is the sheer ease of driving the E-line. The steering is light and agile and the relatively tight turning circle in no way gives any clue that the chassis possesses three axles. The front suspension is particularly adept at soaking up surface imperfections, while the tandem axles at the rear offer firm yet agreeable ride quality that is likely to improve in compliance when carrying more of a load. Such are the effects of the double-floor construction, the double-glazed cab and cabin windows, and the quality of the 38mm thick insulation all round, that noise levels while on the move also warrant comparison with one of Mercedes’ cars. Ditto, the way the bottom edges of the outside compartments and side walls are streamlined to smooth out airflow.

Only some thrumming of the commercial grade tyres gave any clue that this was a motorhome I was driving, and not just any motorhome either, but one that’s just a snip under nine metres in length, weighs over four tonnes when it leaves the factory, tows 1600kg, and offers a payload of 1500kg (450kg of which can be stored in the rear garage where many motorhomes can only safely carry 250kg). The ability of the E-line to shrug off its size and mass when mobile is possibly only rivalled by the Starship Enterprise.

Ease of driving is further enhanced by the forward visibility of the huge panoramic windscreen, and the way the extended dashboard slopes down towards the road. Rear visibility is via large bus-like side mirrors that provide both wide-angle and natural-angle views behind the Carthago and are power adjustable and heated. The E-line also comes with an adjustable rear-view camera that projects onto a screen located to the right side of the steering wheel and remains active while driving.

That double-lens reversing camera is part of a ‘super package’ offered to European buyers of the E-line as an option and is included in the $425,000 price of the New Zealand model. It certainly boosts the vehicle’s driving appeal, particularly as it replaces a six-speed manual gearbox with a nine-speed automatic. It also adds lots of niceties like Merc’s excellent ‘thermotronic’ automatic air-conditioning that keeps the temperature stable throughout the entire cabin, adaptive cruise control, higher-output alternator, larger 95L fuel tank, electric parking brake, multi-function steering wheel controls, colour TFT screen instead of analogue instruments, and rain-sensing windscreen wipers along with a host of cabin upgrades. Also included on NZ models at this price is the MBUX multimedia system that offers digital radio reception, cellphone projection, and sat nav, controlled via a huge 10.2” TFT screen in the centre of the dashboard. The latter will have you so convinced that this is a Mercedes luxury car that you’re driving that you may start trying to activate the ‘Hey Mercedes’ vocal command system that defines the secondary control interface of those cars while at the wheel. Unfortunately, no response from the E-line will be forthcoming.

So Spacious, so Clever

You enter the E-line via a powered right-side door that can be operated keylessly via the radio-frequency identification chip located in the key fob of the Carthago. That’s just the first of many clever design features of the model; there are so many that there isn’t enough space here to list them all. Here’s some highlights instead: the two TVs – one large 40” for the front lounge and a 24” for the main bedroom have unobtrusive mounting points, the front one rising on a power-operated slide from the back of the right seat of the lounge, while the rear is mounted to the back of the sliding rear door of the bedroom and is perfectly centred for bedtime viewing when the door is closed.

But wait, there’s more. There’s a central locking button for the kitchen cupboards, rear garage and overhead lockers that will keep everything secure while on the move. The sliding pantry is almost overlooked next to the any-hand-will-do Dometic fridge, and when you slide it out it offers an unexpected amount of storage space.

The curved kitchen drawers are a very mesmerising work of craft that creates increased cooking space. They are so precisely made that master woodworkers will wonder how they ever found their way into what they might think is a mass-produced motorhome (bespoke manufacturing actually better describes Carthago’s production methods).

Meanwhile, the push-button window blinds for the cab remove one of the great chores of ensuring cabin privacy at night time; and I’ve never been so personally enthralled by a sink cover before, but the Carthago’s laser-cut sink top takes the cake. It’s split neatly 70/30, and each piece has a chopping board mounted on the underside. The larger bit can be slotted into an area above the kitchen bench to create another shelf. It’s as neat as the capsule coffee machine that slides down from an overhead locker in the kitchen when required. Or the slide-out bar cabinet with a transparent compartment for the glassware and a wine rack.

This is a three-room cabin as there’s a single door that separates the bathroom from the living areas of the E-line and the sliding doors that seal off the rear bedroom. Close all three doors, and you’ve got a spacious personal grooming, comfort, and dressing area in the middle of the Carthago, surrounded by lots of mirrors that increase the sense of space. You can wash up in the circular shower cubicle with the overhead rain head as well as the hand-held shower, then move into the centre of the van for unhindered drying and dressing with the knowledge that no hand or arm will encounter anything as you swing them around. There’s a separate room for the toilet, so maybe this cabin is better described as having four rooms. However, this is no ordinary motorhome toilet, as it has a ceramic insert inside the cistern, and there’s enough floor space devoted to it that tall people can get comfortable without banging their knees on walls or having to contort their legs unnaturally.

That bathroom is a pretty tough act to follow, but the bedroom is just as equally well considered and executed. Open the wardrobe doors and your clothes will magically present themselves, as the hanger rails are hinged to the doors and slide forwards with the opening movements of the doors. The 2.0m x 1.450m queen bed (it’s the QB in the model nomenclature; two fixed singles are an alternative) is a seven-zone mattress, which is supported on slats with flexible leaf springs. It provides such comfort and support that Carthago calls it the ‘second revolution in slatted bed design’. The bed rises to reveal an extra storage area and an electronic security/safety alarm system, which is linked to ultrasonic motion sensors and a carbon monoxide detector. If more bed space is required, the six-seat lounge converts into a 1.94m x 1.48m double bed, and there’s a choice of either a drop-down double bed or extra storage lockers above the cab. Both come with the nautically inspired set of instruments (clock, barometer, thermometer/humidity) that make a particularly nice centrepiece for the lounge.

Going Wild

The Carthago can be prepared for long periods of independent camping if desired. This E-line had an 1800w inverter in the garage, and the stock energy storage of two 80Ah gel batteries can be easily expanded as it is already wired to accept a further battery of this type. Carthago also offers an option of twin 90Ah lithium batteries with a separate battery computer to make them better suited to the vagaries of solar charging. The E-line is also pre-wired for the fitting of two 135w solar panels, and there are two 240w plugs located in the garage should you either wish to recharge the e-bikes while hooked to mains power or have fitted an electrical storage system with enough capacity to handle the task.

As for water capacity, the E-line offers 235L of freshwater reserve backed up by a 185L wastewater tank. A tempting option for many well-heeled freedom campers will be the optional Thetford sewage pump, which uses greywater to pump toilet waste into the wastewater tank and provides at least 10 days of waste storage, according to Carthago.

Alternatively, there’s a handy compartment in the garage that is perfectly sized to stow an extra 13L cassette for the SOG-equipped toilet that enables the owner to double the time that they can park in any one spot in the wild.

Final Thoughts

For me, the Carthago Chic E-line I 64 QB might cost a couple of personal appendages… but it’s totally worth it. The final words belong to Jonas: “Most motorhomes drive like trucks compared to this.”

For more information, visit zionmotorhomes.co.nz.