When a product is ripped off the shelves or salesrooms of retailers, even though it is disgustingly expensive, marketing people like to speak of it as a cult. In this case it is about the caravan series Touring Troll from Eriba. But a base price of 23,000 euros hurts despite cult status, and it can quickly be increased by a further 10,000 euros with extras. The thickest chunk in the list of options for the test vehicle was the electric mover, followed by an awning, but the Eriba owner Hymer also has a water tank with a meager 30 liter capacity paid extra. But the consolation remains that the trolls, as is often the case with cult objects, hardly lose their value.
Which troll would you like? With a body length of 4.71 meters and a width of 2.10 meters, the 5 series is the most stretched of the three versions. The numbers after the 5 stand for different floor plans with the same external dimensions. The 542 is unusual in that there are two longitudinal beds in the rear instead of the usual transverse beds. This has the advantage that one sleeper does not have to climb over the other on the way to the sanitary room. A V-shaped neckline makes it easier to get out, but the asymmetrical shape requires special bed linen. Or you can close the cut-out with a board that is available for an additional charge of 135 euros and thus get a lavish lying surface of 1.90 by 1.98 meters.
Tiny sanitary room with optional shower tray
The storage space below is correspondingly large, it can be accessed via the two-part folding grid and an optional external flap. The disadvantage of the concept is further ahead: Because there is no saving on the hob and the tiny sanitary room opposite with an optional shower tray, the cupboards are skimped on, and the dinette in the front with the original split windows only offers space for a person of normal build the right side, on the left there is enough for one corpulent or two slim models. The small table can be removed and attached to the outside of the Troll, the benches can be converted into another bed.
Image: Graphic Stefan Walter
The lifting roof is ingenious, it ensures that the Touring remains low while driving. After releasing four tensioning hooks, it is simply pushed open, and the standing height of 1.72 meters becomes 1.95. The sanitary room grows with its own fabric walls and a flexibly suspended cosmetic mirror, so of course you don’t sit on the cassette toilet as intimately as in a fixed room. Closing is just as easy, an all-round rubber pulls the fabric inwards so it cannot be pinched.
Since the GfK roof protrudes, the tarpaulin of the lifting roof is quite well protected against rain, in the worst case it can be folded up – the expensive, attachable insulation parts against the cold are therefore not absolutely necessary. Three sides of the fabric can be opened, behind which are mosquito nets attached with Velcro. In combination with the large windows, this results in excellent ventilation, which we really enjoyed in this hot summer.