Full review

Words and photos: Peter Vaughan

The Rimor Kilig 9

The Kilig range is brand-new for 2023 – and extensive. It includes five low-profile models and six overcab coachbuilts, with layouts ranging from a whisker under 6m up to 7.34m. Berths number from two to six and there are models with almost every type of bed – fixed transverse, drop-down, island, single and bunks.

All are based on the Ford Transit (with a car licence-friendly 3.5-tonne gross weight) and, as Rimor’s entry-level line-up, every one of them is keenly priced – they kick off at under £60k.

Here, we have one of the most family-orientated models in the range, the Kilig 9. It’s less than 7m long, has a luton overcab and, perhaps, the best layout of all for motorhoming with a family – rear bunk beds.

Priced from £61,495, it looks great value even when you factor in the £5k Camper Premium Pack that importer, M and C Ltd in Hull, adds to all the motorhomes  it brings to the UK in order to satisfy the more demanding British market (congratulate yourself now if you bought a Kilig at one of the Warners shows where this pack was included free!).

The spec

So, customers in Blighty get their Kilig with a reversing camera, Category 1 alarm, a window in the habitation door, leatherette cab seat covers and nets to stop you falling out of the upper berths. 

Also included in the pack  is a host of extra spec for the Ford cab, which comes with automatic lights and wipers, static cornering lights, front fog lamps, heated/electric mirrors, heated windscreen, lane change warning, pre-crash assist and a colour-coded bumper. 

That lot is in addition to the standard ESP, air-conditioning, cruise control, Bluetooth,  twin armrests on both front seats and a leather steering wheel. It’s rare for us to test an overcab model these  days but they can make a lot of sense for mob-handed motorhoming. 

This one has a swoopy luton and all-white bodywork adorned with modern grey graphics; it’s backed up by a five-year water ingress warranty. There are full-sized garage doors on either side (more of which later) and a separate skirt hatch on the nearside to access the 100Ah leisure battery. 

The gas locker holds a generous supply of two 13kg cylinders and  the underslung 120-litre waste tank is easy to empty via a T-handle.

Access to the motorhome is easy, too, via a low entrance with twin inboard steps. The door itself is fitted with storage pockets but is not linked to the Ford central locking.

The bunks

As you enter, the first thing you’ll see is the pair of bunk beds to your left – the defining feature of this layout.

Each bed is more than 7ft long, with a comfortable mattress on a slatted base. My nine-year old lad bagged the bottom bed, which comes with an opening window, while my 15-year-old daughter liked to show off that she didn’t need the ladder to reach the upper berth. 

Both beds come with their own reading light and privacy curtain, but the top bunk has less headroom (70cm versus 85cm) and lacks a roof vent or window for ventilation. That aside, the beds were rated highly by Ruben and Ariane, not least because they each had their own private space.

This zone isn’t just a bedroom, though, but an important area of storage. Under the bottom bunk is a full-width locker (76cm wide, 50cm high) – perfect for outdoor chairs, windbreaks, beach gear, etc. Then, if you want to store bigger items, the lower bed simply folds up against the rear wall to create a full-sized garage with 1.48m headroom and lashing points to secure your bikes or boards.

This is also one of those rare 3.5-tonne motorhomes where the payload seems to exceed what most owners  are likely to need. Few rivals can match the 730kg quoted here. 

The overcab bed

Back to beds and, of course, there’s another instant mattress at the other end of the motorhome, so a family of four need never make up a bed or seek stowage for duvets and pillows.

Stretching across the full width of the motorhome, the overcab bed is almost as long as the bunks and has a decent width, too (1.42m). Stowed in the day to give easy walk-through into the cab, the rear half of the bed simply pulls down at night and a long ladder is added.

Headroom here is a maximum of 64cm but this reduces towards the front of the luton. Twin reading lights are fitted at the head of the bed and an opening window at the foot. 

I slept well up here, thanks to a good-quality mattress on a slatted base and my fears of bashing my bonce on  the shelf (useful for specs at night) proved unfounded – with such a long bed, I just pulled my pillows away from the side wall. 

The interior

With the potential for up to six berths, the Kilig also has to provide space for all those people to sit, both on site and for travel. So Rimor has adopted the classic family floorplan with twin pullman dinettes, one seating four, the other two. Here, the larger benches cater for travel, with three-point belts and automotive head restraints on the forward-facing seat but only lap belts for those facing backwards.

Although it looks a fairly formal seating arrangement, we found it to be surprisingly comfortable. The larger table was perfect for a game of Monopoly, while the smaller dinette means kids can have their own area.

Both tables are mounted on wall rails and are totally wobble-free but what really makes this space so appealing is the supersized windows on either side. Remember, too, that the lounge is unaffected by use of the overcab bed (unlike a drop-down bed). 

All the Vaughans also agreed that we liked the turquoise highlights throughout the Kilig’s interior – on the seats, the top lockers and the strange magnetic board with hooks on the wall adjacent to the mini-dinette (where you’ll also find sockets for a telly). The splashes of colour are a welcome change from too much beige and brown in some current motorhomes. 

At night it stays bright inside, thanks to long LED strips above and below the top lockers, plus small additional  lamps in the ceiling – you’ll never need to switch them all on.

And, if you need more than four berths, you can turn the lounge into more sleeping accommodation.

It’s simple to lower the main table between the benches to create a three-quarter bed (1.02m wide) that retains the central aisle. Alternatively, pull-out extension panels and a set of infill cushions can be used to create a full-sized double. 

We couldn’t try this because not all the extra pieces were supplied with the test motorhome, but it appeared that this bed would clash with the luton’s ladder and a large fitted sheet would be needed to keep the additional cushions in place while you roll around on top. It might be better to use the three-quarter bed and, perhaps, turn the smaller dinette into a 1.58m-long kiddy bed as the sixth berth.

Whatever sleeping set-up works for your family, it’s good to see pleated blinds fitted at all of the habitation windows. In the cab there are silver screens to stick to the glass as well as a long, but unlined, curtain.

The lounge area also provides a useful – family-sized – amount of storage. While the forward-facing seats of each dinette house the Truma Combi boiler (nearside) and fresh water tank (offside), there’s a generous amount of stowage capacity under each of the rear-facing seats. 

Having the H2O inboard is great for winter camping, but 85 litres seems a tad mean for a six-berth model and it’s worth noting that the heating system here is gas-only as standard – if you hook up most nights, it’ll be worth investing £495 in the electric upgrade.

The top lockers in the lounge are best reached by taller folk but we liked their positive locking catches, sturdy hinges and deep lips – nothing will fall out when you open these!

The kitchen

You may need to have been stretched on the rack to see into the oven, which is 1.66m off the floor – and take care when lifting hot food out of here. It’s only an oven (not combined with a grill) and feels like a bit of an afterthought, mounted so high above the 141-litre tall ‘n’ slim Thetford fridge. The latter is much more impressive, featuring a bottle drawer and automatic energy selection.

Alongside, the wardrobe is surprisingly tall, too – the drop from the rail is 1.30m – and there’s another useful locker below.

The rest of the galley is on the offside, between the dinette and the door. Again, there’s plenty of storage, both at high and low level. You might find the contents more by feel than sight in the upper cupboards but the cupboards in the main kitchen unit are also large (and there’s a big cutlery drawer as well).

The hob has three gas rings and the sink alongside comes with a high-quality Argo tap and a domestic-sized drain. What’s lacking is worktop space once the glass lids of the hob and sink are raised. There’s just one mains socket here, too, but M and C adds another three around the vehicle before sale.

The washroom

One of those mains sockets will be in the washroom, which has an unconventional design but uses the space well. You step into the ‘wet zone’, with the basin (plus plenty of work surface for toiletries) and an opening window ahead of you. The tap extends to become the showerhead (either handheld or clipped to the ceiling), and a curtain simply covers the loo. 

It’s a really generous space for showering, let down only by the tiny single outlet in the tray and a slight (easily remedied) potential for water to escape at the bottom of the washroom door onto the kitchen floor. 

The loo (from Thetford) is a bench-type cassette, which, thanks to a stepped floor, doesn’t leave legs dangling. Alongside is a useful shelf and above is a cupboard.

The cab

The Kilig comes with Ford’s 128bhp (130PS) engine and slick six-speed manual gearbox. Obviously, with the tall luton and less horsepower than some Transit-based motorhomes, it’s not especially lively, but its performance is perfectly adequate – in fact, it seemed easily a match for similarly sized 140bhp-engined Fiats. On test, we got around 27 miles per gallon (probably 2mpg less than with a more aerodynamic low-profile model). 

Where the Ford scores is with its excellent driving position, sitting lower with a reach and rake-adjustable steering column and car-sized wheel. The ride quality is comfortable, too, although there are times (including in crosswinds across the Fens) when you are aware of this model’s extra height. However, generally, it handles  well, thanks to the body’s reasonably modest rear overhang.

The Transit cab might look a tad austere in black and grey plastic, but there are plenty of good design touches, including the phone mount and plethora of cup holders. The reversing camera screen replaces the rear view mirror and the door mirrors have twin lenses. 

Best of all, though, the Rimor has less conversion noise than some vehicles we’ve tested that cost two or three times as much. Almost the only noise came from the clips  for the overcab’s safety net and that would be simple to solve.

Motorhome supplied by M and C Ltd 
Tel: 01482 448157
motorhomesltd.co.uk

Insurance: £536.18
Tel: 0800 975 1307
shieldtotalinsurance.co.uk
For quote details: motorhome.ma/QuoteInfo