Trakka Akuna A2M Road Test

Hi, Richard from iMotorhome. I'm in the brand new Tracker Acuna. This is the A2M. It's built on the new Volkswagen Crafter and the M in the name stands for mid-wheelbase. We're going to go for a little drive down the road. I'm going to tell you a bit about the vehicle. So let's go. The new Crafter is powered by a 2-litre turbo diesel engine. In this particular instance, it's a bi-turbo arrangement, so it has two turbos. One for very initial pick-up and the other for top-end. That essentially eliminates turbo lag, which is really good, particularly in a relatively small-capacity diesel like this. So for 2 litres, the twin-turbo arrangement produces 130 kilowatts of power and 410 newton-metres of torque. Those are pretty impressive figures. Most importantly, however, it delivers that power to the road through an 8-speed fully automatic gearbox, so that's a real game-changer for Volkswagen. Now, the Crafter disappeared a few years ago from the Motorhome scene. Anyway, the new Crafter is back and I've got to say, it's an absolute grouper. So, the first thing about the new Crafter is it is completely different to the old ones. The Crafter now is an all-new design, it's a clean-sheet design, but what's absolutely lovely about it is that the design language of the new Crafter, both inside and out, is absolutely in keeping with the design language of the current VW passenger car range. If you're familiar with the Golf or the Passat, any of those vehicles, you jump into this, you're going to feel right at home. The interior looks good, it feels like a quality European car, to be honest. It looks great from the outside view, it's comfortable, it has a sporty steering wheel with a flat bottom, a bit like a Formula One. It has very legible, large instruments, absolutely signature Volkswagen instrument panel. It comes with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system that includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It has air conditioning, although surprisingly not climate controlled. The gearbox is an absolute delight and it includes a sports mode as well, you just flip the lever across. This truly is an impressive vehicle, if you ever drove the old Crafter, this is, you're on another planet with this. If you're a fan of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, then you really need to take a look at the Crafter because this is seriously going to give the Sprinter a run for its money. So there we go, a quick tasting test drive of the new Tracker Hakuna built on the Volkswagen Crafter. There's no doubt the new Volkswagen Crafter is a great looking machine and Tracker has capitalised on those looks in building the Hakuna A2M. It looks good, it sits squat, it's purposeful, it's an impressive looking machine, accented by the optional black alloys in this particular instance. Flush fitting acrylic windows all around. You can see the electric awning up there, electric awnings are standard across the Tracker range now. All the windows open and that includes the ones in the back door which is really handy for bed ventilation at night. Now coming round the corner you'll see the pod sticking out on the right, that adds a few precious extra centimetres of room to the head of the bed. Also on this side are all the service hatches, so we've got in the middle of the vehicle the toilet cassette hatch, next to that on the left we've got the power inlet, next to that is the water filler tank for on board, then the mains water connector and the exhaust for the diesel fired heating system. Across the Hakuna range Tracker has added Volkswagen's Trendline pack, that includes fog lights, LED headlights and other trim items. The Crafter's a great looking machine anyway, Tracker's done an excellent job of matching the styling and produced something really special. Now it's time to go and have a look inside. Okay we're stepping inside for a quick look around, swivelling cab seats are great, a nice shot of the dash there, the dining table stores in this corner under the little corner table when not in use, there's a power outlet there and USB charges, the fridge unit sits between the driver's seat and the bathroom and up the top we have the cupboard with the microwave. You'll note this is a Tracker signature, these very simple roller doors that can't accidentally come open, that you can't walk into, that don't require latches, just brilliant. Also brilliant is this fridge, it's a 90 litre Dometic unit, little freezer at the top, not overly spacious but this is a compact van but its party piece is this double action opening door, depending which side of the fridge you're on you can open it from either side, it's just an absolute cracker. Speaking of crackers, all the lighting in the Hakuna, in fact all Tracker vehicles now is LED strips and they're touch operated from these flush fitting switches, no conventional switches to break or need to clean and by holding your finger on them the lighting dims. If you turn it off when it's dimmed and turn it back on it comes back on at that dimmed level, it's great. This vehicle has the optional Alfresco pack so it gets a secondary fridge which is this little forward facing drinks unit at the bottom that you can access from outside or inside the vehicle, it's really really very handy. There's a small drawer above that and then above it is a flip-up bench extension, it's not huge but it adds some really useful space to the main benchtop unit. The sink lid, have a look at the decor on the inside, it matches the wood grain on the bathroom, that's a really nice feature. There's a flip-up tap plus there's a filter drinking water tap and the vehicle is LPG free so cooking is diesel powered through this Webasto ceramic cooktop, takes a bit of getting used to but it's well worth the trade-off for getting rid of gas. Now this drawer has four mugs cutouts on the top there and this handy nifty little concealed cutlery drawer. The drawer units themselves are actually soft close and the bottom drawer isn't as wide as it actually looks but it's it's okay for smaller pots and pans, crockery that sort of thing. Now to clamber into bed because it's a fair step up, there's this sturdy step at the back that you just pull out and hop up, all that space under the bed is storage. The bed is split in two, this front mattress actually hinges to access concealed storage and the back bed is actually over the rear boot. See the pod on the left there with the window that gives you those few extra centimetres and both the bed heads tilt up sun lounge style like this to different angles so you can kick back and relax. There's good overhead cupboard space and Trakker provides an iPad holder now in place of a conventional TV. Now for a look inside Trakker's patented switch mode bathroom which has been recently lengthened a little to provide some extra room inside. Its main feature, its claim to fame really is this electrically operated toilet that extends at the press of a button, you can leave it out overnight if you like or tuck it away but when it's tucked away underneath it remains dry when you're showering. The vanity unit is a moulded unit with this freestanding sink on top, it has a small drawer the shower is actually that tap nozzle that pulls out and sits in the little holder up there by the top of the mirror and the mirror is beautifully LED backlit complete with the Trakker logo. It's very neat, it's very simple but it does a great job. Also neat and simple is the roller style door and that concludes our quick look at the new Trakker Akuna A2M. What do I think of it? Well it shouldn't be difficult to tell that I think that it and the whole Akuna range will be another winner. Trakker's design innovation continues to lead the industry and the closer you look the more you realise just how far ahead it really is. The new crafter would be my choice for a new motorhome based vehicle at the moment, its next generation design and engineering won't quickly age and it has the requisite bells and whistles to keep tech nerds like me happy. On top of that it delivers an excellent driving experience. The icing on the cake is it's backed by an unmatched warranty and service package that makes European vehicle ownership practical and affordable. Sure you can buy cheaper than the Akuna A2M but as they say quality is its own reward. Trakker's move to the new VW crafter gives an extra string to its bow that now neatly stretches across the whole van conversion spectrum. It's a clever move that reinforces Trakker's position at the top of its field and provides buyers with yet another excellent model to consider. you