Jayco Swan vs Mercedes-Benz Esprinter

What's the difference?

The Jayco Swan Outback is a nice solid camper, packed with features and suited for most trips away.

Sure, it's not the roomiest or flashiest camper around and – you've been warned – it is definitely not up to hard-core 4WDing, but it does come from a company responsible for sharply priced units with plenty of flexibility regarding optional add-ons so that counts for a lot.

With the convenience of back-to-base charging the eSprinter would be well suited to last-mile logistics or other urban delivery roles, as its driving range is ample for many of these urban tasks with the added benefit of zero tailpipe emissions. However, at more than $100K it is a big spend (like its full-electric rivals) so only a thorough cost-benefit analysis can decide if it’s the right choice for your business.

Correct me if you reckon I'm wrong, but no camper-trailer from any company will ever be in the running for a 'Gorgeous Temporary Home' award. But that's part of this camper's appeal; it's highly practical and functional, not pretty and useless.

The forward bed is to the left as you step inside; the rear bed is to the right. Its kitchen is in front and to the right of the door as you enter the camper.

Interior height is a standard 2070mm and inside is spacious, but tempers will likely fray if all four adults and two kids are standing or sitting around inside at the same time. Hope for no rain.

The interior includes a four-burner stove, Dometic 95-litre fridge (Touring models get the 90-litre fridge), stainless-steel sink, dinette seat, table, club lounge, and the two beds plus the dinette-convertible bed.

If you can't find some places in which to stow away your gear in this Outback, then you're not looking hard enough.

The 'Ezi glide' pull-out drawers include room enough for your large pots, cutlery, kitchen gear and numerous other bits and pieces.

Interior lighting includes overhead LEDs for the dining/entertainment area and reading lights for the beds. There’s a fan for the beds.

With its hefty 2727kg kerb weight (largely due to the battery) and 4250kg GVM, the eSprinter has a sizeable 1523kg payload rating. It’s also rated to tow up to 2000kg of braked trailer but with its 5000kg GCM (or how much it can carry and tow at the same time) that big payload must shrink to only 273kg to legally tow its maximum trailer weight.

That’s only enough payload capacity to cater for the weight of a two-man crew and little more so it’s important to be aware of these numbers if you’re planning to tow this heavy (although we suspect few if any owners would do so).

The cargo bay with the High Roof option is enormous, with 2009mm from floor to roof allowing even tall people to stand without stooping. Its load volume is a cavernous 10.5 cubic metres.

The load floor, which is protected by a hard non-slip surface, is 3375mm long and 1732mm wide with 1350mm between the rear-wheel housings. This allow up to two Aussie pallets or up to four Euro pallets to be carried, secured using a choice of 10 load anchorage points which fold flush with the floor when not in use.

Cargo bay access is through a sliding kerbside door with a big 1260mm-wide opening and a pair of rear barn doors which can open to a full 270 degrees on each side to optimise access to forklifts and loading docks.

The walls and sliding door are neatly lined to roof height and large handles inside both door openings assist access. There’s also bright LED lighting plus handy storage pockets in each rear door.

Its spacious cabin provides a comfortable and efficient workspace. The fabric-trimmed bucket seats offer generous head and legroom for driver and passenger and the ample open floor space between them features a sturdy cradle in which to carry the charging cable (see image).

There’s also ample storage including a large bottle-holder and multiple bins in each door plus a full-width overhead shelf with a key-lockable security box and a central glasses holder.

The top of the dash has two cupholders on each side (so, four in total) plus a large compartment with clamshell lid in the centre equipped with a 12V socket and three USB-C ports. There’s another shelf in the lower dash on the passenger side, a quartet of cupholders in the centre console and yet another compartment hidden beneath the passenger seat.

Jayco campers are easy to tow and the Swan Outback is no different. It towed steady and stable – no worries – behind our long-termer 2019 2.0-litre four-cylinder bi-turbo Ford Everest 4WD (157kW/500Nm).

We did decent stretches of highway, country back-road and gravel track, deeply rutted in places, with no strife.

The extra length (305mm) over its top-tier stablemates – Hawk and Eagle – was hardly noticeable and only took a little adjustment and increased vigilance when turning in between trees on pinched bush tracks.

With a 130kg towball weight, it feels marginally livelier than Hawk (145kg) and Eagle (150kg), but nothing drastic – again, as long as the driver pays attention there's no issue.

Visibility back along both sides and over the top is good without need for towing mirrors.

The single-axle Swan Outback has a hot dip galvanised 'Endurance' chassis on Jayco’s 'JTech' coil-spring suspension with a little extra ground clearance over road-focussed Touring models. (Note: Jayco’s Outback models are made for dirt tracks and gravel roads, not 4WD-only tracks. They are not built for hard-core off-roading.)

There are large handles on the front door window frame and overhead shelf to assist climbing aboard, where you’ll find a comfortable and commanding driving position.

This is thanks to supportive seating (albeit with no lumbar adjustment), ample steering wheel height/reach positioning and a spacious footwell, combined with a clear rear view through the bulkhead window and along the sides thanks to large truck-style mirrors.

The leather-rimmed steering wheel feels nice in your hands, all major controls are easy to see and operate and the electric air-conditioning and heating systems are effective.

It’s a pleasant vehicle to drive as the most noise you hear is the tyres, given the near silence of the rear-mounted motor and drivetrain. The underfloor location of the battery also creates a low centre of gravity, which optimises handling with minimal body lean when cornering.

Unladen ride quality is excellent, enhanced by the weight of the battery which helps the suspension iron out bumps. And the electric motor’s 400Nm of torque provides energetic performance, with acceleration delivered in a smooth liquid-like surge.

Selecting the strongest regenerative braking not only optimises energy harvesting for the battery but also creates enough retardation to ensure mostly single-pedal driving (accelerator only) as the brake pedal is rarely required. This mode is also handy on steep descents.

To test its payload rating we forklifted 975kg into the cargo bay, which combined with our two-man crew equalled a total payload of 1155kg that was still comfortably below its legal limit.

The rear leaf springs compressed less than 30mm under this loading, leaving ample bump-stop clearance to ensure no bottoming out on our test route. The e-motor’s response was more subdued as you’d expect but it still hauled this payload with apparent ease.

Overall, the driving experience was hard to fault, apart from the vertical pillar between the fixed and sliding glass in the driver’s door blocking the outer third of the exterior mirror’s view, at least with the driver’s seat positioned far enough rearwards to suit my 186cm frame.

We also noted, when travelling at highway speeds on a windy day, that our test vehicle was prone to being moved within its lane by strong crosswinds, even though ‘Crosswind Assist’ is included in the active safety menu.

We suspect the High Roof option was responsible for this given the larger bodysides it creates and is something to be mindful of when driving in high wind conditions.