Snowy River SRC-24 reviewed at Caravan of the Year 2025 presented by MSA 4X4 Accessories

For couples who like room to move, the new SRC-24 from Snowy River Caravans has a lot to offer.

Snowy River Caravans has undoubtedly established a reputation for itself in Australia. Since 2015, when the manufacturer first began building its locally designed caravans in China, the company has steadily improved its product and increased the range of models available. The SRC-24 is a typical example of one of the latest vans from the Melbourne-based brand.

JOHN FORD — CARAVAN WORLD EDITOR

Build quality

When the Snowy River brand hit the Australian market a decade ago, it was the result of a two-year development inspired by the experience of the local Regent Caravans brand. However, the offshore build (designed and engineered in Australia to handle our tough conditions) brought the benefits of costly Chinese technology to the construction process, which isn’t available locally. For example, the robot-welded DuraGal chassis ensures repeatable engineering to close tolerances. So, too, the composite panels, embedded with an internal aluminium frame, are formed in an automated heat and pressure process to endure and not delaminate. The suspension on the SRC-24 is a 3.5T AL-KO rubber torsion system that’s simple and robust enough, when driven to the conditions, for limited travel on outback roads. The lower shroud of checkerplate on the sides of the van hints at suitability for gravel roads. The model Snowy brought to COTY 2025 came with an optional 50mm chassis riser for added offroad strength. Most underpinnings are well protected, but I’d like to see the outlet for the optional grey water tank moved or filled with a guard because it looks vulnerable to stone damage.

Built for primarily on-road driving but it will go down some dirt roadsAL-KO torsion suspension

The van body arrives at the Melbourne factory in a container, so they are marginally narrower than locally built vans. However, I defy that you can see the difference inside. The local team completes the fitout, including the gas and electrical components, and these look professional and have proper certification. And all assembly, quality control and finishing touches happen in Snowy River’s Melbourne factory.

The furniture is hand-built from lightweight ply and looks well finished and durable, but it might be time to update the marble finish of the benchtops and trim.

Tunnel boot storage

Suitability for intended touring

Although Snowy River Caravans nominates the SRC range as semi-offroad, they are essentially bitumen tourers that will cope with limited dirt road travel. The 24-footer is longer than usual, extending the liveability for couples. A rear club lounge adds significantly to style and comfort on board. The rear door/front bed is the most popular layout, and the central bathroom adds even more privacy and creates two separate living spaces. Couples can get some alone time, which can be important on long trips, and it allows those with different sleeping times space to do their own thing.

In standard trim, the SRC-24 is more suited for a caravan park or weekend use, but the van brought to COTY was equipped with a range of extras that made it better for extended travel. These extras include a 274L fridge instead of the 174L version, as well as sufficient solar and battery power to operate the inverter for the likes of an air fryer and the air-conditioner for short periods. The optional grey water tank also enhanced its suitability for national parks and RV camping areas.

Towability

We towed the Snowy SRC-24 with a Ford Ranger over a mix of highway and rural roads, including dirt tracks through Allansford farmland just a short drive from Warrnambool, Vic, and it was one of the most pleasant rides of our event. The Ranger’s 3L V6 engine produces an impressive 600Nm of torque, and the 10-speed automatic operated smoothly on the various roads.

An easy tow behind the Ford Ranger

The Ford Ranger is relatively compact compared to the American utes at our event this year, and all the drivers felt immediately at home behind the wheel. Rear passengers voted it best on the field for travel comfort. The ranger boasted a set of MSA 4X4 Accessories Towing Mirrors, and we were grateful for the clear and wide vision to the rear in tight spots and on sharp bends.

The SRC-24’s tare weight is 2614kg, and with a 3500kg ATM there’s a list of utes and SUVs that will suit the budget.

The van sat faithfully behind without complaints, undue movement or harshness through the Cruisemaster DO35 hitch. Lippert sway control was optioned on and it’s such a valuable safety feature that I wonder why brands don’t make it a standard inclusion.

ALLISON WATT — CARAVAN WORLD DEPUTY EDITOR

Self-sufficiency

Relatively new to the Snowy River range, the SRC-24 is a semi-offroad tourer, so you’re not going to be taking it down Australia’s toughest tracks and staying off-grid in remote areas indefinitely.

It is designed for couples who like a bit of space and comfort and who mainly stick to sealed roads. But if you want to pull over at a 24-hour rest stop and camp for the night or spend a few days off-grid at a music festival or the like, the Snowy SRC-24 has everything you’ll need for a few days of ‘roughing it’.

It’s got good off-grid capacity for a few days if the sun shines and you’re careful with water use. The only limitation — as with many caravans — will be your toilet cassette which will eek into your water supply.

The SRC-24 on review had two 9kg gas bottles up front for cooking and instant gas hot water, two 95L freshwater tanks, one 95L grey water tank, two 100A lithium batteries and a 3000W inverter — all managed by a Projecta battery management system (BMS). Two 180W flexible solar panels on the roof capture the energy from the sun.

Lithium batteries tucked away

With that amount of power, you won’t be running the air-conditioning all night — maybe a few hours — but you’ll have enough to use your coffee machine or cook a meal in the air fryer, which is more than enough for most travellers.

Liveability

The SRC-24 is a big van with a layout that is popular with couples spending extended time on the road. With a rear club lounge, central kitchen and bathroom and self-contained bedroom up front, couples can enjoy a bit of privacy from each other if needed. One person can watch television in the lounge area and the other half can close the door and go to bed if they wish.

Split kitchen and the sliding door to the bedroom creates dual living areasFront bedroom with windows on three sides

The rear entry door opens to the spacious club lounge which could easily seat four or five adults in comfort. Surrounded by windows on three sides and with plenty of overhead storage cupboards, the lounge features a pivot/telescopic table which you can adjust to make a very large rear bed for when the grandkids sleep over. There’s a TV here and another one in the bedroom if you want to watch different shows.

Spacious club lounge can convert to a bed

If you like a bit of kitchen bench space for all your appliances then you will love the SRC-24, which has prep space on both sides. Just inside the entry door on the nearside is the four-burner stovetop (three gas, one induction), sink, drawers and cupboards underneath. There’s plenty of overhead cupboards all through the van with new curved fronts which adds a point of difference. On the opposite side of the kitchen is an under-bench microwave, 3.5kg top-loader washing machine, 274L Thetford fridge and slide-out wire pantry shelves.

Slide-out pantry

The central bathroom has a shower with an optioned-on mirror door, cassette toilet and vanity.

Split central bathroom

Up front, the bedroom has windows on all three sides which gives it a light and spacious ambiance. A sliding door provides privacy from the bathroom and living areas. Again, there is plenty of storage including wardrobes, reading lamps, fans and USB points which are featured throughout.

Outside is basic and functional. There’s a big awning to sit under, a picnic table and external speakers.

Value for money

One of the factors that has seen Snowy River Caravans rise to be among the top-selling vans in the country is its competitive price point, which makes sense given they are manufactured in China using designs from Snowy River’s R&D team.

There’s no doubt you get a lot of bang for your buck. The base price for this SRC-24 is $77,490 which is great value for money, although the van we judged at COTY 2025 had been optioned up to come in at more than $91,000, so getting up there in price.

Designed for couples who primarily stick to sealed roads but also want the option to head off-grid for a few days

The options fitted on the COTY model included bigger 16in wheels and tyres, an extra 95L grey water tank, a DO35 hitch, a second 100A lithium battery, a 3000W inverter, air-conditioner, leather upholstery, as well as quite a few other bits and pieces, so it all adds up.

At its base price it’s great value and you can choose which options will suit your caravanning lifestyle.

MALCOLM STREET — CARAVAN WORLD FIELD EDITOR

Ease of use

Snowy River’s SRC-24 is a full caravan and thus a fairly straightforward proposition when travelling and at the caravan park. Although the SRC-24 is quite a long van on the road, it’s not overly heavy with a tare mass of 2614kg. Consequently, it is not a difficult towing proposition.

It doesn’t take long to set up at the caravan park once the van is unhitched and levelled. The drop-down corner stabilisers and awning take minimal time to put in position. Having a 7.24m (23ft 7in) body length, the van has the space inside for a rear club lounge layout. That’s great for a couple who like space to relax in. The benefits of the club lounge with panoramic windows are obvious, and the telescopic mounted table offers an extra bed if needed.

Plenty of bench space in the kitchen

The top loader washing machine is tucked below one of the kitchen benches

The split kitchen offers plenty of benchtop and cupboard space, something any travelling chef will appreciate. The split bathroom in front of the bedroom is well laid out, although the vanity cabinet is quite small with no shelf area. A good use of space is the multi-shelf cupboard adjacent to the shower cubicle, which is excellent for towels and linen. Overall, it’s quite a user-friendly layout.

Innovation

It’s not a startling innovation, but one of the strong selling points of the SRC-24 and the rest of the Snowy River range is the full fibreglass sandwich panel body construction. That’s something available in more expensive competitor vans. The vacuum-pressed panels are reinforced with welded aluminium framing. It’s not separate but part of the one-piece wall components.

Again, not a new feature but something found on more expensive vans are the options available on the electrical system and fitted to this van such as the extra lithium LiFePO4 battery and inverter. I’d imagine an extra solar panel might be available, too. What this means is that although this is not an offroad caravan, it still has plenty of electrical capacity for the easy to get to off-grid locations that abound in this country.

Customer care

Before any purchase, a good question to ask any caravan dealer/manufacturer is about the warranty details and how the company handles any warranty claims. Some manufacturers are a little coy about their warranty matters, but the Snowy River Caravans website and warranty booklet is comprehensive. Snowy River offers a five-year structural warranty and manufacturer’s warranty of two years. Specifically, structural includes the chassis components, wall, roof and flooring panels. Anything made by Snowy Caravans is covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, while the respective manufacturers cover any supplied components.

Snowy River has 40 authorised centres throughout Australia that handle warranty matters. The warranty is transferrable to a new owner as long as the proper paperwork is completed.

The SRC-24 doesn’t need a big tow vehicle

X-Factor

The X-Factor for this van may well be what it isn’t. Among all the contenders for COTY 2025, it’s the one van not designed for serious offroad travel. There’s nothing wrong with that; it results in a bit of weight saving. The tried and trusted AL-KO torsion suspension isn’t a full independent offroad setup, but it’s good for what this van is designed to do. I always like a rear club lounge layout and this one ticks several boxes, including that it doesn’t require an oversized tow vehicle.

SNOWY RIVER SRC-24 BUNK SPECS

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

EXTERNAL

INTERNAL

Snowy River SRC-24 Bunk price from $77,490

OPTIONS FITTED

• 16in wheels and tyres
• Lippert sway control
• 95L grey water tank
• Cruisemaster DO35 hitch
• 2in chassis raiser
• 1 x 100Ah lithium battery
• Thetford 274L compressor fridge
• Dometic FreshJet Pro air-conditioner
• 12V fan
• Projecta PM300 upgrade
• Projecta 30000W inverter with transfer switch
• Winegard TV Antenna
• Leather TIC cushion upholstery upgrade
• Telescopic table
• Black Pack (Power points, light switches, reading lights, cupboard door handles, square single bowl kitchen sink, oval ensuite basin, taps, shower head and mixer, bathroom accessories)
• Extra annexe light

Snowy River SRC-24 Bunk price as shown $91,395

MORE INFORMATION

Snowy River Caravans

20-50 Fillo Drive

Somerton Vic 3062

P: 03 9303 6100

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