Sunrise Medical Quickie Q500 R Powerchair

The Quickie Q500 R is a compact and powerful performer with head-turning style. Featuring the highly customisable Sedeo Pro seating that offers unrivalled comfort, it can be configured to perfectly fit your measurements and needs.

Product Description

Power Base

Of the Q500 series, the Sunrise Medical Quickie Q500 R Powerchair offers the best outdoor performance, with good traction and kerb climbing ability inherent to rear-wheel drive, making it the best choice for handling rough terrain and steeper hills. While the focus is on outdoor use, the Q500 is a relatively compact powerchair, and is still suited to day-to-day use indoors - but doesn't offer the same level of manoeuvrability as mid or front-wheel drive. Rear-wheel drive is the "traditional" design for wheelchairs, and is considered the easiest to handle and to be the most intuitive drive.

The Q500 R base is a development of the Puma 40 base, with notably improved suspension. The Puma 40 was designed to be easily switched between rear and front wheel drive, which necessitated compromises to the suspension - in reality people stick with either one or the other, and the Q500 R base has been built as a dedicated rear-wheel drive one. The Full Track Suspension allows you to overcome obstacles and barely feel them, while the Spirit Level Technology connects the drive wheels by a pivot bar - this absorbs the pull to one side that one naturally gets when cornering or driving on slopes, and ensures you have the maximum amount of traction at any time. Our experience of the Q500 R has shown it to have a stiffer, "sporty" and more responsive drive - which is what most experienced powerchair users prefer. However, the springs are adjustable to allow a much softer ride instead should you prefer.

You can climb kerbs of up to 8 cm (10 cm with a kerb climber) in the Q500 R, and the standard 60 Ah batteries can be upgraded to 80 Ah ones for an ultra-long 25 mile range. The high-torque 4-pole motors are available in speeds of up to 8 mph, though we find the best performance and range tends to come if you opt for a top speed of 6.5 mph. An optional Gyro-Tracking System upgrade is available, which automatically corrects any deviations from your direction, for example when driving across a camber. We would strongly recommend this if requiring special controls, but even for those using a standard joystick, it can help to provide a much easier drive, with less effort required to maintain your course.

Seating

Sedeo Pro seating is standard on the Q500 R - a highly adjustable system that we can tailor to your size and needs with a wide array of support and positioning options, giving you a bespoke seat with a perfect fit for unrivalled comfort and support. The Sedeo Pro seating system is modular, allowing your seating to be adjusted should your needs change in the future, ensuring the Q500 R provides you with the seating you need for as long as you have it.

Seat widths of 15 - 22 inches and depths of 16 - 22 inches allow the Sedeo Pro to cater to people of all shapes and sizes, and the weight capacity is an impressive 25 stone. The Sedeo range of cushions and backrest options are the ideal choice for comfort, and our preferred options are the Deep Contour backs that feature sides that flex to "hug" you in place, forming to your body shape. Should you require more clinical seating, the full JAY range of cushions and backrests, as well as Whitmyer headrests can be fitted. Other positioning options such as lateral supports and thigh guides are available too, and third-party components can be easily fitted, for example if you have an existing pressure cushion provided by the NHS.

The Q500 R can be upgraded with all the powered positioning options you would expect to be available on a prescriptive powerchair. This includes a 30 cm powered seat riser to get you to eye-level in social situations and to allow you to reach high-up objects. Powered tilt is available either in combination with lift, or separately at up to 50° for high levels of pressure relief. Powered recline can come in an anti-shear option to avoid friction and displacement of your position as you lie back. This is most often combined with the powered elevating and articulating leg rests to allow you to lie back in a relaxed position - ideal if you want to sleep in your wheelchair.

Fully crash-tested, the Q500 R is suitable for occupied transport in an adapted vehicle. It is also pre-prepared for a DAHL docking station, and with the addition of one of these, it is easy to lock in place in a car, whether you wish to be driver or passenger.

Controls

SImple to use VR2 controls are standard on the Q500, and can control up to two powered seating options. If you require a more advanced control system, or intend to have more than two powered positioning add-ons on your Q500 R, then you can upgrade to the R-Net control system. This includes the option for a large, high-definition LCD screen, plus environmental controls – connect seamlessley via Infrared or Bluetooth to control household appliances, your television and computers or smartphones.

If special controls are required, such as head or chin controls and additional switches, the Link-It mounting system allows a limitless combination to be attached, while its clean design doesn’t compromise the appearance of your powerchair.

Appearance

We think the Q-series is the best looking powerchair range on the market, and Sunrise Medical have clearly put a lot of thought into the appearance of the Q500 R. It features a sleek, minimalistic design - with wiring and components hidden, a clean matt-black chassis and sharply-tailored Sedeo Pro upholstery. You can customise your chair further with your choice of coloured inlays (green, black, blue, orange, red, silver and white), which can also be easily replaced should you wish to vary your style. While older powerchairs may feature more clunky industrial appearances, the Q500 is an attractive chair that you'll look good in.

Our Verdict

The Q500 R is a massive step up for Sunrise Medical, who previously had been better known for their mid-wheel drive wheelchairs than their rear-wheel drive ones. It combines the best features from the former Handicare Puma 40 with new technology to create an outstanding rear-wheel drive powerchair that rivals anything on the market. If you're looking for a powered wheelchair that specialises outdoors with a good, responsive ride and has excellent kerb-climbing, but which is capable indoors too, the Q500 R is that. The Sedeo Pro seat provides outstanding comfort, and can be adapted so it continues to do so, should your needs change.

It is a direct competitor to Invacare's Aviva RX40, which we would recommend trying alongside the Q500 R. The Q500 R appears similar to the Q700 R, which is the "next model up" in the Q-series rear-wheel drive range - the Q700 R has softer suspension, and the choice between the two is really down to personal preference.

If you want a more compact powerchair that is still very capable outdoors and has fully-prescriptive seating, then we would suggest the Q300 R, which has a notably smaller base, and therefore manoeuvres much better than the Q500 R.

Key Features

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    Configurable Sedeo Pro seating
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    Advanced suspension
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    Stylish appearance
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    Rear-wheel drive

Our Service

We offer a range of solutions for getting the powered wheelchair of your choice, including purchase, long-term hire agreements of one or three years, and the option to lease through the Motability scheme.

We passionately believe we provide a level of service above and beyond other retailers that gives you real value for money. Our in-house experts can provide you with impartial advice on the right wheelchair for you, and none of our staff are on commission.

All aftercare is carried out by our experienced specialists, with a fleet of mobile engineers, and a fully stocked workshop at our HQ - we don't get a third-party company to carry out our work. In the event your powerchair needs to come back to us for repair, we will provide you with a loan powered wheelchair from our extensive fleet to keep you mobile. We maintain a fleet of high-end prescriptive powered wheelchairs so that your loan product will be as similar as possible to your wheelchair.

Try This Powered Wheelchair

Our Chessington Showroom is stocked with a wide range of wheelchairs for you to try out and compare, and our product specialists are on hand to answer all your questions, and carry out a full assessment. Visiting our Showroom allows you to see the widest possible range of powerchairs before making your decision on which powered wheelchair to buy.

We are also able to carry out home assessments and demonstrations - please call us to book one in. A home consultation comes with the benefit of trying out an electric wheelchair around the environment in which you will be using it.

Product Specification

DriveRear-Wheel
Speed8mph / 12.87km/h
Battery Size60 or 80 Ah
Crash TestedYes
FunctionalityElevating Leg Rests, Seat Lifter, Tilt In Space, Recline
Indoor OutdoorIndoor & Outdoors
Made To MeasureMade to Measure
Max Range25miles / 40.23km
Powerchair TypePrescriptive Powerchair
Max Seat Depth60cm / 23.62in
Max Seat Width56cm / 22.05in
Min Seat Depth40cm / 15.75in
Min Seat Width38cm / 14.96in
Max Seat Height49cm / 19.29in
Min Seat Height41.5cm / 16.34in
Weight Capacity136kg / 21st 6lb
Min Overall Width64cm / 25.20in
Max Overall Length118cm / 46.46in
Min Overall Weight133kg / 20st 13lb

Pricing

Prescriptive powerchairs such as this are built to order following an assessment with one of our Prescriptive Assessors. They are available with a wide range of customisation options, including powered seating functions, cushions and backrests, and drive performance upgrades, and these can affect the price - our Prescriptive Assessors will run through all the options at your assessment. As a general guideline, opting for multiple powered seating functions can add significantly to the cost of the wheelchair; however it is possible to get a fully functioning and desirable chair at the base price!

People purchasing powered wheelchairs will often qualify for zero-rated VAT. If the person using the wheelchair has a permanent disability, terminal illness or chronic sickness then they will be eligible for 0% VAT. Our Prescriptive Assessors will be able to answer any questions you may have about VAT.

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