I think a point that many miss about the grenadier.. is that while it's an automotive startup it's an extraordinarily well funded one.
Ineos - Wikipedia
I actually see the biggest threat to the Grenadier will be the death of Jim Ratcliffe whenever that happens. It's clearly his baby. Until then I'd think it's pretty safe..
I've always been keen on one but I'd like to see one in the flesh and see how the bugs go for a bit.
The initial promised price I thought was acceptable at 85ish. And then the actual price at 100 was bleeding for me. And now it's gone up another 14. The price is kind of accelerating away from reality for me.
The local head said that any orders were 12 months from delivery and their costs were going up so fast they were just trying to pick a viable price. It sure is strange times we live in.
2005 Defender 110
20221217_130542.jpgWell we finally got to drive the Grenadier on Saturday. This was held at Tambourine Mountain on the Gold Coast hinterland. The off road course was reasonably challenging with ruts and a section there needing Low Range. Unfortunately my wife didnt take photos while we where on the course but got quite a few of the vehicles. They had three there, various specs but all diesel. The Grenadier did drive very well, tyres were down to 30 pounds and soaked up the bumps really well. Low range first is probably not as low as an original Defender but that's only going by feel , I could be wrong. Fit and finish seems quite good but these are still prototypes that will be improved on apparently. Actually they said these cars will be stripped of useful parts and crushed which seems a shame. We could not take photos under the bonnet but all seems neat and tidy. The complexity of modern engines means there are a lot of hoses and wiring etc but there is a reasonable amount of room around the engine. There are a few hang up points underside which is a little disappointing. The rear muffler is low and the front steering damper pretty low as well. Could be different yet on the production models though. The mounts for the rear arms are pretty low as well. Big sway bars and eye shocks as well as eye mounts for the rear arms so I doubt the suspension flex would be fantastic. My wife was worried about the rear spare blocking view of the back when reversing, but it does have a reversing Camera.
It looks good, although I dont love the front end with the insert lights in the grill but I guess thats going to grow on me. The back looks good, square load space which is practical. The other thing i am not keen on is the centre dash screen. Nothing in front of the driver except a small panel with lights. No speedo even. Got to love the centre console and roof console though. Feels like an airplane, very cool.
All in all a very impressive machine that's not perfect, but what is? Optioned up with duel batteries and a few other accessories it would make a great tourer without spending huge coin to set up whats is already provided in this vehicle. 20221217_130737.jpg20221217_130734.jpg20221217_131053.jpg20221217_131903.jpg20221217_131359.jpg20221217_132035.jpg20221217_135720.jpg20221217_132057.jpg20221217_135931.jpg20221217_141104.jpg20221217_140045.jpg20221217_142856.jpg20221217_135714.jpg20221217_142020.jpg20221217_131849.jpg
The dual opening back doors seem to be a popular feature but you have to bear in mind the width between the wheel arches. You are still limited to this width for an interior load unless it is short and can be stored between the wheel arches and the doors. I am sure INEOS are making notes of observations like yours. Whether they can make changes before this model hits the market in light of potential users observations or wait until a series 11 or mark 11 version remains to be seen.
The wheel arches in the INEOS do seem to give more usable interior space than the old Defender but how practical will it be for fitted out for touring in Australia? The boxy wheel arches of the old Defender made it easy to store boxes inside but to do that with the INEOS you would need to "square" off the rounded wheel arches to build items on them. Just an observation and it would not put me off buying one.
Good observations made on the low hanging gear. Not an issue for everyday use but would need to be taken into account as an over lander.
The inside looks frighteningly hitech to me but I suppose that is the road cars are going.
Also, you have better looking knees than me.....
There's been a lot of discussion on theineosforum.com regarding the bloated wheel arch cover on the RHS. Both optional BMW engines are Eurospec 6 so it's to accommodate both the fuel filler and the "AdBlue" filler for the diesel version. There's just over a metre space at floor level between the bases of the respective wheel arch covers.
The deletion of the 15L "Ad Blue" tank requirement for the petrol version means that it gets a 100L fuel tank vs the 90L tank for the diesel.
The static display vehicle with the leather interior was the "Fieldmaster" version with road biased Bridgestone A/T tyres on alloy rims. The two steel wheel/KO2 A/T shod vehicles for test drives were base level "Belstaff" station wagons with various mods...they're still undertaking engineering evaluations. They now have 18 vehicles registered in Australia for post production evaluation....
The switches overhead and on the dash console are rugged and "tactile" designed to be able to be operated on cold days while wearing gloves.... The overhead switches are basically for offroad and are grouped accordingly.
The headlights are park/low beam/high beam LED. The two inboard lights are high power long distance LED pencil beam driving lights activated by one of the overhead switches.
The 8sp "heavy duty modified" (that's what they said! :-)) ZF box with the low range transfer case and centre diff locked ...it felt almost unstoppable with the engine barely revving above 1300rpm (max torque at 1250rpm) and seemed to crawl over the sizeable ruts and bumps....
Apparently the 1000 units allocated to Australia for the first year sold out quickly...70% diesel and 70% Trialmaster version with triple diff locks/K02 tyres, HD wiring, extra battery etc...
I'll let you know
MY99 RR P38 HSE 4.6 (Thor) gone (to Tasmania)
2020 Subaru Impreza S ('SWMBO's Express' )
2023 Ineos Grenadier Trialmaster (diesel)
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