Have had the chance to spend a couple of weeks with an Ineos Grenadier and, given there aren’t many about and they seem to divide the opinion of journalists, I thought I’d share my take, albeit quite briefly. I should say I have no link to Ineos, or any financial interest in it.
I ran a Fieldmaster station wagon, which is the one with all the comfy bits as well as the grrr bits. It was the petrol version and one of the ones with the software upgrade which has solved the early troubles which did its reputation so much harm.
Just worth saying that I’m a serial (old) Defender owner, as well as numerous Hiluxes, and over the years a few other large SUVs (XC90, Lexus RX450h, Discoveries and so on and I’ve probably done about 15,000 miles in new Defender, both S and LWB). I’ve also spent a lot of time over the years in sandy places driving (mostly) Land Cruisers for long periods, often weeks at a time, in very challenging terrain. Even found myself driving an Arctic Trucks Hilux for a week somewhere once. So whilst nobody’s an expert, very much me included, I do at least have some relevant on and off road experience.
First thing to say is that if you like a purposeful SUV the Grenadier looks fabulous in the flesh. Design is in the eye of the beholder of course but the entire vehicle, from conception to execution, is about function over form which I think actually gives it a fabulous form. It’s a bit like an automotive Tudor Pelagos - designed to do a thing really well and that’s that. It’s also huge. Really only lacks a GPMG on a swivel turret to complete the look.
Interior is great. There is a touch screen but everything important to the business of driving has a thumping great knob, switch or lever. You quickly learn where these are and can operate all of them by muscle memory without your eyes leaving the road. Also all chunky enough to be operated in gloves, which I can confirm from a very cold day’s shooting.
Driving position is magnificent, up there with Range Rover for me with the same concept of height but a lower dash to give a really brilliant view.
As you’ll have seen, lots of the switches are in the roof. I don’t know how practicably useful this is but I can tell you that it’s very easy to pretend to be landing a DC10 on a mountain strip in the Shans to pick up opium when you’re actually pulling in to Beaconsfield Services, and therefore this is a feature I enjoyed.
Lots of room inside, although the boot space is a little awkward to access all of. I liked the 1/3rd - 2/3rds rear door, but it does take some getting used to and the position of the spare wheel on it drastically reduces the view in your rear view mirror.
A real weak spot is that in a RHD car (which mine was) there’s nowhere really to put your left foot that’s out of the way. I got used to it, but in an £75k+ car you shouldn’t have to get used to it. There are a few of these RHD only issues, although none as annoying as this one. Apparently they’ll improve this at facelift, but can’t entirely solve it because the issue involves major components and would require a redesign. Not a deal breaker for me, but could be for some.
The 3.0ltr BMW engine is alright. Pulls strongly, although it requires a bit of focus at higher speeds. Little noisier than you’d get in a “luxury” SUV, but then Grenadier isn’t a luxury SUV, although it is very comfortable, that foot thing aside. It was pretty thirsty in my time. I’m not one for working out MPG but I’d say mid 20s at a guess.
One of the things you find after some time with it is it’s massively over-engineered. In this sense it’s far more the new old Land Cruiser than the new old Defender. Everything from the welds upwards is done to manage sustained extreme use in harsh environments. I really like the authenticity of this, although it was of little use to me in Oxfordshire and adds to the cost of the vehicle. But if you want a car that can cross Namibia rather than one which just looks like it can, you’ll approve. Design ethos a major factor here too. The car's designed to do this through being mechanically solid but (comparatively) simple, rather than being engineered to drive like a giant VW Golf so as not to alarm people using it for the school run in Tunbridge Wells. That kind of “car-like” feel can only be delivered in a 2+ tonne SUV or truck by the use of complex suspension and electronics, which is great in Kent but will screw you royally when it breaks 300 miles north east of Walvis Bay (and I do speak as someone who has driven across Namibia and had to help with a number of desert fixes a long way from a main dealer, or indeed a phone signal or any water).
The point of all this is that it drives like what it is, which many people seem to have hated (although others love). I think this is interesting because it’s about what you’ve experienced and what you want. Some of us understand that for the kind of robustness and capability Grenadier delivers, there have to be sacrifices. Defender is just as capable, with fewer sacrifices, but you don’t (and won’t) see many of them far from the towns in Africa because it does this through immense complexity, and that brings risk. Grenadier, as a modern car which meets the legislative stanards required, is not as simple as an old Land Rover, but its major elements could be fixed by a bush mechanic.
In terms of how this stuff has been received, the steering is a case in point. Some have hated it. Stu Gallagher from EVO (who’s a mate) even said it was dangerous. Stu’s 500x the driver I am but on this I think he’s wrong. It takes a lot of getting used to, and in UK road driving you have to keep your inputs up more than in most cars, so you can’t switch off (but then should you be switching off driving something that big down a b-road? I would say no). But when you’re properly off-road, it’s an absolute joy and allows real precision without being tiring.
Other positive is people loved it. Couldn’t park it anywhere without lots of attention and questions. People let you out of side roads, lots of thumbs-ups. Village pub vox pop suggested that people really want the brand to succeed, as a new British brand (and Grenadier is as British as Defender in that it was conceived and designed here then built abroad - actually it’s more British, because the company that builds it is British, not Indian, owned).
In summary, it all comes back to that thing again - it’s built as a tool to do a job. I think this is why it’s such a misunderstood car. Very, very few people have any conception or experience of the job it’s built to do, so they judge it against a grrrr-looking family car designed for suburban use with some (perhaps lots in some cases) off-road capability, and that’s simply not what it is. If you get what it is, and are happy to take the sacrifices that demands, I think it’s brilliant.
I’m originally from Kenya and if I was going back I’d be buying one. I’m not going back, but I may do so anyway...
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