Written by Keith Adams Published: 5 October 2023 Updated: 17 January 2024

Overview

The Ineos Grenadier is what you get when a billionaire decides he really misses the old Land Rover Defender. No, really – it’s the brainchild of chemicals magnate Jim Ratcliffe, and it’s intended to be an uncompromisingly utilitarian vehicle that puts the best-offroaders to shame on the rough stuff.

Its focus on this, plus its chunky price tag, puts the Grenadier in natural contention with some of our favourite off-road vehicles. The latest Land Rover Defender is, of course, the one to beat, despite being rather softer round the edges than its long-lived predecessor. Then there’s the brilliant Mercedes G-Glass. Or, for those who don’t want to spend as much, the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Ranger Raptor both have serious chops both on and off the tarmac. It’s an impressive set of rivals.

Originally pegged to be built in Wales, those plans were shelved when a facility in France became available. And with BMW-sourced engines, this perhaps isn’t the full-bore British assault on the market that people with flags in their Twitter handles might wish it was. But is it any good?

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What’s it like inside?

The Grenadier’s interior is like nothing else on the road – which has good and bad points. The whole centre console is festooned with switchgear, rising right into a panel on the roof, and it’s all chunky enough to be operated by people wearing gloves.

Those who find touchscreen-driven car interiors will enjoy the Grenadier’s approach, even featuring a rotary controller for the widescreen infotainment system. A gear selector borrowed from BMW does look rather out of place here, though, especially next to the chunky knob that chooses between the high and low-range gear ratios.

Ergonomically, we have some complaints. Right-hand-drive Grenadiers have a very tight pedal box due to the way the exhaust is routed. While your right foot gets plenty of space to operate the accelerator and brake, your left foot sits on an uncomfortably high platform that, in our case, led to a rather achy leg after a long drive.

Combined with the slight off-centre approach your head takes to view the speedometer and other driving data on the centre screen, even the Grenadier’s comfortable seat can’t help here. It is, at least, more spacious than a classic Defender or a Jeep Wrangler. Visibility is rubbish, though, with the off-centre rear doors and massive spare wheel completely nixing any view out of the rear window.

Then there are the smaller niggles. The key feels dreadful – certainly not a premium component. The climate control only goes down to 19 degrees before switching to ‘LO’, so anyone who runs hot will need to adjust the fan manually or be deafened by it going great guns all the time. And the stereo only has 14 steps in its volume control, which means each one is is a massive leap from the previous. These minor complaints all became quite annoying to us after an extended drive.

It is at least spacious.

Practicality and boot space

Three full-size adults sat in the back behind two full-size occupants of the front seats without anyone feeling cramped. The front seats are carefully shaped to give those in the back as much knee room as possible. The Grenadier Station Wagon is a five-seater, all five seats being from Recaro. There will be storage boxes and batteries under the seats.

Luggage capacity is excellent when you pit the Grenadier against other cars along the lines of Land Cruisers, Defenders and G-Wagons. The two-seater offers 2,088 litres of boot space and can take a Euro pallet and has a decent payload of 856kg. Even the smallest model has 1,152 litres of space in the boot.

The details vary with each car, but the boot has a wealth of tie-down hooks and the option of interior fixing rails, making it easy to tie down your luggage or secure tools. The same philosophy extends to the outside, where various rails make it easy to attach accessories, from Ineos and aftermarket suppliers.

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What’s it like to drive?

There are two engines, a petrol and a diesel, both 3.0-litre straight-sixes from BMW. Smartly, Ineos has a deal that covers the next generation of engines as well. Transmissions are from ZF, axles from tractor-makers Carraro, and a lot of the development work has been done by Magna, the same people who make the G-Class for Mercedes-Benz.

The diesel engine seems to be poorly calibrated with the eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. It’s quite a contrast with the petrol, which is responsive, smooth and feels like it has more power and torque than you’d ever need. The figures don’t really tell the story: 0-62mph in 8.6sec for the petrol rather than 9.9sec for the diesel, and a top speed of 99mph in both cases. On the road, the petrol feels quicker and more enjoyable.

If your idea of what an SUV should be like is shaped by the BMW X5 or current Defender, you’re likely to find the Grenadier a bit basic on road, and a bit slow. Whatever your expectation, you probably won’t get on very well with the steering – even compared to the likes of the old Defender or the Suzuki Jimny, which uses a similar recirculating ball setup, it’s overlight, imprecise and not at all reassuring.

It’s tuned this way for superior off-road handling – recirculating ball setups don’t ‘kick’ back like regular rack and pinion systems, and can handle shocks better. But it’s a compromise too far for us to recommend this for on-road use.

The long-travel suspension is impressive on and off the road: soaking up bumps, and keeping the wheels on the ground. The ground clearance is good, so deep ruts don’t halt your progress.

Off-road, both engines make an excellent job of pulling you up steep hills, ploughing along rutted tracks and generally taking care of business, helped by judicious combinations of diff locks, low gear sets and ESP off. It can take you to some pretty remarkable places. It’s thirsty while it does it, though. We averaged just 21mpg driving the petrol (on-road!) to a shoot location around 100 miles away. When we started shooting the off-road portions, this dropped to the low teens.

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What models and trims are available?

There aren’t many trim levels. But there will be a lot of options and accessories, and Ineos is working with aftermarket specialists to ensure they can offer good-quality bolt-ons. The first Grenadier will be the wagon, followed by a shorter-wheelbase version and a double-cab pick-up with an extended wheelbase.

There are some serious options on the top models but mostly there is a cloth-and-plastic approach that will work well for the farmers, builders, aid agencies, explorers and weekend outdoor types who between them will make up a big chunk of the 25,000-30,000 buyers Ineos hopes to attract every year.

What else should I know?

There isn’t a traditional dealer network as such, but there is a lot of online-first thinking as you can do pretty much everything at home on the configurator. This does mean that the price is fixed and you can’t go in and expect a discount off the asking price.

The two-seat utility wagon opens the range, with a more premium Trailmaster edition sitting above that – the same as the more road-orientated Fieldmaster edition. The commercial vehicle versions are classified as ‘N1’ vehicles, which means they are officially vans for tax purposes, so you can knock the VAT off that, too.

Read on for our verdict on the Ineos Grenadier – should you choose this upstart over its more established rivals?