Larger than life Ineos a contradiction. But it works
Said to be the upshot of a bet placed during a binge at multinational chemical tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s favourite London pub, the Ineos Grenadier is a contradiction in itself. It has a Union Jack merged with the German schwarz-rot-gold flag badge on its right flank. But there’s a decal on the left rear side window proudly proclaiming its French heritage with a Tricoleur strip.
Sir Jim sponsored Mercedes, but the Grenadier is BMW-powered. And it thinks it’s a Defender, but it isn’t. Even though Land Rover tried to sue old Jim on trademark. But failed. So possibly because of all that, were never had great expectations about the Ineos Grenadier. But touch our hearts it certainly did. For all the wrong reasons perhaps, but it did.
Ther long story of this Ineos is it was indeed inspired by whatever transpired at that Grenadier pub. It’s one of those typical carmaker stories of a spawned rich guy who went out to do better. Like Lamborghini and Ferrari, Defender fan Ratcliffe approached JLR to acquire the original Landy tooling to continue building Defender after production ceased after 67 years at Solihull in 2016.
Land Rover blocked Ratcliffe. Tried to sue him too.
Land Rover blocked the deal. So Ratcliffe created his Grenadier. He engaged Magna Steyr as engineering partner, signed BMW as powertrain supplier and unveiled the Grenadier concept online in 2020. It was supposed to be built in Wales, but Grenadier is now produced at Ineos Automotive’s ex-Mercedes- Smart plant in, Hambach France since July 2022, with a maximum capacity of 25,000 units a year. If it ever needs that.
While it may appear so at first glance and as the courts determined after JLR sued Ineos on trademark, the Ineos Grenadier is not a Land Rover Defender replica. But it is clear that the mission was clearly to build a modern Defender. Ineos however took a broad look at the hardcore 4×4 market and carefully studied the likes of the Mercedes G-Wagen, Toyota Land Cruisers and Jeeps, Ford Bronco and Mitsubishi Pajero in its Grenadier development.
Ratcliffe promised an extremely capable, very honest and uncomplicated vehicle in a durable and reliable 4×4 that would continue to handle the harshest environments long after others had given up. The upshot is a basic and familiar 4×4 that goes its own way while still paying homage to the classic Land Rover Defender. So much so that most people still think it’s a Defender. But it also looks a bit like a G Wagen, and there]s clearly a bit of Cruiser here and there too.
Grenadier certainly has a Defender ring to it
Its squared off grill with LED auxiliary high beam headlamps seemingly jutting off angular pontoon fenders, a roof that doubles as a rack, tie bars and two-piece swing-open tailgate; exposed door hinges, multipurpose utility rails, and the rest, certainly have a Defender ring to them. But step aboard and the Ineos Grenadier is something of a revelation inside. Featuring Recaro seats and a Bluetooth hands-free, Auto and CarPlay infotainment set perched high on the dash with wireless streaming, calling and music, it’s the rest of that cockpit that really makes all the difference.
In a world where woke carmakers are besieged by creators who seem to suffer from an uncurable disease that mysteriously prevents them from designing buttons and knobs into their in car systems, the Ineos is a revelation. Swarming with great old fashioned switches, buttons, knobs, sliders and more, there’s a physical control for every function. Even a separate toot button for the cyclists. As you’d expect from the Ineos Grenadier’s Tour de France roots.
Even after a couple of days, the old hand knew exactly where to descend to turn or switch something. Subliminally, naturally and very normally. After a week, it knew where to go to do a lot more, from the dash to the airplane like overhead panel to the stiff and notchy low range lever, and the rest. No chance of getting lost in some tribute to the smartphone that should not be near a car. Yet we’re subjected to that crap in just about every other vehicle we drive. Bravo Ineos. We’d buy this car just for the buttons.
Many reasons to want a Grenadier
But there’s other reasons we’d want a grenadier, too. Many of them. While our hearing aid beige Ineos Grenadier 3.0TD Fieldmaster wagon tester benefited a subtly detuned 183 kW 550 Nm BMW B57 single-turbo diesel straight six, you can also have it with a 210 kW 450 Nm BMW B58 turbo petrol. It turns a similar ZF eight-speed auto with manual override to a regular Beemer but gains a heavy duty torque converter and a Tremec 2.5:1 low-range for its permanent four-wheel drive.
Built on a traditional 4×4 box-section ladder frame chassis under a stive and modern engineered galvanised steel body, Grenadier has heavy duty Carraro solid axles suspended by Eibach-damped five-link coil suspension at each end with anti-roll bars for enhanced roadholding. Grenadier also packs sharp Brembo ventilated front and solid rear disc brakes and features power assisted recirculating ball steering.
With nine degrees of front axle articulation and 12 degrees at the rear, and, quite literally, the turning circle of the Titanic at 13.5 m, there’s a centre differential lock and skid plates front and rear for the heavy work. This 4.85 metre long 2.05 m tall Belstaff Wagon rides on a 2,92 m wheelbase. With 36.2 degree approach, 28.2 breakover and 36.1 degree departure angles and a 800 mm wading depth, this thing is pretty unstoppable in the wild.
Grenadier is pretty unstoppable in the wild.
Grenadier adds Off-Road and Wading modes and Pathfinder off-road navigation, towing eyes front and rear, roof rails and roof protection strips. There’s a full-size spare wheel and those 30/70 split rear doors open to a cavernous boot complete with a load bay mounting bar rated to carry 750 kilos of whatever you need to. That’s over and above Grenadier’s 3.5-ton braked towing capacity. And there’s also rear park assist with PDC for the backing up.
Fire it up by inserting the good old key in its hole ant turning it. Grenadier burbles to life with a typical BMW straight six growl. Controls are easy and grenadier pulls strong, even stronger than Ineos’ most adequate 9.8 seconds 0-100 and and effortless 160 km/h top end claims, as you will notice below. It sips 9.3 EU4 litres per hundred at 247 g/100 km CO2. It’s not exactly smooth on the road, but you soon get used to and accept that grinding and groaning and 4×4 tyre noise on the tar. It’s all part of the deal.
Not sure if its intentional, but the Grenadier also adheres to that good old Land Rover Defender quirkiness very well. The doors do not close unless really slammed. It has more warning lights than it has switches behind the steering wheel backed by readout warnings on the screen. And there are inevitably a few of them glowing at any given time. For the door ajar, too much oil, too little tyre pressure. You name it. But next time you switch it in, they’re gone.
Quirks only add to A monster character
There’s a lot of other inexplicable stuff built in there too. Like the ramp under the driver’s left foot and a whole lot if switches we are yet to understand what they do. These quirks perhaps gave credence to our initial resistance. But having lived with it for a week, all they did was add even more to the monster character that is the Ineos Grenadier.
Sure, it may be the product of a lost bet in the Grenadier pub. But this Ineos is so real, so honest and much larger than life, that it’s an absolute win. If you really want a most different and very real 4×4, maybe go check that Ineos Grenadier out after all. We’re pretty sure you be just as taken aback as we are. – Michele Lupini
Images & testing: Giordano Lupini
ROAD TESTED: Ineos Grenadier 3.0TD
Fieldmaster wagon
Engine: 3-litre turbodiesel I6
Drive: 8-speed automatic 4x4
Braked Towing:
TESTED:
0-60 km/h: 3.89 sec
0-100 km/h: 9.51 sec
0-120 km/h: 13.74 sec
400m: 16.3sec @ 130 km/h
80-120 km/h: 7.45 sec
CLAIMED:
VMax: 160 km/h
Fuel: 9.3 l/100 km
CO2: 247 g/km
Range: 970 km
Warranty/Service: 5y 100K km /opt. 5Y 75K km
LIST PRICE: R1.86M
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