Ineos Grenadier reviews

[Tinki]

I am picking mine up tomorrow. Will update you guys if you are interested after a few days with it .

 

[Dunwaters]

Sat in one yesterday. The windscreen seems quite low, like you’re looking out of a WWII pillbox. And where the sun visors are bolted obscures another 3/4” off the top of the windscreen. The lack of vision would annoy me.
I was surprised by how big it was.
The owner assured me that it was correctly registered as a commercial van, even though it’s a four-door station wagon with glass all round. I have no idea how that works.

Crew cab?

 

[Tinki]

Have a look on YouTube at Harrys farm and Harrys garage he has posted to very honest videos re on road and off road

I saw those . Honest for him but i think a bit biased (maybe being a consultant for JLR had something to do with it ? ) . No one can argue that Harry is a car guy . But i think he treated it and expected it to be a sports car , not a 2.8t brick .
Some of his points were valid but majority i think were off the mark .
i will reserve my thoughts untill i have done some miles in it .

 

[Pete1774]

There's a good YouTube review by farmer and motoring journalist Harry Metcalf

 

[Heym SR20]

Yes I had seen the Harry’s farm review.

Re comments on the TD5 Defender - fully rebuilt with galvanised chassis etc. challenge with those are that you paying silly money these days. I have also seen them done with the BMW straight six engine so best of both worlds.

They are still a Defender though which I just too cramped. The series and very early 110’s with the old thin seats I find a lot less uncomfortable.

 

[Larkin]

Followed it from the beginning as a potentially Defender replacement but at their current price point I think they just blew themselves out the water.

 

[Kalahari]

I have had a look at one and I don't think it could be worse than a defender, however all my comments should be ignored as I am in the second hand Jimny bracket not a Grenadier or a rebuilt Defender. Always hated LandRovers so maybe I am biased.

David.

PS At least with a Jimny you can avoid the dreaded "girly gears"!

 

[TringSaint]

The thing I don’t get, and I’m sure someone can explain it to me, is why modern 4x4’s (proper ones) are so heavy when surely the ideal vehicle would be relatively lightweight in order to not just sink into mud, etc?

I had a disco3 until is snapped it crank, and whilst it was great on the road, on soft mud it tended to create big ruts and was not great at driving along very soft ground. Admittedly it had mixed use tyres on it, but so does my Shogun and that is fine.

Difference with the shogun is that for roughly the same size vehicle it weighs c100kg less than a disco.

With the grenadier coming in at 2.8 tonnes, that is 500kg more than my shogun!! That’s a lot of extra lard to drag about.

So why the weight? Surely a 4x4 that is c2 tonnes would be ideal (defender 90 td5 weighs in at 1.87T and the 110 is 1.95T compared with 2.26T and 2.66T for the new defenders respectively).

 

[Cyres]

I saw 4 in Kelso Town Square it was the works team doing a promo drive around UK.

 

[Steff]

Funny that. German number plate but RH drive.

 

[Heym SR20]

The thing I don’t get, and I’m sure someone can explain it to me, is why modern 4x4’s (proper ones) are so heavy when surely the ideal vehicle would be relatively lightweight in order to not just sink into mud, etc?

I had a disco3 until is snapped it crank, and whilst it was great on the road, on soft mud it tended to create big ruts and was not great at driving along very soft ground. Admittedly it had mixed use tyres on it, but so does my Shogun and that is fine.

Difference with the shogun is that for roughly the same size vehicle it weighs c100kg less than a disco.

With the grenadier coming in at 2.8 tonnes, that is 500kg more than my shogun!! That’s a lot of extra lard to drag about.

So why the weight? Surely a 4x4 that is c2 tonnes would be ideal (defender 90 td5 weighs in at 1.87T and the 110 is 1.95T compared with 2.26T and 2.66T for the new defenders respectively).

Couldn’t agree more on this. Big 4x4s are needed for toughness, carrying and pulling big loads. And to some extent if you are going long distances you need to carry lots of fuel, for which you need a bigger engine which needs more fuel.

Back in the mid 1970’s the Renault 4 was very popular in Africa. Would pretty much go anywhere that you could in a landrover series vehicle. They were comfortable on dirt roads. And if the fell off the road or got stuck easy enough to find a few guys to pick it up and carry it around the obstacle. I remember driving back from the farm after going hunting with my Pa, with labrador and me curled up asleep on the front bench seat.

I had a Renault kangoo for several years. Just a two wheel drive one, but with snow and mud tyres. It would go pretty much anywhere. The 4x4 version would go anywhere with proper tyres fitted.

Hunter friends in Alpine Austria all use the Fiat Panda 4x4 or old Suzuki jeeps. For carrying big red stags or chamois they use a basket mounted on the tow bar. They are both very capable little vehicles and perfect twisting Alpine type tracks.

For most cases what you need is not necessarily traction from 4x4, but good ground clearance and an underside that doesn’t have lots of bits that can get caught on rocks or branches. Brake and fuel lines all need well protecting.

 

[bowji john]

Own a Renault (5 I think?) in Zambia in the 70s and you wouldn’t keep it long

They were the most frequently stolen vehicle

Huge demand as it was the preferred vehicle for taxi drivers

 

[Heym SR20]

Own a Renault (5 I think?) in Zambia in the 70s and you wouldn’t keep it long

They were the most frequently stolen vehicle

Huge demand as it was the preferred vehicle for taxi drivers

No I think they were Renault 4’s. Still plenty in Lusaka in the early 1990’s when I lived there. Also everywhere in Zimbabwe.

 

[bowji john]

You have a better memory than I

Our family car in Zambia at the time was a Mk 1 Cortina I think

My Grandparents in Rhodesia ran a land rover of some kind

 

[Kalahari]

Going backwards in Botswana:-

Straight six Chevrolet Fleetside, C30 2WD
Straight six Chevrolet Fleetside, C30 2WD.
Alligator bonnet Bedford straight six 2WD
Trojan 1 ton pickup 3 cylinder Perkins 2WD
Austin A70 pickup straight four 2WD.

That takes me back to the late 50s and there is a pattern they all went all over the country without 4WD.

David.

 

[DCG]

Sat in one yesterday. The windscreen seems quite low, like you’re looking out of a WWII pillbox. And where the sun visors are bolted obscures another 3/4” off the top of the windscreen. The lack of vision would annoy me.
I was surprised by how big it was.
The owner assured me that it was correctly registered as a commercial van, even though it’s a four-door station wagon with glass all round. I have no idea how that works.

Not sure if it’s the same now but you used to be able to do the same with a defender station wagon. It was all to do with its load capacity being over a certain weight, but meant you had to have certain wheels and heavy duty springs which made it even more uncomfortable to travel in. Main advantage was you could claim the VAT back.

 

[Larkin]

The thing I don’t get, and I’m sure someone can explain it to me, is why modern 4x4’s (proper ones) are so heavy when surely the ideal vehicle would be relatively lightweight in order to not just sink into mud, etc?

I had a disco3 until is snapped it crank, and whilst it was great on the road, on soft mud it tended to create big ruts and was not great at driving along very soft ground. Admittedly it had mixed use tyres on it, but so does my Shogun and that is fine.

Difference with the shogun is that for roughly the same size vehicle it weighs c100kg less than a disco.

With the grenadier coming in at 2.8 tonnes, that is 500kg more than my shogun!! That’s a lot of extra lard to drag about.

So why the weight? Surely a 4x4 that is c2 tonnes would be ideal (defender 90 td5 weighs in at 1.87T and the 110 is 1.95T compared with 2.26T and 2.66T for the new defenders respectively).

Remember there is bugger all to a td5 90, its aluminium body and zero impact protection, its like driving a truck made out of Rizzla papers. The newer ones are an extra 400/500kg heavier, I assume to meet stricter regulations, i.e. another tank to store your pig urine/adblue and the 200 extra ECU's.

Couldn’t agree more on this. Big 4x4s are needed for toughness, carrying and pulling big loads. And to some extent if you are going long distances you need to carry lots of fuel, for which you need a bigger engine which needs more fuel.

Back in the mid 1970’s the Renault 4 was very popular in Africa. Would pretty much go anywhere that you could in a landrover series vehicle. They were comfortable on dirt roads. And if the fell off the road or got stuck easy enough to find a few guys to pick it up and carry it around the obstacle. I remember driving back from the farm after going hunting with my Pa, with labrador and me curled up asleep on the front bench seat.

I had a Renault kangoo for several years. Just a two wheel drive one, but with snow and mud tyres. It would go pretty much anywhere. The 4x4 version would go anywhere with proper tyres fitted.

Hunter friends in Alpine Austria all use the Fiat Panda 4x4 or old Suzuki jeeps. For carrying big red stags or chamois they use a basket mounted on the tow bar. They are both very capable little vehicles and perfect twisting Alpine type tracks.

For most cases what you need is not necessarily traction from 4x4, but good ground clearance and an underside that doesn’t have lots of bits that can get caught on rocks or branches. Brake and fuel lines all need well protecting.

Spent many a day in Drumclog watching Jimny's take micky out of Defenders and Hilux and all sorts of bigger built 4x4's, they are very capable with a 2 inch lift. But if you work in agriculture or construction a Jimny or equivalents towing capacity (1300kg) just wont cut it. Some people have trailers almost as heavy as that, never mind the payload.

 

[Scotty99]

Saw my first one on the road today, coming in the opposite direction. First impression?……..they are big!

 

[Tinki]

Just brought mine home just now . Absoloutely epic . Anyone looking for a sports car look elsewhere. If you want a “mini” tank to run around then this is for you ! Go drive on for your self before deciding.

 

[BWH]

Picked up one the other day. Nicely made, but the position of the pedals is poor and there is an uneccesary arm on the door that compromises the driving position. The rear door set up is a bit weird. I'm surprised the fundamentals of the driving position werent sorted earlier in development.