Ineos Grenadier
Discussion
JAMSXR said:
Like it, nice spec. It’s good to see these being purchased for their intended purpose.
Thank you. Yes it would be a weird choice if you only drive from suburban home to office to golf club to home again. I have no doubt whatsoever that as a road car pretty much every SUV out there would be a better choice, including the new defender.
For the record, I didn’t consider a new Defender 110 or 130. I love the interior and I recognise the off-road ability with the awesome traction control but I’m planning on keeping this a very long time to make the spend worth while and I have reliability/complexity/longevity concerns with modern JLR products. Plus, I have experience of the local dealer network and they are complete a
holes. The original concept for the Grenadier was to make all the workshop manuals, product diagrams and parts lists freely available to owners and to offer worldwide fast shipping. This hasn’t happened yet but I absolutely love the idea. Slated for Q1 ‘24 but we’ll see how that pans out. I’ll be doing basic maintenance myself (oil changes, brakes etc).
There is an approved service centre near here (10 miles away) so that will be useful I’m sure. I’m going to pop in to say hello one day.
BigMon said:
I like it very much indeed and would probably have one over a Land Rover\Range Rover too tbh. For some reason it just does it for me (I have an Defender itch that I never scratched).
I love Defenders, had quite a few and they definitely get under your skin, flaws and all. There is a very good forum that exists for the IG - lot of very helpful feedback - aside from the software issues largely solvable by an update , the steering feel which seems you are ok with , left foot hump you mention , the turning circle which makes it challenging for urban use - the main issues seem to be the water ingress from the seals and some build quality issues with early VIN
OP if you have not already done so I would check out the forum and in particular the issues a guy posting as log splitter has uncovered on his trip through Africa - an early VIN might mean no radiator strut , single bolts in places they later used two and a few other issues resolvable with your local dealer
Sounds like it’s the right vehicle for your usage - hope it lives up to your hopes - I had liked the concept but wasn’t in the end right for me
OP if you have not already done so I would check out the forum and in particular the issues a guy posting as log splitter has uncovered on his trip through Africa - an early VIN might mean no radiator strut , single bolts in places they later used two and a few other issues resolvable with your local dealer
Sounds like it’s the right vehicle for your usage - hope it lives up to your hopes - I had liked the concept but wasn’t in the end right for me
Great to see somebody has done a Readers Ride on one of these!
I was lucky enough to go along to an Ineos roadshow last week where they took you out on an off-road course in the trailmaster diesel and then swapped to the fieldmaster petrol to try it on some roads. As quite the avid fan of these since they were announced, I was hoping it would be better than some of the reviews made it out to be and honestly, I thought both versions were not without flaws but they definitely felt like they were designed to go anywhere, with the road manners a bit further down the list, although in their defence, not the worst ride I have experienced from a car.
The steering, aside from the 4 turns lock to lock, is exactly the same as my M140i feels in regards to how it was weighted but I did notice (you may not) that the 12 o'clock marker was in black on a black wheel, so when we were off-road, it took a few seconds to figure out where the wheels were pointing, although the instructor/guide did show there is an option on the screen for that when in off-road mode.
Apologies for derailing the thread, I'm really enthusiastic about the Grenadier and keen to follow how you get on with it as one would be the ideal vehicle for me once they get a bit cheaper
I was lucky enough to go along to an Ineos roadshow last week where they took you out on an off-road course in the trailmaster diesel and then swapped to the fieldmaster petrol to try it on some roads. As quite the avid fan of these since they were announced, I was hoping it would be better than some of the reviews made it out to be and honestly, I thought both versions were not without flaws but they definitely felt like they were designed to go anywhere, with the road manners a bit further down the list, although in their defence, not the worst ride I have experienced from a car.
The steering, aside from the 4 turns lock to lock, is exactly the same as my M140i feels in regards to how it was weighted but I did notice (you may not) that the 12 o'clock marker was in black on a black wheel, so when we were off-road, it took a few seconds to figure out where the wheels were pointing, although the instructor/guide did show there is an option on the screen for that when in off-road mode.
Apologies for derailing the thread, I'm really enthusiastic about the Grenadier and keen to follow how you get on with it as one would be the ideal vehicle for me once they get a bit cheaper
FlyingTrotter said:
There is a very good forum that exists for the IG - lot of very helpful feedback - aside from the software issues largely solvable by an update , the steering feel which seems you are ok with , left foot hump you mention , the turning circle which makes it challenging for urban use - the main issues seem to be the water ingress from the seals and some build quality issues with early VIN
OP if you have not already done so I would check out the forum and in particular the issues a guy posting as log splitter has uncovered on his trip through Africa - an early VIN might mean no radiator strut , single bolts in places they later used two and a few other issues resolvable with your local dealer
Sounds like it’s the right vehicle for your usage - hope it lives up to your hopes - I had liked the concept but wasn’t in the end right for me
Found it, really interesting thread that, thank you. OP if you have not already done so I would check out the forum and in particular the issues a guy posting as log splitter has uncovered on his trip through Africa - an early VIN might mean no radiator strut , single bolts in places they later used two and a few other issues resolvable with your local dealer
Sounds like it’s the right vehicle for your usage - hope it lives up to your hopes - I had liked the concept but wasn’t in the end right for me
I will get underneath and see if I have the rad bracket, I suspect not.
PistonbrokePaul said:
Great to see somebody has done a Readers Ride on one of these!
I was lucky enough to go along to an Ineos roadshow last week where they took you out on an off-road course in the trailmaster diesel and then swapped to the fieldmaster petrol to try it on some roads. As quite the avid fan of these since they were announced, I was hoping it would be better than some of the reviews made it out to be and honestly, I thought both versions were not without flaws but they definitely felt like they were designed to go anywhere, with the road manners a bit further down the list, although in their defence, not the worst ride I have experienced from a car.
The steering, aside from the 4 turns lock to lock, is exactly the same as my M140i feels in regards to how it was weighted but I did notice (you may not) that the 12 o'clock marker was in black on a black wheel, so when we were off-road, it took a few seconds to figure out where the wheels were pointing, although the instructor/guide did show there is an option on the screen for that when in off-road mode.
Apologies for derailing the thread, I'm really enthusiastic about the Grenadier and keen to follow how you get on with it as one would be the ideal vehicle for me once they get a bit cheaper
Yes I must admit I quite like the saddle leather wheel, if I had been buying new I would have ticked that box - I think the 12 marker is slightly more obvious. I was lucky enough to go along to an Ineos roadshow last week where they took you out on an off-road course in the trailmaster diesel and then swapped to the fieldmaster petrol to try it on some roads. As quite the avid fan of these since they were announced, I was hoping it would be better than some of the reviews made it out to be and honestly, I thought both versions were not without flaws but they definitely felt like they were designed to go anywhere, with the road manners a bit further down the list, although in their defence, not the worst ride I have experienced from a car.
The steering, aside from the 4 turns lock to lock, is exactly the same as my M140i feels in regards to how it was weighted but I did notice (you may not) that the 12 o'clock marker was in black on a black wheel, so when we were off-road, it took a few seconds to figure out where the wheels were pointing, although the instructor/guide did show there is an option on the screen for that when in off-road mode.
Apologies for derailing the thread, I'm really enthusiastic about the Grenadier and keen to follow how you get on with it as one would be the ideal vehicle for me once they get a bit cheaper
I may see if I can get the wheel either re-covered (I have used royal steering wheels a few times before - they are excellent) or try to get hold of one at a reasonable price.
Lefty said:
I’ve driven 80 miles in it today.
Some more thoughts:
Whilst the switches are all logically laid out and well spaced, not to mention easy to use with gloves on (it’s -3 and snowing just now) they're not all quite the chunky, solid, positive-feeling heavy-duty switches you might want or expect.
Driving position is great for me, no issues at all. The ergonomics that some people find to be a problem seem to fit me perfectly (I’m 6’4”-and-a-bit, so tall but not a giant). Love the flat door top to rest my arm on, just like a van. Everything falls to hand easily.
Annoying that start/stop has to be switched off every journey. I would rather it remembered that I switched it off.
Long travel accelerator pedal - takes a bit of getting used to but don’t notice now. It’s not boost threshold or lag but it takes a fraction longer to get off the line than I expected, almost like a throttle mapping thing or some kind of slight delay in the gearbox. It’s not an issue, I don’t think it’s a fault, just a quirk.
I found out how to quieten down the bingbongs. That’s A Good Thing.
Wife loves it, though she finds it quite high for climbing in to, she’s only 5’2” bless.
suspect that this is the BMW auto thing ( prevalent in their cars of the 00's) whereby the car stops in second and takes off in second, unless you press the pedal harder and it'll kick down into first.Some more thoughts:
Whilst the switches are all logically laid out and well spaced, not to mention easy to use with gloves on (it’s -3 and snowing just now) they're not all quite the chunky, solid, positive-feeling heavy-duty switches you might want or expect.
Driving position is great for me, no issues at all. The ergonomics that some people find to be a problem seem to fit me perfectly (I’m 6’4”-and-a-bit, so tall but not a giant). Love the flat door top to rest my arm on, just like a van. Everything falls to hand easily.
Annoying that start/stop has to be switched off every journey. I would rather it remembered that I switched it off.
Long travel accelerator pedal - takes a bit of getting used to but don’t notice now. It’s not boost threshold or lag but it takes a fraction longer to get off the line than I expected, almost like a throttle mapping thing or some kind of slight delay in the gearbox. It’s not an issue, I don’t think it’s a fault, just a quirk.
I found out how to quieten down the bingbongs. That’s A Good Thing.
Wife loves it, though she finds it quite high for climbing in to, she’s only 5’2” bless.
There are also 'pedalbox' things which allow you to change the curve of the pedal signal vs its actual travel, meaning you can eliminate or vastly reduce the initial 'nothing is happening' feeling. Doesn't make it any quicker, but can genuinely make the engine seem more responsive as you are able to map what actually happens to your expectations.
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