I like the switches and prewired circuits. That is a great feature but I know my other half would bloody hate it after the sleek refinement of the Defender. She never uses any of the features anyway.

I don't like the "this is so novel that we don't need any dials in front of the driver". Not a big deal I guess but the driver's side info panel looks dumb and pointless. I like a speedometer in direct view.

Factory sliders, 17" steels, KO2s out of the box and an easy bolt on winch. Huzzah!

No snorkel and a paltry 800mm wading depth. Harroo!

Boot space looks good and I love the split tailgate. Colored ladder frame is cool but not something I'd pay for. Overall I'm excited to have my deposit placed. If the price is right and interest rates aren't a disaster when the day comes I'll likely pull the trigger and trade in my Honda Civic. Its breakover angle and wading depth leave a little to be desired.

 

As do 281 hp/332tq out of a modern 3.0 twin-turbo I6, given JLR make 400/400 out of the exact same spec.

As for snorkel, what am I missing? My understanding is that a factory snorkel is offered, and standard on the Trialmaster trim.

 

It's only a RAI. I don't traverse much desert here in the PNW so it's about as useful as a glass hammer. Not that I'm regularly fording rivers Leyland Bro style (yet) but I just don't see the sense in a RAI and the demand for same.

 

I don’t think I had read any actual details, only saw it called a snorkel everywhere I read about it.

Given the knowledge Radcliffe has about this sport, I wonder if it actually does function as a snorkel in the best sense of the word, but none of the official material calls it that because they don’t want to get sued into replacing engines by every yahoo who drives the thing in over cab height.

 

Sir Jim with an update on their dev costs and future plans for Ineos.

 

This is exactly me too. I'm at the point where I fully expect this to have all the charm of a Home Depot rental truck.

Is it good that I'm now going in with such low expectations?

 

Initially I thought the same but it's not a snorkel unfortunately.

Also odd that the Grenadier comes with either 31.6" or 32.1" tires. 265/70 R17 and 255/70 R18 respectively. OEM 4Runner and Defender sizes.

An odd discrepancy that is not reflected in the specs for ground clearance.

 

Watching the vids, and reading reviews, the granadier seems to solve for a professional off-road vehicle. Working on sites, hills, farms etc,

I think what they've been able to do has been seriously impressive. But I would be a little nervous about the company's longevity and sustainability. Will it be around in 4 years time? Can they turn a profit? What about electrification? Maybe some government contracts and a more industrial application might see them through. But there are much larger manufacturers facing serious challenges to stay afloat.

Depending on whether this EV business really takes off, it begs the question if they'll be able to operate in a decade's time.

 

They certainly have an oddball mix of probably low-volume vehicles planned but money won't be an issue. Jim's personal $16B could buy and shut down JLR for the lulz. Add in the $65B market cap of Ineos and this is peanuts.
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I think for 90%+ of the market the terms RAI and snorkel are used interchangeably.

I'm guessing the distinction you are making is whether fitting of a true snorkel would raise the wading depth to the height of the intake at the top of that snorkel. But surely this would require complete electrical system sealing and parallel breather hoses for all other vents in the vehicle? I haven't researched what that would take on a new gen defender, but in the past I've fitted breather hoses to differential housings and transfer cases on solid axle Toyotas. Hard to see how an OEM would support a "true" snorkel and all the add-ons for >1m wading (never mind the liability of encouraging people to wade >900mm of water just by buying a factory package - in most cases that will result in a vehicle washing down stream and occupants swimming)