Since I started the thread, I figure I would keep it going for a little longer. Yesterday I had an opportunity to drive the Grenadier on the street and highway for one hour. I had already driven off road so real test would be how would it drive as a daily driver.

Good: super quiet, even quieter than the Defender. The one i drove had KO2 AT and you couldn't hear any noise from the tire. Steering non issue. I thought I would hate the small steering wheel but I liked it a lot. It's like driving a go kart. No issues with acceleration. I got on highway super quick and at no time did I feel the power was lacking. I drove a preproduction version sent to America for test drives only. Fit and finish was still good and everything required a solid push to close.

Bad: I'm not going to sugar coat it but trying to park the thing in parking spot in one turn will take time to learn. I did attempt 5 different times and each time, I need to moves to make it happen. Turning radius is rough. It's like 2x that of Defender. No storage at all. If you bring a lot on a drive, you will not be happy. For example my wife carries 2 to 3 different drinks with her. That's not going to fly like the Defender which you can pile up in front.

in the end it was a fantastic experience and even if you never want one, you should take it for a drive. I look forward to mine being delivered in 2024.

 

Good to know all of this. I've already reached out to my local dealer; he knows I'm buying either way.

Weird thing is... I locked in my order in the day we were able to (July) but when I went back to the system a month later it didn't appear as though my deposit was converted to an actual order.

After reviewing my spec I decided to add the front and rear lockers & full leather + a few other items (rear gate table, national flag, etc...) that are dealer installed, then resubmitted as an 'official order'.

Turns out, I now have orders on BOTH specs! The first Grenadier is expected to be at the dealership in December or early January at the latest. The other has a build date of February with a delivery date sometime in April.

I'm a gear head but not an off road enthusiast so I think I'm gonna take delivery of the first... no front and rear lockers, no full leather (my 2020 D110 is partial leather) will save me a fair amount of $$. Then when the second order comes thru, depending on supply/demand and what happens with pricing, I'll either take it and flip the first or let it go to the dealer so they can sell it.

Keep this tread going ADVAW8S, your insights are valuable and I appreciate them!

Happy Saturday everyone!

 

BTW that magic mushroom with the sliders and KO2's and ladder (no RAI) is close to my spec! I've got the tow hitch, solid roof, black checker plates, etc...

 

Honest to G I’m sitting on my front porch right now licking my wounds from today’s Seahawks loss to the Bengals and one just drove by my house. I thought I was hallucinating. It was a dark robins egg blue.

 

The dealership os Elliot Bay Auto off of 99. They are building a Ineos only showroom in SLU. The two colors at EBA is Britannia Blue , One you saw and Magic Mushroom.

 

That explains it. The dealer is about 15 blocks away. Perhaps it was a test drive.

 

Wow - Nice. You'll have both a ND and a Grenadier!! Lucky you, indeed. I would love to have both!! At least I can get one of them! It's looking like either ND or the new Lexus GX Over Trail will win out over Grenadier. How do you find Grenadier compares to ND in terms of driving on congested streets, parking lots, and highway? The outside of Grenadier looks awesome, but the inside has to be a winner as well, if I'm to get the family on board with the purchase. I personally think ND is going to lose many sales to the new GX, because of all the ND potential features, you can't have a solid roof and you can't do 18" rims - both of those are STANDARD on the GX Over Trail, suggesting to me Lexus was like "why do folks that like ND not buy one?" Yep - I should be able to choose a more durable rim size and configure it with a solid, functional roof. The Grenadier offers a great roof + 18" rims, so I will test one out. But I travel with family, and if there's not enough places in the cabin for stuff (drinks, phones, etc), then it's going to be a tough sell. My existing LR is springs (not what I'd have with ND, which is air suspension). How's the bouncing around in it, compared to ND? My coils bounce folks around enough as it is, and if anything, once I have them drive in the ND, I think they won't want any more coil suspension.

 

"Good: super quiet, even quieter than the Defender."

Really? That's surprising. The Grenadier l
drove was great, and not noisy inside, but my Defender is a fair bit quieter and more refined.

As to be expected really bearing in mind the different markets for these two vehicles.

 

if you look at the off-road specs on the new GX they are miles behind the Defender to the point that 18” wheels etc are essentially a distinction without a difference. You’re not going anywhere in a GX you couldn’t handle with a Defender with much larger wheels.

 

Grenadier offers 17" rims. By far and away the only option worth considering.

If your coils are bouncing around it sounds like your shocks are gone/going.