This is the only video I've found that truly puts the Land Rover Defender and INEOS Grenadier through a real off-road test.

 

I really wanted to like the Grenadier. I really did. Someone I play tennis with traded his Defender for a Grenadier and he let me drive it. He had it for a week before he traded it for another Defender. Objectively the WORST modern car I've ever driven. I fully understand that it is a purpose-built off roader with no compromises, but man that thing is compromised. The ride quality is atrocious - an old Defender has a much smoother ride. The steering and handling is borderline dangerous. Wranglers have recirculating ball steering and feel much more planted. The B58 BMW I6 is just as smooth as it is in BMWs, but they detuned it so much, that it genuinely feels slow. I think 0-60 is around ten seconds, and it feels that. The interior is cheap, the lack of a gauge cluster is irritating. Infotainment is terrible, as is the sound system, which is composed of off-the-shelf JBL speakers you can buy at Walmart. No doubt it is highly capable, but the Defender, on paper, is still more capable than the Grenadier. The build quality was also subpar, with the thing rattling to hell over every road imperfection (which you can seriously feel). I don't know who in their right mind would pay $85k+ for a decently equipped Grenadier. If you only drove it off-road, then it is fantastic, but as an everyday car, you can't get much worse than this thing. Also, it looks like a cheap Chinese knock-off Defender.

 

Thanks for sharing the video. Like CincyRovers, I also liked the Grenadier and placed an order for one when they launched it, but I ended up canceling my order. I just prefer the exterior and interior of the new Defender.

 

Grenadier's are showing up all over where I live. From a distance, I keep thinking "Wow, a 110! How did that get imported!?" Then "oh, right..."

One observation about the Grenadier: The control panels look so much like the early 70's "military look" switch-gear that seemed to be on every portable radio, etc., for a year or two.

 

Not a good look for 2024.

 

Along the same lines, the BMW signature gear shifter among those buttons... looks out of place.

One thing they did right is - loadspace rails. Here, I have to pay extra for them (not to mention I can't configure them in and have to buy separately), though I'm sure the cost difference would've been negligible had they made it a standard feature. Kudos to G-Wagen and some BMWs for doing that.

Image source: https://www.autoblog.com/features/in...evealed-photos

 

I think they did a great job for a first year production manufacturer. But as others have said, unfortunately, it is just not competitive with other off-road vehicles at that price point. I am optimistic, however, they have an awesome opportunity to make some real improvements to become more competitive with future iterations & trim levels/packages:

• Steering needs to be safer
• Even just a few, small, added luxuries:
  • ventilated seats
  • even a center console fridge
• The cargo space:
  • optimized wheel wells - because they're sloped, you can't set anything on them or easily build around them without wasting space; plus they block loadspace when rear seats are folded down
  • perhaps an added sub-trunk - this is typically where dual battery builds go, which would be nice
• Roof rack power outputs - this is probably my favorite feature of the grenadier, but I'd love to see:
  • a switch to draw power from a dual battery, rather than the starter battery (which turns off when the vehicle is off)
  • an input jack on the roof to bring solar into the vehicle to a dual battery
• Probably THE most important request: finally publish the "how to repair everything on your own" guide that they promised. They originally advertised that the grenadier would be as easy to work on yourself as the original defenders. But they compromised, added way more electronics than people thought they would at first, and then never released the repair docs like they promised.

I'm not a huge fan of the infotainment console, but I'd happily live with it if a handful of above features were ever added. I don't think any of them are too extreme of a change if they offered them in a higher trim level. And, honestly, if these were implemented I think it would put the grenadier in a class of its own that could command the high price point they're targeting.

 

Fun video, thanks for sharing. This is a LR forum so we all know who we were rooting for lol. Still, the Grenadier is cool in it's own way and individual tastes will vary in terms of how much one likes the styling.

My friend has an Ineos Grenadier, I've driven it and it's not nearly as pleasant/relaxing to drive as our New Defenders. It's got a super beefy chassis and drive train, but the handling is rougher, turning radius pretty terrible, the steering is not exactly self centering upon straightening out from a turn so you have to work at it...actually, the steering requires constant attention even when going straight. Brakes on the Defender are way better, but the Ineos is a heavier beast of a car. I have no doubts it's really awesome off road 4x4 if you're wanting a more retro experience and less technology, but it accomplishes that w/ quite a few compromises and it still actually has quite a bit of technology/electronics.

For the type of driving and off roading I do (and let's be honest, we all spend > 95% of our time on the road, even an avid off roader is driving on a road to get to the trails the vast majority of the time) the Defender with all it's additional comfort/convenience and still excellent off road and snow performance is just fine with me.

Also, is it me, but in that video, the Defender looked like it had some pretty NOT aggressive tires compared to the Grenadier yet still did very well?

As I said, fun video but we all have our use cases. Just glad and impressed that the dude who owns Ineos made a very niche car like the Grenadier happen at all!

 

Top Gear did a good comparison article on the Defender and Grenadier.

l tried to post a link but it wouldn't copy/paste.

Try a search

"The big boxy 4x4 test" Top Gear.

That should bring up the article, it does in the U.K. anyway.

l had a Grenadier on order, and also a new Defender 90.
l drove both.
The Defender arrived earlier so l went with that. l do like the look of the Grenadier and could cope with most of the compromises (over my new Defender)

After all, l previously owned the old model Defender. So anything is going to feel great after that.
l disagree that the ride quality on the Grenadier is worse than the old Defender. l had improved my old Defender with progressive springs and adjustable dampers (to give a more compliant ride quality) and the Grenadier l drove was still better.

However as with many owners most of my time is spent on road so the new Defender works for me.

The only complaint l have about the new Defender is that the interior is a bit posh for a "working" vehicle, which mine is. lt's full of fancy finishes which can soon look past their best when used in this way.

also the Defender (mine is the 3.0 diesel) can do 40 mpg on a run which is 15mpg better than the Grenadier diesel. As a high mileage driver this is important to me, although not a deal breaker on its own.
ln city driving it's closer, my Defender will do 26-28mpg where the Grenadier diesel is l believe nearer 20mpg
UK gallons

 

I've said it before, but I am utterly unimpressed by the Grenadier. I think it looks more like a UAZ than an old Defender, it drives and steers worse than my 1978 Range Rover (which has the same chassis layout and steering), it's heavy and has next to no fuel capacity and I don't like the interior either.

We do not live in the world of the Oxford Cambridge London > Singapore expedition anymore. If you re-traced that route completely, you'd be spending much, much more time on paved roads. Our LRs are travel vehicles, so mine have to be just as suited for on- as off-road travel. The L663 Defender is as nice to drive on-road as an S-class Benz and arguably more capable than the Grenadier off (this is what originally drew me to the brand).

The original price of the Grenadier was slated to be around the same price as a L316 Defender at the end of production - about 25-30% less than it ended up being. At that price, the vehicle's existence would have been justified. At it's present price, I don't see INEOS Automotive lasting more than a few years unless Jim pulls a lot more money out of his very deep pockets to keep the company afloat or they come up with a real product.

As far as the the founder goes, 'Sir' Jim (the rat) Ratcliffe campaigned pro-Brexit, then, post-Brexit, moved his company INEOS to Switzerland and himself to Monaco for tax reasons. The cherry was deciding to build the Grenadier in France. He was arrogant enough to believe he could build an old-style vehicle that is just as good as a new and at an old style price. And he fell on his face on both counts. Very little respect for him on my part.

About the only thing I do find positive in the Grenadier is that it is an additional competitor in a market that I enjoy and it is possibly drawing LR back to its roots. But maybe the second part of that is wishful thinking.