At first glance, the Ineos Grenadier is little more than a revamp of the old and much missed Land Rover Defender, but such an assumption is totally misplaced as becomes immediately apparent when encountering one in the flesh.
The new vehicle does indeed fill a void left by the old, and it does carry more than a handful of styling cues, but it is built to a standard of solidity that leaves the Defender looking, and feeling, something of a lightweight.
Weight is a good place start when considering the Grenadier, although the response of the scales depends entirely upon the version and any fittings or options that have been added.
As a rough guide, they will weigh in somewhere between 2,600kg and 2,800kg, with a total train weight of 7,000kg, and none of that is wasted, for these machines are built to last. As well as that, the chassis carries a 12-year warranty.
A guarantee of this length on anything is rare indeed, but to apply it to the major component that is exposed to all the worst that the Grenadier is expected to drive through underlines a degree of confidence in the product that cannot be lightly dismissed.
Belt and braces
It is a chassis of the ladder type which is not only painted and galvanized but is also resin filled to eliminate rotting from the inside.
This attention to the business of longevity carries on throughout the vehicle, the beam axles are from Carraro, a name already well-known to farmers, while the transmission is from ZF, another company which needs no introduction to tractor owners and operators.
At the input end of this driveline lies a six cylinder BMW diesel of three litres, two turbos, 245hp and an unstoppable 550Nm torque. Towing the allowed 3,500kg should come easily to the Grenadier.
To transfer all this to the ground, there is the usual array of differential locks and traction aids, although as one of the main design criterion, it was decided at the outset to minimise the number of chips used.
Fewer chips
Unfortunately, the various traction systems do require Electronic Control Units (ECUs) to work so, to compensate, items such as the handbrake remain manual and the ignition relies upon a good old fashioned key to keep the number of chips down to just 35 in total.
With one consumer group in America estimating that 80% of vehicle faults are sensor related, this minimalist approach to electronics is to be welcomed in a vehicle that will often be well away from the immediate attention of a workshop.
One area that hasn’t been skimped upon however, is the provision of power outlets and mounting points for ancillary equipment.
Light bars, roof racks, jerry cans, winches etc can all be easily fitted and wired in to ready-made brackets and electrical sockets, rendering them plug and play rather than having to take drills and tinsnips to pristine paintwork.
The switch gear for these extra items is already installed in an over head panel in the cab, making it look every inch an aircraft cockpit rather than rugged off roader. However, they are not intrusive and once moving it’s as driving any ordinary road vehicle.
Robust bodywork
Those who are familiar with the old defender will recall the rather lightweight doors and bodywork that although rot proof, if kept well away from fertiliser, did not inspire confidence as far as rigidity was concerned.
Such worries are but a distant memory on the Grenadier, which has doors of stainless steel that close with an understated ‘whump’, rather than a rattle.
The rear door itself is split in two, 70-30, with the narrower section allowing access to the rear even if a trailer is attached, which is a thoughtful touch. However, when open, it does obscure the RH tail lights.
The bumpers, both front and rear, come in multiple sections, minimising the work and expense required if bounced off a boulder, wall or tree.
Some of the smaller panels are of plastic, but strength is built into everything, the front wings will take a persons weight if the the optional chequer plates are fitted, while the recovery eyes at each end of the chassis would not come amiss on an oil tanker.
Grenadier power
Under the bonnet, the engine sits well back and doesn’t protrude further forward than the front axle, helping with the weight distribution and, rather intriguingly, leaving room for a bigger block, maybe a V8, sometime down the line.
The gearbox is an eight speed automatic unit and Ineos has taken the deliberate step of not offering a manual alternative, this, the company tells us, is to avoid any clutch issues which are likely to arise from different driving conditions and styles.
To old old Land Rover hands the the use of beam axles may appear a retrograde move, yet they are from Carraro, an Italian company specialising in axles for off road vehicles, as well as manufacturing its own in the form of vineyard tractors.
One advantage of a beam axles is that they obviate the need for troublesome CV joints at the front and do away entirely with exposed half shafts at either end. The universal joints used instead are simple and robust.
Fuel is held in a 90L tank, protected with a bump guard as standard, as are the axles front and rear. Extra underbody and panel protection is available from the factory and third party suppliers.
Not a Defender revamp
Appearances can be deceptive, the new Grenadier and its Quartermaster pick up sibling are both reminiscent of the now departed Land Rover Defender, yet that is where the similarity ends.
The Grenadier is a clean sheet design incorporating design concepts which have been well proven over many decades, not least of which is the ladder chassis and use of rust proof materials.
Ineos is the company behind the vehicle and with an annual turnover of $64 billion, the petrochemical giant has the financial muscle to support its early years and subsequent development.
The job of creating the Grenadier was given to Magna Steyr of Austria, a business that has been associated with military off roaders for 80 years and is responsible for producing the present G Wagon for Mercedes.
It is the G Wagon that the new Grenadier is probably best compared with, rather than harking back to a design that was first released to the public in 1948, and it is the fully functional off road capability that distinguishes it from vehicles which have had a 4WD system bolted on to a standard car or pick up.