But, you can keep driving forward thanks to locking diffs and electronic wizardry.
Putting aside the Jeep Wrangler briefly, I don’t know of any vehicle manufacturer that seems to incorporate the whims and desires of aftermarket modification into a vehicle’s initial design. Torsion beams don’t articulate worth a damn, and older live-axle HiLuxes were inherently more stable through ruts. Can you say that? Recommended List Price (MRLP) inclusive of GST, exclusive of options and on road costs. But when, in addition to being a self-described adventurer and Land Rover fan, you also happen to be the billionaire CEO of a global petrochemical company and one of Great Britain's wealthiest citizens, you don't give up so easily. Control arms (on the prototype parts, at least) look to be short in comparison to trailing arms you’ll find on older Defenders and Patrols, for example, but they have a more complex shape to them with angles and bends in them. Let me be clear: I have this same unsprung-mass-loving troglodyte living and breathing inside of me. I noticed big, progressive-style bump stops on the Grenadier, along with big rubber suspension bushings, good-sized twin-tube shock absorbers, and other stuff that you don’t really see anymore on 4WDs. While other manufacturers try to build in some kind of genuine-only accessory ethos in their vehicles, Ineos is going in with their eyes and arms wide open, just like Creed in 1999, with aftermarket accessory and modification pollination at the ready. Why bother with this thing. Interestingly, Carraro mainly makes axles for heavy and agriculture vehicles, but it also makes portal axles for lighter vehicles.
Toyota, even, brings out an all-new V8 turbo diesel engine: “What!?
INEOS Automotive’s CEO, Dirk Heilmann, said, “We are delighted to be able to share the design of the Grenadier so early in the process. But not completely. Can’t trust it”. Jeep knows that many users will eventually fit things like protection and larger tyres, and having a design that accommodates such things straight off the bat is a good thing.
Ineos spokesman said it “won’t be a cheap vehicle but it won’t be priced like G-Wagen”. However, that lack of stability is the trade-off at the end of the day. However, this new Grenadier is different.
Most importantly, it will meet all expected safety requirements, allowing it to be sold around the world including in the USA and Australia. Guzmanchinky makes a good point. Not as basic and archaic. So much so, that when JLR announced it was discontinuing the Defender as we knew it, Ratcliffe tried to buy the rights and equipment to keep the Defender in production. It posed next to the Toyota FJ and the Willys Jeep, among others. We set out to design a modern, functional and highly capable 4x4 vehicle with utility at its core.” This is the Ineos Grenadier, the real Land Rover Defender redux the world was waiting, hoping and yearning for when Land Rover instead dropped this $50K luxury overlander on us.
From today the covers are off. There is something about it that seemingly cannot be replicated in a newer vehicle. The Ineos Grenadier promises to bring back the old-school off-road traits adventurers appreciate, in a vehicle that has up-to-date emissions and safety tech to make it viable in this day and age. Nissan’s new Y62 Patrol is seriously good off-road, and has benefits of improved ground clearance that an old Nissan Patrol (for example) cannot match unless it’s heavily modified. In fact, these prerequisites run across the Grenadier design philosophy and are very much in line with what we would like as 4x4 users.
If I didn’t, most reviews would read: “Too refined, too safe, too competent, too complicated.
We don't have its dimensions, but the Grenadier appears wider, particularly up front, where the round headlamps are spread by a thinner, lighter grille with dual slats. But holy hell, when I do get the opportunity to take my own old 4x4 off-road, I absolutely love it. Outback Australia one old Landcruiser reliability 100%.
It’s simple, tough, capable of good articulation, and easy to modify. I do hope, however, that all-electric might still be a power-train option they're mapping for the future.
That face is underpinned by the sturdy chin of a more modern, styled bumper and a skid plate. And when Land Rover makes a song and dance about fitting 18-inch wheels on the new Defender, it’s great to see a new vehicle manufacturer not going as big as possible. Five-links and a Panhard rod are things used by Land Rover Defenders, Toyota LandCruisers and Nissan Patrols (so, all of the best classic 4x4s in other words) at one stage or another, yielding good off-road performance and durability. Looks like a knock off copy of a 30 year old Puch. © Copyright Are Media Pty Limited. Final pricing is a long way off, but don’t expect it to be as cheap as an old Defender. Sometimes, even after that new technology has gone some distance to prove itself.
The body will be made from high strength steel, with the hanging panels made from aluminium. These will be the initial models, with Ineos not ruling out more in the future, including a single-cab pick-up. It’s a small group, yes, but they are vocal. “The Grenadier project started by identifying a gap in the market, abandoned by a number of manufacturers, for a utilitarian off-road vehicle,” says Ratcliffe. When asked if the Grenadier would be equipped with portal axles, an Ineos spokesperson said that it won’t have them at launch as the vehicle has to be affordable. But, Ineos is putting a big priority on the capability, durability and serviceability of the Grenadier.
Ineos says that the Grenadier will undergo several phases of testing to get it market-ready by the end of 2021. It expects the Grenadier to find an audience with farmers, explorers, aid workers and other customers around the globe who would traditionally be shopping for something like a Defender or 70 Series Toyota Land Cruiser. The Grenadier looks to have steel wheels, presumably with a 16-inch diameter. The reveal also showed the Grenadier will be available as a five-door wagon and a four-door, long wheelbase pick-up.