Hi folks,
I just got back from the Ineos event late last night and I had a really great experience. The folks there were incredibly friendly, and it was fantastic to see the prototype in the real world. I'll answer the questions that people had, and then I'll give you my impressions.
I will say that this is a prototype, not a final model -- and I have more comments on that later -- but if there's something that looks 3D printed or whatever in my photos, that is why. It's incredibly odd I think to see a vehicle that is this early in the development, but I did get a good sense that this was very close to the final dimensions and such and so I'll answer those kinds of questions as best I can. But, things could change between now and production.
1. Headroom for 6'+ in the front seat.
Plenty. I didn't get very good photos of this, but I can fit 4 fingers between my head and the headliner, and I'm 6'2" tall and about 210 pounds of office muscles, with a build that reflects my commitment to performing my civic duty during the pandemic of holding my couch down.
2. Seat motion for shorter drivers.
Plenty. My wife and I both share our adventures through this screen name, but I do the forums and she does instagram. So I asked her some questions as I typed this. Teryn is 5'2 (and a bit, she says). When I ask "how would you describe the driving position:"
"I felt I was up and in a truck, but in a very comfortable seat".
When I asked about the controls and pedals:
"Wasn't reaching for them at all, every control felt natural"
I find this super interesting as I would describe my own "fit" in the seat in a similar fashion, and I already mentioned my height. The seat actually didn't seem to need to go up or down for either of us (I'm not saying it couldn't - I'm not sure if it could, but it didn't need to). It had great support for legs and back, and the way the vehicle "fit" was very comfortable for both of us despite the difference in our sizes. The only adjustment necessary to make it work was sliding the seat to and fro and adjusting the wheel. Here is a pic of my wife in the driver's seat so you can see how close she's able to get to the controls and the sightlines:
Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of me in the seat to compare, but I have to say I think they nailed this. Either of us could easily drive this vehicle!
3. How flat do the rear seats fold
I am sorry I didn't catch this in the photo, but the seats do not fold flat flush with the cargo area. There is a ~6 inch ledge even when they are folded flat, and as you can see there's a wee bit of an angle even when the seats are folded. If you wanted to, you could easily build a platform with an 8"-ish drawer underneath that would flatten out the entire cargo area and leave the seats in folded, so it's pretty good. I think you can also do a seat delete and it looks fairly easy.
4. Me eating a large donut...This one is a little weird but I do what I can for this community!
Still weird.
5. Can someone 6' tall sleep inside?
Yes, I could and I'm 6'2". I lied down inside and closed the doors, because that's a totally normal thing to do at an event like this. My head was an inch or so from the front seats, and I didn't adjust the front seats at all (a few moments before adults were sitting in them)(I don't think they left just because I curled up in the back, though the thought did occur to me). I think you could build a sleeping platform inside easily. Below is a weird picture of me lying down inside; Kudos to the Ineos team for not kicking me out for being odd.
Note: Because the seats do not fold flush flat with the cargo area (for good reasons from what I could see of the design) I have a 5-6" ledge in my back in this pic. I actually think I could have fit lengthways, without an angle, and I can see two people sleeping side by side on a platform in the back of this thing with doors closed. As a nice feature, the rear door has a latch handle so you can easily operate it from the inside.
6. How's the interior feel "fully loaded" with humans, including rear bench seat.
Again, not palatial - but not bad and far better than the competition. I asked three folks about my size and we sat three in the back with me in the middle, and I would have been comfortable sitting there for a while. It's WAY better than a Jeep or a mid-side truck middle seat. The rear seat is also quite elevated so there's a fairly good view, even out the front. Here is a pic with blurred faces to respect privacy of the others in the photo who were kind enough to play along that shows the room in the middle seat:
7. Why are the gullwing doors no longer an option and will they be revisted
8. Plans on the 5-door Utility Trim in Canada/USA
9. What are the specific differences between Utility and Belstaff rear seat configurations.
I did ask some these questions and the folks at Ineos gave me great answers -- seriously, they were fantastic -- but I don't want to misquote specifics. However, the gist of it is that there are different regulations for commercial vehicles (and so a different approval process) as compared to passenger cars for us - Even the Gullwing option is a regulatory thing. And, right now they are focusing on the passenger vehicle market for North America.
10. How good is the stereo
Didn't get to try it sorry!
11. Centre Console Robustness (Can you pop it open with a screwdriver?)
This one didn't look like the final version. I won't even share the pic I took because it would misrepresent even the final size of it. In it's current form it looked like it didn't even have a proper latch for instance. I'm quite confident that they will have this sorted nicely though - the rest of the vehicle shows such attention to detail from an Overlander's perspective that I would be astonished if they missed this kind of thing.
12. Wheel PCD and Offset, and will that change
Sorry friend, I didn't get to this question as I spent too much time on some of the other aspects, and we ended up I think eating into the break of the staff there so I wanted to clear out. I'll keep an eye out for this info and link back with you if I find it and I'm sorry I didn't get to this one.
Overall Impressions
The truck we saw today was a prototype, and they made sure we knew it was not reflective of the final product, and they made it clear that that it would have some things that were 3D printed and that some things might look "unfinished".
But in my opinion....it was pretty damn good. In fact, I think its about perfect. Everything about it was robust and practical, even in this "unfinished" form. And frankly, I've seen production vehicles on dealership lots (Looking at you, Chrysler) that look worse in terms of fit and finish that the Grenadier prototype; it that's reflective of their standards this vehicle is going to be excellent. There are a lot of little brilliant touches that appeals to my no-nonsense practical side, but they've also nailed the "vibe" of a 4x4. It
feels like it should from the Driver's seat, which is important and one of my only complaints about my truck (and one of many complaints I have about full sized trucks). I do not believe there is another vehicle on the market today that comes even close to being what this thing is - and I include the Wrangler in that category, because this thing has it beat on payload and overall intentional utility in the design, in my opinion. It's truly unique, and I think they have made as close to a "perfect" Overlander as one can expect.
it's the little things on this thing that really impressed me -- those cubbies under the seats are a perfect stuff area for a rain jacket that you need to slip on to grab a quick bit of fuel as you drive through a storm to get to a dry camp. The bars in the roof are perfect for grabbing to hop up on the tire and cinch down the strap on the roof tent cover in the morning. The rear doors open beyond the edges of the cargo area, so you can fully utilize the back. It's not perfect - there's no such thing, as everyone has different needs -- but for MY needs, it's actually a lot better than I expected. And I expected quite a bit, so I'm pretty happy
