On the Grenadier Fence in Brisbane

globalgregors said:

Interesting observations @DesertGecko. It does sound like the only solution to your volumetric challenge (passengers + cargo > available space) is a longer wheelbase, no matter the vehicle. I guess the upside here (wrt 110 vs Grenadier) is that surplus cargo - unlike passengers - can go onto the roof...

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DesertGecko said:

We only have a 2/3 roof rack now. Full length might be an option. Maybe there might be an option to hang some fuel off the side on the utility points. The defender is diesel and has a 120 tank. We carry an extra 100. I had hoped to get the petrol too. Thats going to take some thinking.

Hopefully someone will come up with a bigger tank. I did note that there was an empty area above the muffler in the diesel. Hopefully the after market will step up.

Another option is to leave multiple people home.

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DesertGecko said:

Ok, so I've finally had my turn to have a good paw over a prototype. No drive though. I've come away with a heap of questions and observations.

Firstly and this is a real positive. The interior is lovely. It's all the things in the defender fixed that we always wanted fixed. It's well comfortable for three across the back. Plenty of space in all the directions. This is awesome. The footrest.. I wish it wasn't there but I don't think it would worry me. I think sometimes it would be quite handy for bracing. Overall though the ergonomics are excellent. I didn't think the roof switches were as easy to operate as I'd hoped for. For tall people they are too close so you're kinda looking along the panel rather than at it. Minor quibble though. There was only one dome light in the back seats. I think it would need some extra light in the front unless those little map lights are brighter than they looked.

The rear of the car is a bit of an issue though. It's significantly smaller than my 110. By my measurements it's nearly half a metre shorter, slightly wider and a fraction less height. The space is definitely very useable though.. better access than the 110. This will cause me some headaches though. When we do trips with five people we need every ounce of space. Until/unless there is some way of sicking more fuel in the car.. it's going to be a real big issue for what we do. Also in the defender i can put multiple bikes in the behind the back seat. Won't be possible in this one I wouldn't think.

Underneath it seemed a little lower than I was expecting. I'm a bit concerned that the steering damper is the lowest point on the front. I guess it's not a big deal to carry a spare. The suspension looks quite solid which is good. I was somewhat alarmed that it had a giant spinifex collector and incinerator. I'm really quite concerned about this. I'm surprised it didn't come up in their testing, but they were here when it was super wet. I reckon if the season was bad you'd be cleaning this every break. If it's dry in the desert this year It wouldn't at all surprise me if there is a torching or two. See photo below.

Overall it reminded me in many ways of a new version of a discovery2. I do really like the car but I need a solid think about it. In the defender I could fit enough stuff for five people but we didn't have enough room for the occupants. With the grenadier I'll have enough room for the occupants but not the stuff.


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DesertGecko said:

Another option is to leave multiple people home.

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bigleonski said:

Yep rear space has me worried. I can see myself trading in to a long wheel base if they ever come up wirh one. Only thing keeping me in is that I’m not touring with kids anymore and I’m probably used to heaps of room in the landcruiser so will need to adjust. They say once you’re used to the size of a LC you can never go back.
Anyone want to swap a 60L engel for a 40L one?
Previously I’ve avoided putting much on rhe roof except fuel and a second spare, and only used a 3/4 rack. May need to rethink that myself.

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Solmanic said:

I'm sure some of them will age-out before too long and either get their own transport, or find road trips with the parents too un-cool.

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DesertGecko said:

That was with 100l of fuel in jerry's in the car. If I go to petrol and given the 90l tank I'm probably going to have to find somewhere for 3/4 more. (facepalm). I think the answer is I just couldn't do what I did with the Defender with the grenadier.

Plus I can tell you carrying enough for four people for 12 days.. man it was tight. No luxuries.. only absolute necessities.

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bigleonski said:

That said, I’ll need to start thinking “up” rather than “deep” going forward because there’s more vertical room in the IG.
Downside is I’ll probably need to completely re-kit my storage set up and how things work. I’ve said this here before, I’m really reluctant to go an upright fridge for example because I reckon regardless of how you pack it it won’t be as robust and the corrugations will toss stuff all over the shop.
Just more planning to do I suppose.

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DesertGecko said:

That was with 100l of fuel in jerry's in the car. If I go to petrol and given the 90l tank I'm probably going to have to find somewhere for 3/4 more. (facepalm). I think the answer is I just couldn't do what I did with the Defender with the grenadier.

Plus I can tell you carrying enough for four people for 12 days.. man it was tight. No luxuries.. only absolute necessities.

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DesertGecko said:

The grenadier I think will be ideally suited to a drawer system to work around those wheel arches. . Fridge sliders are pretty good these days. Having the two doors provides excellent access.

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Davman said:

You are right I reckon Leon. The IG may not be as deep as the LC200, but it will be far more useable space utilizing the height in my opinion. The main issue with drawers in the back of the cruiser is the fold down tailgate as shown in your photo prevents easy access to a lot of the rear drawer space. With the IG, you can open the drawers fully, stand to the side - and easily access all of the drawer space.

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DesertGecko said:

That was with 100l of fuel in jerry's in the car. If I go to petrol and given the 90l tank I'm probably going to have to find somewhere for 3/4 more. (facepalm). I think the answer is I just couldn't do what I did with the Defender with the grenadier.

Plus I can tell you carrying enough for four people for 12 days.. man it was tight. No luxuries.. only absolute necessities.

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bigleonski said:

Mate did you ever get pulled over by the cops with those jerrycans on the front? And how did the bullbar and suspension cope with 100kg of water hanging on the front like that??

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DesertGecko said:

Water only.. and it was only for slow off road use. Was a bit worried as I drove out of Alice though.

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Tazzieman said:

You'd do better hanging them off the back?
Might reduce departure angle depending upon where you go.

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DesertGecko said:

A friend used something similar on that trip. It was a bit of a pain. Things in there got hammered on the way to the start of the trip, and difficult to get into the back of the car.

The thing is hanging stuff off a bullbar is actually great. It spreads the load across the car, and helps keep the nose down on sand dunes. It didn't seem to cause any cooling problems.

Only thing is it's not high speed rated. Low speed only.

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Tazzieman said:

I figured that. Compromises when you have to carry passengers!
We'll put a slimline water tank behind the front seats when travelling as a couple. As much weight between the axles as is reasonable.

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DesertGecko said:

BTW I looked at the grenadier and I reckon it will work well for at least two water on the front of the "roo bar"!. In all honesty that's all I ever use most of the time.

Anyway.. I've been thinking about this a lot over the last couple of days. I really really like the grenadier. I do want a newer more gooder and safer Defender.

I was kind of being pressured for time at the local dealer. They only allocate 1h for inspections. I'd really like to go back there with the defender and tape measure and redo the measurements. Plus the dealer is like put your deposit down and get a car by September. Pressure pressure pressure. I've got a trip on in Sept/oct. I don't want a car then! No time for setup.

I really do think the fuel issue is going to be critical. I need to see what happens in this space. I keep cars for a long time. Once the defender is gone there is no getting it back. I need to make the right call on this. I'd rather go petrol... hopefully once production cars are here someone will announce a big tank soon.

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