Ah, that all makes sense now. I remember you mentioning it in a thread at the time. Been a lot of posts since then, and I have trouble remembering last week let alone a few months ago.
Enjoy your vehicle now you finally have it.
Ah, that all makes sense now. I remember you mentioning it in a thread at the time. Been a lot of posts since then, and I have trouble remembering last week let alone a few months ago.
No worries. I can absolutely understand any irritation about that. And I keep my fingers crossed for all of you who are still waiting. The upside is that chances are high that flaws become less, the later the delivery.
@DenisM Thank you for this excellent, detailed report.6,000 KM Update Report
I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.
Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).
Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the next 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...
Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.
Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.
Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.
Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!
Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.
Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In once instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .
Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.
Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!
I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.
At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!
Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.
Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.
Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).
Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.
I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, the Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)
One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that
Very professional report with a balanced amount of emotions.6,000 KM Update Report
I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.
Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).
Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the next 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...
Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.
Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.
Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.
Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!
Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.
Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In once instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .
Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.
Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!
I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.
At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!
Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.
Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.
Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).
Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.
I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, the Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)
One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that
A very good report that reflects my feelings and irritations exactly.
I am curious about the transfer case...was there an issue or warning?...or they just rang to say we are going to replace it because they knew of an issue?6,000 KM Update Report
I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.
Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).
Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the intervening 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...
Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.
Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.
Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.
Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!
Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.
Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In one instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .
Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.
Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!
I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.
At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!
Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.
Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.
Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).
Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.
I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)
One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that
Denis - thanks for your feedback.6,000 KM Update Report
I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.
Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).
Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the intervening 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...
Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.
Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.
Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.
Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!
Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.
Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In one instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .
Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.
Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!
I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.
At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!
Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.
Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.
Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).
Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.
I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)
One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that
) .... my propensity to listen to the "health of the vehicle" rather than turn up the music occasionally drives my tinnitus suffering wife "nuts" but that's another story...
Thanks for that it makes us if I may speak for the owners, very relieved to understand at least to a point that we don't have to concern ourselves with any issues...I can sympathize with your wife after having tinnitus for many years I have just received my aids and can hear the world and the mechanical sounds that had disappeared with the tinnitus...thanks again Denis.@Max and @grenadierboy
Thanks for the feedback! Re. the transfer case:
The original case was an August 2022 build, the serial number being in the 1500s
part number 18386
The replacement is a November 2022 build with a serial number in the 4600s with a Part number 18386B
My vehicle is a March 2023 build with a low 2000s VIN.
I had no idea there "might" be a problem with the transfer case. Based on the info I'd picked up on this forum, I even drove it in low range/locked for a km or two on the wet clay/gravel road on Bruny Island . There were no spurious noises either before or after. On sections of low noise bitumen highway (high range not locked --in case anyone was wondering! ) there were no tell tale bearing noises on acceleration/over-run or "float" anywhere from the transmission train which I could detect, not withstanding there are three diffs each with their own backlash etc.
I will admit to having a sensitive ear when it comes to music or machinery noises! (long before I became obsessed with the symphonic sounds of a Commodore LS1 and later a P38 Range Rover
So it was a surprise to receive the call from the dealer to advise their intent to change the T/F case.
The knowledgable tech who did the job said that the oil which came from the T/F was "pristine" and that they had done PDI tests before delivery, on which basis they thought it was OK. However they received a replacement case and an order number for my vehicle! Some interesting tech details... the replacement case came prefilled with oil -overfilled as I understand it, to accommodate the need to also fill the transfer case cooler! It seems to have been opened post manufacture and inspected then sealed and marked the QC "paint dabs" as is common on new vehicles.
He also explained the attention to detail of the "new" bolts supplied for reattaching the CV joints on the tail shafts..they are coated with wax which melts when being tightened then solidifies so as to seal the long bolt ends and surrounds to prevent ingress from water/mud etc . The things you learn!
I was somewhat gobsmacked to tell you the truth with this transparent proactive approach with no BS on the part of Ineos. My long experience in large organisations leads me to believe that the decision to "replace" was no "one off" decision by a lone individual, it would have been decided at a very senior level because of "precedents/costs/reputation etc". I am (to use an Australian expression of endearment!) bloody well impressed and even more confident in 'the brand'! Companies often have to make 'hard' decisions. This one shows a real concern for customer satisfaction.
Sorry for the long response...but to finish: I had the scurrilous thought that while the "Good Book" says "The hairs on your head are all numbered" so too it seems, every nut, bolt, transfer case, engine component etc is "numbered" in the Ineos Good Book!
EDIT: sorry @grenadierboy ...to answer your full question: The exact technical reason for the recall was not explained, other than it was to be abosolutely sure that there were no issues later on.
Exactly the same with me, I have no problems. My dealer will first test the new software in his cars before any errors roll over him with customer cars. A good decision.
Is there a thread here on this… i think theres a possibility of long term failure due to an underspec lubrication channel in the early transfer cases, and theyd taken the awesome decision to replace them all preemptively, so dealers in australia are all stocked with transfer cases for example. All to avoid possible major failures in a long time forward, and without anyone having to request replacement. As you say, such a strong sign of how they want to build a reputation- not a cheap decision in the short term.
...but I think the right one looking into future.
It seems to be an evolving situation. My recollection of events with the Tremec transfer case is:
www.theineosforum.com
Excellent detailed overview. Thx.6,000 KM Update Report
I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.
Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).
Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the intervening 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...
Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.
Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.
Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.
Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!
Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.
Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In one instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .
Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.
Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!
I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.
At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!
Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.
Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.
Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).
Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.
I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)
One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that
That's the only part I didn't understand. Af first I thought "OMG, what catastrophic things have happened to him?"
