I picked up my Grenadier from Armstrongs in Auckland yesterday. It's a diesel trialmaster (that thinks it's a fieldmaster!)
Had a nice drive down to New Plymouth (a 4 hr drive) so had time to get some pretty good first impressions on a range of roads, from highway to twisties.
- Car has exceeded my impressions in terms of solidity, road presence and general cool factor
- Everyone says it, but yup, this thing is a tank. It looks like one and feels like one.
- Fit and finish is overall very good...quite superb for a first vehicle by ineos
- Software update was completed prior to me picking up so no dings, warnings etc. of any kind
- I am getting a slight rattle/resonance on initial acceleration and at a specific rev range- I will investigate various heat shields before reporting this as an issue
- Engine is a bit noiser than I was expecting, a real old sounding diesel! I did expect it to be a bit more refined but it's not a dealbreaker by any means. I wonder if it will bed in a bit over time. Cars with stainless steel exhausts can be quite noisy until they carbon up.
- It takes a bit of coaxing to get the car moving off the line....gas pedal feels a little bit unresponsive but fine once you are moving
- Footwell....Not a problem for me, but I can see why it will be for some. Nothing to do with height or width, it's just the length that you are robbed of. Just about every post on this has been wrong and have been emphasising the wrong problem!
- Steering...actually quite fun...don't really know why some complain, it suits the car and after a couple of hrs you get tuned into it.
- Best door handles of any car on earth.....seriously, they are awesome!
- Water pooling! It rained a lot last night and when I started driving this morning there were rivers of water flowing from various places on the roof down the windscreen and side windows (outside fortunately) it took a few mins for the water to finally drain. Not sure if this is an issue at all, it just hasn't happened on any other vehicle I've owned.
- Avergage full consumption was 11.6l/100km...not too bad for a brand new car. I expect it will improve.
- Aircon works really well....no issues
- All accessories were delivered with the car, except picnic table and towing kit
- Overall, very happy with this machine. It's a really unique vehicle and definitely fit for purpose.
- Had a few people approach me already to ask about the car
So all very positive after 1 day. Hopefully I can resolve the resonance issue and get more used to the drivetrain dynamics after more driving.