Hi guys. Now that some time has passed, I have to come to share my personal impressions of the Grenadier with you, having driven it both on- and off-road. I was also able to take a closer look at some of the things that have been discussed here on the forum time and again. I drove both the petrol and the diesel.
1) Driving behaviour on the asphalt road: Due to the conditions, a maximum speed of approx. 50-60 km/h was possible. In my opinion, the steering reacts very directly. This is not comparable with the Defender. Both diesel and petrol engines are powerful right from the start. The engine noise is almost not audible at all with the petrol engine, whereas with the diesel engine, understandably, the nailing of the diesel can be heard. It feels a bit more than my Disco 4.
2) Off-road handling: Natural meadow-covered slope with steep gradients. It was not a specially designed driving training area. On the other side with the same slope upwards again. The grass was already worn down on the lanes, so we mainly drove on the damp earth. No stones in the ground to give grip. Due to light rain, it became increasingly wet and slippery.
Honestly, I was overwhelmed. I drove down the slope alone in 1st gear, without any locks, without accelerator and brake pedal. I did not notice any slipping. In the middle of the slope I stopped, put the car in reverse gear (the car then stands still without being on the brakes) and we slowly drove back up again without spinning the wheels. Then back down again. From the bottom to the top, also without locks and in automatic mode. No spinning of the wheels, no slipping. I repeated these drives several times, both with the diesel with the standard off-road tyres and with the petrol and road tyres. With my Defender I would have felt uncomfortable or not dared to drive on this track, especially as there were structural facilities below, as it was private agricultural land. I really thought when I drove up that nothing would work now without locks. I don't know how often you ride off-road? I don't mean the meadow in front of your house in the city. I've got comparable steep meadow areas and mostly looked for flatter gradients with my Land Rovers. Now I am already convinced that it was the right decision. More info to follow.