For the Aussies, Sydney and Brisbane drives are live!

[Davman]

I was the first in the car this morning. Silver trialmaster. PT02. Short track along the resort of about 100m then straight onto the course through bush tracks. Never faster than about 10-15km/hr unfortunately so didn’t even get to hear the engine rev. I did the whole track in High and only locked the CDL for a short rocky climb to see how it changed things. It would have done it without the CDL in easily. The course certainly didn’t demonstrate the IG’s potential off-road capacity as it was pretty straightforward and not technical at all really. There was a bit of a decline I put it into low on. Low CDL locked foot off the pedals and it wandered down in first never going faster than 6km/hr. Nice. It is a bit prone to over steer and often had to pull it back around the other way after turning too far based on what I am used to. Neil pretty much just allowed me to drive it how I wanted to, taking a harder line if I wanted and he just pointed the way. All the guys were very welcoming and knew their stuff, if not all the technical stuff around batteries etc I wanted to get into. Joel from SLRV on the gold coast seemed like a good guy to deal with, and mentioned that the last thing anyone needs to worry about was the on road drive, nice and tight and eats it up.
For me the interior was a bit more agricultural than I expected in terms of plastic finishes etc, and was certainly more towards the 70 Series cruiser style than the 200. I assume the fit and finish and perhaps some of the plastic fixtures will be better done out of production because some of them felt almost Chinese rather than what you’d expect from the Euros.
It was also a bit smaller than I thought it would be externally and internally. A bit bigger than a prado. Snug without being small. But again I’m coming out of a 200 so most things are small by comparison. So others probably won’t have the same impression.
Rear draws will need to be no longer than 700-750 with the cage in the back, well short of the 1000 in the landcruiser. Good width though and identical to the landcruiser from wheel hump to wheel hump. But the rear load space is HIGH. I reckon you could easily put some sort of rack system in the back on a trip to make full use of the height.

Actually that’s a good point about the oversteer, I had forgotten that until you mentioned it.
I found it coming around a slow corner under acceleration holding the turn for too long.
Nearly found myself testing out the wading depth in the nearby dam.

 

[bigleonski]

Other observations
The auxiliary lights in the front are both pencil beams and apparently very very good. No joy for me wanting a wide spread to spot skippys and other ferals on the sides of the road closer in though so a lightbar will be a must. But without a rack on top I’m not sure where to put a decent sized one. One of the guys suggested you can buy some sort of bar set up to hold a lightbar, but having to get under a 2.1m carpark during the week that’s not really an option for me in terms of a permanent install. No room in the front with the roobar in place and round spotlights wouldn’t fit easily either. May need to look at putting different lenses in the auxiliary lights somehow.
The dual battery set up is still a bit of a mystery according to one of the Melbourne Ineos guys, the final configuration could still change. But at this stage the traditional principle starting battery being isolated from the second battery which powers things like the fridge etc isn’t the way it’s set up. This will probably mean a retro fit for me post purchase.
Speakers are pretty average, and an upgrade to focals or similar will be on the cards.
All the vehicles had 18 inch wheels. The mags look better in the flesh than the web. Shame I didn’t get to see the 17 alloys though.
Engine bay is packed. Forget about trying to get anything else in that space.
Bonnet flips right up to the window easily and rests against a rubber bumpstop on the lip of the roof. Although the passenger wiper blade hit the bonnet when flipped right back.
Rear step ladder to the roof is rock solid and handled this fat bastards’ weight well enough.
Entry to the rear seats is tight and without a side step and a proper grab handle will be awkward for any but the lean and nimble.
Seats are very comfortable.
Headroom front and rear was good for this 180cm guy. I had the seat all the way back to drive though so longer legs might not be equally suited. Rear room with the front seat all rhe way back is ok if not brilliant.
The “footrest” wasn’t a problem for me but as your left foot and therefore leg sits a bit back I wonder how we’ll stretch it out on long distance trips as there’s no room in rhe rst of the well for both feet.
Driving position is excellent and great visibility over the bonnet.
Top of the windows is low and I can imagine you’ll need to duck a bit to see out the windows and up at stuff.
Interesting that the small rear door is on the left and the 60% split second row on the same side. I would have thought that the smaller section of rear seat on that side would make more sense to throw a surf board or something straight through and keep the wider section of seat in place.
There is no locking or holding mechanism on the rear door gas struts so if you’re on any sort of left lean the main rear door will be prone to falling shut on you. Not sure how to hold it open in rhat sort of situation.
They guys confirmed the diesel has a dipstick, but they / we couldn’t find it

 

[Krabby]

Great report, thanks for sharing. Fantastic point about the split door, split seat thing. I wonder if anyone else has pointed that out or if it has anything to do with the battery placement.

I too was curious about the speakers. Even though none of us (well, maybe some) were expecting some crazy 18-speaker Bose system, in a 4-speaker setup they have to work much harder to fill the cabin. Hopefully the system can handle more wattage and owners will be able to upgrade the speakers themselves.

Did the truck have the leather seats or fabric?

Would an ultra thin light bar solve you light and height issues. I can't seem to find it, but I remember seeing off road lights that folded down flat when not in use - something like that could work too. I saw it on a TV truck show a while back.

 

[DCPU]

Would an ultra thin light bar solve you light and height issues.

Something like this would work:

Land Rover Defender Predator Vision Hybrid Single Row Series 50" Light Bar Roof Integration Kit

Land Rover Defender 50 Inch Predator Vision Hybrid Single Row LED Light Bar This Predator Vision Hybrid Single Row 50 Inch LED light bar is the lighting product your Defender deserves, this light provides a perfect balance between form and function, the stylish design of the aluminium casing is...

www.4x4at.com

 

[DenisM]

Great report, thanks for sharing. Fantastic point about the split door, split seat thing. I wonder if anyone else has pointed that out or if it has anything to do with the battery placement.

I too was curious about the speakers. Even though none of us (well, maybe some) were expecting some crazy 18-speaker Bose system, in a 4-speaker setup they have to work much harder to fill the cabin. Hopefully the system can handle more wattage and owners will be able to upgrade the speakers themselves.

Did the truck have the leather seats or fabric?

Would an ultra thin light bar solve you light and height issues. I can't seem to find it, but I remember seeing off road lights that folded down flat when not in use - something like that could work too. I saw it on a TV truck show a while back.

Both demo driving vehicles had 'fabric' seats and steel wheels with the KO2 tyres. The static display Fieldmaster had leather seats, 18" alloys and Bridgestone A/T tyres.
There are over a dozen vehicles now in Australia ...all of which will be literally 'crushed' once the evaluation/testing etc is complete. They are PTO-2 examples, ('Production Try Out) i.e. these vehicles actually came through the assembly process, as distinct from the early vehicles which were 'hand built' prototypes. Based on the ongoing evaluation...they are being constantly monitored and the data fed back to the factory. The production processes in Hambach are thus constantly tweaked/refined as a result...

 

[DaveB]

Actually that’s a good point about the oversteer, I had forgotten that until you mentioned it.
I found it coming around a slow corner under acceleration holding the turn for too long.
Nearly found myself testing out the wading depth in the nearby dam.

I drive a Mercedes which has extreme power assisted steering which initially lead to oversteering every low speed turn
As such I found the Grenny to be fantastic and normal.

 

[DaveB]

Other observations
The auxiliary lights in the front are both pencil beams and apparently very very good. No joy for me wanting a wide spread to spot skippys and other ferals on the sides of the road closer in though so a lightbar will be a must. But without a rack on top I’m not sure where to put a decent sized one. One of the guys suggested you can buy some sort of bar set up to hold a lightbar, but having to get under a 2.1m carpark during the week that’s not really an option for me in terms of a permanent install. No room in the front with the roobar in place and round spotlights wouldn’t fit easily either. May need to look at putting different lenses in the auxiliary lights somehow.
The dual battery set up is still a bit of a mystery according to one of the Melbourne Ineos guys, the final configuration could still change. But at this stage the traditional principle starting battery being isolated from the second battery which powers things like the fridge etc isn’t the way it’s set up. This will probably mean a retro fit for me post purchase.
Speakers are pretty average, and an upgrade to focals or similar will be on the cards.
All the vehicles had 18 inch wheels. The mags look better in the flesh than the web. Shame I didn’t get to see the 17 alloys though.
Engine bay is packed. Forget about trying to get anything else in that space.
Bonnet flips right up to the window easily and rests against a rubber bumpstop on the lip of the roof. Although the passenger wiper blade hit the bonnet when flipped right back.
Rear step ladder to the roof is rock solid and handled this fat bastards’ weight well enough.
Entry to the rear seats is tight and without a side step and a proper grab handle will be awkward for any but the lean and nimble.
Seats are very comfortable.
Headroom front and rear was good for this 180cm guy. I had the seat all the way back to drive though so longer legs might not be equally suited. Rear room with the front seat all rhe way back is ok if not brilliant.
The “footrest” wasn’t a problem for me but as your left foot and therefore leg sits a bit back I wonder how we’ll stretch it out on long distance trips as there’s no room in rhe rst of the well for both feet.
Driving position is excellent and great visibility over the bonnet.
Top of the windows is low and I can imagine you’ll need to duck a bit to see out the windows and up at stuff.
Interesting that the small rear door is on the left and the 60% split second row on the same side. I would have thought that the smaller section of rear seat on that side would make more sense to throw a surf board or something straight through and keep the wider section of seat in place.
There is no locking or holding mechanism on the rear door gas struts so if you’re on any sort of left lean the main rear door will be prone to falling shut on you. Not sure how to hold it open in rhat sort of situation.
They guys confirmed the diesel has a dipstick, but they / we couldn’t find it

You will easily get two of the first or one of the second on the roo bar
Or two of the second or third on the roof angled slightly out

 

[bigleonski]

You will easily get two of the first or one of the second on the roo bar
Or two of the second or third on the roof angled slightly out

Yeah maybe if you were happy to have them protrude out a bit. I’d normally opt for something like this if I could get it to fit with a wider spread but having a closer look on the day there wasn’t a lot of room under that bottom rail.. Will see how it goes I suppose

XD-GEN4 27" Dual Row LED Light Bar (XDD700-G4) - Hardkorr Australia

This powerful light bar utilises our exclusive dual-chip hybrid technology to produce 1 lux @ 700m forward of the vehicle whilst still providing great flood coverage to the side of the road. It gives an uninterrupted view of any upcoming hazards both in front of the vehicle and to the sides.

hardkorr.com

 

[globalgregors]

Other observations
The auxiliary lights in the front are both pencil beams and apparently very very good. No joy for me wanting a wide spread to spot skippys and other ferals on the sides of the road closer in though so a lightbar will be a must. But without a rack on top I’m not sure where to put a decent sized one. One of the guys suggested you can buy some sort of bar set up to hold a lightbar, but having to get under a 2.1m carpark during the week that’s not really an option for me in terms of a permanent install. No room in the front with the roobar in place and round spotlights wouldn’t fit easily either. May need to look at putting different lenses in the auxiliary lights somehow.
The dual battery set up is still a bit of a mystery according to one of the Melbourne Ineos guys, the final configuration could still change. But at this stage the traditional principle starting battery being isolated from the second battery which powers things like the fridge etc isn’t the way it’s set up. This will probably mean a retro fit for me post purchase.
Speakers are pretty average, and an upgrade to focals or similar will be on the cards.
All the vehicles had 18 inch wheels. The mags look better in the flesh than the web. Shame I didn’t get to see the 17 alloys though.
Engine bay is packed. Forget about trying to get anything else in that space.
Bonnet flips right up to the window easily and rests against a rubber bumpstop on the lip of the roof. Although the passenger wiper blade hit the bonnet when flipped right back.
Rear step ladder to the roof is rock solid and handled this fat bastards’ weight well enough.
Entry to the rear seats is tight and without a side step and a proper grab handle will be awkward for any but the lean and nimble.
Seats are very comfortable.
Headroom front and rear was good for this 180cm guy. I had the seat all the way back to drive though so longer legs might not be equally suited. Rear room with the front seat all rhe way back is ok if not brilliant.
The “footrest” wasn’t a problem for me but as your left foot and therefore leg sits a bit back I wonder how we’ll stretch it out on long distance trips as there’s no room in rhe rst of the well for both feet.
Driving position is excellent and great visibility over the bonnet.
Top of the windows is low and I can imagine you’ll need to duck a bit to see out the windows and up at stuff.
Interesting that the small rear door is on the left and the 60% split second row on the same side. I would have thought that the smaller section of rear seat on that side would make more sense to throw a surf board or something straight through and keep the wider section of seat in place.
There is no locking or holding mechanism on the rear door gas struts so if you’re on any sort of left lean the main rear door will be prone to falling shut on you. Not sure how to hold it open in rhat sort of situation.
They guys confirmed the diesel has a dipstick, but they / we couldn’t find it

A couple of ideas for lighting:

1. Mount on roo bar
2. Gutter mount above A pillar

 

[DaveB]

A great morning at Tamborine Mountain driving the Grenadier again.
Went up there early with my wife (Lisa), daughter(Sammie), daughters partner(Jesse) and my 13 year old grandson(Tye)
Luckily Tom & Neil were there who I met on the Perth drive and I managed to get them to to slot Jesse and Tye into a drive despite them not being booked.
So Lisa, Sammie and myself went in the silver vehicle and Jesse & Tye went in the Donny Gray one at the same time.
The track was fairly beaten up in places due to the rain and heavy use however did the first half in road mode without difflock and then put it into low locked just to demonstrate how easily it went up a steep slippery muddy hill and then how easily it came down the other side under engine braking.
Jesse did the whole track in 4H unlocked diff.
The beast just ate it up.
Lisa and Sammie were in the back seat with me and they were thrown around a fair bit.
Lisa tried to video it but only managed a very short time. (link below)
We climbed all over the third vehicle and checked the engine bay, under the seats etc,
Afterwards while the others had the coffee, cakes and fruit I spent about 20 minutes talking with Tom
pretty easy for people well experienced with offroad driving but for the rest of my team they were blown away and all absolutely loved it.
They were surprised any vehicle could handle that track so easily and all commented how good it was inside.
The black and gray leather was a smash hit, as were the safari windows, roof switch panel and the screen.
Jesse now wants one
My wife said she wants a smaller version and was disappointed they didn't have one. Neil replied "not yet, but it is coming"
Tom also said that the dealer that put up the handbook got in a lot of shit.
another great experience with the Ineos guys

 

[DenisM]

Great report Dave. Did they confirm the front tow plate info I was given yesterday?
cheers

 

[Michael H.]

A great morning at Tamborine Mountain driving the Grenadier again.
Went up there early with my wife (Lisa), daughter(Sammie), daughters partner(Jesse) and my 13 year old grandson(Tye)
Luckily Tom & Neil were there who I met on the Perth drive and I managed to get them to to slot Jesse and Tye into a drive despite them not being booked.
So Lisa, Sammie and myself went in the silver vehicle and Jesse & Tye went in the Donny Gray one at the same time.
The track was fairly beaten up in places due to the rain and heavy use however did the first half in road mode without difflock and then put it into low locked just to demonstrate how easily it went up a steep slippery muddy hill and then how easily it came down the other side under engine braking.
Jesse did the whole track in 4H unlocked diff.
The beast just ate it up.
Lisa and Sammie were in the back seat with me and they were thrown around a fair bit.
Lisa tried to video it but only managed a very short time. (link below)
We climbed all over the third vehicle and checked the engine bay, under the seats etc,
Afterwards while the others had the coffee, cakes and fruit I spent about 20 minutes talking with Tom
pretty easy for people well experienced with offroad driving but for the rest of my team they were blown away and all absolutely loved it.
They were surprised any vehicle could handle that track so easily and all commented how good it was inside.
The black and gray leather was a smash hit, as were the safari windows, roof switch panel and the screen.
Jesse now wants one
My wife said she wants a smaller version and was disappointed they didn't have one. Neil replied "not yet, but it is coming"
Tom also said that the dealer that put up the handbook got in a lot of shit.
another great experience with the Ineos guys

View attachment 7797994View attachment 7797993

Looks like a great drive, Dave. Very different to the track at Cessnock.

 

[DaveB]

Great report Dave. Did they confirm the front tow plate info I was given yesterday?
cheers

Sorry I didn't ask

 

[DaveB]

Looks like a great drive, Dave. Very different to the track at Cessnock.

Unfortunately my wife didn't record much as she just forgot to.
It was natural bushland and started with a shallow, rocky creek crossing, which was really nice.
There was quite a bit of mud and deep wheel ruts. I picked some of the more difficult lines, water filled holes and banked angles.
We ended with a small causeway crossing
This was the location

 

[DCPU]

Tom also said that the dealer that put up the handbook got in a lot of shit.

That's very disappointing.

View attachment 7797993

Interesting to see the chap using what looks like the rock sliders as a step.

 

[DaveB]

That's very disappointing.

Interesting to see the chap using what looks like the rock sliders as a step.

The handbook was commercially confidential and contained information that wasn't finalised or approved for public domain
Most companies, mine included, have very strict rules for internal only documentation.
That vehicle has the rock sliders and I tried to use it as a step right after that guy did.
It was risky with dirty shoes on and practically the same height as the sill so no added advantage.
The lower edge of the sider is the same height as the step so they both have the same ground clearance.

 

[Tazzieman]

That vehicle has the rock sliders and I tried to use it as a step right after that guy did.
It was risky with dirty shoes on and practically the same height as the sill so no added advantage.

A pair of rock climbing shoes will make it easy

 

[DaveB]

A pair of rock climbing shoes will make it easy

Honestly the step never once caused an issue on my last drive and Jesse didn't have any issues with it on this drive.
I would say some of the ruts were at least 9 or 10 inches deep and there was one much deeper but it was only the left wheels not a belly scraper.

 

[Tazzieman]

I'm not the least bothered. My Series LR doesn't even have a step!
Her indoors will just deal with it. Boomers are tough

 

[DaveB]

I'm not the least bothered. My Series LR doesn't even have a step!
Her indoors will just deal with it. Boomers are tough

My daughter who is only 33 was stirring her mother up saying she would definitely need the step as she was pretty old.