I picked up my Trialmaster this week, and like so many, have initial reactions to many elements of the vehicle. Let me begin by saying I am often a new adopter of a vehicle/model and have experience with being in that guinea pig category. I currently have a Rivian R1T Launch Edition and sold a Bronco (Day 1 order) to make room for the IG. The look of the Ineos is spectacular and gets a bunch of interest in parking lots. I'm very impressed with the walk around - gaps are good and everything aside from one little trim piece is sorted.
Picking up my vehicle in Houston to make the drive home to Austin meant I was off the dealer lot and onto an interstate at high speeds right off the bat. My initial reactions were that the seats are very comfortable, ride is solid, and surprisingly quiet at 80+ mph. What I didn't like was that the vehicle did not want to track in a lane - and I mean at all. I had seen/read all of the steering related comments mainly on the steering rack turns and lack of center return. I've lived with older off road vehicles with rod/ball steering plenty over the years, but this time I was looking for trees and flags to tell me that a storm was blowing through and the winds were high. My opinion is that there's a difference in going to a throwback, low-sensitivity steering solution and one that seems to have a couple of degrees dead zone when steering is centered. You wait for it to drift and then you bring it back. This is a more substantial issue if you're going to be logging any real highway miles at today's highway speeds. Tires are new, pressures can be adjusted, etc., but do those without KO2's have it a little bit better? I did just read that there's a recall due to loose attachments on the steering balls - fingers crossed that's not me.
The engine and transmission are more than capable. Bronco has more grunt but I don't see this as a drawback on the Grenadier to any large degree. The back seats have a great deal of room, much better than many of the newer off roading vehicles with entry and egress much easier. I'm very pleased with the materials used to this point. Only time will tell how they hold up.
On that initial drive I was wondering how I missed the IG didn't have blind spot technology in the run up to delivery. I think this is pretty low hanging fruit as far as cars go and I'd guess this is the most expensive vehicle in production without it. Coupled with the invasive nanny warnings with other systems in the vehicle, why leave this one out? The mirrors could be a bit bigger and my driving position actually maxes out the driver mirrors adjustment to the left. All of that being said, I actually find the visibility to be decent, rear windows being the exception.
Let's talk about the rear windows and doors! I love the door set up. Yeah, the 30% could probably be 35% since visibility wasn't considered, but I have tossed multiple things into the smaller door over the few days I've had the vehicle. I was parked on a decent side hill at the grocery store and the larger door stayed right where I had placed it while loading bags into the back. I need to find a little sack to place the tie down loops when not in use because they are just in the way when tossing stuff into the cargo area. I know I'm a repeat offender with this comment, but the low mounting point of the rear camera... ugh. I've seen posts about aftermarket versions for camera/mirror and I'll have that ordered by days end.
Creating an infotainment system is tricky and I think that Ineos did an okay job here. Hopefully it will get better over time, but it's better at this point than a 2018 Audi MMI system which never got updates. Audio is fine but the hands-free speaker/mic seem to be actually very good. I haven't had many of the issues that others have with the HVAC system yet as the weather has been pleasant and we've been windows down. I can attest, however, that the seat heaters are not underpowered.
Here are some things that have happened that may be nuances to learn to live with or might be outright issues. Feel free to comment on any of these:
- Not being able to lock/unlock from the passenger side. I have seen some people comment this away by saying it's normal in Europe, however all of the European cars I owned allow for this. Standard in US.
- The key fob will not lock if any door is slightly 'open'. Meaning, you can't pull it open, you have to use the handle button. However, it doesn't give you a beep or "warning" that something isn't closed. I have two kids, this is going to be an issue.
- I have had two instances of the emergency braking system warning when starting the car and driving, however when ADAS chirps at me for something the system seems to clear the error.
- Pulled up to my house and my kid unbuckled his belt right before we stopped, the chime starting going off and continued after we were stopped and vehicle was in Park. He was being dropped and then I was off somewhere else but I had to turn the car off and recycle the system to get the warning to stop.
- Radio was still playing after I was out of the car with the key in my hand and all doors were closed. The window was down which is why it caught my attention. It turned off when I opened the door again.
- Rear wiper auto turns on when reversing with the front screen wipers on. Is that a setting or just built in?
- Right rear parking sensor on the corner is alerting me 50% of the time when reversing. Always a red alert closest to the bumper. I have cleaned it but if there's an adjustment I can do, I'm all ears.
- Cargo /grate accessory mounting points inside the cabin on the headliner. Ineos should really make a cap for those. Little fingers love to pull on those holes.
I know people are going to fire away saying I'm hating on the Grenadier, but I'm not. Overall, the car is very unique and a big draw for me. I was likely going to move from the Rivian to this as my daily but I'm not completely sold at this point. The R1T didn't come completely sorted upon delivery either. Lets see if we can't work out a few kinks and make me love the thing.
