The Grenadier is built to be used, and one of those uses is serious long-distance travel. This kind of travel often involves multiple people collaborating to cover long stretches, on and off road. Sometimes one of those people is a navigator in the passenger seat. Often it is dark out.
It can be extremely helpful when good front seat lighting is available while the car is being driven in the dark. The key here is that the front seat lighting must be designed such that it doesn't make driving dangerous by impacting the driver's night vision with distracting glare. I have driven vehicles with very well-designed front seat lighting, and I have driven vehicles where it was obvious the front seat lighting was meant to look impressively bright in the dealership lot. Sometimes it seems that was the only design factor.
Many automakers have created excellent front seat lighting which provides clear illumination of maps etc in the front seat area without permitting the glare from these lights to distract or blind the driver. This is not a particularly complicated thing to accomplish. It simply requires shielding the driver's eyes from direct line of sight to the lens of the light (or anything within the vicinity of that light which might be excessively illuminated).
I was a bit disappointed when I took delivery of my Grenadier and realized that insufficient effort had been put towards accomplishing this in my new overland and long-distance travel vehicle. The position and design of the lens housing, and particularly the way it scatters light into the driver's eyes, is sub-par. Within a few weeks I set about to improve it.
I created a series of 3D printed glare shields that fit against the surface of the front seat map light lenses. These were 3D printed in a matte material and attached to the existing overhead center console using existing exposed fasteners. An early version has been uploaded to the Resources section for over a year and is downloadable for printing at home. I have since worked through over a dozen prototypes before finally settling on what I believe is an optimal light shield for front seat passengers. The final design is not so easy to print (the bed orientation is tricky, for cosmetic reasons) so I have not uploaded that CAD for general consumption.
This light shield design allows use of either left or right overhead light in the dark without significantly impacting the driver's night vision. In particular it allows long-term use of the passenger side map light for navigation purposes without the driver hardly even noticing it is on. It does not significantly reduce the reach of light that is spread into the front seat area or its intensity. Installation takes a couple minutes and reuses the existing factory stainless fasteners.
Once this was installed in my vehicle there was no way I could go back to the original lensing without being annoyed every time the lights came on. The difference is stark at night, especially when driving. The before and after photos (below) really do not do it justice. I've tested them for many months myself and have sent samples out to forum members and gotten excellent feedback.
These Left and Right shields are now available as a kit in the Forum store here:
They are 3D printed from durable PETG-CF (an engineered plastic with short carbon fiber additive) in black. It is a complex contoured component that has been optimized to completely surround the original lenses and effectively shade both front seat occupants completely from dangerous or annoying glare. It allows the full output of the map light to reach interior surfaces, and it blends well with the surrounding aesthetic.
Some people won't care a bit about this modification. Others will appreciate it as a thoughtful detail that makes an incredibly capable vehicle even more fit for their mission.
I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on these. And I'd especially love to hear feedback, good or bad, from anyone that has installed them.
It can be extremely helpful when good front seat lighting is available while the car is being driven in the dark. The key here is that the front seat lighting must be designed such that it doesn't make driving dangerous by impacting the driver's night vision with distracting glare. I have driven vehicles with very well-designed front seat lighting, and I have driven vehicles where it was obvious the front seat lighting was meant to look impressively bright in the dealership lot. Sometimes it seems that was the only design factor.
Many automakers have created excellent front seat lighting which provides clear illumination of maps etc in the front seat area without permitting the glare from these lights to distract or blind the driver. This is not a particularly complicated thing to accomplish. It simply requires shielding the driver's eyes from direct line of sight to the lens of the light (or anything within the vicinity of that light which might be excessively illuminated).
I was a bit disappointed when I took delivery of my Grenadier and realized that insufficient effort had been put towards accomplishing this in my new overland and long-distance travel vehicle. The position and design of the lens housing, and particularly the way it scatters light into the driver's eyes, is sub-par. Within a few weeks I set about to improve it.
I created a series of 3D printed glare shields that fit against the surface of the front seat map light lenses. These were 3D printed in a matte material and attached to the existing overhead center console using existing exposed fasteners. An early version has been uploaded to the Resources section for over a year and is downloadable for printing at home. I have since worked through over a dozen prototypes before finally settling on what I believe is an optimal light shield for front seat passengers. The final design is not so easy to print (the bed orientation is tricky, for cosmetic reasons) so I have not uploaded that CAD for general consumption.
This light shield design allows use of either left or right overhead light in the dark without significantly impacting the driver's night vision. In particular it allows long-term use of the passenger side map light for navigation purposes without the driver hardly even noticing it is on. It does not significantly reduce the reach of light that is spread into the front seat area or its intensity. Installation takes a couple minutes and reuses the existing factory stainless fasteners.
Once this was installed in my vehicle there was no way I could go back to the original lensing without being annoyed every time the lights came on. The difference is stark at night, especially when driving. The before and after photos (below) really do not do it justice. I've tested them for many months myself and have sent samples out to forum members and gotten excellent feedback.
These Left and Right shields are now available as a kit in the Forum store here:
Map Light Glare Shields
Fix the Glare – Map Light Glare Shields for the INEOS Grenadier & Quartermaster! Tired of the harsh glare from your INEOS Grenadier or Quartermaster’s map lights? The original lensing design scatters light unevenly, creating distracting reflections that make night-time navigation frustrating...
grenadierworks.com
They are 3D printed from durable PETG-CF (an engineered plastic with short carbon fiber additive) in black. It is a complex contoured component that has been optimized to completely surround the original lenses and effectively shade both front seat occupants completely from dangerous or annoying glare. It allows the full output of the map light to reach interior surfaces, and it blends well with the surrounding aesthetic.
Some people won't care a bit about this modification. Others will appreciate it as a thoughtful detail that makes an incredibly capable vehicle even more fit for their mission.
I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on these. And I'd especially love to hear feedback, good or bad, from anyone that has installed them.
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