NEW UK tour

[acwiltshire]

I ordered mine unseen and after the drive yesterday have no doubts.

 

[emax]

See my post first drive in UK today

Hadn't seen that before. Nice as well!

 

[Bushguide]

I researched for months for my next vehicle like many people do. Look at facts and figures and take vehicles for test drives.
Most people buy a house after a 15 minute walk through, well here in Australia anyway.
I have ordered a Grenadier and have never seen one in person.
Then again a few months ago I purchased a house i had never seen either.

 

[Bushguide]

Glad to hear Im not the only one doing that Dave. Have done it twice in the past 12 months once in Toowoomba and the second time up in Townsville.

 

[DaveB]

Glad to hear Im not the only one doing that Dave. Have done it twice in the past 12 months once in Toowoomba and the second time up in Townsville.

It is a 20 metre wide x 60 metre deep flat block of land 50 metres from the water that happens to have an old 3 bed Queenslander on it.
I bought the land and the location the house was a bonus.

 

[bemax]

there are certainly worse parts of the world to live! Really nice. When I have been in Australia 1997 I only came up to Rainbow beach. I loved the area!

 

[Jeremy996]

Well, I've had my drive and I'm buzzing.

I drove the white one, which is a 5 seat Commercial with solid rear panels, a compass and extended electrical installation. They all look great muddy - good as I am not a willing washer of cars. They had a black 2 seat commercial and a purple Trialmaster, with a petrol engine. The Green one is another diesel 5 seat Commercial. All of them are Production trial builds, so some of the plastics will be sub-par and they are not electrically/programmed signed off, certainly the White one had a lot of random bongs while driving and some switches did not work, (including the Toot button).

It was a good drive, quiet, comfortable, controllable, lots of power. It is a heavy vehicle and no sports car, but I had no reservations about the way it went about its business; like a more sophisticated P38, with better damping. There is some roll, but likely less than my old LR110CSW and it made a lot less fuss.

Seat are comfortable; switchgear will need learning, (like heavy plant, a tank or an aircraft), the ignition key is to the left of the steering column, (old Defender flashback), my feet were happy on the floor and the rear door arrangement has been tided up. The black one had the factory winch and tow bar, both workmanlike. The rear seat folding arrangements in the commercials/Trailmaster looks a little clumsy, but I can live with it.

All in all, time well spent. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the need for a code reader/writer for the full maintenance experience; modern emission requirements make logging changes and replacements with the system compulsory. Lee, the Service/Warranty Manager for the UK, Europe and the Middle East expected a suitable system to be £600ish plus software, so not trivial but not impossible either.

 

[Arkaig]

AreAll in all, time well spent. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the need for a code reader/writer for the full maintenance experience; modern emission requirements make logging changes and replacements with the system compulsory. Lee, the Service/Warranty Manager for the UK, Europe and the Middle East expected a suitable system to be £600ish plus software, so not trivial but not impossible either.

@ Jeremy996 - Are you able to expand a little bit more on your reservation, please?

 

[Jeremy996]

@ Jeremy996 - Are you able to expand a little bit more on your reservation, please?

Back in the early days of the project, Ineos indicated that they would like to make the vehicle self contained, so users would not need readers/test books for maintenance. Now, as an (ex) owner of a 200Tdi engined 110, just spanners for routine work suited me fine, but it appears that emissions regulations make it impossible to avoid some sort of external monitoring of maintenance procedures. As I stated above, the costs of the equipment will not be prohibitive, but the need to rent software irks me.

This, for me is likely to be a vehicle for life, so I want to be able to maintain it in 15-20 years time; dealers tend to lose interest once out of warranty and early second owner use.

 

[DCPU]

I think it's been like that for a good while? Injectors need to be programmed, VCVs need pump learning procedure and pilot correction procedure ~ all need some form of diagnostic tool.

 

[Jeremy996]

I think it's been like that for a good while? Injectors need to be programmed, VCVs need pump learning procedure and pilot correction procedure ~ all need some form of diagnostic tool.

True, but it was implied that this vehicle will be different. If the diagnostic/programming gear was built into the vehicle, one of the usual whinges about vehicle electronics could be nipped in the bud. Certainly, for independent travel, not needing a HawkEye or test book would be quite handy.

I'm not a complete Luddite - I have several OBDC readers for the more modern cars in the household and I know how to use them; I was hoping that the Grenadier would not require me to add to the electrical box count in my tool box.

 

[DCPU]

True, but it was implied that this vehicle will be different. If the diagnostic/programming gear was built into the vehicle, one of the usual whinges about vehicle electronics could be nipped in the bud.

That certainly would be a bonus, although I'm not sure whether the associated cost, assuming it was passed on to the owner either as part of the core cost or an optional extra, would be better spent on a standalone generic unit that might be able to do multiple vehicles?

I'd certainly prioritise it above, say, puddle lamps and ambient lighting, which in UK would give you a @ £350 budget & the Belstaff jackets a further @ £290.

 

[Inez]

I use this for my VW. Pretty powerful software. Is there something like this available for BMW that might work or be adaptable?

Ross-Tech: VCDS

 

[JOB]

Have driven it this morning. It will be worth the wait.

I haven’t got lots of off road driving experience but the way it dealt with steep, loose, muddy inclines was incredible.

Even better, the one I drove was not far off my spec!

 

[DaveB]

That certainly would be a bonus, although I'm not sure whether the associated cost, assuming it was passed on to the owner either as part of the core cost or an optional extra, would be better spent on a standalone generic unit that might be able to do multiple vehicles?

I'd certainly prioritise it above, say, puddle lamps and ambient lighting, which in UK would give you a @ £350 budget & the Belstaff jackets a further @ £290.

The problem is that different customers have different priorities and based on sales of other SUV's I am going to take a total guess and say that 94.863% of Ineos customers would have no use for it.

 

[ECrider]

you rounded down again DaveB?

 

[bemax]

you rounded down again DaveB?

No ECrider, I thought so as well but after recalculating I do come to exactly 94.863 % (well to be honest 94.86301)
DaveB seems to me very reliable

 

[Arkaig]

DaveB seems to me very reliable

 

[Davman]

I think he is just pulling figures out of his proverbial.

 

[bemax]

I think he is just pulling figures out of his proverbial.

Can’t be. The figures are obviously to accurate!