So where are all the first impressions? (right here)

[Davman]

well I got my first impression of the 2 seat Grenadier today at the Melbourne 4x4 Outdoor show. INEOS had 2 agent demonstration models on their stand. Lovely big long flat cargo area upon opening the rear door!

But what I really wanted to say was amongst a sea of Toyota Land Cruisers, Ford Rangers, Nissan Patrols, Ford FT150's & 350's, most with 2" and 3" lifts, 37" or bigger MT's and every other imaginable GMV off-road & rock hopping upgrade - all trying to say "look at me", "look at me" - the two Grenadiers looked so beautifully proportioned, well designed, quitely understated; the classical off road vehicle.

It's not until you sit in a Toyoato 70 series and then directly into the Grenadier and closing the drivers door with that bank vault thud, that you fully appreciate the Grenadiers' substance, finish, beauty & style. This vehicle is going to become a classic.

Great to see your full enthusiasm in the IG is back again @grenadierboy

 

[grenadierboy]

Great to see your full enthusiasm in the IG is back again @grenadierboy

It is Dav.

I sat in the drivers seat for so long, after about 10 minutes an INEOS rep came over if everything was OK (aka time to let other people have a go!!), so I promptly got out and sat in the backseat!!

 

[trobex]

What's with the high prevalence of split and holed pipes?!

Cheap parts comes to mind... like using your Ozito rattle drill thinking it will last as long as my Milwaukee...

 

[Max]

Great to see your full enthusiasm in the IG is back again @grenadierboy

Enthusiasm can get you out of bed early on a Saturday morning to have your wife at the Brisbane Airport by 7 am...From Buderim on the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane can be a parking lot at times so in the car at 5 30 am and not a lie but back home at 7 30. Two hours of highway driving virtually in a truck...as mentioned before if you think you are going to just point this vehicle...no you steer it...fantastic fun and the thrill of moving at times quite quickly to keep things flowing was cool...the grunt of the Diesel just lifts even at 100klms and you look down to see 129klms... whoops!

 

[stickshifter]

Fixed it for you. I'd put my 1989 FJ62 on 34"s up against any Wrangler, any day.

In all seriousness, any rig with stout axles, lockers and aired down tires can make for a pretty accomplished crawler. The Greny's relative high center of gravity is what I assumed you guys were talking about.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Hey Idaho,

I'm in Colorado - nice to see some other Rocky-Mountain folk on here! You've got some nice Landcruisers. I had a 1975 FJ-40 back in my youth, but it wasn't quite in the same condition as yours

Even if two vehicles both have solid front and rear axles, there can be pretty significant variation in wheel articulation (i.e. how much they can flex), and as a consequence, how well-suited they are for real technical off-road driving / rock-crawling. Take a look at this video comparing a G-Wagen to a stock Jeep JK (not the newer JL that really flexes). Both have solid axles, a center diff lock or its equivalent, and lockers front & rear. This isn't the video I was looking for (in which a G-Wagen nearly tips and requires people standing on the side-steps to stay upright, while a Jeep JL cruises right through the same track), but this will do I think. G-Wagens are amazing vehicles - very different than Jeep. I'm just pointing out that they don't flex the same.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbGhq49cQ9M

 

[stickshifter]

Ahhh, here is the other video I was thinking about comparing articulation between a Jeep and a G-Wagen - both with solid axles:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCDCvF_58h4

 

[AnD3rew]

At this point there isn’t a huge amount to be said that hasn’t already. But here are my first impressions.
The overwhelming first impression is one of how imposing and solid it is on the road. It just feels like you are driving a Kenworth, but in a good way.
The steering is definitely unusual, not bad, but definitely unusual the big thing to be careful of is not accelerating out of a corner until you are used to it. It actually helps if you do pretend you are driving a Kenworth.
Footrest feels odd and uncomfortable at first, but after 40 minutes of driving I actually found it not just ok, but in fact comfortable. Will see how it is after 3 hours next week.
Love the look, love the feel sitting inside it, love the seats and the driving position. Love the safari windows and I would definitely have regretted not getting them. Was a bit worried the grey black leather plus the saddle leather would be too much but it’s not, it looks great. There is a tiny turbo lag, but when it kicks in it goes like a train for such a big car.

 

[lightning]

That's one of the best looking Grenadiers l've seen.
l like the front bull bar, it disguises the large front bumper.
l agree the Safari Windows looks great.
And the blue colour with the white roof is lovely.

 

[AnD3rew]

That's one of the best looking Grenadiers l've seen.
l like the front bull bar, it disguises the large front bumper.
l agree the Safari Windows looks great.
And the blue colour with the white roof is lovely.

Our bumpers are smaller than yours even without the roo bar

 

[rovie]

At this point there isn’t a huge amount to be said that hasn’t already. But here are my first impressions.
The overwhelming first impression is one of how imposing and solid it is on the road. It just feels like you are driving a Kenworth, but in a good way.
The steering is definitely unusual, not bad, but definitely unusual the big thing to be careful of is not accelerating out of a corner until you are used to it. It actually helps if you do pretend you are driving a Kenworth.
Footrest feels odd and uncomfortable at first, but after 40 minutes of driving I actually found it not just ok, but in fact comfortable. Will see how it is after 3 hours next week.
Love the look, love the feel sitting inside it, love the seats and the driving position. Love the safari windows and I would definitely have regretted not getting them. Was a bit worried the grey black leather plus the saddle leather would be too much but it’s not, it looks great. There is a tiny turbo lag, but when it kicks in it goes like a train for such a big car.
View attachment 7824634View attachment 7824635

Hi @AnD3rew
I am happy for you. Enjoy driving your Grenadier. You'll see, after the first few miles, it drives like you've had it for a long time. I haven't done a comparison drive with a Kenworth yet, unfortunately. But maybe later I can send a photo for size comparison.
Have a good ride!

 

[Trialmaster]

That's one of the best looking Grenadiers l've seen.
l like the front bull bar, it disguises the large front bumper.
l agree the Safari Windows looks great.
And the blue colour with the white roof is lovely.

Wouldn't be great if we could fit a bar to the UK versions?

 

[nobody_asked]

My A/C has failed a second time. Lasted 10 days since the last "fix' (replacement hose). This will be my third return visit to the agents. Getting fed up now with the delayed software update, missing roof bars and useless A/C.

Sorry to hear about your a/c issues. However, when it is working how is it? Can others please let me know how their a/c is? Living in the southern US it gets extremely hot (106 F/ 41.1 C) yesterday so good a/c is critical. Thanks

 

[rovie]

Sorry to hear about your a/c issues. However, when it is working how is it? Can others please let me know how their a/c is? Living in the southern US it gets extremely hot (106 F/ 41.1 C) yesterday so good a/c is critical. Thanks

Hi @nobody_asked our air conditioning works. It gets really cold on the coldest setting.
However, with heavy use, there are always drops of water on the rubber floor mat on the driver's side (LHD).
I have already removed a lot of cladding under the steering wheel and the centre console to look for the cause.
Unfortunately, despite using a camera, I have not yet found any water drops at the point of origin.
I assume, however, that it is not a leak but condensation, as there are individual drops in several places.
Some of them do not even reach the floor mat due to evaporation on the way down.
If it is condensation, then several vehicles have the problem.

Whoever wants to try it:
Switch on the air conditioning, set the temperature to the lowest setting and drive around with the windows open for a while.
You should then see drops of water coming out of the side panel of the centre console at the same place as the air outlet nozzle.

 

[nobody_asked]

Hi @nobody_asked our air conditioning works. It gets really cold on the coldest setting.
However, with heavy use, there are always drops of water on the rubber floor mat on the driver's side (LHD).
I have already removed a lot of cladding under the steering wheel and the centre console to look for the cause.
Unfortunately, despite using a camera, I have not yet found any water drops at the point of origin.
I assume, however, that it is not a leak but condensation, as there are individual drops in several places.
Some of them do not even reach the floor mat due to evaporation on the way down.
If it is condensation, then several vehicles have the problem.

Whoever wants to try it:
Switch on the air conditioning, set the temperature to the lowest setting and drive around with the windows open for a while.
You should then see drops of water coming out of the side panel of the centre console at the same place as the air outlet nozzle.

Thanks, There were some earlier posts concerning this issue if you want to scroll a few pages back. I think they said there was a leak in a drain pipe and one person had it fixed at the dealership.

 

[rovie]

Thanks, There were some earlier posts concerning this issue if you want to scroll a few pages back. I think they said there was a leak in a drain pipe and one person had it fixed at the dealership.

Thank you. I had read that, but it was not comparable to my case.

 

[Max]

Sorry to hear about your a/c issues. However, when it is working how is it? Can others please let me know how their a/c is? Living in the southern US it gets extremely hot (106 F/ 41.1 C) yesterday so good a/c is critical. Thanks

Mine fortunately is working well...we have had some warm days of late which is unusual for us late in winter...I find that using the recirculation it's very cool and not working as hard...just moving the cool air around the cab...have you found that in other cars?

 

[DaveB]

The last week of winter and the weather is warming up.
Aircon on car sitting on 22 degrees.
Cooler here on the coast, I went 50kms inland on Thursday and the car said it was 31 degrees at 1 pm.
Grenadier aircon is going to get a workout

 

[Alprider]

I’ve just done 4200km in my Trailmaster with the Ineos seat covers, that are pretty average tbh. They don’t stay fixed at the base even after tucking the tags in behind the trim and they are a bit sweaty as well…
Looks like I’ll be getting a mate in SA to send me some of the M&M covers…,

 

[Spjnr]

I’ve just done 4200km in my Trailmaster with the Ineos seat covers, that are pretty average tbh. They don’t stay fixed at the base even after tucking the tags in behind the trim and they are a bit sweaty as well…
Looks like I’ll be getting a mate in SA to send me some of the M&M covers…,

Yeah the tabs pulling out is irritating.

 

[Bobby Mac]

Mine lasted about 200 km before I took them off - they are a complete waste of AUD $490 - they were not well fitting and had a very average feel to the material and. Yes, those tabs - no matter how many times I tucked them in correctly (didn’t come from dealer fitted correctly), they did not stay in. I will get some neoprene covers when they become available. Meanwhile, not sure what I’m going to do with the Ineos covers.