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

Eric

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My first/original order was July 2022. The vehicle was delivered to the dealer in March 2023 but with wrong engine and in the wrong colour. So I had to re-order in March and was promised an accelerated process...
Ah, that all makes sense now. I remember you mentioning it in a thread at the time. Been a lot of posts since then, and I have trouble remembering last week let alone a few months ago.
Enjoy your vehicle now you finally have it.
 

muxmax

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Ah, that all makes sense now. I remember you mentioning it in a thread at the time. Been a lot of posts since then, and I have trouble remembering last week let alone a few months ago.
Enjoy your vehicle now you finally have it.
No worries. I can absolutely understand any irritation about that. And I keep my fingers crossed for all of you who are still waiting. The upside is that chances are high that flaws become less, the later the delivery.
 

JonSutton

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Impressions of the vehicle in use.

Towed about 2.5 tonnes today. A lot, lot easier than with a Wolf 110 but not as relaxed as with an L405. Mirrors not as good as the Range Rover, trailer harder to see, cameras not as good and harder to hitch up - spare a bit awkward but the ZF is still seamless in the Grenadier. A genuine smooth ride though and my empty Ifor can be bouncy.
It struggled a bit off road in high box, maybe I should have used bottom box.
There is definitely a learning curve for me with the new vehicle, the radio takes some fathoming out but the phone is easy and CarPlay works well. Seats are very good.
I do think it’ll drink diesel quickly.
 

DenisM

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6,000 KM Update Report

I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.

Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).

Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the intervening 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...

Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.

Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.

Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.

Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!

Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.

Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In one instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .

Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.

Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!

I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.

At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!

Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.

Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.

Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).

Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.

I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)

One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that ;)
 
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DCPU

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Nice write up. 👍

At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners!

Seems it's a thing:
FB_IMG_1694608472491.jpg
 

rovie

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6,000 KM Update Report

I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.

Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).

Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the next 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...

Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.

Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.

Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.

Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!

Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.

Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In once instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .

Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.

Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!

I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.

At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!

Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.

Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.

Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).

Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.

I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, the Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)

One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that ;)
@DenisM Thank you for this excellent, detailed report. (y)
 

Pat

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6,000 KM Update Report

I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.

Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).

Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the next 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...

Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.

Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.

Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.

Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!

Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.

Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In once instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .

Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.

Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!

I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.

At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!

Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.

Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.

Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).

Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.

I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, the Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)

One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that ;)
Very professional report with a balanced amount of emotions.
 

Cheshire cat

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The first tank is almost empty and so I thought I'd share my first impressions with you. To be honest, I bought the Grenadier to scratch an itch. I don't really need it and mostly use it for everyday driving to the office and back. My offroad experience is and will be limited to some more or less well maintained dirtroads in the forest and a hunting trip to the Alps every now and then. The one thing I still want to achieve is to get a little more freedom to move by installing a remote office. Unfortunately my thread regarding that has somewhat died out without really producing helpful results. That being said, the vehicle is all that I had hoped for and more. It does have character, the air of timelessness, solidity and beauty and feels just right in these crazy times where everything that you thought was tried and trusted is being questioned in every aspect of life. It just feels good to turn the engine on when my electrified neighbours are still asleep. On top of that, driving the Grenadier for me is what I imagine a yoga session to be: it calms me down. I would describe myself as rather an assertive driver and I sure love to fly down the Autobahn with 250 km/h. But in the Grenadier, there's nothing of that. Sitting in that solid tank (as my oldest sons call it) just asks for some good music and going with the flow. The steering is of course different than that of an Mercedes E 63 S, but it is exactly how I would want it for such a car. As many before me wrote, I got used to it after a few minutes. Even my wife now loves the car and I must say, there is definitely a sex appeal factor to it when she jumps off that machine in a pretty dress.

There are a few minor issues that still need some attention and will hopefully be fixed soon. Not too many bings and bongs, but the seat belt warning did go off two or three times now without any apparent reason. My only bings-and-bongs-going-mad-experience was yesterday, when I had stopped the car and wanted to turn the ignition back on so that my children could listen to the radio. I had the door open and apparently the car doesn't like that too much . I got all sorts of warnings up to the request to push the brake pedal. This, I hope, will be sorted with the software update. Besides that there is a noise when rolling down one of the rear windows, a loose screw rolling around somewhere under the flooring, the windscreen fogs up from time to time when AC is on, the buttons of the rear doors sometimes get stuck, switching from high to low is a bit tough, and the light sensor is too senisitive for my taste. I have adressed all of that with my dealer and we shall see what they can do about these things. Nothing of that worries me too much.

Four things I would say are a tiny bit annoying to me: first and foremost, I really cannot understand why INEOS made a car that relies on the customers to connect their phones and then be so stingy with the power outlets. The ones hidden in the middle storage box are ok, but if you want to use a magnetic cradle and not plug and stow away your phone for every ride, this is a nuisance. Especially since the cables have to be in the very correct position for the lid of the storage box to close. I understand and appreciate the concept of leaving as much as possible to the creativity of the customer, but one or two USB sockets around the front panel or dashboard wouldn't have hurt. The second thing that surprised me is the absolute lack of any storage space besides the middle box that deserves the name. Luckily, I don't need specs to drive, but if I did, I would not even know where to safely put those. The two spots on the dash and below the front panel are only good for peolpe who love their stuff to fly around through the car at the slightest turns. Well, and the glove compartment is really just for gloves (unless you have the manual in there; then its already full). My car is now full of molle rigs to create space for the little things I tend to carry around (like an oyster knife, you never know). The third thing are the reflections. When driving at night, rear and side vision really is not the best since the main display strongly reflects from the side and rear windows. I have dimmed it now and not driven in the dark since, but dimming the screen takes a couple of steps in the menu and is not something that you want to do too often. It would have been nice if the display (and the warning light smorgasbord in front of the steering wheel) would dim with the rest of the interior lights mechanically. Fourth is the turning circle. I know, I could have (and did) known that in advance, but it still is a bit more difficult than I hoped it would be. Pulling in and out of parking lots and garages can be a challenge and definitely is more difficult than with my VW T6 whith roughly the same dimensions. (Before anyone feels compelled to comment that, I know that the T6 ends about 50cm before my feet and thus is a completely different vehicle). Well, if I hadn't killed it already, the panic button would be No. 5. INEOS could have made that optional for the US market or at least program it so that it only goes off when you really want it to.

I had almost forgotten one thing: after a few too short drives on the first kilometres, I apparently interrupted the cleaning cycle of the particle filter. As a result, the radiator continued to run very loudly for several minutes. However, this has not happened since.

All in all, the positives far outweigh the negatives and I still catch myself making up reasons to take another quick trip with the car. Next week I'm going to drive a longer distance of a few hundred kilometres for the first time. I hope I can at least temporarily stop grinning then so I don't get a cramp in my cheeks.

For the statisticians among us: ordered 21 March 2023, went into production 11 May 2023, contract came 10 July 2023, collected the vehicle on 31 August 2023. VIN ...3918.
A very good report that reflects my feelings and irritations exactly.
 

Max

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6,000 KM Update Report

I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.

Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).

Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the intervening 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...

Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.

Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.

Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.

Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!

Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.

Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In one instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .

Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.

Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!

I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.

At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!

Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.

Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.

Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).

Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.

I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)

One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that ;)
I am curious about the transfer case...was there an issue or warning?...or they just rang to say we are going to replace it because they knew of an issue?

Love your report Denis...my wife and I are on Sunday off to Kyogle via Lions Rd south of Beaudesert then down to Ulmara on the Clarence River just north of Grafton...I recommend dinner and staying the night at the Hotel...then off to the Central Coast to see the Grandchildren...my wife has also driven the B57 and the same with the steering as your wife...you will have to post a couple of pics...Thanks, Max ;)
 

grenadierboy

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6,000 KM Update Report

I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.

Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).

Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the intervening 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...

Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.

Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.

Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.

Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!

Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.

Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In one instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .

Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.

Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!

I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.

At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!

Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.

Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.

Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).

Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.

I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)

One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that ;)
Denis - thanks for your feedback.

Regards the transfer case - did the agent explain to you what exactly the issue was with and did you suspect there was anything wrong with it before the agent called?

cheers
 

DenisM

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@Max and @grenadierboy
Thanks for the feedback! Re. the transfer case:
The original case was an August 2022 build, the serial number being in the 1500s
part number 18386
The replacement is a November 2022 build with a serial number in the 4600s with a Part number 18386B
My vehicle is a March 2023 build with a low 2000s VIN.
I had no idea there "might" be a problem with the transfer case. Based on the info I'd picked up on this forum, I even drove it in low range/locked for a km or two on the wet clay/gravel road on Bruny Island . There were no spurious noises either before or after. On sections of low noise bitumen highway (high range not locked --in case anyone was wondering! ) there were no tell tale bearing noises on acceleration/over-run or "float" anywhere from the transmission train which I could detect, not withstanding there are three diffs each with their own backlash etc.

I will admit to having a sensitive ear when it comes to music or machinery noises! (long before I became obsessed with the symphonic sounds of a Commodore LS1 and later a P38 Range Rover🤣) .... my propensity to listen to the "health of the vehicle" rather than turn up the music occasionally drives my tinnitus suffering wife "nuts" but that's another story...😎
So it was a surprise to receive the call from the dealer to advise their intent to change the T/F case.

The knowledgable tech who did the job said that the oil which came from the T/F was "pristine" and that they had done PDI tests before delivery, on which basis they thought it was OK. However they received a replacement case and an order number for my vehicle! Some interesting tech details... the replacement case came prefilled with oil -overfilled as I understand it, to accommodate the need to also fill the transfer case cooler! It seems to have been opened post manufacture and inspected then sealed and marked the QC "paint dabs" as is common on new vehicles.
He also explained the attention to detail of the "new" bolts supplied for reattaching the CV joints on the tail shafts..they are coated with wax which melts when being tightened then solidifies so as to seal the long bolt ends and surrounds to prevent ingress from water/mud etc . The things you learn!

I was somewhat gobsmacked to tell you the truth with this transparent proactive approach with no BS on the part of Ineos. My long experience in large organisations leads me to believe that the decision to "replace" was no "one off" decision by a lone individual, it would have been decided at a very senior level because of "precedents/costs/reputation etc". I am (to use an Australian expression of endearment!) bloody well impressed and even more confident in 'the brand'! Companies often have to make 'hard' decisions. This one shows a real concern for customer satisfaction.

Sorry for the long response...but to finish: I had the scurrilous thought that while the "Good Book" says "The hairs on your head are all numbered" so too it seems, every nut, bolt, transfer case, engine component etc is "numbered" in the Ineos Good Book! 😇

EDIT: sorry @grenadierboy ...to answer your full question: The exact technical reason for the recall was not explained, other than it was to be absolutely sure that there were no issues later on.
 
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Max

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@Max and @grenadierboy
Thanks for the feedback! Re. the transfer case:
The original case was an August 2022 build, the serial number being in the 1500s
part number 18386
The replacement is a November 2022 build with a serial number in the 4600s with a Part number 18386B
My vehicle is a March 2023 build with a low 2000s VIN.
I had no idea there "might" be a problem with the transfer case. Based on the info I'd picked up on this forum, I even drove it in low range/locked for a km or two on the wet clay/gravel road on Bruny Island . There were no spurious noises either before or after. On sections of low noise bitumen highway (high range not locked --in case anyone was wondering! ) there were no tell tale bearing noises on acceleration/over-run or "float" anywhere from the transmission train which I could detect, not withstanding there are three diffs each with their own backlash etc.

I will admit to having a sensitive ear when it comes to music or machinery noises! (long before I became obsessed with the symphonic sounds of a Commodore LS1 and later a P38 Range Rover🤣) .... my propensity to listen to the "health of the vehicle" rather than turn up the music occasionally drives my tinnitus suffering wife "nuts" but that's another story...😎
So it was a surprise to receive the call from the dealer to advise their intent to change the T/F case.

The knowledgable tech who did the job said that the oil which came from the T/F was "pristine" and that they had done PDI tests before delivery, on which basis they thought it was OK. However they received a replacement case and an order number for my vehicle! Some interesting tech details... the replacement case came prefilled with oil -overfilled as I understand it, to accommodate the need to also fill the transfer case cooler! It seems to have been opened post manufacture and inspected then sealed and marked the QC "paint dabs" as is common on new vehicles.
He also explained the attention to detail of the "new" bolts supplied for reattaching the CV joints on the tail shafts..they are coated with wax which melts when being tightened then solidifies so as to seal the long bolt ends and surrounds to prevent ingress from water/mud etc . The things you learn!

I was somewhat gobsmacked to tell you the truth with this transparent proactive approach with no BS on the part of Ineos. My long experience in large organisations leads me to believe that the decision to "replace" was no "one off" decision by a lone individual, it would have been decided at a very senior level because of "precedents/costs/reputation etc". I am (to use an Australian expression of endearment!) bloody well impressed and even more confident in 'the brand'! Companies often have to make 'hard' decisions. This one shows a real concern for customer satisfaction.

Sorry for the long response...but to finish: I had the scurrilous thought that while the "Good Book" says "The hairs on your head are all numbered" so too it seems, every nut, bolt, transfer case, engine component etc is "numbered" in the Ineos Good Book! 😇

EDIT: sorry @grenadierboy ...to answer your full question: The exact technical reason for the recall was not explained, other than it was to be abosolutely sure that there were no issues later on.
Thanks for that it makes us if I may speak for the owners, very relieved to understand at least to a point that we don't have to concern ourselves with any issues...I can sympathize with your wife after having tinnitus for many years I have just received my aids and can hear the world and the mechanical sounds that had disappeared with the tinnitus...thanks again Denis. ;)
 

Cheshire cat

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My dealer has informed me that my transfer box will be replaced at same time as software update. I have no issues with the box however, my vehicle is on the list for changing out.
 

rovie

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My dealer has informed me that my transfer box will be replaced at same time as software update. I have no issues with the box however, my vehicle is on the list for changing out.
Exactly the same with me, I have no problems. My dealer will first test the new software in his cars before any errors roll over him with customer cars. A good decision.
 

James

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Denis - thanks for your feedback.

Regards the transfer case - did the agent explain to you what exactly the issue was with and did you suspect there was anything wrong with it before the agent called?

cheers
Is there a thread here on this… i think theres a possibility of long term failure due to an underspec lubrication channel in the early transfer cases, and theyd taken the awesome decision to replace them all preemptively, so dealers in australia are all stocked with transfer cases for example. All to avoid possible major failures in a long time forward, and without anyone having to request replacement. As you say, such a strong sign of how they want to build a reputation- not a cheap decision in the short term.
 

rovie

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Is there a thread here on this… i think theres a possibility of long term failure due to an underspec lubrication channel in the early transfer cases, and theyd taken the awesome decision to replace them all preemptively, so dealers in australia are all stocked with transfer cases for example. All to avoid possible major failures in a long time forward, and without anyone having to request replacement. As you say, such a strong sign of how they want to build a reputation- not a cheap decision in the short term.
...but I think the right one looking into future.
 

DCPU

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Is there a thread here on this… i think theres a possibility of long term failure due to an underspec lubrication channel in the early transfer cases,

and theyd taken the awesome decision to replace them all preemptively, so dealers in australia are all stocked with transfer cases for example. All to avoid possible major failures in a long time forward, and without anyone having to request replacement. As you say, such a strong sign of how they want to build a reputation- not a cheap decision in the short term.
It seems to be an evolving situation. My recollection of events with the Tremec transfer case is:

The situation was definitely known about in February:

Perhaps much earlier if the B spec transfer cases are what are being fitted to vehicles and they date from at least Oct 22:

Back in March vehicles were turning up at agents with transfer case OK signs on them, having presumably been checked. Then further vehicles were held at agents awaiting an Ineos person to come out and personally drive each vehicle to test - not all vehicles needed testing. Those that failed had new transfer cases fitted.

Then in June(?) those that had the additional check at the agents and passed as OK were identified as now needing the transfer case changing. It seems agents did not immediately contact all owners and call them in for replacement cases. I'm not sure they would have had the volume of spares required, or possibly the workshop space/time, as they were PDI'ing and handing over their first vehicles. I spoke to my agent at the time and was told that Ineos knew the specific VINs of vehicles needing the swap and they were not in a simple VIN range (as we know early VINs have late transfer cases and vice-versa).

There was also speculation over the process and whether the first removed cases would be sent away for re-work and then returned to become "new" cases in other vehicles.
 

JonSutton

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6,000 KM Update Report

I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”. As of today, I’ve had the vehicle for 60 days, and have accumulated 10km short of the 6,000km. That has included a few unavoidable short suburban trips, a 250km return trip to a regional town up the main range (600m elevation) and a 5,450 km return road trip from Brisbane Qld to the southern tip of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania.

Fuel consumption (at the pump): Overall 10.6L/100km. Varying from 13.8 over 300km while in Tasmania, due to several short trips around Launceston in cold weather. The first 2000km the average was 11.7L/100km, then for the last thousand km from outskirts of Sydney to home in Brisbane 10.5L/100km. The engine is freeing up noticeably. 3900km of interstate travel to/from Brisbane-Melbourne was on motorway conditions where we cruised at 105kmh indicated. After the first 500km when the 1000km odo reading appeared I cruised at varying speeds between 1700 and 2800 rpm using manual shift (to staying within the speed limit and preserve my licence!), to properly bed-in the engine and transmission (old habits die hard).

Performance: The east coast Pacific Hwy has improved dramatically such that 3km from home, we didn’t strike any traffic lights for the first 400km to Coffs Harbour. From there until we reached the ferry terminal at Corio Bay there were no traffic lights for the intervening 1450km. The road has many long grades reaching 650m+ altitude south of Sydney in the southern highlands and southern NSW. In 8th gear it “sailed” over the grades with the speedometer varying by not more than +/- 1kmh. The digital controls which govern the cruise control function are brilliant. Furthermore, the variable valve timing on overrun meant that within +/- 3kmh the vehicle held its set speed on the equally long downhill run. A very different experience from the vacuum diaphragm controlled cruise system I remembered from the P38 Rangie! As I’ve said elsewhere, it pulled like a freight train ...

Cruising at 105 kmh, we were regularly passed by interstate 34 wheel transport trucks and trailers (50+ tonnes all up) travelling at their regulated 110kmh (GPS) uphill and down dale.

Steering: Stable although when the trucks began their passing manoeuvre, it wobbled a bit due to turbulence. Responded well to sharpish bends on the back roads of Tasmania.

Comfort: The seats are marvellous! I was able to find a comfortable position and settle in for 2+ hr stints. The background noise to my mind is similar to a plane trip… there’s a background “industrial hum” accompanied by the white noise sound of air rushing over the fuselage, yet low volume conversation is easily conducted at 100-110kmh.

Heating/Aircon Once I’d got the hang of the “auto” aircon I set it at 22 deg and despite external temperatures of -5deg to +27 deg the cabin remained comfortable once the engine reached operating temperature. At one stage it was blowing cold air on my feet and hot air on my face, which is the opposite of what’s normal. I fiddled with it and after a while it behaved…I didn’t dare disrupt it after that!

Spatial Awareness: The ability to manipulate the mirrors and see the front corners enabled me to usually park with “pinpoint” precision, much easier than the family Subaru Impreza or my previous Hyundai Santa Fe. Negotiating the narrow corridors of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry down to parking level 2 was “exciting”! We opened the windows and folded the side mirrors in.

Tasmania: We travelled almost 1500km through Tasmania including 100+km of wet clay/gravel on Bruny Island, as well as many narrow twisting back roads, many of them steep. The Gren. handled them with aplomb. The “intelligence” of the engine-ZF gearbox integration is quite amazing. For instance, on cresting a hill with a significant downhill section, the gearbox seemed to “sense” the grade and automatically dropped into a low gear to control the hill descent. In one instance it changed from 3rd gear to 1st gear when the grade steepened without any input from me… .

Co-driver reaction My wife was hesitant to drive the vehicle at first. She finally took the wheel on the Pacific Hwy for a couple of stints of three hrs. and managed it well…provided she didn’t have to “play with any switches”!! She found the steering a handful at first but quickly got used to it …no issues.

Road Presence The Grenadier has “presence” in spades. The distinctive rear indicator lights provoke almost instant response when one moves to change lanes in heavy traffic for example! A couple of fellow passengers on the ferry approached me, curious about the Grenadier…both mentioned the rear lights as being distinctive!

I’ve had plenty of waves from LR folk notably classic Deefers and Discoveries which seems to indicate the good will evident in the LR community.

At the off-highway servo at Holbrook, a chap approached me quite excited at seeing the Grenadier : He’d ordered a Scottish White Trialmaster with “red” side runners! He had quite a few questions. Then the rain set in, and it was cold…. So we went our separate ways. I recommended he sign on to the forum…. If he’s reading this “Welcome”!

Error Messages: I generally wait for the system to run through its self test. Usually there’s no messages, except occasionally a transmission error. I turn it off and then start it immediately. Rarely if ever does a message appear while driving.

Fuel Gauge: I’ve been filling the tank at varying distances, calibrating the fuel gauge reading against fill volumes. On two occasions when the gauge was showing exactly ¾ full, the tank took 34.4L and 36L respectively to fill to the first “cut off”. Yet ¾ plus 1 “division” the fill volume was 32.5L. At ¼ full, the fill volume was 70.3L.

Ad Blue: When I took delivery, the AdBlue status on the main screen showed 6L to full. At 4,550km at a fuel stop, out of curiosity, I checked again. It showed 10.1L to full. After I’d paid for the fuel I asked about AdBlue. The servo attendant directed me to the heavy transport lane to fill with AdBlue. He later explained that while they sold AdBlue for $70 for 10L container “in the shop” , it’s $1.99 at the pump! It took 11 .05L to fill to the pump cutoff. Suddenly , 4 very large trucks appeared in the lanes… seemingly eyeing off this “toy” by comparison hogging their lane ! (LOL).

Conclusion: A great trip, comfortable and the vehicle behaved better than expected. We are both totally happy with the purchase!
As I arrived home, got a call from the Brisbane dealer. Long story short, the transfer case was replaced. I took the vehicle in on Monday morning, collected the vehicle Tuesday afternoon. No fuss, no bother…just quiet professional competence. Most impressive.

I’m looking forward to exploring the local national parks, such as the Mt Mee Forest Drive, Fraser Island…. (after the outstanding reno work at home is completed…) Perhaps with a convoy of SE Qld Grenadiers (or before the reno is complete if I'm really impatient!!)

One more thing: when I climb into the cabin from the side-runners, settle into the Recaro seat and survey all before me, there's a sense of quiet satisfaction and anticipation! You can't quantify that ;)
Excellent detailed overview. Thx.
 
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emax

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I’ve thought long and hard about this “trip report”.
That's the only part I didn't understand. Af first I thought "OMG, what catastrophic things have happened to him?"

But then I was even more pleased with this great report. :)

Thank you! (y)
 

DCPU

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It got you hooked though?
 
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