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

[Krabby]

As an aside, we understandably get knocked for our units of measure here in the States, but "stones" certainly deserve some side-eye.

For those NOT IN THE KNOW.

 

[IG_in_AZ]

Well finally on 05102023 , 502 days after ordering, we picked up Gimli and I followed my wife 250km home via the central highlands of Tasmania. It was a bit bleak up there, so photo opportunities were limited.

Trialmaster , petrol , Magic mushroom - with rock sliders, bullbar , winch , safari roof, saddle leather and lockable spare wheel cover (latter to be delivered - Ineos paperwork error). I have a cargo barrier on order and the FR 3/4 rack to go on top.

The safari roof seals have been replaced with the new ones and the drains needed replacing.

To me , this a brilliant amalgam of old and new, analog with digital overtones. It's like a combination of my 80 series Landcruiser , Discovery 1 and wife's last car , a Mercedes GLC.
With of course a general nod to my S3 Landrover.

Points to note:
- my passenger was my 82 yo father in law. He pulled himself up into the cabin without problems, and slid out as one does with no side steps.
- ample power , smooth transmission
- handles very well (there were some hairpins which had my f.i.l. grabbing the bars as I explored the limits!
- controls easily learnt
- android auto worked intermittently due to poor connectivity - many blackspots in Tasmania , you make do with what you're given)
- visibility excellent - side mirrors no problem at all for me
- footrest no issue at all (seating position easily adjustable and it's nice that the steering wheel can be moved in and out)
- steering absolutely not an issue , but I'm used to old school cars so acclimatised immediately. Saddle leather wheel , handbrake cover and grab bar look and feel sensational.
- turning circle better than I had imagined.
- some tyre noise to be expected (All Terrains)
- some wind noise (no more than expected)
- no rattles
- briefly tried the centre lock on the dirt road near home - slotted in with a bit of shove whilst on the move.
Exactly the same as my Discovery 1.
- fuel economy was 14.1 L , noting some city driving either end , and there was a fair bit of hill climbing and some heavyish right foot to test the engine note and corner exits...
- the main issues are electronic - odometer stuck on 0000 (Edit: it worked later , then didn't work...), compass/elevation not working, warning for doors/seatbelts seem mixed up left/right

Much more to learn re dynamics offroad but for now , it fits like a glove
Well done Ineos , and well done Jim for putting your money where you heart wanted to go in 2017
My 6 yo dream has come true. And I feel like a 6yo again!


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Just catching up on this thread. It dropped off my radar for a bit.
Congrats on getting Gimli!
And love the photos! Nice to put a face to the screenname.

Except for the rock sliders and bull bar, we have the same vehicle! (I got side steps).

 

[Reducs]

As an aside, we understandably get knocked for our units of measure here in the States, but "stones" certainly deserve some side-eye.

For those NOT IN THE KNOW.

This is from Saturday Night Live last week about US weights and measures.
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/washingtons-dream/NBCE630085865
YouTube version:

View: https://youtu.be/JYqfVE-fykk?si=92JBDIKWOPULIJuY

 

[klarie]

This is from Saturday Night Live last week about US weights and measures.
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/washingtons-dream/NBCE630085865
YouTube version:

View: https://youtu.be/JYqfVE-fykk?si=92JBDIKWOPULIJuY

Need an US IP to see this. VPN..

 

[Hannes01]

Picked up on Friday just drove 300 km the usual malfunction wet feet, emergency call malfunction, gear shift lever not working but what I miss most is the ignition switch lighting up at night

 

[klarie]

Picked up on Friday just drove 300 km the usual malfunction wet feet, emergency call malfunction, gear shift lever not working but what I miss most is the ignition switch lighting up at night

The door shower astonishingly disappeared in the meantime. - We had yesterday an evening out on Bad Homburg and we had some friends with us. So quite wet yesterday and the days before but somehow the water collection in doors "disappeared by itself" magically. Don't know why - but the water was collecting up in the first days of ownership but became successively less and less.
Just by using it..
Not a single strange error message appeared since in posession.
So far also no issues like gear lever or malfunction messages.

The topic of ingnition key not illuminated - confirm this is a design error.

What I had yesterday a lot of water drops on rear view camera lens.
This is also a design error but the camera is something I am anyway not fond of, neither on Discovery nor Grenadier.
If a rear view / reverse camera is to be installed the in should be covered when not in use, and with a cleaning brush attached and only out when in reverse mode.
In both cars this is a shitty design. However it was never a deal breaker and I told it to the Ineos driving instructor at the Aufenau event last year. Know how to reverse using mirrors. .. The problem of the not illuminated ignition I will resolve by other ideas.

 

[Norb-TX]

Got to test drive a Fieldmaster on the road. Still the same solid ride as my off road test drive. What struck me most was the small steering wheel diameter. Thickness is fine. And the speedometer position will take some getting used to. Power is sufficient.

 

[klarie]

Got to test drive a Fieldmaster on the road. Still the same solid ride as my off road test drive. What struck me most was the small steering wheel diameter. Thickness is fine. And the speedometer position will take some getting used to. Power is sufficient.

yesterday I had my first night ride on the 3 lane per direction Autobahn A5 close to Frankfurt Main, nasty weather conditions, hefty traffic. The small steering wheel is no issue. What’s irritating only thing is the green Indicator lights on and straight view on the road. even in low there is enormous illumination in front. The speedo in the middle doesn’t matter. Nasty are the grooves in road from truck /hgv tyres where water is collected .. lots of spray in front of headlamps. However Position of windscreen and elevated position has an advantage less water spray on windscreen seem to appear. I was on slower cruise speed than anticipated. The BFG is not very well on wet road and feels a bit spongy when changing lanes.

 

[Norb-TX]

Does the Gren need mudflaps in front of the wheelwell as well? lol

 

[stuart1927]

I took my Grenadier for it's first run off-tarmac yesterday. Nothing very challenging, just the Kiwi road in Taranaki (New Zealand North Island) but this car really feels at home on gravel roads with mixed ruts. The Grenadier suspension and steering really comes into it's own on this terrain. I've done this road before in my FJ cruiser, but the Grenadier was altogether more composed/relaxed. Steering feels really great off road. Looking forward to getting into more challenging terrain over the next few months.

 

[DenisM]

yesterday I had my first night ride on the 3 lane per direction Autobahn A5 close to Frankfurt Main, nasty weather conditions, hefty traffic. The small steering wheel is no issue. What’s irritating only thing is the green Indicator lights on and straight view on the road. even in low there is enormous illumination in front. The speedo in the middle doesn’t matter. Nasty are the grooves in road from truck /hgv tyres where water is collected .. lots of spray in front of headlamps. However Position of windscreen and elevated position has an advantage less water spray on windscreen seem to appear. I was on slower cruise speed than anticipated. The BFG is not very well on wet road and feels a bit spongy when changing lanes.

How fast were you driving? Aquaplaning is an ever present threat... especially for A/T tyres. The K02 tyres are competent but not optimised for heavy wet weather travelling at high speed on smooth surfaces (especially when they're half worn!!).
The illumination controls are frankly disappointing for night driving when external ambient light is low (outside city /suburban environments with low or no street lighting).
The rear door windows also reflect light from the front into the rear vision mirror at times... most annoying! Even the addition of tint hasn't really reduced that reflection.

 

[klarie]

How fast were you driving? Aquaplaning is an ever present threat... especially for A/T tyres. The K02 tyres are competent but not optimised for heavy wet weather travelling at high speed on smooth surfaces (especially when they're half worn!!).
The illumination controls are frankly disappointing for night driving when external ambient light is low (outside city /suburban environments with low or no street lighting).
The rear door windows also reflect light from the front into the rear vision mirror at times... most annoying! Even the addition of tint hasn't really reduced that reflection.

The traffic was on all lanes about 60-65 mph. The reflection I found not yet that annoying. But Rhein-Main region is rather dense populated and there is anyway a lot of light "pollution" I might have a different impression when travelling in other regions.

How many miles do the KO2 last? - I do not think the tyre next will become a KO2 again.

 

[IG_in_AZ]

The traffic was on all lanes about 60-65 mph. The reflection I found not yet that annoying. But Rhein-Main region is rather dense populated and there is anyway a lot of light "pollution" I might have a different impression when travelling in other regions.

How many miles do the KO2 last? - I do not think the tyre next will become a KO2 again.

On US BFG website, the KO2 are warranted for 50,000 miles ( ~80,000km).

 

[bigleonski]

On US BFG website, the KO2 are warranted for 50,000 miles ( ~80,000km).

I thought someone mentioned here in the last day or so that they are a European compound and softer than those supplied to US and I assume Aus markets.

 

[TD5-90]

How fast were you driving? Aquaplaning is an ever present threat... especially for A/T tyres. The K02 tyres are competent but not optimised for heavy wet weather travelling at high speed on smooth surfaces (especially when they're half worn!!).

I can partly confirm this for the Duelers, but experience is not consistent:

2 weeks ago, heavy rain, night, left lane ~110km/h, suddenly massive puddle on the left side. That indeed was some kind of experience I haven't had before, and don't need again in future...

OTOH, another ~2 weeks earlier on Austrian motorway, 130km/h, also _heavy_(!) rain, daylight, experience just the opposite: Reassuring as with no vehicle before! Got the feeling it would simply plough through every flooding with no reaction at all.
Remarkable: In this weather, I got overtaken with >150km/h by a guy from France in an insanely tuned Defender90TD5 with RTT and 33"A/Ts, i spoke to him ~20min earlier on a parking lot. He told me he was emigrating to Romania, one main reason was that there's serious 4x4 possible even nowadays
Lesson learnt: Confidence & good nerves seem to compensate the lack of tyre capabilities ;-)

 

[BillyBunter]

It's been monsoon like in Southern Britain over the last few weeks. Lots of localised flooding. One thing I am loving it that I can just go through anything. Most other people are turning round or going through puddles gingerly. I can just proceed with confidence. Was driving down the M6 south from Lancaster and it was like a firehose spraying against the car. Felt very comfortable. Obviously driving sensible to avoid aquaplaning but felt very solid, stable and secure.

 

[Norb-TX]

I'm from Houston, so I have flood experience. Please don't drive fast through floods in neighborhoods, your wake will push the water further into the homes. Lots of lifted pickups think they are cool driving fast but they are just a-holes.

 

[Jeremy996]

Be very wary driving thorough UK floods in urban areas; it is not unknown for the manhole covers to get lifted. Crash into a manhole cover and you will know about it, rather like driving into a kerbstone. Worse, putting a wheel down a hole will ruin the tyre, wheel and axle.

Standard, (boring) advice is avoid floods wherever possible, ascertain the depth before proceeding and minimise your wake. If a road is marked as closed, (by the highway authority), your insurers may choose not to pay for any damage.

The most expensive vehicle we have, (as Leicestershire & Rutland 4x4 Response), fished out of one of the usual flood prone areas is a BMW X5M with lots of toys, about £135k. X5s will hydro-lock in 4 inches of water at 40mph, which ruins the engine.

 

[McPharmer II]

This ladderengine lost the rear axle while driving through the flooded city of Geilenkirchen:

youtube-link

So always try to avoid driving flooded areas unless really necessary.

 

[Max]

I took my Grenadier for it's first run off-tarmac yesterday. Nothing very challenging, just the Kiwi road in Taranaki (New Zealand North Island) but this car really feels at home on gravel roads with mixed ruts. The Grenadier suspension and steering really comes into it's own on this terrain. I've done this road before in my FJ cruiser, but the Grenadier was altogether more composed/relaxed. Steering feels really great off road. Looking forward to getting into more challenging terrain over the next few months.

Did you lock the centre diff?...I have found it worthwhile on gravel and rutted roads...plus it takes the ESC out of play...happy motoring