The Ineos Grenadier is called to be one of the great SUVs on the market. Born of a bet, we made a first contact with him, statically. A small preview of what is expected for next year.
The world is filling up with “green”, “sustainable” and unpassionate cars. The 4×4 world lives in a separate little bubble that continues to attract the most rural motor enthusiasts. It is a very small segment where famous names appear. They want to add the INEOS Grenadier, an SUV emerged from a jumble of parts that has to present its proposal in a few months. We, for the moment, have been able to meet him in person.
It is exciting to see a brand and a model being born. Today it is very difficult to wage a battle on your own. The market is becoming so competitive that manufacturers are looking for alliances to be able to take strength and position. INEOS, however, wants to embark on a path alone, although it is not that he finds himself with one hand in front and the other behind. If you follow Formula 1 you will have seen his name on the world champion team in 2021. A sticker that has not had to come out very cheap.
And it is that INEOS is a petrochemical company founded by Jim Ratcliffe in 1998. In these years it has been dedicated to the fuel market and the extraction of gas and hydrogen (Take note of the latter that will serve you later). With life settled, and a lot of money in the bank, Mr. Ratcliffe, passionate about motors, can think of nothing else than to found a car company with the same name as the parent company.
INEOS Automotive was born in 2017 in London, and from the beginning it was very clear what they wanted to do: build the best SUV the industry has ever known. It is not a trivial exercise, since the category includes such illustrious names as the Toyota Land Cruiser, the Mercedes G-Class or the Jeep Wrangler. However, good old Jim had in mind to get a modern version of his beloved Land Rover Defender, not the new, but the old, the classic.
With the clear objective of what was wanted to achieve, it was time to determine what name should be given to that figure. Grenadier, which in Spanish translates as Granadero (infantryman in charge of throwing hand grenades). Although the denomination sounds very warlike, the reality is that it honors the favorite pub of the founder of the company, the Grenadier Pub, which you will still find open if you go to number 18 Wilton Row in London.
Between pint and pint, the fundamental foundations of this new off-roader began to be conceived. When determining the image it is clear that the classic Defenders have served as clear inspiration. In fact, the original idea was to continue with the manufacture of the original model, even trying to buy the necessary equipment from Jaguar-Land Rover. Obviously the latter refused outright.
But Mr. Ratcliffe does not take no as a valid answer and plans his revenge from the darkness of his beloved pub. The Grenadier project is rapidly taking shape, and in 2019 a very important collaboration agreement is signed with BMW, which would provide the powertrain for the new SUV, and something else I’ll tell you about now. Imagine a Defender with the most reliable German technology. Any 4×4 lover’s wet dream.
As the months go by, collaboration agreements and alliances continue to be signed. Before closing 2019, Magna Steyr confirms that it will produce the Grenadier. For those who do not know, the Austrian brand is one of the most important secondary production companies on the automotive landscape. From its factories, products as varied as the BMW 5 Series, the new electric Fisker Ocean or the very Mercedes G-Class come out.
We can consider the INEOS Grenadier as a life-size Meccano. Pieces from here and there, concepts from here and there and collaborations everywhere. It is so diverse that The SUV will be manufactured at the plant where Daimler manufactured Smartphones, in Hambach, France. Plant that has passed into the hands of INEOS after a large purchase and that now requires modification in order to adapt to the specifications of the Grenadier. As you can see, it is a new concept.
Parallel to all these agreements, the development of the first mules began. A development that has not yet been completed and that aims to accumulate almost two million kilometers traveled. The test team has literally traveled half the world to subject the Grenadier to the world’s most extreme obstacles, scenarios and climates. From the cold of the North Pole to the scorching heat of Nevada’s Death Valley. 15 countries in total that have served, and are serving, as the best testing laboratory in the world.
But surely you are wondering what this new and illustrious figure is like in nature. Well, the first thing that strikes you is its size. As a good heir to the Defender 110, the INEOS Grenadier is close to five meters long, 4.93 meters to be more exact, adding 1.93 meters in width and 2.03 in height with a wheelbase of 2.92 meters. What the English company is very suspicious of are the offroad levels. They do not intend to publish them until the very launch, because they are like the recipe for Coca-Cola. Secret, secret.
Obviously they have to be excellent, since we are talking about a 4×4 built for a single purpose. Its overhangs are very short, which promises exceptional entry and exit angles. The only limitation may come from the wheelbase. To solve this problem, INEOS has raised the body more than 20 centimeters. Everything about it has been conceived to tackle the toughest terrain, including a frame of stringers and cross members made of steel up to 4 millimeters thick that has been specifically designed for it.
The size is not the only thing that catches the eye, it is not really that big either. The presence itself is more powerful than the volume itself. The design has been carried out by Toby Ecuyer, a creative who has come up with styles for buildings, yachts and now cars. The truth is that the external appearance is not very novel, the Defender reminiscence is obvious, what really catches the eye is the interior. An interior that we are no longer used to. It is so original that it has two horns, one normal and one for cyclists, lower so as not to scare so much. We are looking forward to trying the main one.
Contravening the basic recipes of minimalism, Ecuyer has conceived a rough cabin and with certain rough touches that make you fall in love. The center console is full of buttons, as is the roof, reminiscent of the world of aviation. They are not just buttons per se, they are large, crude instruments that can be easily operated with or without gloves. The touch is hard, and the sound they emit is very evocative. You can tell that it has been done willingly.
Keep in mind that the unit that we have been able to meet in person is 80% a finished product. That means that there are things that are going to change and others that are going to be added. Possibly one of those things to be added is the instrument cluster. On different occasions we have seen development prototypes with a display behind the wheel. The unit presented did not have it, but it did have many elements that we had already seen before.
And it is that BMW is not only responsible for supplying the powertrain, it also provides some systems and technologies. The main screen, that of the multimedia system, is yours, with 12.3 inches in size, offering modern and common elements such as connectivity or parking camera. It also has a dedicated Pathfinder navigator that maps the route without the need for roads or highways in order to have a clear reference in case of loss.
The truth is that the quality transmitted by the INEOS Grenadier is very generous. All the panels have a pleasant touch, being soft surfaces in most cases. It is something that has surprised us, because we imagined another type of approach to the cabin. The Grenadier will not only be an all-rounder with which you can reach the ends of the world, it will take you there in a rather refined way. It does not reach the level of a Range Rover, but it does improve the sensations of a Land Cruiser.
It is curious that, although the chosen format is not discreet, the rear row does not offer a well used space. Added to the difficulty of the height is a fairly limited access space, which will not make things easy for the elderly or people with reduced mobility. On the other hand, the boot is very generous in its dimensions, perception at first glance because specific data have not been specified either. It is so large that it would have been possible to introduce two outboard seats in true Defender style, although they are not available.
Land Rover has always been synonymous with the countryside and unreliability, you have to be honest. How much its original owners would have given for German reliability. The Grenadier knows of this inconvenience, and instead of going to request the parts to those of Whitley they have crossed the English Channel. and they have set their sights on Germany, at BMW’s Bavarian headquarters. It is they who provide the heart of this beast. And not with just any engines, no.
Who knows how, but INEOS has taken over the services of the six-cylinder blocks of bemeuve. The Grenadier will be marketed in two formats: diesel and gasoline. The diesel one has a 6L block of 2,993 cubic centimeters turbocharged. It throws out 249 horsepower and 550 Nm of torque. Management is derived from an eight-speed torque converter automatic gearbox, which distributes power through a permanent all-wheel drive system with reduction gearbox and triple differential lock.
The gasoline-powered unit also features automatic transmission, all-wheel drive, three differentials with lock and reduction, but that case opts for a block made of aluminum with six cylinders in line and 2,998 cubic centimeters. Its power reaches 285 horses with 450 Nm of torque. It is the same B58 block that we can see in many models of the Germanic company such as the BMW M340i or the X4 M40i, although in this case with a clear cut in power.
But things don’t end there. Within this new ecological approach that surrounds the industry, INEOS proposes the launch of a hydrogen cell-driven model. It must be taken into account that the company is dedicated to the petrochemical industry, accumulating a lot of knowledge in the field of green hydrogen with which they hope to move that Grenadier FCEV. At the moment, no technical data has been specified about it, only that it will be officially presented next year.
With all these arguments, one might well think that we are talking about an expensive model, but the truth is that we are not. Although there are no official figures yet, The brand’s staff has told us that the starting prices will be around 60,000 euros. A very content price considering what is offered. To get an idea. A modern Defender 110 starts at € 65,400, a G-Class starts at € 126,139, a Land Cruiser starts at € 42,500, and a Wrangler starts at € 63,854 with promotion.
There is no denying that the first impressions collected during a short, but intense static presentation have left us wanting more, much more. The INEOS Grenadier looks great and everything around it sounds very promising. We are sure that the final result will be worth it, although for the moment we are waiting to confirm it. We applaud Mr. Ratcliffe’s dream, that is a passion for a pub.