Review: Ineos Grenadier

There has been so much hype surrounding the launch of the Ineos Grenadier and its claim to be the successor of the much lamented ‘old-style’ Land Rover Defender that I was prepared to be disappointed.

Not so. I was instantly impressed by everything about it, bar the steering - more on that later.

We had a Station Wagon for a week of on and off-road driving. The latter taking place over a full day of greenlaning in the spectacular Yorkshire Dales.

It was a chance to see what the Grenadier could really do.

It proved to be a proper off-roader. Yes, it features a plethora of electrical trickery and a touchscreen to access most of its functions, but it also includes physical buttons.

It takes a while to work out what does what, but when you realise they are grouped in a logical order with the off-road panel on the roof, it all makes sense.

Further back on the roof, there is a group of auxiliary switches primed and ready to connect to roof lights, etc, without having to drill holes in the bodywork.

The Station Wagon is enormous (almost five metres long and just over two metres high) and commands a real presence, especially in the rather fetching Devil Red paint ours arrived with.

It’s rugged and looks like it means business with its squared-off body and accessory strips on the side to attach all manner of aftermarket gadgets.

On the road, it drives remarkably well.

Powered by a three-litre, six-cylinder diesel engine paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, it’s fast and quiet. It glides over potholes and speed bumps, there’s no body roll, and the whole experience is comfortable.

The steering is heavier than you might be used to if you drive a modern car.

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone brought up on old Land Rovers; however, the fact that it doesn’t self-centre is a bit of a worry the first few times you go out on the road.

I was almost caught out on my first sharp right-hand bend, but soon found I quite liked it and it really came into its own off-road.

The Grenadier has all the gadgets you could ever need for a safe and secure off-road experience. We experimented with the electronic hill descent control, diff locks, low range, etc, and never once felt out of our comfort zone. Shod in standard BFG All-Terrain tyres, it performed faultlessly.

To address some of the comments bandied about by detractors. Grenadier is nothing like the old Defender; it’s far more sophisticated than that vehicle ever was.

Nor can it be compared to the New Defender, which is a sumptuous ‘lifestyle’ vehicle that is probably hardly ever going to be called upon to leave the tarmac.

The Grenadier is a great off-roader in its own right and deserves to be acknowledged as such.

Ineos Grenadier Station Wagon

Price: From £69,995 (as tested £86,558)

Engine: three-litre, six cylinder diesel

Power: 245bhp

Torque: 405lb/ft

Transmission: Automatic eight-speed

Top speed: 99mph

0-62mph: 9.9 seconds

Economy: 23.1-26.9mpg

CO2 emissions:276-340g/km