Ineos Grenadier | Review

4 June 2022 Redazione News, Tested

INEOS GRENADIER

Words Tommaso Mogge / Photos Ineos

Evolution is usually seen as a constant change, an incessant advance from an engineering and technological point of view that in an unspecified historical moment seems having also taken up the task of making any object a multipurpose tool. Take for example mobile phones, which have now been definitively supplanted by smartphones, allowing you to take high-quality photos and videos, but also to manage countless functions that are integral parts of everyone’s life, work-wise and beyond. This is the normality to which we are now accustomed and it is difficult to evaluate something that is instead designed and built to perform a single specific function. Yet that is precisely the key that, releasing us from any type of compromise, awakens the need for an object designed and wanted for a single purpose. And in our case it is a car, but you already know this.

Certainly new in the automotive list, the Ineos brand is actually a well-known British chemical giant led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who had the brilliant idea of ​​filling the void left by the Land Rover Defender, which at the time left the scene bringing with it that concept of hard and pure off-road vehicle only partially taken up with the new model, certainly skilled on any terrain, but at the same time attentive to the requests of a contemporary customer who does not intend to give up comfort and luxury. In 2017, together with a few beers and sitting at a table in a pub called Grenadier, Sir Ratcliffe decided that it was the ideal time to create a 4X4 that reduced everything to the most primordial off-roader concept, a mechanically simple vehicle that allowed to be repaired with tools and basic rudiments in mechanics, but above all unstoppable and without half measures.

With a frame with side members, 3 lockable differentials and attack angles that enjoy a squared car body with generous dimensions like 2.03 meters in height, 1.93 in width and a ground clearance of 26.4 cm, the Grenadier does not hide its points in common with the classic Defender, not even from an aesthetic point of view, where the simplicity of the forms is nothing more than the emphasis placed by its creator in order to underline that the plethora of details will therefore be entirely devoted to a driving experience ready to create a road even where it would seem impossible. Ineos must be taken seriously and the fact that it can count on collaborations with illustrious names as in the case of Brembo brakes and Recaro seats, washable and waterproof, is yet another demonstration of the point above. Every centimeter of the Grenadier is designed for extreme use and even if it will be perfectly able to accompany you to the office or to the supermarket, certain details and specific characteristics of this model make it first of all an ideal off-road vehicle for tackling dirt, mud, snow or whatever scenario you can think of next to the word “extreme”. In this case, everything will seem much simpler than usual.

We were talking about a deliberately simple mechanics and in fact the Grenadier has 50% fewer control units, but this does not imply that it is an obsolete vehicle. In fact, we have a state-of-the-art engine package that currently offers two variants, both 3-liter and 6-cylinder of BMW origin: a 249 horsepower diesel with 550 Nm of torque and a 285 horsepower 450 Nm petrol, both combined with an 8-speed ZF gearbox (BMW as well) equipped with high and low gears. Do you want to know where the attention to detail stands out the most? A little everywhere, to tell the truth. It is perceived by certain solutions obtained on the external panels, as in the case of the reinforced slides to which objects and accessories can literally be hung for several hundred kilograms, but also for the overall assembly, as in the case of the split tailgate, equipped with a wheel spare and ladder to access the roof.

Climbing on board we not only find the sense of roughness and robustness anticipated by the sharp lines of the Grenadier, but a passenger compartment made unique thanks to the two control panels, one located in the center of the dashboard and the second located over your head – like on an airplane – through which governs the parameters dedicated to locking the differentials, driving modes and everything that will make the off-road experience more exciting than ever. There is a digital display located in the uppermost portion of the dashboard as well, while in front of the driver there is only a small screen that summarizes the main driving information. In short, even in this case the Ineos Grenadier knows how to stand out and elevate the fact that it is something more than a simple 4X4 ready to challenge any terrain, but an object made with the will to realize the specific desire to keep alive a way of understanding off-roaders that should not have been lost due to a global tendency to make everything more comfortable and tame. The Grenadier may also be seen as a tribute to the dear old Defender, but it is above all the hard and pure 4X4 every self-respecting enthusiast deserves.