2024 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster Review: A Tonic for Tech
The verdict: It’s not for everyone, but the all-new 2024 Ineos Grenadier is one of the most interesting, focused, characterful and capable vehicles on sale today — just make sure you know what you’re getting into.
Versus the competition: There really isn’t any true direct competition to the Grenadier. You’re going to have to go up or down in the market to match it, so compared to vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator and the Ford Bronco, the Grenadier is far more upscale and premium, but against the more expensive Mercedes G-Wagen, it’s agricultural (by design!).
The 2024 Ineos Grenadier convinced me that we’re a bit too soft these days. Yes, you — and me! The ubiquity of the crossover and the perpetual refinement of the pickup truck, both big and small, has sapped our collective memory of just how things used to be before everything was a soap-shaped, unibody, front-wheel-drive-based pseudo-SUV that outhandles 1980s supercars and out-accelerates a big-block Buick.
Related: Ineos Starts Taking Orders for 2024 Grenadier Quartermaster Pickup
For better or worse, stuff used to drive differently from one another (perish the thought). As much as we’d like to say the new Honda CR-V feels substantially different from the Toyota RAV4 from the Nissan Rogue from the Subaru Forester, I’m here to tell you the dynamic differences are granular, to put it mildly.
Beyond that, it seems like every crossover tries to do … everything. If there’s all-wheel drive, there’s terrain modes. If it’s from a luxury automaker, there’s surely a “sporty” or even genuine performance trim level. Everything must be good on gas, it must have a three-row or “coupe” variant, it must have a sprawling digital display, and for goodness sake, it must do away with as many physical controls as possible.
Oracle of the Old School
It’s only natural that some find the Grenadier’s unabashedly analog approach to motoring positively confounding. Those entranced by the Grenadier’s super-safari appearance might be surprised to find the British SUV and pickup truck drive like they’re ready for a safari, too. That is to say if you’re used to factory off-roaders driving like leather-lined Baja-blasting trophy trucks, stick to your Ford Raptor or Toyota TRD Pro; if you’re looking to stand out in a sea of Mercedes-Benz G-Wagens, you’re better off just wrapping your G in some searing shade of fuchsia.
However, if you’re one of the not-insignificant group of folks desperately wishing Land Rover made a thoroughly modernized next-gen of Ye Olde Defender (the current unibody Defender SUV is its own animal), this might be the most important new vehicle to launch in the past decade.
Of course, I’m speaking to a rather niche group of folks here, but the Grenadier — in all its forms — is a rather niche vehicle. Aside from the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, there is no road-legal dealer-fresh SUV that is so comprehensively prepared for the Australian Outback. Make that the African Sahara — or was it Serengeti? Perhaps you fancy an expedition into the Darien Gap?
The What and the Why
How about a daylong cruise through the backtrails of Joshua Tree National Park, as I took at Ineos’ invitation? (Per our ethics policy, Cars.com pays for its own travel and lodging when attending manufacturer-sponsored events.) While I previously had a short crack at the Grenadier “station wagon” — Ineos’ categorization of the closed-cabin SUV variant — the upstart automaker had planned a path through the prettier part of the Mojave for the U.S. launch of the Grenadier Quartermaster. Don’t let the tremendously evocative name fool you: This is still very much the Grenadier you might already know, only with 12 extra inches of wheelbase and a 61.5-inch-long pickup bed out back.
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Everything else is untouched compared to the station wagon, including the heavy-duty body-on-frame construction and BMW-sourced powertrain — but I’m getting a smidge ahead of myself here, as the “what” of the Grenadier has yet to be established. Real simple: This is that next-gen, upmarket, old-school Defender Land Rover never built. Ineos is rather loath to accept that comparison, but it’s both inevitable and indelible.
Ineos founder Jim Ratcliffe is an avowed Land Rover enthusiast, originally attempting to purchase the rights and tooling to the Defender before the brand turned the factory lights off. Land Rover declined, so Ratcliffe started his own automotive manufacturing concern that started by “identifying a gap in the market, abandoned by a number of manufacturers, for a utilitarian off-road vehicle,” he said in the Grenadier’s initial reveal release. “This gave us our engineering blueprint for a capable, durable and reliable 4×4 built to handle the world’s harshest environments.”
He didn’t get the real deal, but as the owner of the first-ever production Land Rover (from 1948!) and a potentially successful automotive startup, I think he’ll be all right. So far, the Grenadier appears to be a success; in 2023 alone, Ineos claimed it had well over 7,000 orders, with delivery only stymied by a small dealer network and limited brand visibility.
The Where and the How
One thing’s for sure: It ain’t production or supply issues keeping this box out of your hands. Contract manufacturer Magna Steyr handled much of the dev work for Ineos, while Magna Powertrain saw to the configuration of the Grenadier’s signature tough-as-nails chassis and, ah, powertrain.
Speaking of, power comes from a BMW-sourced turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six-cylinder engine, with proprietary tuning and engine management from Bosch. Let’s get this straight: The Grenadier is a British 4×4 with a German heart designed in Austria and built in Smart’s Hambach factory in France. If it loses its vehicle identification number in the Badlands, which embassy should it go to?
I digress. These multinational mashups so often carry a trunkful of strange spiritual compromise as the two teamed-up automakers vie for their own identity within the parameters of the other. Without another brand to wrestle, the Grenadier exits the French factory without a whiff of identity crisis, presenting as a wholly distinct and fully-formed vehicle that’s squarely in its own muddy two-track lane — again, next-gen old-school Defender, with all of the tough-as-nails ‘tude and premium (but not luxurious) appointments afforded by both the price and positioning.
Old School, New Class
The first shock arrives when you climb inside. The center console and center ceiling panel is awash in large, chunky physical controls for just about every vehicle function on offer. Aside from standard climate fare, the engine auto stop-start system and seat heating, all mechanical systems are activated physically, including the differentials and Off-Road mode.
It’s your first hint that this is no carriage for the technophile. If you like screens, run — don’t walk — from the Grenadier. There’s a 12.3-inch touchscreen on the center of the dash, but its functions are almost entirely related to infotainment and driving assists. Still, some fun bits of modernity sneak in with a few neat telemetry pages that offer detailed breakdowns of tire pressure and clinometers. This is also where you’ll find the digital speedometer and transmission readouts, as the only display directly in front of the driver is a standard warning panel.
Interior fitment is impressive not just for a fresh automaker, but most any legacy automaker in general. Even jouncing over severe terrain, there are zero creaks and rattles, with the only sound being the reassuring growl of the sixer buried deep upfront and the crash of that metal water bottle you swore you zipped into your backpack.
Steering Studies
At least, that’s when you’re off-road, as it’s not the most refined truck when the way turns paved, preferring the arroyo to asphalt. Wind noise is prevalent, as is drone from the all-terrain tires at all four corners if you chose to spec it that way (which you should). Steering is by far the most controversial mechanical aspect of the Grenadier, its recirculating-ball steering configuration equal parts robust and antiquated. Reassuringly steadfast and unbothered off-road where standard rack-and-pinion systems turn frantic when crashing over rocks and stumps, the Grenadier’s steering is vague, high-effort and not self-centering. This means that during day-to-day driving, you have to physically center the steering wheel after a turn and deal with some ping-pong action at highway speeds. It also has the turning radius of an aircraft carrier, so navigating tight parking garages might get hairy.
You know what, though? I got used to it within 30 minutes of driving. I’m dead serious — the self-centering became an autonomic nonissue, and the slow steering was no more or less spooky than any other factory off-road special. However, if you were one of the folks praying for that new-but-not-so-new Defender and complaining about the Ineos’ sloth steering, you should go drive an old one or even one of those super-expensive resto-mods and check back with me. Felt like a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, did it?
What I never got accustomed to was the Grenadier’s horrid EU-mandated Intelligent Speed Assistance that clicks every time you exceed the speed limit. Every. Single. Time. It can be turned off, but unless you tether it to your favorite functions, you’ve gotta hunt deep into nested menus every ignition cycle. It’s insufferable and a total deal breaker for me, but I won’t dwell on this too much since Ineos is well aware of U.S. consumers’ preferences and fast at work on a “solution”; it’s not clear yet what that means, but I’m holding out hope for an easier switch-off at the very least.
Crates of Character
Everything else is fine and dandy within the context of the Grenadier’s M.O. Handling is wooden and squishy, but that’s not the point of this exercise. Nor is straight-line performance, and I found the claimed 8.8-second 0-62 mph run more than adequate for on-ramps and passing. Left to its own devices, the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission is as inoffensive, intelligent and smooth as the billions of other vehicles using ZF’s box.
If you’re going to use your Ineos primarily as a daily runabout, know what you’re getting into, but my gosh, does it have oodles of character. In the same way a stripped-out, hunkered-down supercar makes every grocery and coffee run feel like the starting grid at Spa-Francorchamps, the Grenadier makes every errand an expedition.
When it comes time for a real adventure, the Grenadier is near faultless. I piloted the new Quartermaster the full length of Berdoo Canyon Road and through the dusty backdoor of Joshua Tree National Park, conquering a mix of medium-speed dirt sectionals that wouldn’t challenge a Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness to tough rock-strewn passes that required both spotters and low range (though I suspect the latter was done for safety and demonstration purposes, not necessity).
Fantastic 4×4
The Ineos wasn’t remotely challenged on this trail, but considering the majority of the attendees were average overlanders at best, it was a better demonstration of the Grenadier’s refinement and general unflappability than its Rubicon chops. The Eibach springs are remarkably composed over the most broken terrain, with Cars.com’s shotgun-riding camera whiz Max Bednarski commenting how a certain off-road pickup truck made him sick during another drive program when presented with similar obstacles.
Despite the previously mentioned road and wind noise, the beefy undercarriage is shockingly well isolated from the cabin, with glancing blows from branches, boulders and brush bouncing off with a muffled twang rather than the customary in-cabin detonation. The Grenadier eschews trendy terrain modes for full-time 4WD and a simply named Off-Road Mode that, in lieu of prepping the truck for mud, switches off all of the advanced driver-assist systems and allows for the locking of differentials as necessary, a process involving the physical transfer case lever and those sweet roof-mounted buttons.
Confirmed: The Grenadier is capable of some serious soft-roading. I kid — prior off-road experiences with the station wagon and plenty of third-party overlanding footage shows the Grenadier is one of the most rugged and ready 4x4s on the market, with a focus primarily on workhorse adventure, not high-speed blasts or super-slow rock crawls. The Quartermaster’s figures speak for themselves: 10.4 inches of ground clearance, an approach angle of 36.2 degrees, breakover of 26.2 degrees, 22.6 degrees of departure and a mighty impressive 31.5 inches of wading depth without the optional snorkel.
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To Truck or Not to Truck?
Regarding Quartermaster versus station wagon, well, that all comes down to preference and budget. Both have the same 1,889-pound payload rating, and even though the Quartermaster’s bed is hobbyist-size, I do believe the truck’s extra foot of wheelbase improves comfort and composure both on- and off-road. Personally, I’d pick the station wagon on the basis of pure day-to-day usability, but a writer from the Overland Journal showed up to the drive event with his personal Quartermaster already upfitted with a bed-mounted pop-up tent, and it looked both comfortable and mighty “proper.”
Money is the matter here, however. Whereas the base 2024 Ineos Grenadier station wagon will set you back $73,100 (including destination), you’re not slipping into a Quartermaster for a cent under $88,500. Infuriated at Ineos? Please direct your ire to Uncle Sam, as our infamous Chicken Tax levies a whopping 25% tariff on imported trucks, so the automaker is understandably passing the buck onto you.
Regardless of if it has a bed or a fully enclosed cabin, what a remarkable first effort from Ineos. If this is what the firm can muster for its initial ground-up project, I can’t wait to see what future product is on the horizon. The Grenadier isn’t for everyone, but that’s fine by me — I’ll wave at your house from the top of the mountain.
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