Why You Shouldn’t Buy An Ineos Grenadier (And Which 4x4 You Should Buy Instead)

The English chemicals conglomerate-owned, Austrian-engineered, French-made, German-powered Land Rover replica isn’t—by far—the best 4x4

You guys have been reaching out to ask about the Ineos Grenadier since it debuted two years ago. I’ve been laughing it off piecemeal, but figured it might be helpful to assemble my thoughts all in one place. I’m about to save you $100,000, plus a lot of time spent waiting on tow trucks. You’re welcome.

What Is The Grenadier?

According to designer Toby Ecuyer, the Grenadier is meant to be a direct replacement for the old Land Rover Defender, just one, “that doesn’t leak and is comfortable.”

So the basic Defender formula of a ladder chassis, coil springs, and live axles is there. To that, Ineos has added BMW motors (only the gas option is available in North America), a ZF 8-speed auto, and some bodywork that manages to capture most of the Defender’s awkwardness with very little of its charm. A major upgrade is an option for locking diffs front and rear, something the Defender never offered in stock form.

There’s also a pickup truck called the Quartermaster. Payload on both is a very respectable 1,841 pounds. Towing is 7,716.

All that adds up to a pretty compelling formula…on paper.

And that’s where we’re going to keep this article: on paper. I have not driven one.

What Was The Defender?

Before Land Rover slapped the name on a fully-independent luxury crossover, the Defender was a very basic 4x4 that continued the original Land Rover tradition, just with coil springs. Somewhere along the way it developed a completely undeserved reputation as some sort of legendarily-capable vehicle, which I think is much of the problem facing would-be consumers of this new truck—unrealistic expectations.

I grew up on a farm in England, but am obviously American, so am uniquely qualified to comment on the crossed wires that have created this problem. In England, the Defender was widely understood to be a farm implement. Something you could get across a muddy field, fill to the brim with sheep shit, for which parts were cheap and easy to find, and expertise for working on them near-universal, which also helped make them cheap to run. You chose one over a Hilux because they were cheap to buy, available anywhere and everywhere, and one complemented your chipped old jubilee tea mug. Sort of a tractor with registration plates, not something you’d ever really covet or get excited about.

Contrast that reality with the image here in America, where limited availability and unrealistic prices set the Defender apart as some sort of exotic vehicle. They were bought as round-town transportation by rich families in the Hamptons where they ended up rusting away in sheds and garages when they became too time consuming to keep running. Then, when they got fashionable in the 2010s, a bunch of companies realized they could fill the rust holes with Bondo, get the engines working, and sell them for six figure sums to poseurs.

But, Isn’t It Great Off-Road?

The thing about off-road capability is that it’s easy to define. Lockers provide traction, tires roll over stuff, angles determine obstacles, axles keep wheels on the ground, gears do the work.

And while you can option the Grenadier and Quartermaster with locking axle diffs front and rear (a less and less common feature), it is otherwise very much not ideal for off-road use.

Let’s work in order here. The stock tires are 32 inches tall. You need to install a lift to fit 33s. Fitting 35s requires the addition of higher offset wheels or spacers. 32s are going to feel very small on any sort of technical terrain, and even with those lockers will limit outright traction due to their short footprint.

What about angles? They’re just not that impressive for something with such boxy proportions. Let’s use the Quartermaster here since I want to compare the Ineos to other pickups a bit later. Approach is 36.2, breakover is 26.2, departure is 22.6. A Tacoma manages about the same front and rear, and (admittedly with 33s), has a better breakover. Which is odd, because we’re comparing the numbers for a four-door Tacoma to the Quartermaster, and the latter has a shorter wheelbase.

Articulation? Here’s where we get into one of the vehicle’s fundamental weaknesses, one which I think also sums up the disparity between its image and capability. You choose a solid front axle vehicle because those articulate much better than independent suspension. In return for that articulation, you sacrifice steering precision, ride, and on-road handling. But the Grenadier and Quartermaster have only nine inches of front wheel travel. That’s about the same as a sub-Rubicon Jeep Wrangler.

Part of the issue there is that Ineos does not offer sway bar disconnects. And while there are options in the aftermarket, those things are notoriously fragile.

What about the transfer case ratio? It’s 2.5:1. Again, slightly behind that of a basic Wrangler. A Rubicon’s transfer case is 4:1.

And that leads us to another issue: weight. Both versions are supposedly 5,875 lbs. Compare that to the also-live axle, four-door non-Rubicon Wrangler (4,406 lbs) or Gladiator (4,650 lbs) and man, that is not flattering. That extra 1,200+ pounds is going make the Ineos less able to accelerate, brake, and corner on the road while ruining fuel economy (15 MPG in stock form, on 32s…). Off-road it will cause the Ineos to get stuck on surfaces like mud and sand much more easily, make rollovers more likely, and make recoveries significantly more challenging.

All that weight without adequate gearing will combine with those tiny tires, limited articulation, poor angles, and immense porkyness to severely limit the Ineos’ outright capability over big obstacles.

The Ineos Grenadier Costs A Fortune

The cheapest price I’m able to generate on the Ineos website for a Quartermaster with front and rear lockers, sliders, and no button blanks on the dash is $91,000 and change. As I’d want to option it it’s $105,000. That’s a lot of money for something that’s functionally a mid-size pickup.

That basic Jeep Gladiator, which is the closest approximate to the Quartermaster’s capability starts at $38,000. A Rubicon, which comes with all manner of off-road stuff not available from Ineos starts at $52,000, and can be optioned at that price with a manual transmission.

But of course, that’s much of the appeal here. Just like the old Defender, people are looking at the Grenadier and Quartermaster primarily as a way to flaunt wealth. The fact that it costs three times the price of a technically superior alternative is why people want one. I hope you can hear my eyes rolling through your computer screen.

It Has The Worst Possible Engine

But don’t take that from me, take it from my friend Freddy Hernandez, who has made a very successful career out of wrenching.

“All BMW engines are monumental piles of unreliable garbage,” he wrote on Jalopnik back in 2016. They have not gotten better.

I feel bad for Ineos here. They obviously didn’t have the budget to develop their own engine, and there’s not exactly a thriving market of major automakers trying to sell globally-compliant crate motors. So while the BMW engines (there’s a diesel available overseas) were likely the only choice, it still wasn’t a good one.

It's also a choice that directly compromises the Grenadier’s utility for anything other than suburban school runs. When that engine breaks—and it will—will you be able to find BMW parts in a small town in the rocky mountain west? It’s more likely that you’ll be booking a hotel room, and waiting two to three days for them to ship in from Salt Lake City. And you’d better know how to install those parts yourself, because there aren’t a lot of BMW dealers out here.

Take that further. Will that BMW part be available in Ensenada, Loreto, or San Luis del Cabo? Nope. What about St. Johns or Yellowknife or Talkeetna? Tierra del Fuego? And we’re only talking about the motor here. Imagine going searching for something actually made by Ineos in any of these places, or even just your local auto parts store. You cannot choose the Ineos for long distance, unsupported travel for this reason. Heck, you wouldn’t want to own one outside the five-year warranty period.

So What Should You Buy Instead?

If you really need that solid front axle, you also need big tires. Make that easy on yourself and just get a Jeep Wrangler or Gladiator Rubicon. All the money left over will buy an awful lot of rubber duckies. Modifications are cheap and plentiful, and there’s the largest knowledge base possible for you to tap into.

Another solid axle option for people who value things like payload and towing would be a Ford Super Duty Tremor. You can also option one of those with a winch, dual battery and neat overhead accessory switches. And even after you fitted a Carli Dominator suspension system and 40s, you’ll have cash leftover versus the Ineos.

Or, if you just want a truck that’s nice to drive, which you don’t need to modify, and works just as well commuting as it does on a big camping trip, get a Ford F-150 Raptor. Seriously, they ride nicer than most luxury cars, have incredibly spacious interiors, and will keep your family comfortable on trails, too. They’re very much the perfect grand tourer for America’s wide open spaces.

The problem is that none of those choices are going to make the same socioeconomic fashion statement that turning up at your kid’s school in an Ineos will. Which is the entire reason people are buying these. If you really need some stupid car to serve as a flex on other parents, you’re probably also the kind of person who would benefit from just becoming more interesting. Go take some risks, maybe adopt a cool dog, cross a border, and the need to try and out consume your neighbors in Newport Beach will disappear, promise.