“Would you take this over the Land Cruiser?” Yes. “Defender?” Yes. “Bronco? Jeep 392?” Yes. “Jeez, you didn’t even hesitate.”
The 2025 Ineos Grenadier is one of the most exciting new vehicles of this generation. Built to carry on the legacy of the classic (i.e. proper) Land Rover Defender, the Grenadier modernizes the traditional solid-axle, body-on-frame formula into something far more composed than once thought possible. Better still, it carries forward a spirit and truth to purpose largely lost in today’s market.
First though, the stumbling block: the 2025 Ineos Grenadier starts from $96,695 before $2,000 destination charge. That’s top-spec Jeep Wrangler or Toyota Land Cruiser money, or straight Land Rover Defender 130 dough. That’s a tall MSRP for an emphatically bare-bones, tech-averse ute with drain plugs in the floor, and in which carpet is an optional extra.
But then: that’s still within reach of the Wrangler, barely more than Toyota’s TRD Trailhunters, and suitably in the middle of the L663 Defenders. And while seat-heaters may not come standard in this muddable trim, there’s a whole lot else here that none of those can come close to offering.
Traditional wet-climate wheeling in the Ineos Grenadier
The Ineos Grenadier is a ground-up effort at a purist off-roader for the modern era. It is a reaction to the tech-forward rat race that now so insulates us from the joy of 4×4 driving, a nostalgic expression of what this sort of wheeling should be. Full-time four-wheel-drive, recirculating-ball steering, a ball-knobbed transfer case.
Uptrimmed into the trail-ready ‘Trialmaster’ as you see here (versus its same-priced leather-comfort ‘Fieldmaster’ twin), that focus continues. The standard centre locker is here matched with front and rear electronic differential locks; snorkel and fitment for 800-mm fording; five 31-inch BFG K02s on proper 17×7-inch steelies; accessory rails all around, and a widdle wadder mounted directly to the smaller half of the 30-70 split tailgate. The spec sheet is only the beginning, too, with a massive options matrix including features like the inbuilt 5,500-kilogram synthetic-line winch fitted here, and shielded from road debris by a clever flip-up licence-plate bracket.
Leading what makes the Grenadier so impressive is the astonishing rigidity of its ladder frame. Fully boxed, the Grenadier’s chassis doesn’t flex like the four-bys of yore. Doors open and close on opposite-articulation without any apparent misalignment. The truck also traverses opposed terrain without the extensive unibody creaks familiar to anyone who’s run a new-gen Defender across such obstacles.
That articulation benefits from the squared-off footing of the Grenadier’s Carraro axles. Whereas an independently sprung Rover’s linkages hold its treads square to the chassis, a solid axle can drop and span the terrain independent of the body, thereby keeping more of each tread square to the ground. This means less shoulder bias and more cleat-y meat.
This serves the Grenadier delightfully through saturated sand and autumnal mud. Traction control and roadway nannies disabled, the Grenadier’s trusty K02s chew through soft Ontario trails with nary a need for pause.
Hang yourself up on something and the chassis’ underbody armour demonstrates its frame-matching mettle. Skid plating is itself framed by steel tubes, all of which look so tough that you might be tempted to fetch that hydraulic bottle jack from the boot just to try lifting the rig by its fuel tank. Transfer case and delicate nethers are tucked between the frame, and inverted diff pumpkins leave clear, straight clearances underneath.
Also reducing any need for pause is the sheer speed the Grenadier’s Magna-developed chassis can carry across hostile surfaces. This owes largely to the truck’s well-tuned progressive spring rates and particularly its unusually forgiving jounce bumpers. These chew-toy-looking bump-stops aren’t anything clever — no hydraulic kit like the Jeep Mojave X — yet they make a tremendous achievement in isolating the cabin from the sorts of full-compression impacts that usually have us patting dashes in apology. Bumps and ruts you’d typically drop to 30 km/h ahead of are easy to blast at 50.
This isn’t just a matter of sound deadening either: the Grenadier doesn’t seem to bother much with that. Wind noise is unusually well-sealed even at highway speeds, sure — a welcome relief after so many Jeeps and Broncos over the years — but the mechanical and underfoot terrain feedback passes right up through that steel pan and its minimally foamed cabin-floor inserts. The trade-off here is the drumming sound of big tires over asphalt repairs, and in a cabin which (specced right) shouldn’t have any carpet or leather to soak it up.
Oh, oh, oh — and then there’s the steering! No rack or pinion here: instead, it’s good ol’ recirculating balls in a long-ratio box, all tucked safely up behind the bumper. A beefy Pitman arm outstretches to an inch-thick centre link with great honking tie rods at either end. The pivots themselves aren’t true sealed swivel joints like on the old Landies, but big cast bells protect the Toyota-style Birfields at shallow steering angles. It’s a hardy welcome on the trail, though it all combines for some (admittedly expected) on-road wandering.
To be sure, too, the Grenadier is a solid-axled off-roader on big tires. Unlike a Bronco, which has conceded to easy-holding independent front suspension for highway-bound cosplayers, the Grenadier splits that rig’s handling difference with the Wrangler. There’s some meandering and enough alignment sensitivity for that steering-wheel centre-marker to highlight just how crooked you’re holding that long-ratio steering wheel to point it straight, but the Grenadier otherwise holds far steadier than the Jeeps.
Four-link front and five-link rear setups keep the axles well in their place, with none of the castor-pitching dynamic realignment of Jeep’s ancient three-link fronts. The result is what can best be described as a whiff of Wrangler, but with a feeling of modern European refinement.
The Grenadier’s high-speed roadholding is much steadier around highway ramps as a result. Beam axles’ skippy unsprung mass and the tall centre of gravity still demand a little more mindfulness and premeditation than would a Corolla, but the Grenadier can absolutely sweep highway interchange ramps at the very same late-to-an-appointment speeds as any Uber-driven sedan. Better still, that tighter-held axle geometry makes high-speed expansion joint hits far less nervous than in the JL Wrangler or JT Gladiator.
Unfortunately the Grenadier (and its Quartermaster pickup sibling) lose a bleeding-heart biggie to the Wrangler and Gladiator: no option for a manual transmission. BMW’s B58 has a direct bolt-on in the six-speeds fitted to the B58 Z4 and S58 M3, but Ineos has thus far kept its traditional rig disappointingly modern in this regard.
In fairness, that torque converter is admittedly welcome off-road — particularly in plodding clutch-heating maneuvers and high-speed driveline shock absorption. The ZF 8HP 51 is in nearly everything these days, and has established itself well, too — particularly in such an engineered matchup as with the BMW B58 engine.
It’s logically paced as well. Between transmission gearing, 2.5:1 low-range transfer-case ratio, and 4.10 final drive, the Grenadier with the ZF 8 delivers a crawl ratio of ~58:1, or 2 km/h. This isn’t anything near the Utah-est Wrangler Rock-Trac case’s touted 100:1, but then that setup isn’t going to do much good in higher-momentum maneuvers like those soft trails we wheel rigs through here in Ontario. As a general off-roader then, the Grenadier’s gearing strikes an all-purpose middle ground.
Ineos Grenadier Trialmaster interior
First on interior insight, a complaint: why doesn’t this helicopter-themed overhead switch panel have a “Fortunate Son” switch? Seriously, there are no Creedence Clearwater references anywhere on this entire Huey-ass flight deck, no soundboard shortcut button, nothing. Shameful.
Instead, all you get for flicking those helicopter-style switches is a big clack and switched power to your outlets and auxiliary power points and whatever 400-watt accessory you’ve got hooked up. That’s also cool and well and good, but come on, billionaire, where’s the quality gimmickry?
Around this (glaring) oversight, the Grenadier lays out a straightforward and functional cabin. Frequently used controls are arranged on the centre stack, while infrequent inputs are kept out of the way on that overhead panel. This panel can be flanked with Ineos’ take on ‘Alpine’ safari windows, a pair of small poppable sunroof panes that open a bisected overhead view again like in a Huey.
Cluster readouts are displayed on a central touch display shared with the Grenadier’s refreshingly straightforward and minimal infotainment; a backlit warning-light panel backs the steering wheel. Glancing to the right for digital speed and linear tach and temperature readouts is a touch inconvenient, but it understandably does the job while keeping costs in check. Sweeping physical needles in the proper place would be ideal of course, but it is nice not to have an LCD screen shining straight in your face at all times.
Infotainment accommodates wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and all submenu panes can be quickly accessed from hard buttons placed around a selector knob down by the narrow-diameter cupholders.
Seating is a pleasure. Sourced from Recaro, front and rear seats are supportive and accommodating, and in the like-priced Fieldmaster trim come heated and leathered. Either way, front passengers get supple bolsters that distribute the load of a seated body without clamping tightly. Particularly notable is an excellent seated position relative to the vehicle’s beltline: window sills are at the perfect height to lean an arm on or out of. I can recall no other vehicle currently on sale which matches this.
All passengers get particularly lengthy legroom, and furry cargo-area riders get a tremendous 2,000-litre space easily enclosed thanks to inbuilt pet-barrier hookup points. Headroom is ample even without safari windows, and broad sightlines ensure the Grenadier feels big and open from all positions.
Off-road boot utility benefits from easily configured tie-down points, ensuring the Grenadier can tackle steep terrain without loads shifting. Capacity for larger loads is however impeded by the rear seats, which fold down to a shallow angle but rest neither flat nor anywhere near flush with the cargo floor. With the battery, fuse panels, and other electronics situated beneath this bench too, it’s unlikely that we’ll see a rework to offer such functionality in the near term.
This electronics packing also raises an important note, which is Ineos’ touting of an easy-wash interior. Just as in the Ford Bronco Sport, marketing would have it that you can just pull some drain plugs and hose down the footwells. As in the Bronco Sport, there are accessory outlets and USB ports and connectors of all sorts down near the floor. Do not do this.
Fortunately the Grenadier’s rubber-faced floors are easy to remove and hose down outside of the car, as we did after making a mess in the bush. Straightforward dash and console shapes similarly make the cabin’s plastics easy to wipe and vacuum, and leaving carpets to the option sheet simplifies regular cleanup while also saving on MSRP.
With that noted, savings also appear to have been taken in the specification of plastics in the Grenadier. Those helicopter switches snap into satisfying detents, yes — but they and all surrounding accent panel plastics sound and feel a little more fleet than we’ve come to expect of vehicles in this bracket.
Also disappointing is the use of an identifiably off-the-shelf gloss-black BMW drive selector when the surrounding matte switchgear is so unique. John DeLorean saw to it that every touchpoint in his eponymous sports car was unique to DMC; Ineos’ Mr. Ratcliffe surely ought to consider the same.
Ineos Grenadier trims, equipment, and pricing
Like its inspiration, the Ineos Grenadier comes in a few flavours. The enclosed model shown here is called the station wagon, but Ineos also produces a slightly lengthened pickup called the Quartermaster.
Both setups are rated to pull a hearty 3,500 kilos (7,700 lbs) on a Class III hitch, with payloads of 857 kg (1,007 lbs) in the wagon and 760 kg (1,680 lbs) in the Quartermaster. Roof load is rated at 150 kg, in case you feel like adding some bonus height to your two-metre truck.
Across these lines are a series of trims, but it’s only the first two that particularly matter: the comfort-focused ‘Fieldmaster’; and this off-road focused ‘Trialmaster,’ with the highlights listed earlier. Either trim adds $8,700 to the $96,995 base price, but get real: the Trialmaster is the one that matters.
We won’t be seeing the B57 diesel engine here in North America, so it’s that torque-tuned 282-hp 332 lb-ft BMW 3-Series B58 3.0L straight-six turbo only. Hauling 2,643 kg (5,826 lbs) of truck on the big off-road tires seen here, that’s rated for NRCan economy figures of 16.9 L/100 city, 17.0 highway, and 16.9 combined. Observed indicated economy on this U.S. unit ranged from ~14 to 18 mpg, or 13.0 to 16.8 L/100 km.
Ineos being a global chemical giant with a significant hydrogen business, an H2-powered unit is also in development.
More importantly, a portal-axled variant is also set to join the range, hiking clearance with downstretched wheel-hub gearboxes a la Humvee or Unimog. This is tremendously exciting, but surely won’t be inexpensive on either the build sheet or at the pumps.
Ineos Grenadier competitors
At just shy of $100k, the 2025 Ineos Grenadier isn’t cheap — but then, neither is its segment.
Alternatively considered, the Grenadier seems a marvel. Engineered, tested, tooled, and homologated to modern international standards from scratch, it’s rather amazing that Ineos has been able to bring such a formidable rig to market at a manageable price. The Grenadier is not only impressive and soulful: its presence on our roads is a remarkable feat. And even without a Creedence Clearwater Revival switch, I’d absolutely take it over any of its trail-ready competitors.
Against its brother in beam axle, the Grenadier noticeably bests the Wrangler Xtreme Recon and Mojave X models in power as well as on-road control and refinement. Now that most Jeeps have gone soft in acknowledgement of their predominant mall-crawling market too, the Grenadier’s minimal-tech spirit affords it better points on soul. The tougher toss-up is with the silly-fun (but more expensive) Wrangler 392, but the Grenadier’s all-around charm wins my vote.
The Ford Bronco Heritage Limited models are priced right up with the base Grenadier, while the Bronco Raptor matches the Trialmaster in price. We’ve tested the Bronco Sasquatch on these same trails with larger 35-inch tires, but still came away preferring the solid-axle hardiness of the Wrangler we benchmarked it against.
An important premium-bracket cross-shop for the Grenadier is the modern-era ‘L663’ Land Rover Defender 110. The D110’s independent suspension is available with height-controllable air ride, affording impressive clearance but at a geometric disadvantage when traction gets tough. Cabin materials in the Defender are similarly hard and cleanup-friendly, with more interesting upholstery vinyls but also a tendency to rattle as observed in several test units over the years. The L663 offers more electronic traction-management modes and a significantly sleeker digital environment — but then, that’s exactly the sort of setup this Grenadier is trying to circle back from.
Also worth noting are the new Lexus GX 550, Toyota ‘L250’ Land Cruiser,Tacoma Trailhunter, and incoming new-gen 4Runner. All built from the same TNGA-F ladder platform as the new Tundra and Sequoia, these rigs benefit from significant rigidity improvements over past models thanks to a step from open-sided C-channel frame rails to Grenadier-like fully boxed frame. All of these vehicles employ double-wishbone fronts instead of solid axles, and all of their top trims edge toward the Grenadier’s starting MSRP.
The Land Cruiser is positioned as a softer, more highway-friendly alternative to the 4Runner but nevertheless makes strong use of electronic tech to grapple with unsteady terrain. The Tacoma Trailhunter is an impressive slower-crawling outfit, while the TRD Pro models are more general-purpose. The Lexus GX 550 is the plushest of the lot and nearest the real rest-of-world Land Cruiser formula, but starts even higher at $85,705 after destination. Whichever you cross-shop, the TNGA-F rigs mark an impressive step forward for the everyday liveability of the series. While preferable to many of their segment competitors though, their newfound composure leaves something missing.
The Ineos Grenadier is a ground-up effort at a purist off-roader for the modern era, a reaction to the tech-forward rat race that now so insulates us from the joy of 4×4 driving, a nostalgic expression of what this sort of wheeling should be
Beyond the LX 600 is the Mercedes-Benz G 550, priced in Canada from $193,995. The latest-gen gas and electric G-wagens have proven plenty capable in some of the most abusive off-roading I’ve undertaken, but of course carries a different set of connotations and real-world applications outside of the press-drive circus.
Finally, the Ineos Grenadier has to compete with original Land Rover Defenders, and particularly the spate of restomods that have now saturated the market. Quality, vision, and price vary widely across this market, but decent rigs can easily stretch to $80k, $240k, even up to $400k in the case of the ECDs we tested. Against these the Grenadier has the benefit of modern power and safety, the credibility of internationally homologated engineering by established OEMs, and baked-in rather than merely tacked-on improvements. Still, these originals are exactly that, and there’s tremendous currency in that brand identity and community.
Each of these vehicles holds undeniable strengths over the Grenadier then, and all are available in comparable off-roadable spec from some $20k less. All of these modern vehicles have also conceded much of the mechanical spirit that first endeared them to their communities. The Ineos Grenadier, meanwhile, brings it all back to the basics we miss.
Would I buy a new one? Personally, no, but that’s always a dumb question to ask an underpaid writer — besides, I wouldn’t buy a new anything when I could wrench on something old for a fraction of the price and many multiples’ the headache. I have five Lada Nivas to my name, come on now.
Had my brain fewer worms, however, this Trialmaster would confidently be my pick of the new-truck market. More refined than a Wrangler, more engaging than a Defender, more earnest than a Bronco — this Grenadier absolutely rips. It’s the best new 1997 4×4 you can buy, and that rules.
For once in this bafflingly oblique timeline, then, we have a billionaire vanity project that’s actually bringing something worthwhile to the world. No, I’ve not recited any of Mr. Ratcliffe’s pub-napkin lore here, nor would I ever address the fortunate fella as “Sir” (a title he was not born with, and which I do not believe in) — but I would absolutely take the dude to The Winchester and buy a round in gratitude for what he’s resurrected for us enthusiasts.
Just to be clear though, only the first round. I’m a writer, not a billionaire.
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