Talking Cars 520: Driving the Ineos Grenadier

Main theme: Ineos says the Grenadier was designed to be “the best vehicle in the world at under 5 mph.” In other words, this thing is all about serious off-roading. With origins rooted in a discussion in a pub in London, England, in 2017, the goal of startup automaker Ineos Automotive was to build an even more uncompromising vehicle than the Land Rover Defender. 

Although the Grenadier has been on sale globally since 2023, this was our first time driving one. Still, we wanted to find out how good it is off-road, and how many compromises drivers have to make on the road. 

Interestingly, the Grenadier uses a BMW-sourced 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six engine with 282 hp and 332 lb.-ft. of torque. Power is sent to the road through an eight-speed automatic transmission and permanent four-wheel drive. We borrowed the Station Wagon from Ineos. (There is also a Quartermaster pickup truck.) The Station Wagon starts at $71,750, but the Fieldmaster version we borrowed, which included a fair amount of options, cost $89,555 with the $1,995 destination charge.

Our experts spent a couple of weeks in the Grenadier, driving it on paved roads, rough dirt roads, and, of course, we took it up the vaunted Consumer Reports Rock Hill at our 327-acre Auto Test Center. And yes, it’s awesome off-road. We discuss the overall driving experience, the vehicle’s unusual steering, noisy cabin, quirky controls, and whether we’d actually buy one for ourselves. 

Audience question: I love my 2014 BMW 328d, but it needs emissions system repairs that will cost more to fix than the vehicle is worth. What are my options for offloading a car that won’t pass emissions tests in many states?