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Not many vehicles can lay claim to being conceived in the pub, but that’s exactly where the origins of the Ineos Grenadier Commercial lie.
Ineos chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe was in a Belgravia boozer with some mates when, presumably mourning the loss of the Land Rover Defender, they hit upon the idea for a new non-nonsense 4x4 to fill the gaping hole in the market.
The chemical manufacturing tycoon turned his attention to developing his ideal off-roader and in honour of that boozy afternoon named his creation after the pub, which was called The Grenadier.
Initially launched as a Utility Wagon and Station Wagon, the line-up now includes the all-important Grenadier Commercial, adding a proper utilitarian workhorse to what is otherwise a show pony range.
Unlike the other models, the Grenadier Commercial is a two-seater with a properly kitted out loadspace.
It still uses the same chassis, engines and suspension as the regular five-seat models, but it’s been stripped back just a touch to make it more… well Commercial.
The difference is a second row of seats and a lot of VAT.
The Grenadier Utility Wagon had its rear seats moved forwards slightly, compared to the Station Wagon, to increase the rear loadspace to enable it to be classed as a commercial vehicle for the benefit of VED road tax. That means a flat rate like any other commercial vehicle and some serious savings on the annual cost of running it.
However, the loadspace size and payload meant that it didn’t qualify as a proper commercial vehicle which you could reclaim the VAT on.
The difference now between the Grenadier Commercial and the Grenadier Utility is that the Commercial model is fully compliant with the tax laws enabling you to not only run it as a commercial vehicle, like a van, but to also reclaim the VAT. That’s essentially a 20% saving if you don’t need the rear seats.
If the Grenadier Commercial was all about saving tax and money, you’d think it might have a frugal, tax-friendly engine. Well, it doesn’t.
The Commercial gets the exact same engine options as the other models with a choice of 3-litre petrol or diesel units sourced from BMW. The turbocharged inline six-cylinder engines can be found in a wide range of Munich’s motors but have made a pretty decent home for themselves in the Grenadier line-up, producing up to 283hp and 550Nm of torque – depending on which one you choose.
The BMW B58 petrol engine has a displacement of 2998cc and produces 283hp at 4750rpm. Torque is very respectable 450Nm between 1750rpm and 4000rpm, giving the Grenadier a 0-62mph time of 8.8 seconds and top speed of 160mph.
In contrast the BMW B57 diesel engine has a slightly smaller displacement of 2993cc but packs a much bigger torque punch. There’s 246hp available between 3250rpm and 4200rpm but up to 550Nm from just 1250rpm. It’s a second slower to 62mph but has the same top speed.
Both engines are mated to an 8-speed ZF automatic transmission that have had a heavy-duty torque converter added for better off-road performance and reliability.
Although there might be a bit of a passing resemblance the two aren’t related. Looking at the Grenadier vs Defender, they’ve both got the same boxy body, with short front and rear overhangs.
There’s also a lot of similarities in the shape of the doors and windows, but a few design similarities aside, they’re very different beasts.
The Defender evolved over decades to become, in many ways, the perfect country accessory, so there’s no surprise that during that conversation in The Grenadier Pub the various merits of the Defender were brought up. But if you were to pitch the Grenadier vs Defender today, they’re very different things.
Whereas the modern Defender has gone uber-upmarket, the Grenadier is still trying to keep its feet in the working world.
It’s got proper manual low-ratio box, there’s refreshingly little involvement needed for navigating the touchscreen, and there’s a button for everything. It’s an analogue tool in a digital landscape, making it a perhaps a bit (deliberately) out-dated.
The ladder frame chassis, solid beam axles, front-, rear- and centre-differentials, all show that the Grenadier isn’t messing about too. It’s got the Land Rover ethos attached to it, but it’s like the engineers have looked at a Defender and done everything they possibly can to improve it – no easy task.
Well, if you like buttons, the inside of the Grenadier Commercial is the place to be.
There are probably more switches and buttons in here than a light aircraft. While some may think that’s a bit of a design flaw, Ineos would say otherwise. That’s because there are no dual use functions for any of the switches, they really are just buttons and switches that do a single job, making the Grenadier a lot easier to use and in theory easier to fix if something goes wrong.
Rather than having to delve into a million sub-menus to operate the winch or to change the heater settings, they’re all laid out in front of you. Yes, it looks a little confused, but actually, having spent so much time distracted by swiping and sliding on touchscreens we can appreciate the logic and the functionality of a good old button or switch.
Appearance aside, the interior of the Grenadier Commercial is very upmarket. If you were expecting rustic Defender-like controls and materials, then you’ll be disappointed. It’s much more closely related to the posh Land Rover products than the basic ones.
The seats are covered in a textured cloth with faux leather bolsters and head rests. The rest of the interior also gets the same leather, with the transmission tunnel getting a sizeable storage compartment that doubles as an arm rest.
There are two drinks holders just in front of that, followed by the rotating dial to control the infotainment screen. Next is the gear selector and the low-range gearbox. Then comes the vertical upright of dash which begins the bank of switches, toggles and buttons begins.
It looks more complicated than it is, there are in fact less than a dozen dials or switches before you reach the air vents, but as you continue your gaze upwards you notice more on the ceiling with auxiliary controls for pre-wired connections for the rear and roof. It’s also where you’ll find some of the off-road controls.
If you’re unconvinced about any aspect of the Grenadier so far, rest assured that the off-road capabilities will set your mind at ease.
When Ratcliffe and Co drew up their wish list, off-road performance must have been the number one priority, and boy oh boy did they nail it.
Let’s start with some basic facts. The Grenadier Commercial has a ground clearance of 264mm – not enormous, but sensible and similar to a Ford Ranger Raptor which manages 272mm. Where the Grenadier beats competitors like pick-up trucks into submission is its approach and departure angles. These are massive with a 35.5-degree approach angle and a 36.1 degree departure angle. The breakover angle is also 28.2 degrees making it far superior to anything with a long load bed out back. The travel in the wheels, though is probably the Grenadier’s real party trick with wheel travel of up to 585mm ensuring that you’re going to have to be going over something really severe to risk getting it even remotely stuck.
Want to get wet? The wading depth is an impressive 800mm
Those are the numbers, as flat and boring as they can be on paper, but when it comes to driving they are brought to life, and so too is the Grenadier.
We picked our way through a pretty challenging wooded area and found the Grenadier to be a perfect accompaniment whether traversing wet leaves, muddy bogs or slippery inclines.
It speaks volumes that with a decent set of BF Goodrich tyres we were able to do all of this without even going into four-wheel-drive mode. However, by activating four-wheel-drive and the low range box we’d struggle to find anything beyond a deep tractor rut that the Grenadier couldn’t master.
It’s all about off-roading in the Grenadier, which is why there’s a dedicated switch for “Offroad Mode” up high on the ceiling instrument panel.
This offroad mode button disables parking sensors, the seatbelt warning reminder and engine stop/start. Next to it is a wading function which disables the engine fan when it’s safe to do. There are all the usual functions like stability control and also hill descent control.
Then there’s the big guns. The manual low-range transfer case is a throwback to proper off-roading before electronics did the bulk of the work for you. It requires a strong arm to get it into gear, but once there, the Grenadier Commercial becomes virtually unflappable. A centre differential will get you out of most situations, but the Grenadier has front, rear and centre diffs. Engage all three and you’ll breeze up the craziest of inclines on the most treacherous of surfaces.
It's so capable we even managed to do a steep, slippery hill in reverse gear – not something you’d manage in a pick-up truck without burying the tow bar.
With such an off-road focus, you’d probably think that the Grenadier would be compromised on the road. Well, think again. It’s not quite as sure-footed on the hard stuff as it is on the soft, but it’s no bad place to be either.
The ride is a little firm and bouncy, but you can’t have such accomplished off-roading ability without a few pitfalls.
Reassuringly there’s little in the way of noise – it’s a quiet enough vehicle to be in, even without the boot liner and second row of seats to suppress some of the hollowness and naturally created noise you get in a converted commercial vehicle like this.
It’s not a magic carpet ride that you’d get from a £100k Range Rover, but the coil springs and five-link suspension do their best to iron out the bumps.
The main criticism you’ll hear about the Grenadier is about its steering, but we’ll get to that in a moment. First let’s talk about the handling.
For such a heavy vehicle there’s a good deal of communication with the road, and there’s surprisingly level of front-end grip too. It’s not the sort of vehicle you can really hustle about, but its road holding is pretty decent.
The high centre of gravity – this thing stands over 2m tall – don’t help, but it doesn’t feel unbalanced. It just feels… big.
The steering, however, doesn’t inspire confidence and this is where the Grenadier will really split opinion.
The elephant in the room is that the steering does not self-centre. When you normally turn into a corner, you can let the steering wheel go slightly and the wheel will begin to rotate back to the straight-ahead position. The Grenadier doesn’t do this. Instead the same lock will stay on and you’ll keep going around in circles (or into a ditch) if you don’t correct it.
It's not a problem, and it’s certainly not a design error, but it does take a lot of getting used to.
The theory is that it makes the Grenadier a better off-roader, as you’re not having to constantly hold the steering into position.
There’s also a good deal of numbness in the steering as you first turn through the initial few degrees of steering lock. This means that you start to turn the wheel and nothing happens – another pretty unusual scenario. Again, it’s a deliberate ploy to iron out the bumps and stop you having to wrestle with the steering wheel as you crash over tree roots, or even crappy potholes on UK roads.
After a while, both idiosyncrasies become second nature, but it’s not the best first impression you’ll get when you start to drive.
On balance it suits the Grenadier. Do we love it? No. But it’s part of the uncompromising off-road appeal it’s been designed for.
This is a tricky one because clearly, it’s not a van in the normal sense of the word. There are many reasons why a Grenadier Commercial makes sense – not least a financial one, if you can reclaim the VAT – but it also occupies an awkward spot between not being a proper van and not being a pick-up truck either.
The Defender Commercial found plenty of homes from farms and building sites to utility companies and private buyers, and the Grenadier Commercial will likely to the same.
At 2m3, the Ineos Grenadier Commercial dimensions are large enough to transport pretty large items with a length of 1.6m and width of 1.2m.
The Ineos Grenadier Commercial payload is 871kg for petrol models and 796kg for diesel models, which is also far greater than you’d expect for such a big vehicle.
Factor in that the Grenadier Commercial towing capacity is 3.5 tonnes and there’s 5.5 tonnes of winching power and it’s a pretty convincing worker.
Is it a van, no. Is it a pick-up, no. Does it have its own niche use? Yes.
All of the Ineos Grenadier models are made at Ineos Automotive's Hambach plant in Germany. It’s a state-of-the-art 210,000 square metre facility that used to be a Mercedes-Benz factory making the Mercedes-Benz Smart ForTwo. It began making the Smart car in 1998 and was used by Mercedes up until 2019 when it was purchase by Ineos Automotive.
Ineos refitted the factory and invested more than €500m in the site since buying it in 2020. Production of the Grenadier had previously been earmarked for the closed Ford engine manufacturing site at Bridgend. Plans then changed and Ineos was to make the Grenadier at a new site next to the engine plant. Ultimately, however, Hambach was chosen as the production site for the Grenadier, Grenadier Commercial and Quartermaster pick-up truck.
The launch price for the Grenadier Commercial was £51,931 excluding VAT. Interestingly that price is the same for the petrol or the diesel model. It comes in white as standard, with colour options costing £463 for solid paint or £808 for metallic paint with an additional £842 for a contrast roof.
Fuel economy is not your friend with a V6 engine. That goes for both petrol and diesel, and in the Ineos Grenadier Commercial you’re going to become pretty well acquainted with the filling station.
It helps that it has a 90-litre fuel tank, but that will only make the act of paying for the fuel when the tank runs dry even more painful because the petrol engine is claimed to do between 18.9mpg and 19.6mpg, while the diesel will manage just 23.3mpg and 25.9mpg.
In reality you can probably drop two or three mpg off both of those numbers and a faction more if you’re running heavy or towing.
Despite the tax benefits, it’s not going to be a cheap vehicle to live with day-to-day.
If you want a budget option, I suppose you could always go for a Suzuki Jimny Commercial.
In the early days of production, there have been a few niggles with the quality of the finishing, however, according to reports in forums these appear to have been ironed out.
Other customers have also reported issues with the transfer case, and with electrical problems – mainly false warning lights and possible earthing issues.
There are also reports that the Grenadier problems include getting stuck in low-range or the differentials either failing to engage or disengage properly.
Door seals have also been found to retain water which can lead to some water ingress.
Do you travel by yourself, need to go very far off-road, like to tow and don’t need to carry a tonne of stuff with you? Then if you answered yes to all four questions the Grenadier may well be the right vehicle for you.
If not then perhaps you should consider it a little more closely.
If you’re looking for an out and out off-roader there are few commercial vehicles that come close. A Ranger Raptor might be more fun to drive, but the Grenadier is able to go even further off-road because of the shorter overhangs.
Do you want to carry proper sized loads, have more space and be able to get into the loadspace occasionally then the Grenadier also isn’t right for you and you should get a more conventional van.
If you need something to simply throw things in the back of, and not have to worry about noise, smell, water or muck then the separate load area of a pick-up truck makes more sense.
However, if you want to have a great-looking, comfortable and capable off-roader then the Grenadier Commercial is a winner.
The Grenadier Commercial is a car with plenty of character but also goes to show that a single-minded mission to be the best at a chosen discipline can reap great rewards.
If the Grenadier Commercial were an athlete, it would certainly be an Olympian, showing dedication to the cause and a stubbornness to achieving goals.
Yes the steering is a little off-putting, it’s expensive for a van with limited capacity and it’s definitely not going to be cheap to run, but it’s still a remarkable piece of engineering and exceptionally good at what it does do.
