2022 Ineos Grenadier review: Riding shotgun at Goodwood

At Goodwood's Festival of Speed, the interest levels in new cars are clear to see. Hype and demand switch from being nebulous to being very obvious, and physical – if there's a scrum to get onto your stand, chances are the great buying public's hot for your machine.

Take Lotus, for example. It pulled the covers off the Emira sports car earlier in the week, and at Goodwood the crowds couldn't get enough of the new two-seater. Better still, deposits flew in.

It was the same story at Ineos, with the Grenadier 4x4. The crowd on the stand was five-deep all day; the love for this desirable new utility SUV clear to see.

To see how the project's shaping up ahead of the car's 2022 debut, we took a ride up the hill.

What's it like in the flesh?

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Pretty funky, truth be told. It's a purposeful-looking device, bigger than you think, and striking with its mostly flat, businesslike surfaces and unfussy detailing. There are shades of G-Wagen, Pinzgauer and Defender, of course, but in the flesh the Grenadier's design hangs together well, looking confident and understated.

There are shades of G-Wagen, Pinzgauer and Defender, of course, but in the flesh the Grenadier's design hangs together well, looking confident and understated.

And when you climb in?

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Ineos showed two cars at Goodwood; a representative show car and a well-worked prototype fresh from duty on the Tour de France. We poked around the former before jumping in the latter for our run up the hill.

You climb up into really good Recaro seats, which are both supportive and super comfy. In answer to everyone's first question, namely 'Is there anywhere to put my elbow?', the answer is a resounding yes. Your arm naturally comes to rest, comfortably, on the top of the door. There's space in here, and the ergonomics are sound.

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The cockpit strikes a great balance, feeling functional and stripped-back without any sense of being cheap or basic. The main instrument panel is striking in its clarity, and above it sits the main infotainment screen.

Up on the ceiling, where kids and drunk mates can't suddenly lock both your differentials 'for a laugh', you'll find the controls for off-road driving and four sets of switches for accessories such as winches or auxiliary lights. The chunky design and clear fonts call to mind a plane's cockpit and match the purposeful aesthetic of the exterior.

For passengers, two chunky grab handles set the tone nicely and the view out is fantastic, with great visibility and that jutting clamshell bonnet to remind you you're in a vehicle that means business.

Let's go!

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Two BMW powertrains will be offered – petrol and diesel 3.0-litre six-cylinders both mated to an eight-speed ZF auto 'box. The engine's quiet and refined on start-up and the transmission is effortless.

Up to the start line, a few waves to the crowd, and hit the accelerator. The Grenadier takes off with conviction and nary a chirp from its BFGoodrich off-road rubber.

At the wheel is handy rally driver Cameron Davies who, at 14, became Britain's youngest rally champion before going on to compete in various European one-make rally series. With a speed limiter in place and orders not to go to full throttle, I'm not expecting my socks to be blown off.

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But we brake admirably late for the first right-hander and go in tyres squealing. At once I'm impressed with the Grenadier's poise and its responsiveness under duress. There's far less body roll than you might expect given the car's all-terrain remit and ladder chassis (suspension is good old-fashioned coilovers, beam axles and anti-roll bars – no air) and, as Davies works the wheel and throttle pedal, it's clear the Ineos is happy to respond to his inputs even as we howl through the first corner.

On past Goodwood House and the BMW powertrain demonstrates its peachiness – smooth, sonorous and punchy. It's been re-mapped for this application and feels torquier than a tuned tractor.

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We jink past the flint wall – again, composure is impressive given this thing's dirt pedigree – and bowl on into the next corner, a tricky off-camber right-hander. The Grenadier laps it up, Davies opening the corner up by grabbing a healthy bit of verge on the inside before powering out, the torque and sweetly-mapped shift strategy meaning there's no temptation to shift manually.

That's it: over the line. And another chance to embarrass a paddock full of supercars by attracting more interest and enquiries than all of them put together...

VERDICT

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We won't drive the Grenadier until 2022, when the healthy list of buyers with an order placed will also start to see their cars. But on this evidence the Ineos 4x4 is shaping up very nicely, feeling like a highly competent, refined and charming road car that'll then happily soak up as much mud and abuse as you care to throw at it.

Despite being out of step with most new cars, the Ineos also feels also feels oddly zeitgeisty (anti-zeitgeist?), winning hearts and minds with its no-nonsense approach (actual ignition key, hose-out interior, boxy but handsome body) and thoroughly traditional powertrain (no EV option here, of course).

This article was first published at Carmagazine.co.uk