INEOS Grenadier Is Officially Out, Gets Baptized by Snow in an African Off-Road Adventure

The continuator of a decade-long British tradition (the Land Rover, later renamed Land Rover Defender), the INEOS Grenadier strongly resembles the emblematic all-terrainer. The likewise modern automobile is superior in all essential aspects, but it doesn't veer away from what the Defender stood for: conquer all land.

After six long years of research, design, development, and testing, the Grenadier is officially out. I mean really out, customer-delivered-out, not just presented to the press or teased through celebs' test-drive sessions. The first three recipients took the keys to their new overlanding machines from the Grenadier Showroom.

When I say "showroom," I invite you to stop for a moment and imagine African snow, legendary mountains, and an epic adventure. And no, the scenery – and scenario – is not a CGI-veiled presentation in a posh glass office building in London. It is the wild, rugged landscape of Africa.

"Wait a minute," you might argue, "Africa isn't exactly famous for its sky resorts." True, but that doesn't mean meteorologists in the Sahara Desert can't record snowfall occasionally. Africa is the land of the mythical mountain range of Morocco, where the Titan Atlas was sentenced to hold up the heavens on his shoulders. It is the westernmost point reached by Hercules during his ten-year-long labors.

In an eerie coincidence to the mythical forced labor penance, this winter saw the heaviest snowfalls of the last ten years over the African highlands bordering Earth's largest sand desert. Could one ask for a more appropriate place and time to pick up a brand-new off-road vehicle?

Selected from thousands of INEOS Grenadier reservations, the three drivers were brought to Africa to receive their cars. The lucky ones were voted by INEOS' social media followers. After the brief handover ceremony, the new owners were politely invited to return home.

To the UK and Austria, to be specific, more than 2,000 miles away (3,200 kilometers). Two members of this impromptu Grenadier Owner's Club trio are from England, and the third is from Austria.

INEOS didn't just shove them off on their own; it provided each driver with an off-road expert and a logistics team to see that everyone gets home safe, which isn't quite as easy as it sounds, judging by the fact that the journey began atop a red desert mountain in the dead of the North-African winter.

The entire trip is documented on video – watch it below; it wasn't the weekend joyride one might expect. Apart from the rough terrain – that bestows onlookers with majestic, breathtaking views – the weather conditions tried hard to see that the going gets tough.

The Grenadier – defending its Defender legacy – got going anyway (earning a battle-scar flat tire during this adventure). However, parting ways with the infamously upsetting Land Rover reliability issues (a British Leyland undesired inheritance), the new AWD machine relies on German power to see through to the end.

The powertrain part of the Land Rover (and Defender) heritage was intentionally omitted by INEOS. The manufacturer wanted a car that would go anywhere, anytime, and get back without having to call for help. Consequently, the Grenadier adopted BMW engine solutions (with either one three-liter diesel or a three-liter gasoline variant).

The body is about as close to the Land Rovers of old as third-millennium technology allows it – same flat-panel surfaces, same squared-off volumes, same straight-edge lines. What's not to like about it, especially compared to the jelly-mold design of the new Defender? Try as they might, the "molten stick of butter" demeanor of the latest Defender is anything but hard-terrain-adequate.

The Grenadier, however, looks like it transplanted all the chest hair the new-generation Defender waxed off. Three locking diffs, a 2.5:1 transfer case, an eight-speed automatic gearbox with manual override, plenty of ground clearance, and tough-as-nails underside protection make the Grenadier a serious contender to the "All-Time Overlanding Best" title.

It's right up there with the G-Wagen from Mercedes-Benz, the other no-nonsense, no-artistic-impression-needed go-anywhere earth roamer. And the German resemblance is stronger under the hood (and floor).

Two inline-six BMW engines, with 281 hp/286 ps and 332 lb-ft/450 Nm (gasoline) or 245 hp/249 ps and 406 lb-ft (550 Nm) (diesel), offer plenty of rock-and-mud-and-snow capabilities. The INEOS 4x4 isn't afraid to get wet either – with a fording depth of 800 mm (31.5 inches).

A keynote: the air intake duct on the right A-pillar has the rearward-facing inlet at roof height (two meters above the ground. That's almost six feet seven inches high). The steep approach and departure angles (35.5° and 36.1°, respectively) allow a 45° gradeability performance.

The 115-inch wheelbase (2.9 meters) combined with the 10.4-inch ground clearance (264 mm) results in a break-over angle of 28.2°. The solid beam suspensions (front and rear) give the Grenadier a respectable 585 RTI (Ramp Travel Index) score (the car's track width is 1.65 meters - almost 65 inches).

The list of off-roading specs could go on and on and on – and it would include the 5.5-ton optional factory-installed winch (integrated on the front, removable on the rear). The 2.7-ton INEOS Grenadier is a brute force with all the essential electronic tech needed to overcome any obstacle – including African snow.