Masterminded by Jim Ratcliffe and penned by Toby Ecuyer, the Grenadier is best described as the Land Rover Defender for those who cannot imagine the Defender without body-on-frame construction and solid axles. Production started in October 2022, and pricing for the US market was released in May 2023.
The first US-market specimens rolled off the assembly line in France in September 2023, and pretty much everything produced for the US market until October 10 has been hit with a recall. The document attached below reads 727 units in total, namely Grenadier Station Wagon vehicles optioned with the high load auxiliary switch panel. In November 2023, the British automaker identified a potential issue with the auxiliary switch package relay at the Hambach assembly plant.
During installation, the relay control wire may become trapped under the relay power cable connection nut, thus compromising the insulation. This condition, in turn, increases the risk of a short circuit. INEOS Automotive couldn't rule out the risk of a thermal event or a fire. Smoke will emanate from the trunk area in the event of an electrical short.
INEOS Automotive immediately started an investigation to understand whether that was an isolated case or a broader concern. Turns out it was just an isolated case, but nevertheless, the British automaker corrected the wire routing and made running changes to the assembly inspection process.
INEOS Automotive further looked into warranty claims related to this issue, but couldn't find anything at all. Dealers have already been instructed to inspect the relay terminals and correct the condition in two ways. In case of pinching, the control wire will be either replaced or repaired and properly secured in place. If there's no pinching, service technicians will secure the wiring with insulated tape. At press time, INEOS has 20 dealers/partners in the United States.
Photo: INEOS
Owners will be informed via first-class mail between January 4 and January 5. Those who don't know when their Grenadier Station Wagon was produced can determine whether their off-road vehicles are recalled or not by running the 17-digit VIN on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website. Remember, only Grenadiers equipped with the winch relay are affected. As mentioned earlier, the build dates range between September 7 and October 10.
The Grenadier comes in three flavors: Grenadier, Trialmaster Edition, and Fieldmaster Edition. The base grade starts at a rather spicy $71,500 sans destination fee, whereas the Trialmaster and Fieldmaster are both listed on the configurator at $79,190. As standard, the most off-road-oriented specification is the Trialmaster due to its 17-inch steel wheels, raised air intake, access ladder, BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO2 rubber shoes, and locking differentials fore and aft.
Available with a 3.0-liter turbo diesel in Europe, the Grenadier Station Wagon for North America comes with a 3.0-liter turbo gasser of German origin. The engine in question is a straight-six from BMW, which is joined by a ZF 8HP torque-converter automatic.
Codenamed B58, the direct-injected lump develops 282 horsepower at 4,750 revolutions per minute and 332 pound-feet (500 Nm) from 1,750 through 4,000 revolutions per minute. Limited to 99 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour), the INEOS Grenadier accelerates to 62 mph (100 kph) in 8.8 seconds. To 60, that would be around 8.6 clicks.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News