The INEOS Grenadier Gets Better The Worse The Road Gets

There are worse ways to start an off-road trip than climbing aboard a seaplane in Vancouver, even if you are limited to 30 pounds (do you know how much a tripod weighs?).

INEOS invited us to British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast to spend some time with the Grenadier, and getting there was half the fun. We left Vancouver behind and landed with a pretty simple plan for the next day: take the Grenadier off-road and see what happens.

I was especially interested in that last part, because the Grenadier is kind of an oddball (complimentary).

This is a relatively new vehicle from a relatively new car company, but underneath, it’s intentionally pretty old-school. There’s a ladder-frame chassis, solid axles, low range, locking differentials, and enough physical switches to keep me entertained for an embarrassing amount of time. We all know how much I love a button.

Under the hood, though, is something a little more familiar. North American Grenadiers get BMW’s B58, a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six making 282 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque, paired with a ZF eight-speed automatic. Again, nothing groundbreaking, but that’s kind of what makes it so good.

So, we have old-school 4×4 hardware, a BMW engine, a ridiculous number of buttons, and a forest full of trails waiting for us. But before we get it dirty, here’s what we’re working with:

Nobody Can Accuse INEOS Of Being Afraid Of Buttons

I love a button. We all know I love a button, and the Grenadier has a lot of them. There are buttons on the dash. Buttons in the center console. Buttons above your head. Big, chunky buttons that actually look like they want you to press them. Switches for when that applies, knobs and dials for when that makes sense. It’s basically one of those activity toys you give a toddler so they can practice pushing, flipping, and turning things. Except this one has a BMW B58 and locking differentials. A sensory toy for adults.

There is a touchscreen, because this is still 2026, but INEOS hasn’t shoved every vehicle function into it. Off-road, it shows you information like pitch and roll, plus other important tidbits you can’t get from a button. Otherwise, it’s all old school.

During our briefing, INEOS Press and Special Vehicles Manager Sam Kuflik explained that the controls were designed so you could still operate them with gloves or wet hands. Nothing fragile needs to apply, but the buttons are just one example of a much bigger theme with this vehicle.

The seats are manually adjustable. The steering column is mechanical. The available glass roof panels open manually and can be removed completely. You even get an actual key.

INEOS’s thinking is basically that if something doesn’t need another motor, sensor, or electrical system, why add another potential failure point? Pretty much everything on or in the Grenadier can be fixed on the fly, and that was the whole point. Even the windows don’t have the usual one-touch operation. Kuflik explained that if the sensor or motor involved in that system fails, you could end up with a window that won’t close. So they eliminated that potential failure point.

The floor might be my favorite example. Grenadiers equipped with the utility flooring can basically be hosed out. Five drain plugs run through the cabin and cargo area, and the water is directed away from the electrical systems under the rear seats. Remember, no power seats! Who needs ’em?

The overhead switches aren’t just there to make you feel like you’re preparing for takeoff, either. Some operate auxiliary electrical connections around the vehicle, so adding something like a light bar doesn’t require tearing half the Grenadier apart. Or, a crock pot. Whatever, really, as long as it’s 12V or less.

The Grenadier Has Its Own Way Of Doing Things

Before we went off-road, we spent some time driving the Grenadier on pavement. One interesting thing I learned about the steering is that it doesn’t automatically correct like most modern vehicles. Whatever you take away, you have to put back. So if you go left, get ready to go right a little more to stay straight. This sounded a lot more dramatic in theory, and was actually kind of fun on the trail.

For something with solid axles and such an old-school approach to off-roading, the ride was better than I expected. The Grenadier uses progressive Eibach coil springs with ZF dampers and has 23 inches of wheel travel, giving the suspension plenty of room to absorb rough terrain before that movement gets passed along to us.

When we were heading straight up a hill, I thought the B58/ZF combo did a pretty solid job of providing enough smooth power when it was needed. Though we only have 282 hp and 332 lb-ft, it felt like enough to get the job done. It never felt underpowered.

One thing INEOS has already changed is the turning circle. Kuflik told us it’s been reduced by about 5% through an adjustment to the mechanical steering stops, and owners of earlier Grenadiers can apparently have the adjustment made too.

But one of my favorite parts of the briefing had nothing to do with turning radius: it was about where to put your butt. For normal road driving, sit wherever you’re comfortable. Once we headed off-road, though, INEOS wanted us sitting a little higher and farther forward, and for good reason.

The Grenadier is very square. From the driver’s seat, you can see over the front corners, and its flat sides make it pretty easy to figure out where the back of the vehicle is too. And if you’re still wondering exactly where your wheel is, INEOS has another solution: stick your head out the window. No high-tech 360-camera need apply; just use your noggin.

We’re living in an era of 360-degree cameras, transparent hood views and screens that can practically show you what the ants underneath your tires are doing. INEOS’s solution is basically: you have a window. You have a neck. Use them. And thus, I used my window and my neck.

Sam was also on the radio telling us when to lock and unlock our differentials along the way. The Grenadier has three differentials, with a locking center differential standard and front and rear lockers available.

INEOS Senior Global PR Officer Tom Waugh was riding with us, so we also had someone in the Grenadier who knew considerably more about what it could do than we did. He hopped in for a particularly difficult uphill obstacle, and I was glad he was there. Knowing the layout better than I, he instructed me when to hang left, when to avoid a boulder or two, and with much pizzazz, yelled “POWER” in his best Jeremy Clarkson voice when I needed a little more oomph to get up the hill.

Okay, Now The Grenadier Makes More Sense

The spec table tells you the Grenadier has 10.4 inches of ground clearance, a two-speed transfer case, solid axles, and a locking center differential, which is all fine and dandy. Those numbers matter even more when you’re behind the wheel, hoping you make it up a steep hill with everyone watching.

But it didn’t matter. Novice or not, the Grenadier had my back. I never thought we were in danger of sliding back down the hill or not making it through one of the many natural obstacles. When we headed downhill, Downhill Assist went on and made it easy. All of those buttons that I loved served their purpose. And you know what’s better than having a million settings for different features? Just having a few that work well and are easy to engage. Find the relevant button, press the relevant button, be on your way.

Sitting higher and farther forward really did make it easier to see where I was putting the Grenadier. The square shape helped me judge the corners. Those giant buttons were easy to use while we were bouncing around. And yes, I stuck my head out the window. As a big fan of the fancy 360-degree cameras, I actually didn’t miss it at all.

INEOS called this trip an escape from the city, and they certainly committed to the assignment.

We started in Vancouver, got on a seaplane, landed on the Sunshine Coast, and eventually found ourselves driving a Grenadier through the forest. And I think that’s probably the easiest way to understand this thing. Some SUVs are easier to drive every day, more luxurious, or packed with more technology, but that’s not really the point. The Grenadier makes you put up with some weirdness because it does things differently, sometimes very deliberately. The farther we got from the city, the more I understood why.

It was challenging in a fun way and intriguing in a different way. Not quirky just for the sake of being quirky, but because INEOS wanted something that could be easier to fix in a forest and dependable when you don’t have cell service. The mechanical seats, giant switches, and lack of certain electronic systems aren’t shortcuts; they’re choices.

And out here, those choices started to make a lot more sense: maybe the Grenadier really does make more sense the farther you get from home.