Ineos Grenadier ute tested
With no driver aids, minimal safety tech, and thirsty traditional engines, this rough-and-ready pickup is ready to work.
The ute market is gearing up to welcome a bunch of new competitors to shake up the Ford-Toyota workhorse stranglehold. But the new Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster is thinking rougher and tougher than the off-road titans that are also family favourites.
The dual-cab ute version of the Grandier’s prime competition is the Toyota LandCruiser 70-Series, an old school off-roader that sells more on its rugged reputation rather than tech and trinkets.
Like that much-loved rival the Quartermaster is old school in its design, even if the circa-$108,000 drive-away price tag is very hip and modern (that’s for the cab-chassis; add a few grand for versions fitted with the ute tub). There are live axles front and rear and a ladder frame structure underneath.
Slide into the cabin and, like the Grenadier wagon, the Quartermaster has fighter jet-style overhead switches and dials and buttons that are ready for gloved hands and the bumps that keep things bouncing around when off the beaten track.
The front half of the car is identical to the wagon, but another 30cm between the front and rear wheels accommodates a load space designed for heavy things.
The emphasis on the load space means the rear seats – already tight-ish for legroom – are quite upright.
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It’s a surprise given the bulky expanse of exterior.
There’s a Tesla-style central screen that incorporates the instrument cluster on its right-hand edge. But that’s where the tech ends.
It’s hardly brimming with gear, either. As with the wagon, the Quartermaster is available as a base Grenadier, a more off-road focused Trialmaster or a more luxurious Fieldmaster, the latter two closer to $125,000 once you get them on the road.
Don’t get too excited about the luxury, though. Sure, there’s leather, but you’ll be adjusting the seats manually. There’s no dual-zone ventilation and now-common active safety features are missing altogether.
But you can choose whether to have a ute tray or a cab-chassis, the latter ready for customised options.
Beneath the skin is a choice of grunty 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder engines fed by either petrol or diesel.
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They’re supplied by BMW and hooked up to an intelligent eight-speed automatic transmission that does a terrific job of plucking the right gear at the right time. Each comfortably outpunches their prime competitors.
The diesel is more frugal and meatier in its middle rev range, the petrol zingier and thirstier and ultimately quicker if you’re prepared to rev it, which goes against the nature of the Quartermaster.
It’s a car that’s more about relishing the scenery and getting out of the suburbs. But the Ineos is a rudimentary car on the road. Painfully slow steering means you’ll be busy in the bends. U-turns are a chore thanks to a boat-like 14.5-metre turning circle.
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For a tall off-roader it’s lethargic and leans through corners, although it’s ultimately well behaved in a big 4WD kind of way, quickly recovering from bumps.
Big hits barely faze it, as we leant during hundreds of kilometres in the Flinders Ranges.
On a freeway the frumpy sensation is less of an issue, but wind rustling past the windscreen is an accompaniment at speed. There’s some firmness to the suspension that jiggles at low speeds. Roll on to gravel and the Quartermaster rises to the rough road challenge. It shudders over washouts or potholes but does it in a graceful and well controlled manner. You get the impression it’ll shun big hit after big hit for years to come.
As roads turn to tracks - or sand and mud - the available triple locking differentials and long suspension travel ensures forward progress is effortless.
It’s a remarkably capable car, albeit one laced with unnecessary quirks in how to activate some of its off-road systems. The rougher the road, the more challenging the track, the more the Quartermaster seems at home.
But it’s a car designed to work.
Like most utes the Quartermaster can tow 3.5 tonnes. And its payload of up to 907kg - 832kg for diesel variants and less for cars fitted with accessories, of which there are many - is in the hunt with Rangers and Hiluxes.
However, few utes can lug their maximum weight and take a full load on board, giving the Quartermaster an edge over most (although not the LandCruiser 70).
But if you want to load it up it may pay to relocate the spare wheel from the load area to the roof.
Whatever configuration you pick and whatever accessories you fit, make sure you head for the hills - or, better still, the outback - because that’s where the Quartermaster does its best work.
Around town it’s more of a chore.
Verdict
3.5 stars
Rougher and tougher than a garden variety ute – and with a six-figure price tag that means you’ll have to want it.
Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster diesel
Price: From about $108,000 drive-away
Warranty/servicing: 5 yrs/unlimited km, $4626 for 5 yrs/75,000km
Safety: 6 airbags, ABS, traction control, trailer stability control
Engine: 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbo diesel, 183kW/550Nm
Thirst: 10.5L/100km
Spare: Full size
Payload/tow capacity: 832kg/3500kg
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