Car Spot: INEOS Grenadier Trialmaster

A little bit of this and that gets you a capable SUV

I love the off-roading portion of the Midwest Automotive Media Association’s Spring Rally at Road America. This year besides the selection of Jeeps and Fords, was a newcomer, the INEOS Grenadier Trialmaster and no, I didn’t spell that wrong. And yes, it looks an awful lot like a Land Rover Defender because Land Rover Defender enthusiast Jim Ratcliffe loves that rugged off-roader that stopped production in 2016. Not liking the slick, high-tech that replaced it, he made his own very capable off-roader and this week’s spot.

Whoa, this is going to take a pile of money and Ratcliff has it. As the billionaire that founded a British petrochemical company. The Grenadier is the brand’s first-ever consumer product and pulls some of its styling cues like its round headlights, boxy body, and flat fenders from the original Land Rover Defender and the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen.

Named after a pub in London, engineered in Austria and built in France at the factory that once made the Smart ForTwo. Like the Jeep Wrangler, it sits on a separate ladder-frame chassis with solid axles at each and uses recirculating ball steering rather than rack-and-pinion. Power comes from a six-cylinder BMW engine (246 hp, 406 lb-ft of torque) with a standard eight-speed automatic gearbox.

RELATED Video: Mark and Paul take the Trialmaster off-roading

The interior is one I’ve never seen before. Since I’m a pilot I thought I was sitting in the cockpit of a 757 with switches overhead and the speedo off to the right in the info center. That last part seemed a bit odd but I got used to it. Like the Wrangler, the interior puts function above all else.

Mark and I both drove it on the off-road course set up at Road America by the Camp Jeep guys who do a great job making sure we experience everything the Trialmaster was capable of and it can do a lot. It gobbled up the rocks and rolled through the mud with little effort. The only rub I thought it had was a wider turning radius than the Jeep Gladiator I had just driven but otherwise a thumbs up.

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The base Grenadier is about as no-frills as a modern SUV can be. Steel wheels are standard, and cabin carpeting is an extra-cost option to allow for a hose out interior just like the Wrangler and I can tell you that is a nice thing to have if you’re going to do some serious off-roading. Standard heated seats would have been nice but not included but there’s an extensive options list making it possible to add capability to the Fieldmaster, such as an integrated front winch, “rock slider” sill protectors, and even red or gray paint for the ladder-frame chassis. But all those goodies can add up fast. Tick every box and the Grenadier can be pushed past the $100,000 mark.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out this cool new SUV. I’ll have another one from the MAMA Spring Rally next week so be sure to come back again. Have a great weekend.