THE challenge for Ratcliffe’s Grenadier was to outperform the previous-generation Defender, it should be noted, and it’s hard to compare the Ineos with the latest JLR product to bear the Defender name. The two are poles apart in terms of design, construction and intended use, and they project quite different images: the Grenadier is husky but down-to-earth, while the latest Defender has more of a ‘gym-fit/sunbed/Turkey-teeth’ kind of appeal.
Bombing up to Scotland provided plenty of opportunity to get acquainted, but it wasn’t a trip to show the Grenadier in its best light. I’d heard about the lack of self-centring from the steering, but wasn’t prepared for the amount of wheel twirling required to get the Grenadier’s nose pointing in the right direction after pulling out of a parking space.
Once you’ve wound on a designated amount of lock, the car carries on turning like a supertanker until you realise you need to actively wind all that lock off again – and quickly, because the car isn’t doing it for you. It becomes second nature quickly, though, and steering apart, I think the Grenadier is closer to the Mercedes G-Wagen than any Defender – the engineering is pleasingly solid, and the car has a characterful air of quality and indestructibility.
Is it better than a new Defender, though? The steering is vague and at 70mph-plus you have to work persistently to keep the car in its lane – not great fun on a busy and rain/spray-drenched M40, where the JLR rival is more relaxing by some margin. And although the Grenadier’s 282bhp BMW six-cylinde
