2024 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster: Pickup with purpose

I’m going to start this review with the elephant in the room: The steering on the 2024 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster is different. In a recent review of its SUV sibling, I actually called the steering “weird,” and I suppose that’s an apt phrase for an American audience used to rack-and-pinion steering. The recirculating ball steering that you find in the new Ineos vehicles has a decidedly slower feel, and it requires more (a lot more) input to make the vehicle turn.

But this recirculating ball steering is more robust and durable, and in off-road situations, that’s precisely what you want. It also won’t whip the wheel if your tires catch on something, which helps protect your hands from injury.

Until you get used to this steering feel, you might find yourself overdriving then overcorrecting. But once you catch on to the cadence, it feels more natural – if still a bit weird. A 6-hour drive day isn’t enough time to unlearn the habits instilled by rack-and-pinion steering. But it is the kind of thing you could get used to. Especially if you use the Grenadier to go off road.

[Video review: Does this quirky $87k Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster grab your interest?]

As soon as we left the pavement, things started to click into place. When we were crawling over rocks, the steering made sense because you could give more input, but the tires made smaller movements, protecting them from being pierced by jagged points.

After a couple hours on the dirt, the transition to pavement felt a little less weird. I’d probably need a couple more days for it to feel “normal.”

Quirks with purpose

Outside of the steering, there are a few other quirky bits on the 2024 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster, but like the steering, there’s a purpose to the quirk.

Take the lack of a behind-the-wheel gauge cluster as another example. There’s a tiny phone-sized screen where a speedometer would normally appear, and it showcases error codes as well as drive modes. The speedo is located in the infotainment screen on the center stack. The purpose behind this decision: visibility. The flat dash top allows for excellent visibility out the front, which means you can see over the hood and know exactly where your wheels are going to hit – and I say that as a 5-foot-tall driver.

Another quirk is the heft needed to close the doors. Over and over, I’d start to drive away to get an error message that one of the doors was open. This is because the doors have a double seal, so you really have to slam them shut. But the double seals not only help create a quieter cabin but also allows the 2024 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster to ford 31.5 inches of water. That means the water will come up over the door sill.

Off-road chops

The origin story for the Ineos Grenadier began in a bar in 2017 when founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe and some friends identified a need for more 4X4-engineered off roaders. The name of the bar, The Grenadier, is the inspiration for the name.

The Grenadier Quartermaster has a body-on-frame construction, and it has 10.4 inches of standard ground clearance, an approach angle of 36.2 degrees and a departure angle of 22.6 degrees. In comparison, the Jeep Gladiator has an approach angle of 40.8 degrees, a departure angle of 25 degrees, and standard ground clearance is 10 inches. The Gladiator is also about 4 inches longer.

It’s also why you have space for a full-size spare in the truck bed rather than under it.

The Grenadier Quartermaster is also rated at 12,125 pounds of winching power. And if you want to tow or haul, the midsize pickup has a max payload of 1,889 pounds and can tow up to 7,716 pounds. Comparatively speaking, Gladiator’s numbers are 1,725 and 7,700, respectively and specifically for the Sport trim.

2024 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster driving impressions

Outside of the quirky steering, the 2024 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster has a few more driving surprises up its sleeve. The good kind.

The midsize pickup truck is equipped with an inline 6-cylinder engine that delivers 281 horsepower and 331 pound-feet of torque. The stated 0-to-62-MPH time is 8.8 seconds, which seems like it would be slow. But the actual acceleration feels peppier. I had no problems passing or merging with highway traffic. While I wouldn’t call the acceleration effortless, it was better than you’d expect for a 6,001-pound vehicle.

At highway speeds, I was impressed by the overall quietness of the cabin. The Grenadier Quartermaster is very upright, so you’d expect wind noise to creep inside. And it did, but it wasn’t overly loud. Nor did the BFGoodrich KO2 all-terrain tires provide too much feedback in the cabin.

Also, the visibility – even for this 5-foot-tall female – was incredible out all the windows. I could tell exactly where the hood ended, and the vertical-and-lowered side mirrors meant I could see out the side windows easily and without obstruction of the crosswalks.

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The seats were comfortable, and all the HVAC and audio controls were within easy reach.

The only true downer I could find on the Grenadier Quartermaster was that the infotainment screen was highly reflective, especially on the right edge. Thus, it was hard to page through radio stations, off road pages, etc.

However, going off road? That gets a chef’s kiss. I was impressed with how stable the Grenadier Quartermaster felt on uneven dirt roads with washboard surfaces. When we hit a couple of grooved and rocky obstacles, I couldn’t believe how smoothly it operated.

Frankencar?

I’ve heard several of my automotive colleagues refer to the Ineos SUV and pickup as a “Frankencar,” which refers to the fact that it pulls parts and pieces from several different places. When I mentioned this to one of the Ineos staffers on site, he said: “Well, that’s not a very nice way to say it.” Instead, he said, what Ineos did was pull the best parts from the best places to make the one of the most capable vehicles out there.

So, that’s why you have a BMW engine, ZF 8-speed transmission, Recaro seats, brakes developed by Brembo and Magna engineering. Oh, and the plant it’s built in used to be owned by Mercedes-Benz.

Ineos in North America

Even though the automotive arm of Ineos is a startup, Ineos itself is the world’s third-largest chemical company. It employs 26,000 people across 36 businesses with a production network across 194 sites in 29 countries. So, in sum: This isn’t a fly-by-night operation.

The North American operations for automotive are headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, and there are currently about 20 dealerships, with the potential of six more being added before year’s end.

This means the dealer network is still small. That begs the question of what happens if something breaks or needs maintenance, and no dealer is nearby. Greg Clark, executive vice president of the Americas at Ineos Automotive, said owners are encouraged to take their vehicles to a certified mechanic in their area, and this wouldn’t negate the warranty. If, however, there was warranty work that needed to be completed, the customer would need to work with Ineos to get their vehicle to an actual dealer. In most cases, he said this would be at no cost to the owner.

The Hambach plant where the Grenadier and Grenadier Quartermaster are built currently has a capacity of about 30,000 units, but Clark said Ineos probably wouldn’t reach capacity in this first year of production. Additionally, the plant with its current footprint could produce up to 50,000 units. So, at its core Grenadier is a low-volume vehicle. When asked how many of those units would come to North America, Clark said it would likely hit around 50% of what’s produced.

Pricing

The pricing for the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster is also unique, mostly because of the so-called chicken tax. The Quartermaster is built in Hambach, France, which means it gets slapped with the 25% tariff on foreign-built light trucks. This tax is built into the price of the vehicle, which is why you’ll see the base price topping $86k for a stripped-down, highly customizable version. In contrast, the pricing for the non-tariffed SUV, or “wagon,” version of the Grenadier starts at about $72k.

Pricing and key features for the three versions of the Quartermaster, without destination fees, are as follows:

Quartermaster ($86,9000): Includes 8-speed automatic, full box-sectioned ladder frame, heavy-duty coil suspension, permanent 4WD, 2-speed transfer case, galvanized steel body, front and rear skid plates, full-size spare wheel, off-road and wading modes, front and rear recovery hooks, Recaro seats and roof rails.

Quartermaster Trialmaster Edition ($94,900): Adds 17-inch steel wheels, raised air intake, loading bay liner, cargo bay utility rails, auxiliary battery, high load auxiliary switch panel, power take-off 400W, compass with altimeter, front and rear differential locks, BFGoodrich KO2 all-terrain tires, rear camera, park assist, power heated exterior mirrors, heated windshield washer jets, puddle lamps and ambient door lighting, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking and drowsy driver detection.

Quartermaster Fieldmaster Edition ($94,900): Adds 18-inch alloy wheels, locking wheel nuts, safari windows, leather seats, heated front seats, carpet floor mats.

As-tested, the Eldoret Blue ($580) vehicle I had access to was a Trialmaster trim that added, leather seats ($2,000), privacy glass ($525), safari windows ($2,150), rubber floor mats ($250), a front winch ($4,085) and a Class III NAS tow hitch and electrics ($800). Thus the tester topped $100k and rang in at $105,290, without the destination fee.

The bottom line

The 2024 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster is delightful, quirky and capable. We had a full day behind the wheel, and every mile we drove gave me new understanding of this midsize truck. It’s not going to be a truck for everyone, but for those lucky few who can afford it and get their hands on one, it will provide a comfortable ride and plenty of second looks from passersby.

2024 Ineos Grandier Quartermaster photo gallery

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