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Melbourne Drive Day

Davman

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Hi All. Just wanted to post a few of my thoughts from seeing and driving the car today, as well as perhaps adding a few additional bits of info. Hopefully some of the Melbourne guys can add some additional thoughts.

1/ The car is even better in the flesh than I could of imagined - I cannot wait to get mine. My brother came with me, and was lucky enough to get a drive too - now he wants one.
2/ It drives extremely well with heaps of power in the diesel, mated to a perfect gearbox with almost indiscernable gear changes.
3/ It will drive very nicely on the black top, with the subtle suspension absorbing a lot of the terrible Australian road conditions. At full speed, it just absorbed any of the divots and drains that we were able to drive over. They mentioned that they had a large aftermarket suspension supplier think that they could do a better job of the suspension tuning for the Australian market than Inoes had done. After a drive in the vehicle, the owner of said company apologised for his previous remarks.
4/ The stereo system has good sound for a 4x4 truck, about on par with standard vehicle systems - certainly not a fantastic sound system though.
5/ They still do not have a solution for Solar setups on the roof of the car, connecting into the battery system.
6/ The raised air intake can be fitted later on at any stage.
7/ In Australia about 70% of vehicles ordered are Diesels, and about 70% are Trialmasters.
8/ When connecting a large trailer, the vehicle has trailer sway control, however it does not change the gearbox shift patterns/engine revs based on the fact that is now towing - Thank goodness. Apparently it has a cracker of a transmission cooler too - good to know for towing in the Oz heat.
9/ Yes the winch does involve changing the front suspension setup. Just adding a Roo Bar does not change the suspension.
10/ Strangely the car felt a little smaller than I imagined - in physical size, as well as the way it handled. However there is plenty of legroom and passenger room. My son and I are both over 6ft, and sitting behind me he had plenty of legroom.
11/ The Recaro seats are the best cars seats I have ever sat in.
12/ The drivers side footrest is a double edged sword. I can imagine on very long drives, that you would find it hard to stretch your left leg, unless you stretched it above the brake pedal. However the wide footrest certainly didn't change any driving position or feel uncomfortable during the brief drive. In fact in off roading situations I think the large footrest comes in handy as it provides a firm footrest to push back against as you are attempting steep declines.
13/ There is minimal body roll in my opinion, and I would consider far less than any other vehicles of this size and weight.
14/ Like many have commented it feels like a Strong rigid vehicle - tank like but nimble at the same time.
15/ Like a tank, it feels like it could go anywhere, and immediately instills confidence in you as the driver that you can conquer the terrain. Nothing was too hard for it, in low gear or no low gear.
16 / The Safari roof sits forward of the head position of the driver, so if you are a balding bloke like me, then you are effectively sitting in the shade. The window is coated in a reflective coating. I don't usually like Sunroofs, but this one was not too bad.
17/ They indicated that they are still finalising some small unique items for Australian certification, but sounded like they are nearly there.


This is a good start, I may think of others to add.
However overall, it is an awesome package, and even though these cars were the ones brand new off the docks this week, they were still PT02's, with many things still to be rectified, I can only imagine how much better the full production cars will be.
 
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DaveB

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Hi All. Just wanted to post a few of my thoughts from seeing and driving the car today, as well as perhaps adding a few additional bits of info. Hopefully some of the Melbourne guys can add some additional thoughts.

1/ The car is even better in the flesh than I could of imagined - I cannot wait to get mine. My brother came with me, and was lucky enough to get a drive too - now he wants one.
2/ It drives extremely well with heaps of power in the diesel, mated to a perfect gearbox with almost indiscernable gear changes.
3/ It will drive very nicely on the black top, with the subtle suspension absorbing a lot of the terrible Australian road conditions. At full speed, it just absorbed any of the divots and drains that we were able to drive over. They mentioned that they had a large aftermarket suspension supplier think that they could do a better job of the suspension tuning for the Australian market than Inoes had done. After a drive in the vehicle, the owner of said company apologised for his previous remarks.
4/ The stereo system has good sound for a 4x4 truck, about on par with standard vehicle systems - certainly not a fantastic sound system though.
5/ They still do not have a solution for Solar setups on the roof of the car, connecting into the battery system.
6/ The raised air intake can be fitted later on at any stage.
7/ In Australia about 70% of vehicles ordered are Diesels, and about 70% are Trialmasters.
8/ When connecting a large trailer, the vehicle has trailer sway control, however it does not change the gearbox shift patterns/engine revs based on the fact that is now towing - Thank goodness. Apparently it has a cracker of a transmission cooler too - good to know for towing in the Oz heat.
9/ Yes the winch does involve changing the front suspension setup. Just adding a Roo Bar does not change the suspension.
10/ Strangely the car felt a little smaller than I imagined - in physical size, as well as the way it handled. However there is plenty of legroom and passenger room. My son and I are both over 6ft, and sitting behind me he had plenty of legroom.
11/ The Recaro seats are the best cars seats I have ever sat in.
12/ The drivers side footrest is a double edged sword. I can imagine on very long drives, that you would find it hard to stretch your left leg, unless you stretched it above the brake pedal. However the wide footrest certainly didn't change any driving position or feel uncomfortable during the brief drive. In fact in off roading situations I think the large footrest comes in handy as it provides a firm footrest to push back against as you are attempting steep declines.
13/ There is minimal body roll in my opinion, and I would consider far less than any other vehicles of this size and weight.
14/ Like many have commented it feels like a Strong rigid vehicle - tank like but nimble at the same time.
15/ Like a tank, it feels like it could go anywhere, and immediately instills confidence in you as the driver that you can conquer the terrain. Nothing was too hard for it, in low gear or no low gear.
16 / The Safari roof sits forward of the head position of the driver, so if you are a balding bloke like me, then you are effectively sitting in the shade. The window is coated in a reflective coating. I don't usually like Sunroofs, but this one was not too bad.
17/ They indicated that they are still finalising some small unique items for Australian certification, but sounded like they are nearly there.


This is a good start, I may think of others to add.
However overall, it is an awesome package, and even though these cars were the ones brand new off the docks this week, they were still PT02's, with many things still to be rectified, I can only imagine how much better the full production cars will be.
Pretty much exactly as I found it but better written.
It is so impressive that I have no concerns at all spending my money
 

Logsplitter

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Hi All. Just wanted to post a few of my thoughts from seeing and driving the car today, as well as perhaps adding a few additional bits of info. Hopefully some of the Melbourne guys can add some additional thoughts.

1/ The car is even better in the flesh than I could of imagined - I cannot wait to get mine. My brother came with me, and was lucky enough to get a drive too - now he wants one.
2/ It drives extremely well with heaps of power in the diesel, mated to a perfect gearbox with almost indiscernable gear changes.
3/ It will drive very nicely on the black top, with the subtle suspension absorbing a lot of the terrible Australian road conditions. At full speed, it just absorbed any of the divots and drains that we were able to drive over. They mentioned that they had a large aftermarket suspension supplier think that they could do a better job of the suspension tuning for the Australian market than Inoes had done. After a drive in the vehicle, the owner of said company apologised for his previous remarks.
4/ The stereo system has good sound for a 4x4 truck, about on par with standard vehicle systems - certainly not a fantastic sound system though.
5/ They still do not have a solution for Solar setups on the roof of the car, connecting into the battery system.
6/ The raised air intake can be fitted later on at any stage.
7/ In Australia about 70% of vehicles ordered are Diesels, and about 70% are Trialmasters.
8/ When connecting a large trailer, the vehicle has trailer sway control, however it does not change the gearbox shift patterns/engine revs based on the fact that is now towing - Thank goodness. Apparently it has a cracker of a transmission cooler too - good to know for towing in the Oz heat.
9/ Yes the winch does involve changing the front suspension setup. Just adding a Roo Bar does not change the suspension.
10/ Strangely the car felt a little smaller than I imagined - in physical size, as well as the way it handled. However there is plenty of legroom and passenger room. My son and I are both over 6ft, and sitting behind me he had plenty of legroom.
11/ The Recaro seats are the best cars seats I have ever sat in.
12/ The drivers side footrest is a double edged sword. I can imagine on very long drives, that you would find it hard to stretch your left leg, unless you stretched it above the brake pedal. However the wide footrest certainly didn't change any driving position or feel uncomfortable during the brief drive. In fact in off roading situations I think the large footrest comes in handy as it provides a firm footrest to push back against as you are attempting steep declines.
13/ There is minimal body roll in my opinion, and I would consider far less than any other vehicles of this size and weight.
14/ Like many have commented it feels like a Strong rigid vehicle - tank like but nimble at the same time.
15/ Like a tank, it feels like it could go anywhere, and immediately instills confidence in you as the driver that you can conquer the terrain. Nothing was too hard for it, in low gear or no low gear.
16 / The Safari roof sits forward of the head position of the driver, so if you are a balding bloke like me, then you are effectively sitting in the shade. The window is coated in a reflective coating. I don't usually like Sunroofs, but this one was not too bad.
17/ They indicated that they are still finalising some small unique items for Australian certification, but sounded like they are nearly there.


This is a good start, I may think of others to add.
However overall, it is an awesome package, and even though these cars were the ones brand new off the docks this week, they were still PT02's, with many things still to be rectified, I can only imagine how much better the full production cars will be.
Great review. Thankyou. Makes me even more impatient about getting behind the wheel of my own Grenadier. 😎
 

Krabby

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Hi All. Just wanted to post a few of my thoughts from seeing and driving the car today, as well as perhaps adding a few additional bits of info. Hopefully some of the Melbourne guys can add some additional thoughts.

1/ The car is even better in the flesh than I could of imagined - I cannot wait to get mine. My brother came with me, and was lucky enough to get a drive too - now he wants one.
2/ It drives extremely well with heaps of power in the diesel, mated to a perfect gearbox with almost indiscernable gear changes.
3/ It will drive very nicely on the black top, with the subtle suspension absorbing a lot of the terrible Australian road conditions. At full speed, it just absorbed any of the divots and drains that we were able to drive over. They mentioned that they had a large aftermarket suspension supplier think that they could do a better job of the suspension tuning for the Australian market than Inoes had done. After a drive in the vehicle, the owner of said company apologised for his previous remarks.
4/ The stereo system has good sound for a 4x4 truck, about on par with standard vehicle systems - certainly not a fantastic sound system though.
5/ They still do not have a solution for Solar setups on the roof of the car, connecting into the battery system.
6/ The raised air intake can be fitted later on at any stage.
7/ In Australia about 70% of vehicles ordered are Diesels, and about 70% are Trialmasters.
8/ When connecting a large trailer, the vehicle has trailer sway control, however it does not change the gearbox shift patterns/engine revs based on the fact that is now towing - Thank goodness. Apparently it has a cracker of a transmission cooler too - good to know for towing in the Oz heat.
9/ Yes the winch does involve changing the front suspension setup. Just adding a Roo Bar does not change the suspension.
10/ Strangely the car felt a little smaller than I imagined - in physical size, as well as the way it handled. However there is plenty of legroom and passenger room. My son and I are both over 6ft, and sitting behind me he had plenty of legroom.
11/ The Recaro seats are the best cars seats I have ever sat in.
12/ The drivers side footrest is a double edged sword. I can imagine on very long drives, that you would find it hard to stretch your left leg, unless you stretched it above the brake pedal. However the wide footrest certainly didn't change any driving position or feel uncomfortable during the brief drive. In fact in off roading situations I think the large footrest comes in handy as it provides a firm footrest to push back against as you are attempting steep declines.
13/ There is minimal body roll in my opinion, and I would consider far less than any other vehicles of this size and weight.
14/ Like many have commented it feels like a Strong rigid vehicle - tank like but nimble at the same time.
15/ Like a tank, it feels like it could go anywhere, and immediately instills confidence in you as the driver that you can conquer the terrain. Nothing was too hard for it, in low gear or no low gear.
16 / The Safari roof sits forward of the head position of the driver, so if you are a balding bloke like me, then you are effectively sitting in the shade. The window is coated in a reflective coating. I don't usually like Sunroofs, but this one was not too bad.
17/ They indicated that they are still finalising some small unique items for Australian certification, but sounded like they are nearly there.


This is a good start, I may think of others to add.
However overall, it is an awesome package, and even though these cars were the ones brand new off the docks this week, they were still PT02's, with many things still to be rectified, I can only imagine how much better the full production cars will be.
Great write up. Thank you. Any pics to contribute?
 
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Hi Davman, which one is with the Recaro seat? I totally forgot about the seat and from memory the blue one parking there and the green one for test drive are both leather, must be the white one?
 

grenadierboy

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Davman & I were both at the demo yesterday & are singing the same great "songs" about the Grenny.

Any tiny doubts about whether I have made the wrong decision were removed about 3 minutes into the drive - this car is going to be a total CLASSIC!!

I agree that seeing it in person for the second time it doesn't seem as large as I remembered from last year. I think that is a common human experience.

I thought the steering was very direct, the ride smooth and comfortable, transmission beautiful, the engine plenty of power.

Overall finish quality is high, the interior finish is a great standard for a proper off road- probably on par with entry to mid level BMW/Audi models, except for the recaro seats which are BETTER. The LC 70 series is laughably basic by comparison.

It was a hot day (32C) and the airconditioning was fantastically powerful.

What don't I like. Not much & minor:
The small rear door opening is so narrow to make it bordering impractical unless you are throwing an apple into the back.
The infamous RHD footrest. Probably 20mm higher than it needs but INEOS said it's been designed by an ergonomic expert.
For me a bit of non-issue (but I am only 176cm!) and caused me no concern. Maybe I was too focussed on other things yesterday.
Glove box is stupid small - like what on earth could you put in it?
The rear entry probably needs some sort of step up.
I think the small screen in front of steering wheel should have at least have the KPH but I will get used to it.
No rear entry grab handles
 
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There are rear entry grab handles inside above door .
 

painter

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Dynamite stuff guys, thanks much.

Must be sooo exciting knowing it's coming ...
 

Davman

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18/ I was really impressed with the quality and placement of the side steps. I didnt need to use them, but they didnt get in the way if you were exiting the vehicle without using them. Usually you end up scuffing the back of your leg on the sides steps getting out of the vehicles, these were tucked away very nicely, but very functional at the same time.
Rock climbers would be useless as steps.
19/ Fully agree with @grenadierboy on the air conditioning - it was a hot day and the cooling was so quick throughout the whole car.
20/ Confirmed again that safari roof is not compatible with the full roof rack.
21/ I did the sums again and compared payloads of the LC300 against the Grenadier. The top of the line LC300 has a payload of 650kg, the comparative Gren has an effective payload of nearly 900kg. In real terms of usage, this is a huge difference, as you wont really need to do anymore work to the suspension of the Gren, unlike you would have to upgrade the LC300 - causing more cost with no guarantees of ride quality
 

grenadierboy

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One further thing I was a tiny bit disappointed: like my old G wagen, passengers sit very high on the rear bench seat. I am not that tall and my eyeline was almost in line with the top of the window.

Warning: put small people in the rear!
 

grenadierboy

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18/ I was really impressed with the quality and placement of the side steps. I didnt need to use them, but they didnt get in the way if you were exiting the vehicle without using them. Usually you end up scuffing the back of your leg on the sides steps getting out of the vehicles, these were tucked away very nicely, but very functional at the same time.
Rock climbers would be useless as steps.
19/ Fully agree with @grenadierboy on the air conditioning - it was a hot day and the cooling was so quick throughout the whole car.
20/ Confirmed again that safari roof is not compatible with the full roof rack.
21/ I did the sums again and compared payloads of the LC300 against the Grenadier. The top of the line LC300 has a payload of 650kg, the comparative Gren has an effective payload of nearly 900kg. In real terms of usage, this is a huge difference, as you wont really need to do anymore work to the suspension of the Gren, unlike you would have to upgrade the LC300 - causing more cost with no guarantees of ride quality
yeah - Side steps.

I recall someone mentioning a few weeks ago about welding extra plate onto the steps.

No. I really don't think that is needed. There is little chance of a foot getting stuck b/w the step and the body.

Cant use rock sliders as steps, not enough gap for your shoe!
 
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