Ineos Grenadier vs Land Rover Defender

What's the difference?

The moral of the story here is not to confuse traditional thinking with flawed thinking. Just because an analogue concept has been around in a fast-moving, electronically-driven industry for a while, doesn’t mean it can’t still be relevant in special circumstances. And as an off-roader, the Grenadier is among the very best of them.

Yes, the Ineos suffers to an extent as a road car because of its off-road bias, but owner familiarity will likely be the key to those compromises fading into the background over time.

Meantime, it’s also true that the original design brief of the Grenadier has been diluted a little as market research and safety realities forced an extra layer of complexity on to some of the major systems.

But even the vehicle’s systems that have remained analogue or old-school have forced their own technology into the frame. The live front axle, for instance, forced the use of recirculating ball steering rather than rack-and-pinion, while Ineos also insisted on the more complex (but arguably more reliable) hydraulic power steering rather over a simpler electric set-up.

Look closely and it’s easy to see how keeping a car rugged and serviceable can become a technically involved process. Simplicity, it seems, can easily breed complexity. It was probably Dolly Parton who put it best when she said, "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap".

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals and accommodation provided.

The Land Rover Defender 130 P500 V8 is big, roomy and great to drive. It’s supremely plush without sacrificing practicality and if you’re in the market for a spacious, comfortable and refined package and aren’t afraid to open your wallet, then this long Landie is well worth your consideration.

Do you need the V8? Of course you don’t – and the diesel variants make a lot more sense anyway in terms of day-to-day fuel efficiency – but, geez, it's a lot of fun to drive.

This is where the Grenadier makes its statement. It’s resolutely old school with engineering designed to survive the roughest off-road conditions rather than pamper or flatter its occupants.

That starts with the basic construction; a ladder chassis onto which is bolted the body. This is how all off-roaders used to be made and while it has limitations in refinement and weight terms, it’s still an effective way to build something with lots of wheel articulation and strength.

Wheel articulation is also the job of the solid axles front and rear. While having independent suspension is great for ride control and comfort, solid axles allow the maximum wheel travel which is what off-roading is all about. Coil springs, rather than leaf springs, are about the only concession to comfort.

The four-wheel drive system is also traditional with a high and low-range gear set that works permanently in four-wheel drive.

A locking centre differential that works in high and low-range is standard and front and rear diff locks are optional. The Grenadier also complies with the old adage that a proper off-roader has a minimum of two gear-sticks, and not a rotary gear-selector knob in sight.

Even the steering system is aimed at off-road prowess with almost four turns lock-to-lock.

Such a slow ratio suits off-road work where large steering inputs are more likely to get you into trouble than out of it.

And while we now live in a world where power steering is almost always electrically-assisted, the Ineos sticks with hydraulic assistance in the name of reliability and durability and restricting electronics only to where they are essential.

The cabin, too, is distinctly retro with analogue gauges wherever possible and large, tactile switchgear.

But it’s also novel in layout terms with most of the information displayed on the 12.3-inch central info-screen and the area directly in front of the driver kept clear to maximise the view ahead.

The roof-mounted switch panel recalls aircraft practice and, with the Fieldmaster’s glass roof panels in place, the view is reminiscent of sitting in a military helicopter. Mounting electrical gear in the roof also keeps it out of the water during deep river crossings.

Much has been written, meanwhile, about the exterior of the Grenadier. Mainly that it looks like a copy of the old Land Rover Defender. 

But Ineos has previously, er, defended this, claiming that when you design a car purely for functionality, its exterior will usually look something like this.

As it is, the body with its exposed door hinges (although the bolts are fake) short front and rear overhangs and even the utility belt (from which accessories can be slung) are all business.

The rough-and-tough angle even extends to details like the tyres’ valve stems which are metal rather than traditional rubber as a means of making them stronger and less likely to be damaged.

This is a thoroughly considered vehicle.

The Defender 130 measures 1970mm high, 5358mm long (including rear-mounted spare wheel; 5099mm without), and 2105mm wide (with the wing mirrors out). It has a 3022mm wheelbase and a listed kerb weight of 2745kg (unladen).

It is big, but really it’s no more intimidating to drive than a Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series or Nissan Patrol.

Upper large SUVs have a Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries-defined footprint bigger than 9801mm – think 300 Series LandCruiser (close to 5.0m long), Hyundai Palisade (almost 5.0m long) and Nissan Patrol (almost 5.2m long).

In terms of styling, the 130 strikes an effective balance between the distinctive shape and spirit of the old-school Defender with the new-generation’s pomp and presence – and the striking Carpathian Grey paint on this variant complements that blend.

The current-generation Defender is no city-soft shadow of its former adventure-tackling self that Landie lovers everywhere feared it might be. But it’s modern and sleek enough to put the minds of urban dwellers/weekend warriors at ease.

This is, of course, the Grenadier’s reason for existing in the first place. With a mantra of 'Everything you need, nothing you don’t' the Ineos attempts to be as competent, capable and practical as possible within the parameters of a car that has to also be useable, day-to-day comfortable, safe and legal.

Like a lot of high-riding vehicles, getting in and out of the relatively small door openings is not as simple as it might be. Sometimes it seems as though the side-steps are your friend, other times they exist only to smear mud all over your legs.

But once you’re in, the almost vertical windscreen and side glass keep the sun at bay and the front seats seem to be designed for big people which is a nice change.

The tilt and reach-adjustable steering column means everyone can get comfy and even though the back seat feels a bit firm in the cushion, the backrest angle is pretty agreeable.

It’s also nice to see that Ineos has used a proper gearstick with linkages for the high-low range shifter rather than a rotary knob to control an electric motor.

The plethora of tie-down points in the luggage compartment is great but we do wonder about the use of some fairly hard plastics around the cabin, and how they’ll look in a couple of years.

The luggage space is adequate but not hugely generous and while the rear seats do fold down, the location of the battery beneath them means they sit up a bit and don’t form a flat floor.

An accessory drawer system for the load space should fix that, however, raising the floor height to match the folded seats.

Maximum load volume behind the first row in the Utility Wagon is 2088 litres dropping to 2035L in the Station Wagon. Load volume in the wagon with the second row upright is 1152 litres.

There’s lot of evidence of careful thought in the way the Grenadier is laid out and equipped, including a roof that can cope with a rooftop tent or a decent load (hence the ladder) and flat front mudguards that form an impromptu work-bench or, if you add the optional checker-plate sections, a look-out post capable of supporting 150kg.

The 30/70 split tailgate has an optional drop-down work-bench when open but the smaller section is a bit narrow for gaining easy access to your luggage without also opening the larger side.

Other quibbles include the driver’s foot-rest which is huge and placed at a truly bizarre angle, and the small reverse camera screen.

Grouping all the instruments in the centre stack might be good for left- and right-hand drive production, but it means you have to take your eyes off the road to read the digital speedo. A head-up display in front of the driver would be much better.

The Defender 130 is well-suited to people-carrying duties thanks to its three-row seating.

And don’t forget this test vehicle has (optional) Captain Chairs in the second row. 

The cabin has a distinctive premium look and feel about it, without sacrificing anything in terms of just how practical it all is. It’s a pleasant mix of durable materials – carpet mats and soft-touch surfaces – and stylish touches, such as a metal Defender-stamped section in front of the front passenger. 

Layout is user-friendly and this is an easy cabin in which to swiftly become comfortable as all controls easy to locate and operate even when busy negotiating with your teenagers who gets what song next.

Storage spaces include a deep centre console, glove box, twin cupholders between driver and passenger, sunglass storage, door pockets and shallow spaces positioned about the cabin for your everyday carry gear.

Charge points include USB-Cs up front and a wireless device charging tray.

The driver and front passenger get ample room and plenty of amenities and those behind them also fare well with adequate room for everyone – even those in the third row. 

All seats are comfortable and the front seats are 14-way power-adjustable with heating, cooling and memory.

The second row – two outboard Captain Chairs in this test vehicle – have a headrest and armrests for both passengers.

The third-row seats are heated and configured in a 40/20/40 pattern.

The rear cargo area is small in this seven-seater, although it offers a listed 389 litres with all three rows up and in use. That area has a sliding cover (which conceals your valuables from the prying eyes of nefarious types), cargo-restraint points, power sockets and a shallow underfloor storage space.

With the third row folded down, there is a listed 1232 litres of space. The maximum loadspace volume behind the front row is a listed 2231 litres.

There is a lot more to admire inside this Defender’s cabin for those who love the interiors of plush SUVs, but rather than spending my time stroking leather accents, going ‘ohhhh-ahhhh’ over a sunroof or reflecting on the butt-warming benefits of a heated seat, I like to actually drive. 

So I did. A lot.

The 2025 Land Rover Defender 130 P500 V8 has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $216,197 (excluding on-road costs). But because our test vehicle has a raft of options onboard – matte protective film ($6840), 'Carpathian' exterior pack ($2400), second row heated and cooled a pair of Captain Chairs with winged headrests as the second row ($1930), Carpathian grey premium metallic paint ($1040), and a rubber load space mat ($320) – it has a price as tested of $228,727 (excluding on-road costs).

The Land Rover Defender 130 P500 V8's standard features include an 11.4-inch multimedia touchscreen (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), wireless device charging, a head-up display, interactive driver display, as well as 22-inch satin dark grey wheels, quad outboard-mounted exhaust pipes, 'Terrain Response 2' with 'Dynamic Program', privacy glass, a heated steering wheel and an electrically-adjustable steering column.

Also included are bright metal pedals, configurable cabin lighting, a load space cover, satin chrome gearshift paddles, illuminated metal tread plates (with V8 branding), four-zone climate control, 'Ebony Windsor' leather and Kvadrat (wool blend textile) seats, Meridian audio, 'Online Pack' (with data plan), a head-up display, a 12V power socket in the boot and the 'Pivi Pro' multimedia system.

Paint choices on the Land Rover Defender 130 P500 V8 include 'Fuji White' (solid) or 'Santorini Black' (metallic with body-coloured roof) – or you can opt for 'Carpathian Grey' (premium metallic with black contrast roof), which is a $1040 option (price correct time of writing).

This Defender is available with the 'Extended Black Exterior Pack' ($1707) or the 'Carpathian Exterior Pack' ($2396).

This is probably the one area where the Ineos can claim to be a product of modern thinking. And that’s because the engine choices – a 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder petrol or diesel – and the eight-speed automatic transmission are all sourced from BMW and ZF, respectively.

Both engines use four-valve-per-cylinder technology and while the petrol boasts 210kW of power and 450Nm of torque.

The diesel isn’t far behind in the power race with 183kW, but trumps the petrol version for torque with 550Nm. Interestingly, the turbo-diesel engine uses all alloy construction, which, while now common in petrol units, is more of a novelty in the diesel world.

The eight-speed transmission feeds into the two-speed transfer-case where it’s sent to each axle via the permanent all-wheel drive system.

Ineos claims either version will get to 100km/h in under 10 seconds and top speed, in deference to the tyres as much as anything, has been limited to 160km/h.

Approach, departure and ramp-over angles are all among the best in the business and Ineos claims a safe wading depth of 800mm. The optional snorkel air-intake is likely to be a very popular addition among Australian buyers.

The Land Rover Defender 130 P500 V8 has a 5.0-litre supercharged V8 petrol engine (producing 368kW at 6000-6500rpm and 610Nm at 2500-5000rpm), an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive system.

This is a very effective and fun combination of gutsy V8 and clever auto.

The Defender has permanent all-wheel drive and a dual-range transfer case with high- and low-range 4WD.

It also has Terrain Response 2, an off-road-focussed driver-assist system, which will make any off-roading newbie look and, more importantly, feel like a dirt-track driving champion.

The system includes switchable modes - 'Grass/Gravel/Snow', 'Sand', 'Mud and Ruts' and 'Rock Crawl'. 

This tech optimises throttle response, engine outputs, transmission shifts and diff control to best suit the terrain. It also has centre and rear diff locks.

The official combined cycle fuel economy figures for the petrol and diesel engines respectively are 12.6 litres per 100km and 10.5 litres per 100km.

Realistically, these will be your highway consumption figures and the relatively hefty and aerodynamically blunt Grenadier will never be a fuel sipper. Hitch up a big caravan and use most of the vehicle’s 3500kg towing capacity and that consumption will blow out massively.

As it is, the 90-litre fuel tank should give the petrol model a cruising range of 715km or so, while the diesel should achieve closer to 850km.

It’s worth noting, too, that the diesel version uses AdBlue, so factor that, as well as the currently higher cost of diesel over petrol, into running costs.

Fuel consumption is listed as 12.7L/100km and that's on a combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle. On this test I recorded 14.9L/100km.

The Land Rover Defender 130 P500 V8 has an 90-litre fuel tank so, going by my on-test fuel figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 604km from a full tank. 

Fuel requirement is 95 RON premium unleaded. 

The first impression when jumping behind the Grenadier’s wheel is that the vehicle is super easy to place accurately at the front.

That’s because the two front corners are easily visible (thanks to the bluff, bull-nose front) and you sit nice and high.

In fact, the Ineos has the knack of immediately feeling smaller than it is, which is a great confidence booster for somebody new to off-roaders.

The steering also helps make a good first impression with no trace of looseness despite the slow ratio and almost four turns lock-to-lock.

The turning circle is also vast, and all of this makes the Grenadier anything but a car to hustle along a twisty road, but the pay-off is when you’re off-road.

In the bush is where this vehicle hits its straps, of course, and take it as read that this thing will go anywhere any other off-roader with number plates will take you.

The live axles give superb wheel articulation (at the expense of a little body roll on the bitumen) and that slow steering makes for accurate wheel placement in low-range going.

The coil springs only add to the wheel articulation, but there’s a small degree of impact harshness on patchy bitumen as a trade-off. We’d happily live with that.

And when you finally do run out of articulation and the Grenadier starts to spins its wheels on loose surfaces and at mind-blowing angles, you simply grab the lever for the centre differential lock and continue on.

And if that’s not enough (provided you’ve optioned them) the front and rear locking diffs turn the vehicle into the next best thing to a bulldozer.

The Ineos is also the car that proves petrol and diesel technologies are getting closer and closer to each other.

The diesel is smooth, refined and quiet, while the petrol’s twin-scroll turbocharger means it grunts like a diesel used to. Our choice would, then, probably be the diesel if only for its greater fuel economy and range.

The eight-speed transmission does a great job on- and off-road and is calibrated separately for the latter with the ability to second guess what’s going on and hold gears where necessary.

We’d still like to see paddle-shifters, however, as the standard T-bar shifter doesn’t allow for the sort of instinctive ratio swapping sometimes required off road.

What's it like to drive? It’s bloody great.

This is a big vehicle – have I mentioned that already? – but powered by this V8 the Defender 130 punches along with nary a care in the world. 

Throttle response is crisp, and the 5.0-litre supercharged petrol’s 368kW and 610Nm are always readily available for a snap-punch standing-start, or to smoothly and safely overtake other vehicles on the open road.

This Defender has an official 0-100km/h sprint time of 5.7 seconds and a listed maximum speed of 240km/h!

By the way, it doesn’t hurt that the V8’s growl is piped through quad outboard mounted exhausts.

The eight-speed automatic transmission is supremely clever but the shifter’s stubby size and awkward location (under the multimedia system’s touchscreen) is annoying.

Otherwise, this V8 130 is smooth and refined, with tremendous road-holding abilities despite a Landie legacy of past-generation Defenders being about as composed as dodgy tractors.

What’s more, comfort levels are exceptional in a vehicle model once considered a form of punishment in which to travel.

Steering has a well-weighted driver-friendly feel to it and this upper large SUV never feels too cumbersome to navigate through even busy city streets, even though it has a turning circle of 12.8m.

Some body roll creeps in every now and again – especially when you become energetic throwing this giant around corners, etc – but otherwise this big bulky vehicle is well controlled and comfortable.

The air suspension negates the majority of thumps and bumps you might be expecting to get from a vehicle riding on 22-inch wheels and low-profile tyres over irregular road surfaces.

Our test vehicle was on 22-inch rims and 275/45 R22 Continental CrossContact RX “SUV performance” tyres, which are fine for driving on sealed surfaces, but if you’re looking to do any off-roading in this Defender get a set of more appropriate all-terrains.

I wasn’t driving the 130 to test its 4WDing prowess this time, but it’s still worth noting the Defender’s off-road measurements include 293mm of ground clearance (with air suspension), a wading depth of 900mm, and approach, departure and ramp-over angles of 37.5, 25.8 and 27.9 degrees, respectively.

This Defender 130 has a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 3380kg and a gross combined mass (GCM) of 6380kg.

It has an unbraked towing capacity of 750kg, and braked towing capacity of 3000kg (with maximum 300kg on the towball), which is somewhat of a disappointment and sub-par for the upper large SUV segment.

The Defender 130 does not have an ANCAP safety rating but it does have plenty of safety gear as standard including a plethora of airbags (driver, front passenger, and first, second and third row (head) and side for first row passengers).

Driver-assist tech includes AEB, adaptive cruise control, driver condition monitor, blind-spot assist, lane keep assist, a 3D surround camera, 360-degree parking aid, traffic sign recognition and adaptive speed limiter and more.

It has other tech, such as ‘transparent’ bonnet view, wade sensing, a tyre pressure monitoring system and tow hitch assist, which comes in handy for on- and off-road tourers.

It also has child-seat top tether anchorage points on the backs of both second-row seats and all three third-row seats. And there are ISOFIX anchors on the second and third row outer seat positions.

The Grenadier is covered by a factory five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. The chassis and body components are also covered by a 12-year anti-corrosion warranty.

Service intervals are every 12 months or six months in the case of a vehicle being used in harsh conditions.

The Defender has a five year/unlimited km warranty with five years of roadside assistance included.

The vehicle will let you know when it needs to be serviced – isn’t it bloody clever? – and prepaid service plans are set for five years/130,000km (maximum km) at a total cost of $3750.