New Zealand new car buyers love SUVs. That much is very obvious, but there is something we even love more, and that is utes, with the biggest selling individual models in New Zealand being utes.
Our love of utes is something we share with Australia, South Africa and the Americas - North and South - making the global segment quite a big one. So if you are a manufacturer that has recently launched a new ladder chassis SUV, then it makes quite a bit of sense to build a ute version.
And that is exactly what newcomer to the car world, Ineos Automotive, has done with the release of the Quartermaster ute version of its Grenadier wagon.
The story behind the Grenadier is pretty common knowledge now, so I won’t rehash it, but suffice to say that the pick up version of a vehicle conceived in (and named after) a pub by a billionaire petrochemical tycoon (who also late bought said pub) to fill the hole left by the demise of the original Land Rover Defender looks pretty much exactly like you would expect it to look.
If you are one of those people who accuse Ineos of simply knocking off the iconic Defender, then the Quartermaster (which has to be one of the best names ever for a ute) isn’t going to change your mind on that, looking, as it does, very, much like a long wheelbase Defender pick up in terms of proportion.
What is not at all Defender-like, however, is literally everything else about it. Much like the Grenadier wagon, the Quartermaster quickly shrugs off any Defender comparisons by actually being really rather good on road, as well as extremely capable off it.
Packing the same BMW-supplied 3.0-litre turbo straight six engines in either 183kW/550Nm diesel or 210kW/450Nm petrol form, the Quartermaster also rather unsurprisingly uses the same basic underpinnings of a box-section ladder chassis platform with heavy duty Carraro beam axles and Eibach five-link coil suspension with anti-roll bars. Power from either engine is channeled through a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission and a permanent four-wheel drive system, with a low-range 2.5:1 Tremec two-speed transfer case.
While the ladder chassis underpinnings are the same, the Quartermaster gets a 305mm stretch to its wheelbase, moving the rear wheel back and allowing Ineos to give the rear seats a proper entry, avoiding that grand old Land Rover tradition of making entry into the rear seats even more difficult than it need be because they used the same doors and door openings as the wagon, complete with a cutout for a now non-existent wheel arch…
Other than the addition of the tray, the Grenadier experience remains largely the same in the Quartermaster, which means seriously capable off-road abilities combined with excellent on-road manners and ride comfort.
Of course the main feature of the Quartermaster is the addition of a tray on the back. While it can't quite manage to match the current crop of one tonne utes, it will still carry an 857kg payload and fit a standard 1200x800mm pallet.
It also retains the SUV’s 3500kg towing capacity, but sacrifices off-road departure angle due to the tray and bump in wheelbase, dropping to 22.6 degrees compared to the SUV’s rather more impressive 36.1 degrees. Breakover also drops fractionally to 26.2 degrees (the SUV has 28.2 degrees), while the approach angle of 36.2 remains the same, as does the ground clearance of 264mm.
The spare tyre that, on the wagon, is mounted on the rear door is moved into the tray in order to avoid further compromising the departure angle - in turn compromising the tray - but other mounting options are available, including (rather awesomely, but admittedly more awkwardly) on the roof. Like the wagon, the handy 15-litre lockable storage box that fits in the centre of the spare is an option.
The Quartermaster is available with the same model line up as the wagon, with a basic version that can be configured in any way or two pre-configured variants, or “Editions” and Inoes calls them; the on-road oriented Fieldmaster and the off-road leaning Trialmaster. The Quartermaster is also available in cab chassis form, allowing for a flat deck or more extreme customisation.
While the wellside versions of the Quartermaster are priced the same as the equivalent wagons, starting at $120,000 and topping out at $134,500 for either of the Editions, the cab chassis variant shaves $2k off those prices.
The ease with which the Quartermaster makes going off-road puts it in a unique position in the New Zealand market.
Other than the addition of the tray, the Grenadier experience remains largely the same in the Quartermaster, which means seriously capable off-road abilities combined with excellent on-road manners and ride comfort.
The BMW engines remain strong and flexible, both having been tuned by Ineos to make them more suitable to the Grenadier’s use applications. The company says the long-proven status of the BMW-sourced B57/58 3.0-litre inline sixes and the wide availability of parts makes them a solid choice for the Grenadier, but long-term reliability in extreme off-road conditions still remains one of the biggest question marks so far. Only time will truly tell if the BMW engines were a better choice than something more utilitarian and ubiquitous, such as a Toyota powerplant.
That said, the BMW engines are smooth and powerful, with either suiting their application here. The petrol engine is smoother, more powerful and is the superior performer on the road (and a bit thirsty when pushed), while the diesel has more low-down, easily accessible torque and is noticeably more frugal, while it does run out of puff higher up in the revs on road. Still, neither is a bad choice, so it largely comes down to a personal preference thing.
Like the wagon, the thing that may put off prospective buyers wanting a Quartermaster for mainly road use is its steering. Set up for optimum off-road use, the Grenadier’s steering is slow, deliberate and almost entirely devoid of any self-centring, which is perfect for crawling through, over and around extreme obstacles off the road, but takes a bit of getting used to on it. Once you do get used to it, however, it becomes second nature, but may well put some off during an initial on-road test drive.
This does mean that the Quartermaster is very much the off-road beast that the wagon is, with a supremely confident nature over some pretty extreme terrain that makes everything feel relatively effortless, even when you are crawling up a steep slope strewn with menacingly large rocks with all three diffs locked or ploughing through deep sand without airing down (yes, really).
The ease with which the Quartermaster makes going off-road puts it in a unique position in the New Zealand market by being clearly superior to the traditional one-tonne utes like the Ford Ranger or Toyota Hilux off-road, but also clearly superior on the road to the more hardcore off-roaders like the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series and Jeep Gladiator.
It is also considerably more expensive than all of them, has a lower tray payload than all but the Jeep and makes more compromises, essentially putting it in a niche all of its own. Extraordinarily capable off-road, yet comfortable and superbly easy to drive on it, the Quartermaster won’t appeal to everyone - the price and compromises made will see to that - but for those that do, it will scratch a deep itch that no other vehicle can reach.
