Double Apex was invited to attend the national ride-and-drive event of the newly launched Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster. 

We don’t usually cover commercial vehicles on Double Apex. But the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster less commercial and more lifestyle orientated. We could not resist when the invited arrived and we saw that the event would take place largely in the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve. So we sent our managing editor to get his boots dirty and deal with the plummeting temps in the wilderness.

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First Drive

This was not our first experience with the brand. A few years ago we were invited to a preview ahead of the Grenadier’s production launch. We haven’t driven a Grenadier station wagon as yet. However, this launch event provided an opportunity to experience the company’s latest product, the bakkie version called the Grenadier Quartermaster, in the most extreme off-roading conditions with a beautiful natural backdrop.

The Quartermaster shares much of its make-up with its sibling. This includes the BMW-sourced inline six, eight-speed automatic transmission and rugged all-wheel-drive system. Incidentally, Grenadier offers turbopetrol and turbodiesel engines. Eighty per cent of South Africans who have bought an Grendier have opted for the latter fuel type.  The interior, too, has the same utilitarian layout and the two body types are effectively the same inside until the rear bulkhead.