Ineos Grenadier vs Toyota Kluger

What's the difference?

The Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster is best regarded as a charming old-school oddity in an increasingly cookie-cutter dual-cab ute market.

In the same vein as the Suzuki Jimny, Jeep Gladiator, and Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series, this ute is for those of us who really like driving to be a fully immersive experience and don’t mind a few sacrifices and some discomfort along the way.

Good on Ineos for giving it a crack.

The Toyota Kluger GXL Hybrid has been the ultimate SUV this week, as it fits my gear and family in comfort, the on-road handling is excellent and the fuel usage makes owning this long term actually feasible.

This is a great example of a mid-spec seven-seater that is both functional and comfortable. There’s lots to satisfy here and even though it hasn’t been updated, it may be a case of ‘if it aint broke, don’t fix it’.

The Quartermaster is 5400mm long (with a 3227mm wheelbase), 1943mm wide, and 2019mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 2718kg and a 14.5m turning circle.

I’m always reluctant to talk about any vehicle’s design but it’s easy with something like this ute.

The Quartermaster has a distinctive look. It’s blocky, hard lines everywhere, and it’s straight up and down, old school.

Substantial side steps/runners, exterior utility belt (a integrated feature by which you can attach accessories, tools, or cargo to the Quartermaster’s exterior), and BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO2 all-terrain tyres on 17-inch alloy wheels add to this ute’s presence.

It certainly catches everyone's attention, for better or worse because some people like it, some people don't. I happen to be part of the mob who actually like the look of the Quartermaster and its sibling, the Grenadier station wagon, and the design pretty much works overall.

Extras like the black contrast roof, safari windows and raised air intake further set this Quartermaster apart from most other modern dual-cab utes on our roads.

The interior is somewhat spartan but well laid-out and comfortable. It has lots of controls and quirky styling to keep everyone inside occupied and while, at first, it’s all a confusion of buttons, knobs and dials, it soon takes on a more familiar feel as you become accustomed to everything.

The Kluger epitomes what a large SUV was originally meant to look like. A big body and with enough ground clearance to earn the tag, but the shape is all long lines and gently curving panelling and that makes it look sleek rather than rugged.

Make no mistake, the Kluger is large at 4966mm long, 1930mm wide and 1755mm tall. It's only only 24mm shorter in its length than its big 4WD Toyota Prado cousin. It's size and road presence assures you that it's capable, but it's not trying to convince you it's a 4WD.

Despite not seeing any design updates, the Kluger still feels relevant and more than holds its own when it comes to kerbside handsomeness.

On the inside, the black synthetic leather trims, softly padded touchpoints and interesting dashboard make the cabin both pleasant to look at and spend time in.

The 12.3-inch multimedia display looks lovely with its clear graphics, but it’s still nice to see some traditional elements - like the gear selector, analogue instrument cluster (with a 7.0-inch digital display) and lots of buttons and dials to play with.

Interestingly, there isn’t a traditional transmission tunnel, which means you get a practical flat floor in the middle row and, thus, more legroom for middle seaters. 

It's a forgiving cabin that lots of different drivers will find something to like in.

In terms of practicality, it's pretty good news inside the Quartermaster cabin when you first climb in. As mentioned, there is a confusion of dials, buttons, knobs, everything in front of and above you. But give yourself some time to locate controls and understand how to best use them, and you'll be absolutely fine.

As alluded to in Design, the cabin looks really good but it also functions quite well as a work or travel space. Once you are underway and you have a firm understanding of everything, it all feels comfortably familiar.

There are hard plastic surfaces in the cabin, leather accents, as well as plenty of quirky styling cues around the cabin, including port and starboard markings, aircraft cockpit-style controls and more, and you'll have fun discovering those.

The floor has drain plugs and the buttons and switches have an IP54K rating (protected from limited dust ingress and water spray from any direction) with the idea being that, worst comes to the worst, you can always hose out the interior if it gets really dirty.

The Recaro seats, front and rear, are very comfortable. There's not a whole lot of room in the rear seat. You don't get much leg and knee room, especially if you are tall, but the seats are raised for optimised visibility to the front and otherwise, with big glass everywhere and safari windows, it’s an airy and useable space. 

The auxiliary battery is under the rear seat.

All in all, it's a functional and comfortable interior.

Anyway to the business end. The tub is 1564mm long, 1619mm wide (1137mm between the wheel arches) and 485mm deep. It has a sturdy tub liner, four-tie-down points, a load-space light, power socket.

The full-sized spare was located in the rear left-hand corner of the tub and while that’s not ideal and certainly doesn’t optimise the load space, it can be shifted elsewhere – on the roof perhaps – and it’s not as much of an eye-sore as the spare in the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV tub.

The spare tyre also has the optional lockable storage box ($490) attached to it, so you can throw a bit of gear inside there and keep it secure during your travels.

The Kluger is both practical and comfortable for passengers as each row gets a great amount of head- and legroom – yes, even third-rowers, but the low level of amenities in that row will render it a 'sometimes seat' for adults or older kids.

The 208mm ground clearance, wide door apertures and low-sitting seats makes it a very easy SUV to get in and out of, even for kids. The access to the third row is also good as the 60/40 split middle bench seat can be slid forward.

The electric front seats offer lots of adjustments, including lumbar support on the drivers side, but both seats get heating. They’re also well-padded and quite comfortable on a longer journey.

The outboard seats on the middle row offer the most comfort as they have longer under-thigh support, but the entire row benefits from heavy padding and the seat backs can recline.

The third row offers a curious 60/40 split and is wide enough for two adults to not be squished like sardines.

Although the Kluger is a seven-seater, families will be bummed that there are no child seat anchor points in the third row. But the middle row has two ISOFIX child seat mounts and three top-tether anchor points. It is more than wide enough to accommodate three seats side by side and you’ll have enough room for the front passenger when a rearward facing child seat is installed, too.

Individual storage is above average for the class, but the front row gets the best of it. There are two handy shelves built-into the dash, a glove box, a deep middle console (that swallows my arm) and cubbies in the centre console that include a phone cradle and two cupholders. There's also a sunglasses holder and little cubby beside the driver's knee.

In the middle row, you get two map pockets, two cupholders in a fold down armrest, and a drink holder in each door. While the third row gets a couple of cupholders.

Amenities are well-rounded for the most part, with the three-zone climate control and well-positioned directional air vents in the roof for the back two rows. Middle-rowers also get reading lights and two USB-C ports.

Technology is easy to use and looks great as the 12.3-inch display uses the same multimedia system as Lexus. The built-in satellite navigation is simple to set up and shows clear directions with lots of route customisations available.

There is wired Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay, but you do have to initially connect the CarPlay via a cable.

Rounding out the cabin is the great-size boot that offers 241L with all seats in use, but that can jump up to 552L when the third row is stored.

The level loading space makes it easy to slide larger items in and out of, and there’s a handy underfloor storage compartments for smaller items. You get a full-size spare tyre underneath the car and a powered tailgate in this model.

You have to love a simple three-grade line up with variant names that aren't hard to say! The Kluger starts with the base GX, mid-spec GXL and then the flagship Grande model.

All Kluger models share the same all-wheel-drive hybrid powertrain, and our test model is the mid-spec GXL, which is priced from $70,440 before on-road costs.

Its price positions it in the middle of its seven-seat hybrid rivals; the Hyundai Santa Fe Elite ($65,000 MSRP) and the Kia Sorento GT-Line AWD ($73,330 MSRP), but it should be noted that the Sorento hybrid is only offered in one high-spec grade level and the Kluger can’t always match the Sorento’s plush features.

The GXL is still fairly well-specified and includes eight-way powered front seats with heating, adjustable lumbar support (driver's seat), black synthetic leather upholstery, a powered tailgate, rain-sensing wipers, dusk-sensing LED headlights, keyless entry/start and a full-sized spare tyre.

There is also 12 months of complimentary access to Toyota Connected Services, which allows you remote access, via the myToyota Connect app, to safety and security features, multimedia connect and driving insights.

The other technology is well showcased in the 12.3-inch multimedia display that has touchscreen functionality, in-built satellite navigation, wired Android Auto, wireless Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth and digital radio. You also get a single USB-A port, three USB-C ports, two 12-volt sockets and three-zone climate control.

The Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster is available with either a 3.0-litre inline-six turbo-petrol engine (producing 210kW at 4750rpm and 450Nm at 1750-4000rpm) or a 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel engine – producing 183kW at 3250-4200rpm and 550Nm at 1250rpm-3000rpm.

Both engines are from BMW. Our test vehicle has the diesel.

This Quartermaster has an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and a dual transfer case (high- and low-range 4WD), as well as a front, centre and rear diff lock.

This is a nicely refined engine-and-auto combination, offering up a decent punch of power and torque across a broad rev range when it’s needed.

All Kluger grades are all-wheel-drives with a smooth continuously variable transmission. They share the same 2.5-litre four-cylinder hybrid powertrain that produces up to 184kW of power. Toyota does not quote a combined torque output.

At first look, these outputs may look underwhelming, but the on-road experience has shown that it’s more than enough to move the Klugers big body around without it feeling underpowered.

The Kluger has a braked towing capacity of up to 2000kg, which means you can hook up most of your weekend adventure toys!

Official fuel consumption is 10.5L/100km on a combined cycle.

On this test, I recorded 12.3L/100km.

The Quartermaster has a 90-litre fuel tank so, going by that fuel figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 730km from a full tank. However, long-range fuel tanks are available, so there’s always that option.

The Kluger may be massive but it has an excellent combined fuel cycle usage of just 5.6L/100km because of its hybrid powertrain.

Combined with its large 65L fuel tank, you should see a theoretical driving range of up to 1160km, which is really good for a family SUV and rivals diesel models of the same size.

I’ve been super pleased with the fuel usage of our test model because despite doing quite a few long distance trips, which is where hybrids are usually the most inefficient, I’ve managed a real world usage of only 5.8L/100km! That is a great result.

The Kluger only accepts a minimum 95RON unleaded premium petrol.

First things first, just to put your mind at ease – the Quartermaster is not absolutely terrible to drive on road, in fact it’s actually quite nice: planted, comfortable (on coil-spring suspension), and refined (for a ute).

It’s no surprise that a long four-wheel-drive ute does really well on-road, even if it is a heavy solid axle vehicle and not particularly dynamic.

What's also not surprising – because on paper this is an off-road beast – is that the Quartermaster is very capable off-road.

It has three diff locks (front, centre and rear), off-road mode, hill descent control and more, so it's an effective mix of traditional mechanicals and driver-assist tech. That's the dual range transfer case, but it also has electronic traction control. The 3.0-litre turbo-diesel engine and the eight-speed automatic transmission work well in on-road situations and it's also a clever smooth combination in off-road scenarios.

So there's plenty to like about this ute when it comes to 4WDing.

Be aware though: this is a big, heavy vehicle with a long wheelbase, so it takes considered driving to steer around – it has a big turning circle at 14.5 metres – but that's not to say those dimensions and those characteristics ruin it off-road because they don't. The Quartermaster simply requires a bit more thought when you're driving it.

If you haven't spent a lot of time or any time in vehicles like this, such as the Toyota LandCruiser 70 series or of that sort of ilk – big long old-school four wheel drive utes – then you may have a bit of an issue with the steering. It is slow, and there is a lot of play to it, especially off-centre. It does feel floaty and it takes a lot of effort and constant micro-corrections when you're driving to keep it on track and to keep it going where you want to. Put it this way: it’s not self-centred so you have to work at getting it back on track once you’ve taken on a turn.

But I like that, because four-wheel driving should be an entirely immersive experience, you should be always directly involved in the process and in this ute you are.

There’s plenty of power and torque across a nice rev range, with plenty of torque down low, which is crucial when off-roading.

And while the stretched wheelbase makes the underbody vulnerable to knocks and scrapes, especially over more severe 4WD-only terrain, the Quartermaster actually manages quite well.

Its approach, ramp breakover and departure angles – 36.2, 26.2 and 22.6 – are reasonable for something of this size and with 264mm of ground clearance and 800mm of wading depth, this ute has the measurements to cope with most off-road challenges you could throw dirt at.

Another thing I like about the Quartermaster is the fact it retains an old stubby stick, that’s working off the dual-range transfer case, to put the vehicle into low range and that's a welcome touch and a practical nod to the past, rather than a button or a dial.

As mentioned earlier, it has live axles, so there’s flex through the front and rear, although it'd be even better with a swaybar disconnect system onboard (as in the Jeep Gladiator).

This Trialmaster gets the BFG KO2s and where the standard tyres on a contemporary ute may not be up to scratch in off-roading terms, the KO2s work really well. It’s impressive what a difference decent all-terrains make, and if you want to get into the sloppy stuff, then you might consider getting some mud-terrain tyres.

So the Quartermaster is a very capable four-wheel-drive ute and there's a lot to like about it, but the issue with a vehicle like this is that people may come into it not understanding exactly how it rides, how it drives and how involved you actually have to be and the fact that there are lots of compromises, indeed some sacrifices.

You're not getting as much driver-assist technology as you get in other utes, and it doesn't drive as precisely or perhaps as comfortably as some other utes – but that's missing the point.

The Quartermaster is about that all-encompassing off-roading experience. And if you get in one of these things, you have to be all-in, ready for the bumps and the discomfort and the effort it requires but all of those things add to the appeal of this ute, rather than detract from it.

And that's a major point of difference with this ute over others in the market: in being faithful to the spirit of old-school 4WDing, Ineos has been willing to forgo those things which people have come to expect and as a result it may only draw the faithful, the committed, who are all-in for off-road adventure.

Where the Quartermaster falls short, however, is in terms of practical use because its payload is 832kg in the diesel version and that’s disappointing, especially when a 2.8-litre LC70 GXL dual-cab can cope with 1325kg.

It is rated to tow 750kg unbraked, and 3500kg braked and with a kerb weight of 2718kg it has a GVM of 3550kg and a GCM of 7000kg.

The engine can sound like it’s under pressure, but that doesn’t translate to underwhelming power delivery. The GXL has enough grunt to make it a comfortable open-roader that’s confident on hills and overtaking.

The steering is light for such a big SUV, but with its 11.4m turning circle, it’s every parents dream when doing the school run or navigating small lanes or parks for after-school activities. It’s almost stupidly easy to drive and feels much smaller than what it is, even in the city.

Visibility is mostly good because of the large windows, but the B-pillar is larger than I’d like and I found myself checking my blind spots carefully. 

The ride comfort is really good and suspension is forgiving on the worst of the bumps without feeling like it floats on the road. Road noise is low, even at higher speeds, but occasionally you get a weird wind whistle through the air vents. 

Even those usually put off by a large SUV, should find this comfortable to get around in. Parking it is the only time you really notice its bulk. While the reversing camera is great quality, a 360-degree view system would have been much better.

The Toyota Kluger has a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing done in 2021 and scored highly across its individual assessment scores. However, it only features seven airbags, which is a bit low for a car of this size, but the curtain airbags extend to the third row, which is good. 

The Kluger has lots of safety equipment, including daytime running lights, hill-start assist, seatbelt warning (all seats), lane departure alert, lane-keeping aid, traffic sign recognition, rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring, a reversing camera (with guidelines) and front and rear parking sensors.

The Kluger does miss out on family friendly safety items, like child-presence alert and side exit assist. The adaptive cruise control isn’t as well tuned as I’d like as it doesn't hold it's speed all that well, slows down too soon behind a vehicle, and sometimes can be sluggish to return to a normal speed once a vehicle has left its 'radar'.

The GXL has AEB with car, pedestrian, cyclist and junction turning assist and is operational from 10-80km/h (up to 180km/h for car), but it is usual to see that starting point sit closer to 5.0km/h.

The Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster is covered by a five-year/unlimited km warranty, not the best in terms of years of coverage, but on par with the likes of the LC70.

A 12-year anti-perforation warranty – covering body sheet metal panels and chassis frame against inside-to-outside corrosion caused by defective materials or workmanship – applies to this ute.

No capped-price servicing is available and service intervals are scheduled for every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs soonest, and total cost for the five years is $4626 for the diesel and $4896 for the petrol.

At the time of writing, Ineos has 25 sales and service centres, two sales-only centres and 55 service-only centres spread throughout Australia with a focus on regional and rural areas.

The Kluger is offered with Toyota’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, but that can be extended to seven years if you service on time and with a Toyota service centre, which makes it competitive against some rivals.

There’s a five-year capped-price servicing program available, with services costing just $285, which is cheap for the class. Servicing intervals are reasonable at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.