INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster Review

The Quartermaster is special. It has exceptional Recaro seats, a 12.3in infotainment screen, grab handles in the right spots and much better sound deadening than the 79 Series Landcruiser it has its sights on and it feels better at speed than the 'Cruiser too. It is not Rolls Royce quiet, especially when equipped with the KO2s (one option I’d always tick) but it is better.

If you’ve driven a Jeep Wrangler or 70-Series, you’ll find the INEOS a better steer but neither the 79 nor Quartermaster could be considered easy or good to steer. Their solid front axles are great offroad and durable, but they limit a lot of geometry that modern independent front suspension allows for. With no camber, they tend to lean and scrub their tyres in fast cornering. It's a sacrifice in the same way everything is, always.

Off-road driving though, wow, the Quarternassdter excels and blasts the 79 out of the water. The reason is down to why is suspension where they are fundamentally different.

The INEOS uses a progressive-rate coil spring made by the experts at Eibach at each corner.

The initial compression in the Quartermaster suspension is surprisingly compliant. The coil springs take small bumps like road reflectors well and as you ask more of them, say in washouts on gravel roads at speed, they show their metal stiffening up. Paired with ZF dampeners (the same mob that does the excellent gearbox), it works though we did find the front bump stops a fair bit (impressively soft, by the way).

One thing you will not hide from is the weight of the Quartermaster. The INEOS is a heavy beast. You wouldn’t think it looking at it but it's over the weight of a Ford F-150, Ranger Raptor and the LC79 by a fair margin. The base Quatremaster, with the diesel engine option, comes in at 2,718kg and that's before you add on options. A 79 with a decent tray is going to weigh around 2300kg in GXL trim.

Have a play with the excellent Grenadier Configurator. There, you can choose your body style (wagon, Quartermaster, or Cab-chassis), pick your trim level, and add all of the options you could dream of. Once you’ve built yours, you can essentially order it through your local dealer or you can share it with your mates.

We went crazy, you can see what we came up with here - Our Dream Quartermaster

Here is the list of the options and spec we’d choose, we’ll explain below.

Quartermaster Trialmaster - $118,000 (All prices as of Nov 2024 and in Australian dollarydoos)
Devil Red Paint $1,315
Contrast Roof - Inky Black $2,460
Contrast Ladder Frame - HALO Red $1,650
Heat Reflective Privacy Glass $770
Seat Covers - Front $530
Rubber Floor Mats $381
Roo Bar $2,510
Side Protection Rails $880
Rock Sliders $1,758
Checker Plates $560
Integrated HD Winch (5.5T) $5,990
Total RRP at 25 Nov 2025 A$136,804

For us, you have to go the Trialmaster as it nets you a heap of options built into two Packs.

The Trialmaster includes:
Raised Air Intake
Exterior Utility Belt
Loading Bay Liner
Cargo Bay Utility Rails
Auxiliary Battery
High Load Auxiliary Switch Panel & Electrical Preparation
Compass with Altimeter

And the Rough Pack which includes:
Differential Locks Front & Rear
BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO2 tyres

And the Smooth Pack which adds:
Rear-View Camera
Park Assist Front (PDC)
Power Heated Exterior Mirrors
Heated Windscreen Washer Jets
Central Stowage Box, Lockable
Puddle Lamps & Ambient Door Lighting

From there its into the extra options. We’d take ours in Devil Red, a new colour for the range with a black roof. If you are worried about paint fade, go the Eldoret Blue with a white roof.

An option we have yet to personally see on delivered vehicles in Australia is a contrasting chassis. Partly to match the Devil Red body paint but mostly because we support the cause, we’d opt for the Red HALO Chassis. In doing that, INEOS will donate some of the cost to HALO Trust, a foundation set up by a pair of British Soldiers to demine war-torn regions. Go look them up, they are doing great work.

Ideally pre-rego, we’d get a GVM upgrade from the likes of DMW Industries or More4X4 both of which can get your Quartermaster to around 3900-4000kg GVM (depending on state laws etc).

Then it's off to Norweld for an Elite Tray which starts at $18,990 and a Deluxe Canoy starting from $19,205 and then we’d fit it out with a REDARC suite and Bushman's upright fridge.
All up, ours would probably set us back in the region of $220,000 to $250,000. Harking back to the LC79, again, a lot of you have probably dreamt up a build of one of them and you probably came to around the same price.

Is it a worthy competitor to the LC79? On load-capacity, no. On serviceability (parts availability), no. For comfort, its powertrain and off-road ability, for sure, the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster is the best around.