Ineos Grenadier delivers a capable and comfortable driving experience

My advice, don't.

Staring out the window at the fleet of Grenadiers next to our hotel in Inverness, Scotland, the night before Expedition 1.0, I was struck by the vehicle's commanding presence.

That feeling was still there the next morning and the day after as we put the vehicle through its paces on the Ardverikie and Luss estates.

I've been a passenger on plenty of 4x4 adventures but this was one of my first experiences jumping in the driver's seat.

For a heavy vehicle the live-axle coil-sprung Grenadier feels balanced and handles the road well.

Off-road, it's even better. Activating off-road mode is simple and should you need to go through water crossings, there is a wading mode.

Eaton front and rear e-lockers come as standard in the Trialmaster edition's rough pack and are also available as an option on all vehicles.

Everything about the Grenadier speaks to the fact the team behind it value quality and simplicity.

The Grenadier was engineered by Magna and follows the design principle that "form should follow function".

Under the bonnet is a six-cylinder straight BMW engine with a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.

Both the diesel and petrol models have a 90-litre fuel tank.

Diesel models also meet Euro 6 emissions standards and have a 17L AdBlue tank.

Ineos Automotive commercial director Mark Tennant said when people look at the Grenadier it is clear that it is an off-road vehicle.

In fact, off-road capability was part of the vehicle's core criteria when it was still "just a twinkle in Jim Ratcliffe's eye".

The other tenets were looks, durability and reliability.

"We said at the beginning, we want it to be able to pull a plough, clear a minefield, or drive up to Buckingham Palace," Mr Tennant said.

"Reliability is proven in the field but through the choice of the partners we have gone with we think we're off to a good start.

"The interior is also important and the layout is quite simple with an aircraft aesthetic."

The team also set out to have fun and a prime example of this is the toot button.

"Toby Ecuyer originally had one of the design cues because of his aircraft theme with the overhead console," Mr Tennant said.

"We were looking at some quite old aircrafts and he loved the aesthetic of the steering wheel of the Spitfire and the fire button on the Spitfire was that little red button.

"And then we had discussions about 'well that's great, let's put that into the design but what are we going to do with it?'

"It was very much Jim's idea with the cycling link for a polite way of alerting people to your presence."

The Grenadier wagon can be bought as a standard model or in the pre-configured Trialmaster and Fieldmaster editions.

A dual cab ute release has been planned for later this year and Australia is among the key markets for this offering.

Ineos Automotive APAC head of sales and marketing Justin Hocevar said when orders first opened in the region for the wagon, the list shot out to 18 months.

The company was pleased with that outcome but also found it "a bit alarming" and the production allocation for Australia was increased.

The wait time is now down to about 12 months.

Mr Hocevar has previously said the company would be really happy if it sold 1000 wagons in its first year but said it was going to far exceed that number.

In Australia the sales split so far has been 80 per cent diesel to 20pc petrol.

When it comes to breaking into the agricultural market, Mr Hocevar said there are long-term established brands that farmers have bought for years.

"There's an appropriate scepticism, let's say, around a new entry brand that hasn't proved itself yet," he said.

"We know we've got to earn our stripes with that community, we've got to demonstrate we're willing to support them in the right way and give them the support that gave them loyalty to another brand and that's a tough benchmark."

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However, he said the Grenadier had a number of features that would appeal to farmers.

"There's the simplicity of the vehicle, the fact it has everything they need but nothing they don't," Mr Hocevar said.

"Packaged up in that is the durability equation; there's less stuff to go wrong, particularly electronic stuff.

"Then there's the way we have engineered and designed the vehicle; we have selected heavy duty, expert level equipment and packaged it up and hope it's going to be attractive to people who've got an eye for quality."

As the journey finishes up and we're whisked off to Glasgow I reflect on how I would summarise the vehicle.

It's capable, comfortable, and I'd happily have one if I had the cash to spare.