Freelander grows up
24/01/08 19:26 Filed in: Road
Test
I've long been a fan of the Land Rover Freelander. I remember the excitement
of the launch when Land Rover unveiled their new small off-roader
in the south of Spain.
What impressed those of us on the launch was the way that Land Rover had met the brief of a more affordable small 4x4, but with the sort of off-road ability that you would expect of a Land Rover. Sure, as one journalist discovered, the Freelander was not made for yomping over the sort of bumps and ruts that its bigger siblings would dismiss with ease.
We were transversing an unsurfaced mountain road over the Sierra Nevada, when we came across a large truck blocking the route. Said journalist decided not to wait and set off across the mountainside, only to get the Freelander beached on a small hillock.
In reality, the Freelander will keep going in conditions that would leave most other soft-roaders behind. The specification didn't look too promising. There was no low ratio gears and no differential locks. What the Freelander did have, though, was a sophisticated traction control system and the first hill descent control.
For those not familiar with these devices, they use the anti-lock braking system to keep the vehicle at slow speed when descending a steep slope. As any off road driver will point out, you must not touch the brakes on a steep descent. To do so risks instant loss of control with potentially serious consequences. I can say that as witness to a Mitsubishi Shogun which ended up on two wheels, within a whisker of falling over, after the driver tried to slow her descent with the brakes.
So impressed was I with the Freelander that, when we took the decision to become country dwellers, we paid a visit to our local Land Rover dealer and purchased a six-month old, extremely-low mileage model.
We loved that Freelander. That was until we discovered that reliability and build quality was not the best.
The encouraging thing about Freelander 2 is that it is now made in a different factory. One that has proven to me it can build a car with top notch reliability and build quality – the Halewood factory that also produces the Jaguar X-type.
The road test car was the Land Rover Freelander 2.2 TD4 in HSE specification. It was certainly luxuriously equipped, but at a price – namely £30,960 on the road. The test car also had auto box at £1370, and claimed to have bi-Xenon adaptive lights at £995 – but they didn't move on my test! You can get a Freelander 2 for less. Prices for the Freelander 2 start at £20,960.
With the diesel engine well subdued, the characteristic clatter really only makes itself known under acceleration when cold. You would expect reasonably good economy from a relatively small 4x4 with diesel power, but I thought 27 mpg on my daily commute was a bit disappointing, given that most of the 44-mile round trip is on country roads. The official combined figure is 33.2 mpg.
On the plus side it is a lively responder once you are past the initial hesitation waiting for the turbocharger to cut in. The automatic gearbox on the test car seems very well suited to the engine. So much so, that I pretty soon gave up an notion of trying the manual holds. There seemed little advantage. Even the sports setting seemed unnecessary most of the time.
The new Freelander is a big improvement on the old when it comes to twisty country roads. The old Freelander had quite a bit of the Land Rover "lurch" if you negotiated a series of tight bends. Freelander 2 is much better controlled. For an off-roader it also has remarkably sharp steering, although on tall tyres it is never going to have the responses of a low-profile tyred hatchback.
The HSE model comes with touch-screen satellite navigation. These systems are so much easier to use that the fiddly systems where you have to twiddle a knob to set your destination or change the settings.
As I said, I was impressed with the original. Freelander 2 keeps the best of Freelander 1 and adds more sophistication, better dynamics, a greater impression of build quality and the prospect of better reliability. That makes it all the more attractive a proposition and much more pleasant to drive.
The new Freelander combines all the best about the original, plus the promise of reliability, along with much greater levels of sophistication.
What impressed those of us on the launch was the way that Land Rover had met the brief of a more affordable small 4x4, but with the sort of off-road ability that you would expect of a Land Rover. Sure, as one journalist discovered, the Freelander was not made for yomping over the sort of bumps and ruts that its bigger siblings would dismiss with ease.
We were transversing an unsurfaced mountain road over the Sierra Nevada, when we came across a large truck blocking the route. Said journalist decided not to wait and set off across the mountainside, only to get the Freelander beached on a small hillock.
In reality, the Freelander will keep going in conditions that would leave most other soft-roaders behind. The specification didn't look too promising. There was no low ratio gears and no differential locks. What the Freelander did have, though, was a sophisticated traction control system and the first hill descent control.
For those not familiar with these devices, they use the anti-lock braking system to keep the vehicle at slow speed when descending a steep slope. As any off road driver will point out, you must not touch the brakes on a steep descent. To do so risks instant loss of control with potentially serious consequences. I can say that as witness to a Mitsubishi Shogun which ended up on two wheels, within a whisker of falling over, after the driver tried to slow her descent with the brakes.
So impressed was I with the Freelander that, when we took the decision to become country dwellers, we paid a visit to our local Land Rover dealer and purchased a six-month old, extremely-low mileage model.
We loved that Freelander. That was until we discovered that reliability and build quality was not the best.
The encouraging thing about Freelander 2 is that it is now made in a different factory. One that has proven to me it can build a car with top notch reliability and build quality – the Halewood factory that also produces the Jaguar X-type.
The road test car was the Land Rover Freelander 2.2 TD4 in HSE specification. It was certainly luxuriously equipped, but at a price – namely £30,960 on the road. The test car also had auto box at £1370, and claimed to have bi-Xenon adaptive lights at £995 – but they didn't move on my test! You can get a Freelander 2 for less. Prices for the Freelander 2 start at £20,960.
With the diesel engine well subdued, the characteristic clatter really only makes itself known under acceleration when cold. You would expect reasonably good economy from a relatively small 4x4 with diesel power, but I thought 27 mpg on my daily commute was a bit disappointing, given that most of the 44-mile round trip is on country roads. The official combined figure is 33.2 mpg.
On the plus side it is a lively responder once you are past the initial hesitation waiting for the turbocharger to cut in. The automatic gearbox on the test car seems very well suited to the engine. So much so, that I pretty soon gave up an notion of trying the manual holds. There seemed little advantage. Even the sports setting seemed unnecessary most of the time.
The new Freelander is a big improvement on the old when it comes to twisty country roads. The old Freelander had quite a bit of the Land Rover "lurch" if you negotiated a series of tight bends. Freelander 2 is much better controlled. For an off-roader it also has remarkably sharp steering, although on tall tyres it is never going to have the responses of a low-profile tyred hatchback.
The HSE model comes with touch-screen satellite navigation. These systems are so much easier to use that the fiddly systems where you have to twiddle a knob to set your destination or change the settings.
As I said, I was impressed with the original. Freelander 2 keeps the best of Freelander 1 and adds more sophistication, better dynamics, a greater impression of build quality and the prospect of better reliability. That makes it all the more attractive a proposition and much more pleasant to drive.
The new Freelander combines all the best about the original, plus the promise of reliability, along with much greater levels of sophistication.
|