Land Rover Freelanders & LR2s

Land Rover Freelanders (LR2 now in the United States) are not as great an off-road 4x4 vehicle as their elder brothers the Land Rover Range Rover and Land Rover Discovery models. But for a smaller SUV they are still far and away the best in their class at off-road performance. And if you look at real world driving for Sally Suburbia, their wet grass and snow performance is arguably even better than the Range Rover or Discovery / LR3. Early Freelanders got dissed big time for having too many mechanical problems, but now that they have been out for a few years they are a great car. I cannot imagine a better car for Sally Suburbia to own, especially if she has to drive in snow or wet muddy conditions very often, and if she likes to venture out into the wilds on occasion.

Don't tip over! Don't tip over! Not a worry mate! Can your Subaru or Honda CRV do this?

Says one youtube commenter:

"This looks like its a standard base model freelander to me. We run an HSE on our fleet here and it can do nearly all the things the rest of the land rover range can do, although deep mud and very rocky is not so good as ground clearance not as good as the other cars and deep mud on road tyres is not good, still a Camel version local to me here in the UK and that had the right tyres and deals with the mud well, so this chap is good but the car is often more capable than most owners."

and another says this:

"oh man you should turn to pro (if you haven't already).  I say this because if you managed to do all these with a Freelander then I can't even imagine what you can do with a Defender. Great video thanks for posting it"

But really you do not need to be a pro to do that. Yes, a bit of practice, but that is by no means professional driving.

For even more information about the Land Rover Freelander, visit the

Freelander Start Page

Check them out if you love Freelanders. The start page includes

• Introduction to Freelander
• Freelander Design and Development
• Buying and Selling Freelanders
• Freelander Clubs
• Freelander Parts
• Freelander Repair
• Freelander Reviews
• Freelander Videos

Check it out, no problem handling some fairly serious mud action.  Quite capable considering it is a small SUV with only so much ground clearance, and no real low range gears.

The Land Rover Freelander or LR2 is not a super hero though, capable of the impossible.  If you get too deep on the beach and then the tide comes in, you could lose your car, as happened to this Land Rover Freelander.

As the only genuine off-roader in its class, the Land Rover LR2 is more than capable off the beaten path. It’s one of the few luxury vehicles in this class for buyers with a sense of adventure.  The fuel economy is not so hot, but check out the new Stop-Start system that is coming, and the LR2 will soon be tops in its class.

Freelanders are not without their problems. But they get a lot more bad press than they deserve, as one happy owner points out:

Needs more horsepower, and a higher towing capacity would be nice. Otherwise, I am loving it. 

I must say, it seems there are two Freelander assembly lines - people either love their cars or hate them. But it must be ssaid that many of the complaints are unfair. Complain about the driving position or the cup holder? Did you drive the car at all before you bought it? Complain about the ride on the road? Have you ever driven an SUV before? Nothing in this class, including ALL of the japanese models comes anywhere close to this thing in ride. What are you people talking about?!

The Land Rover Freelander represented a big conceptual departure for Land Rover when it came out in 1997. Yes, it is more of a car than a larger SUV, but it is technical specs that make it a much bigger change for Land Rover than you would think.

First off, the Freelander has a monocoque body shell. This means the frame is like all one formed piece, and it is how most cars had been made for 25 years on. Until then, Land Rover had stuck with a beam chassis and separate body shell mounted on top of the chassis. Such an arrangement is historically stronger for the heavy demands of off-road driving. But advances in technology allowed Land Rover to create a monoque body shell that was rigid and strong enough to still stand up to off-road use. This was a boon because it was necessary to get the weight of the Freelander down to an acceptable level for a car-sized off-roader. Experience gained in building the monoque body for the Land Rover Freelander allowed Land Rover to actually use a unibody shell in their latest generation Range Rover - something that would of been unthinkable several years earlier.

Second the Freelander has all round independent suspension - something no earlier Land Rover had. This is because independent suspension vehicles can get stuck off-road easier. Again, Land Rover made up for with some technological advances.

The Freelander has no low range of gears, making traditionalists question if it should be considered an off-roader at all. It was, however, the first Land Rover to have Hill Descent Control. Hill Descent Control was an ingenious system that allowed the Freelander to be driven down steep hills under control by pulsing the brakes thru the anti-lock brake system - even though it had no low range of gears - which is what you would normally turn to for controlled hill descents. Once again, technology to the rescue.

So the Land Rover Freelander is still not as capable off-road with its larger 4x4 sibling models like the Defender and the Range Rover - for one it simply does not have the under car clearance needed - but it is best in its class and can do more off-road than you would think. It was a challenge that Land Rover was up to and that took a lot of new thinking for them, but one it appears they have met admirably in developing the Land Rover Freelander.