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RESUME THE POSITION

Models Covered: (5dr Estate – 3.2 petrol, 2.2 diesel [X,GS, XS, SE, HSE, HST])

BY ANDY ENRIGHT

To the uninformed, a Land Rover Freelander is just one of a number of rather unnecessary compact 4x4s that seem to be popular. Those who know a little more about the Freelander will know that it has developed into the best car in its class. True students of the Land Rover marque will know why and why the Freelander is a vehicle with one of the more interesting development stories behind it. What you probably want to know now is how much you should pay for a used example and what to look out for.

The original Freelander had a very troubled birth. Despite seeking help from Honda to develop the car, the Japanese declined as work was already in an advanced stage with their own offering, the CR-V. Forced to go it alone and utilising many parts from the Rover group parts bin including a modified Maestro floorpan and the K-series engine, the Freelander nevertheless was a good looking car that wore the right badge and had broad appeal. Unfortunately reliability was dreadful. Over its ten year lifespan, the Freelander tightened up in terms of quality and design but after the launch of the all-new Range Rover in 2002, the Discovery 3 in 2004 and the Range Rover Sport in 2005, the Freelander was conspicuously the weak link in the Land Rover line up. With Ford bankrolling the car’s development, industry insiders knew that the Freelander 2 was going to be good; a ‘proper’ Land Rover at long last. So it has proved. With talented rivals like the Nissan X-Trail, Honda CR-V and BMW X3 to contend with, the Freelander has more than held its own. Launched in 2006, the Freelander range concentrated on diesel power, was bigger and better built than before and was far superior off road. Latest reports also suggest that reliability is at a decent level as well. In early 2008, the sporty road-oriented HST variant was announced.

The shape is instantly familiar, albeit one which looks as if vehicular geneticists have artificially inseminated a Freelander with some purebred Range Rover DNA. The MK1 Freelander was one of those rare exceptions – a vehicle that just got better and better looking throughout its lifetime and the second generation car has upped the ante again. Whilst it retains the chunky good looks, Land Rover has imbued it with a far more premium look and feel, which is just as well as, model for model, the Freelander2 is a more expensive car than its immediate predecessor. It feels it as well, but that’s because a cheap three-door variant is no longer offered, nor is the rather weedy 1.8-litre petrol engine that never did the Freelander any favours. Although the shape is familiar, you get more Freelander for your money in second generation guise. It’s 50mm longer, 109mm wider and 32mm taller but the wheels have been moved further towards each corner, freeing up another 105mm in the car’s wheelbase, making rear seat accommodation a whole lot better. Weight has crept up a whopping 250kg to around 1770kg in the process but a parallel improvement in safety, refinement and quality is a transaction most customers will be willing to accept.

Freelander 2s are holding their value extremely well at present and you’ll need to stump up around £16,000 to land one of the first 06 plated 2.2 S models. These are surprisingly hard to find though, as most people rightly realised that the much better-equipped 2.2 GS model was the smarter buy. These open at around £18,000 with the automatic gearbox tacking another £1,000 onto that asking price. A manual HSE was the range-topping diesel car at the time of launch and this retailed at £30,602. Today that 06 plated car is worth around £22,800. The 3.2-litre petrol models are far rarer and an HSE in tidy condition is worth around £23,000 on an 06 plate.

Land Rover Freelander owners no longer sleep fitfully, with waking dreams of clutch pedals going flat to the floor, head gasket failures and groaning diffs being a thing of the past. This generation car has been built with a clear idea of what its customers want and with access to a far greater array of quality components. Check if a tow bar has been fitted and also check the tyres for odd wear patterns. Although the Freelander 2 is very capable off road, there are limits to its ground clearance so inspect the underside for signs of damage to the suspension, exhaust and front valance.

(Freelander 2007 2.2 TD4 - approx exc.VAT) Mirror glass retails at £20 for the flat panel and £25 for convex glass. Tail light bulbs are just 29p a pop, and a lamp assembly for the rear number plate is £10. An auxiliary drive belt is £15 and oil and air filter elements are £7 and £6 respectively.

A pair of new engines were developed for the Freelander 2, one diesel, the other petrol powered. The oil burner is a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel that’s good for 159bhp and which develops 400Nm of torque – a useful increase on the 352Nm of the old Td4 diesel unit. It’s enough to make this model the one to go for if you’re planning on towing or plenty of urban use, a fact reflected by its excellent combined fuel economy of 37.7mpg. Jointly developed by PSA Peugeot Citroën and Ford, this engine will be badged TD4 and features the latest common rail technology and electronic injectors. For the technically minded, this engine’s key highlight is a variable-flow twin port system that increases midrange urge without having to wind the turbocharger’s boost up overly high. Mated to a six-speed manual transmission, the TD4 is a sweet piece of kit but owners of this variant can also talk to their dealers about an automatic option. The 3.2-litre petrol engine is the powerplant the Freelander has always deserved and generates 232bhp. This Volvo-sourced all alloy straight six (badged i6) is so compact it’s mounted transversely and is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with Land Rover’s Command Shift system offering the driver the option of knocking the stick back and forth in a sequential mode while there’s also a sport mode for added zip. One of the most exciting parts about this model is Land Rover’s decision to fit their excellent Terrain Response system, standard on all but the entry-level model. This allows the driver to select what sort of off-road conditions the car is experiencing via a rotary knob on the dashboard and the car’s electronics work out how best to dole out power and maximise traction, turning the Freelander 2 into a far more capable off-road tool. There’s still no low range transfer case, which may scrub the Freelander 2 from the shortlists of those who want something really rough and ready, but the Freelander 2 comes up with a number of other ways to get you out of a tight spot. A full-time intelligent 4x4 system is based around a sophisticated Haldex centre differential which helps keep economy manageable on road while a sophisticated Gradient Release Control system is a logical extension of the old Hill Descent Control system for descending steep and slippery slopes.

The Freelander 2 has returned Land Rover to its rightful position at the top of the class. Our pick would be an early TD4 in either GS or SE trim, mated to an automatic gearbox. Take your time, look at a few cars and don’t be afraid to negotiate hard. Do this and you’ll end up with the best small 4x4 around for prices you won’t believe.

ECONOMY UNDERSCORED
Land Rover’s mission to rehabilitate the 4x4’s environmental reputation begins with the Freelander TD4_e. Steve Walker reports.

A series of revisions made to the standard diesel Freelander has resulted in Land Rover’s Freelander TD4_e. Stop/Start technology, a gear shift indicator, low rolling resistance tyres and numerous other arcane tweaks enables this model to achieve 41mpg on the combined cycle and 179g/km CO2 emissions. Not groundbreaking stuff but a step in the right direction.

Recently mainstream car manufacturers have rushed to produce green standard-bearer models that can be wheeled out when their commitment to forestalling our planet’s demise is called into question. If any manufacturer needed just such a vehicle, it was Land Rover. The British marque’s product range is bristling with hefty 4x4s powered by big, thirsty engines but now there’s also an environmental saviour in its midst. Next time a band of beardy environmentalists descend on a Land Rover dealership with their angry placards and carbon neutral sandals intent on chaining themselves to the nearest Range Rover V8, the sales manager will be able to calmly invite them inside for a Fair Trade coffee and pacify them with the Freelander TD4_e. 4x4 vehicles have had a bad press where green issues are concerned and as a producer of nothing but 4x4 vehicles, Land Rover had begun to look somewhat vulnerable as a result. The British marque hit back and after impressing commentators with its environmentally-focused Land_e and LXR concept cars, it pulled the covers from The Freelander TD4_e production model that brings a collection of low emissions technologies to customers. The headline-grabbing feature in the TD4_e Freelander is its intelligent Stop/Start system. Such technology is becoming increasingly widespread in production cars and Land Rover’s take on it couldn’t be easier to use. The idea of a car’s engine cutting out and restarting again as it sees fit might be disconcerting for some but in the Freelander, the driver retains some control. When the vehicle is stationary and the gearbox is in neutral, releasing the clutch stops the engine.

"The Freelander TD4_e is a useful step on the road to a greener future for the brand…."

When it’s time to pull away, simply depress the clutch and it restarts. It means that the TD4_e Freelander becomes a zero emissions vehicle while other cars are still chugging away at the traffic lights or waiting for a traffic jam to move. The Stop/Start system is turned on automatically when the ignition is turned on but can be deactivated by the driver at the flick of a switch. As its name suggests, the TD4_e uses the 2.2-litre TD4 diesel engine from the standard Freelander range but a series of modifications have been made to boost its economy. The four-cylinder common-rail diesel engine has been re-mapped in the TD4_e for optimum efficiency but this has been achieved without cutting power or torque. A gear shift indicator has also been installed which prompts the driver to select the most appropriate gear to maximise economy and lower emissions. Finally, the Freelander’s tyres are special low rolling resistance items which reduce friction on the road surface. Some may question how these will impact on the standard Freelander’s impressive off-road traction but it’s the TD4_e economy figure that will be of most interest to buyers and the tyres contribute significantly to it. Externally, there’s little to point to the environmental qualities of the TD4_e and that might deter those who like to crow about their personal battle against global warming. The styling is conventional Freelander and, as a result, one of the most handsome compact 4x4 shapes around. The links to the Discovery couldn’t be clearer but the Freelander has a lower, more pugnacious stance than its family-sized relative. Compared to the first generation Freelander, this MK2 model is 50mm longer, 109mm wider and 32mm taller but the wheels have been moved further towards each corner, freeing up another 105mm in the car’s wheelbase and making rear seat accommodation a whole lot better. Weight has crept up to over 1,900kg in the process but a parallel improvement in safety and refinement is a transaction most customers will be willing to accept. The interior is a somewhat unusual mix of very high quality materials with some surprisingly cheap plastics. The environmental angle adopted by the Freelander TD4_e should give it an edge with buyers sensitive to the way that 4x4 vehicles used primarily around town are perceived. Where other manufacturers can look elsewhere for their profits, Land Rover doesn’t really have anywhere else to go and so it’s in the brand’s interests to peruse the green direction in an attempt to shed the polluting image that 4x4s are saddled with, often unfairly. The technologies and modifications employed by the TD4_e model enable it to return 41.3mpg on the combined cycle, a respectable saving compared to the 37.7mpg you get with the standard TD4. At the same time, emissions are reduced from 194g/km to 179g/km. It’s not enough to promote the Freelander to the ranks of the most efficient family vehicles on the market but considering its size and by the standards set by other compact 4x4s, it’s a respectable performer. Land Rover needs to improve its environmental image and the Freelander TD4_e is a useful step on the road to a greener future for the brand. The car follows the lead of other manufacturers in utilising a package of modifications that together, have a useful impact on its economy and emissions. Stop/Start technology will generate the column inches but the low rolling resistance tyres and other features all assist the Freelander to its 41mpg combined economy figure. 4x4s do get a bad press when it comes to environmental issues but if Land Rover is to continue to prosper in the future, it will need to be at the forefront of giving its specialist market sector a greener image. The TD4_e looks to be a step in the right direction.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4_e PRICES: £25,000-£28,000 – on the road [est] INSURANCE GROUP: 11-13 [est] CO2 EMISSIONS: 179g/km PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 115mph / 0-60mph 10.5s [est] FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 41.3mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Seven airbags, anti lock brakes, ESP [est] WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4500/2180/1740

FREE TO THE POWER OF SIX
Andy Enright on Land Rover’s powerful petrol-powered Freelander2

In case you were wondering what ‘i6’ is all about in the designation applied to the petrol version of Land Rover’s Freelander, it’s engineer’s shorthand for ‘inline six’. In other words, the layout of this car’s six-cylinder engine. It’s the top model of the Freelander 2 line up and, as such, has to stack up against the very best compact 4x4s in the market. That’s no easy assignment but the i6 models bring with them some serious artillery.

That engine is a Volvo-sourced unit of 3.2-litres capacity and generates an impressive 230bhp. This gives the Freelander i6 some serious overtaking capability, although you’ll need to keep the revs on the boil to get the best from this powerplant as that peak power output is only realised at a heady 6,300rpm. A low-end lugger this most certainly isn’t and if you plan on a fair amount of towing or off-road activity, I’d counsel you to pick the TD4 turbodiesel model instead. Still reading? Well I assume that in that case, your Freelander will largely be used on tarmac with just the occasional off-piste excursion. I think it’s also fair to assume that your buying decision came down to either a well-equipped Freelander or less well appointed Discovery. After all, the price difference between the range-topping Freelander i6 HSE at £35,395 and the entry level V8 Discovery is just a tad over £4,000 – not a whole lot in the overall scheme of things. The only other contender that really comes close is BMW’s X3 2.5si in M Sport trim, although despite the slightly intertwined history between the two marques, BMW and Land Rover customers tend to come from very different walks of life. The Freelander 2 i6 is only available in the HSE trim level. The interior of this model is luxurious, with perforated Napoli leather seat facings and steering wheel, a dark laurel wood effect interior, footwell lamps, additional frontseat armrests and heated front seats. Equipment includes an electric driver’s eight-way and passenger six-way adjustment, a memory function with three settings for the driver’s seat and exterior mirrors and automatic climate control with air filtration.

“You get more Freelander for your money now”

If you’re wondering what your Freelander 2 i6 looks like from the outside, it has 18-inch, 12-spoke alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, body coloured side sills and front and rear bumpers, a rear spoiler and tungsten door handles. The exterior also features automatic headlamps, a heated front screen and heated windscreen washer jets. The audio system is an Alpine with Dolby Pro Logic 11 7.1 surround sound, a six-disc in-dash CD player and steering wheel-mounted controls. Also mounted on the dash is a full colour touch screen Satellite Navigation system with a traffic message channel to keep you abreast of what’s going on up ahead. The rear seats have a headphone module and you can also take advantage of a Bluetooth peersonal telephone iontergration system. Safety equipment includes front and rear parking sensors. The Freelander i6 is something of a mixed bag on road. While it’s supremely smooth at low to medium throttle openings, it’s not as quick as you’d expect for a car that packs a 230bhp wallop. Part of the issue is that the automatic gearbox takes a slight edge off all-out go while the 1770kg kerb weight gives the engine quite a bit to chew on too. It’s only when you really choose to nail the Freelander that the horsepower makes itself felt and it’s possible to really take control by knocking the lever to the left and flicking through the gears sequentially. Peak torque arrives at 3,200rpm and when left to its own devices, the gearbox makes a reasonable fist of hitting this plateau before snicking the next ratio. Against the clock, the i6 will get to 60mph in 8.4 seconds and keep accelerating until that not insubstantial frontal area fails to punch a hole through the atmosphere, by which time 124mph should be showing on the clocks. Other stats that you’ll probably want to be furnished with include a combined fuel economy figure of 25.2mpg and CO2 emissions of 265g/km. On our test route, a bit of spirited driving saw the average drop to significantly below 20mpg, so you’ll need to be rather saintly to equal Land Rover’s economy figures. One of the most exciting parts about this model is Land Rover’s decision to fit their excellent Terrain Response system, standard on all but the entry-level model. This allows the driver to select what sort of off-road conditions the car is experiencing via a rotary knob on the dashboard and the car’s electronics work out how best to dole out power and maximise traction, turning the Freelander 2 into a far more capable off-road tool. There’s still no low range transfer case, which may scrub the Freelander 2 from the shortlists of those who want something really rough and ready, but the Freelander 2 comes up with a number of other ways to get you out of a tight spot. A full-time intelligent 4x4 system is based around a sophisticated Haldex centre differential which helps keep economy manageable on road, while a sophisticated Gradient Release Control system is a logical extension of the old Hill Descent Control system for descending steep and slippery slopes. Although the shape is familiar, you get more Freelander for your money now. It’s 50mm longer, 109mm wider and 32mm taller but the wheels have been moved further towards each corner, freeing up another 105mm in the car’s wheelbase, making rear seat accommodation a whole lot better. Weight has crept up a whopping 250kg to around 1770kg in the process but a parallel improvement in safety, refinement and quality is a transaction most customers will be willing to accept. With no three-door model offered this time around, the one five-door shape will have to shoulder all of the sales responsibility, for the time being at least. As impressive as the Freelander i6 is in isolation, it’s hard to make a case for this car against the turbodiesel variant. The tangible advantages are just too slim to put up with the thirst and rather demanding nature of the petrol engine. Land Rover tacitly recognise this and has projected sales figures that show a big bias in favour of the diesel. Still, if the black pump is beyond the pale, you’ll find plenty to like here.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Land Rover Freelander 2 i6 range PRICES: £35,395 – on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 14 CO2 EMISSIONS: 265g/km PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 124mph / 0-60mph 8.4s FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 17.9mpg / (extra urban) 33.0mpg / (combined) 25.2mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Seven airbags, anti lock brakes, ESP WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4500/2005/1740

CLASS OF THE FIELD
Land Rover’s Freelander is at its best when it’s got a Td4 badge on its back end. Andy Enright explains why

Was the fact that the latest Freelander was going to be something rather special just about the worst kept secret of 2006? The form line was undeniable. The Range Rover, Land Rover Discovery3 and then the Range Rover Sport all proved to be utterly indomitable in their respective product niches. It would have been an upset of monumental proportions for Land Rover to suddenly go off the boil with their volume seller, the Freelander.

Merit only goes so far in this market. Only at the very end of its development phase was the old Freelander in any way class competitive. In truth it had been overtaken by most of its Japanese rivals a while back and traded on the strength of its badge for quite some time. The development money poured into the latest model may not win as many incremental sales as Land Rover might imagine. Many small 4x4s are set up to ride firmly on road, their manufacturers knowing that they will rarely, if ever, be subjected to off-road use. The Freelander is different and was engineered with off-road use very much in mind. A slightly unconventional blend of soft springs but relatively stiff anti-roll hardware and surprisingly sharp steering fulfils this task but makes motorway driving less relaxing than it could be. The flip side of this is that barrelling down a typical B-road is more fun than you’d have any right to expect. The Freelander Td4 will hit 60mph from rest in 10.5 seconds, so it’s not among the quickest of the diesel compact 4x4s but it always feels keen and puppyish, the 158bhp four-cylinder engine delivering its maximum torque at 2,000rpm with peak power chiming in at 4,000rpm, giving a decently wide power band. All but the entry level model get Land Rover’s excellent Terrain Response system for off-road driving, which goes a long way towards excusing the Freelander for its lack of a proper low-range transfer case. This system acts almost like an off-road expert sat alongside you, selecting the best traction mode for any given terrain type. No rival has anything quite like it.

"The irony is that it’s a quantum leap forward but just the same people are going to buy it..."

The shape is instantly familiar, albeit one which looks as if vehicular geneticists have artificially inseminated a Freelander with some purebred Range Rover DNA. The MK1 Freelander was one of those rare exceptions – a vehicle that just got better and better looking throughout its lifetime and the second generation car has upped the ante again. Whilst it retains the chunky good looks, Land Rover has imbued it with a far more premium look and feel, which is just as well because average prices have crept up across the range. Although the shape is recognizable, you get more Freelander for your money now. It’s 50mm longer, 109mm wider and 32mm taller but the wheels have been moved further towards each corner, freeing up another 105mm in the car’s wheelbase, making rear seat accommodation a whole lot better. Weight has crept up to over 1,900kg in the process but a parallel improvement in safety and refinement is a transaction most customers will be willing to accept. The interior is a somewhat unusual mix of very high quality materials with some surprisingly cheap plastics. Five trim levels share the same Td4 diesel engine and these vary in price across a £10,000 span. That is a huge differential between the top and the bottom, and the reason it’s so wide is that all but the most craven badge snobs will likely ignore the stripped-out S entry model, priced at £20,960 to give the Freelander an eye-catching starter price. View the first rung on the Freelander Td4 ladder as the next model up, the GS, priced at £23,460 and you’ll appreciate how de-contented the S model is. The GS gets the Terrain Response, climate control, front fog lights and 17-inch alloys. Step up to the XS and you’ll also get a nine-speaker Alpine stereo, electric front seats and parking sensors, plus a different design of alloy wheel. The SE factors in touch-screen sat nav, heated front seats and an electric sunroof, while the HSE version includes leather seat facings, a 14-speaker Dolby Pro Logic stereo and 18-inch alloys. For around £32,000 in diesel form, the Freelander2 range tops out in HST form, where you get a Sports Styling Pack with front and rear bumper aprons, side sill mouldings and a rear roof spoiler. The 10-spoke 19-inch alloy wheels are finished in shadow chrome and fill out the arches beautifully to give the HST an aggressive, hunkered down appearance that works well with the chunky styling. Privacy glass and metallic paint are also standard. It’s no use ignoring the fact that the Freelander Td4 is an expensive piece of tackle, price tweaking with the S notwithstanding, but sales figures suggest that many see it as a price worth paying. Once you’ve got over the initial purchase price, ongoing running costs are reasonably manageable. There’s certainly no grumbles about fuel economy, the claimed 37.7mpg fuel figure being one of the best in the class despite the hefty kerb weight. On test, we averaged just under 29mpg, but that was with a notoriously lead-footed crew of drivers and the 68-litre fuel tank gave a very respectable touring range. As a relatively new product, the Freelander Td4 also looks set to offer extremely strong residuals. The old car wasn’t a shabby performer in this regard and this latest Td4 model will be in especially strong demand, particularly in GS and XS trim levels. Insurance quotations might not be quite as friendly as with some rivals, insurers having cottoned onto the fact that any car that’s respectable off road may generate a few claims from pernickety customers with little or no no-claims bonus for items such as scratched alloy wheels or cracked front spoilers. Emissions aren’t quite as good as rivals such as the BMW X3, the Honda CR-V or the Toyota RAV4 T180 but there isn’t a whole lot in it, the 194g/km figure being respectable for a go almost anywhere 4x4. Image aside, there’s no one area where the Land Rover Freelander Td4 trounces the opposition. The Honda CR-V is better for shopping and the Toyota RAV4 T180 more fun to drive. An aged Jeep Cherokee is more capable when up to its axles in mud and if it’s space you’re after, a Kia Sorento is a better bet. If you’re not quite so determinedly focused on any one discipline, the Freelander shines. It does everything acceptably well and looks better than any of the others while doing so. Dub it a jack of all trades but master of none if you like, but this well-rounded blend of abilities is probably right for this sort of market. The old Freelander sold in multitudes without ever being a particularly great piece of hardware. The irony about the latest version is that it’s a quantum leap forward but just the same people are going to buy it.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Land Rover Freelander 2 Td4 range PRICES: £20,960-£31,990 – on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 11-13 CO2 EMISSIONS: 194g/km PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 115mph / 0-60mph 10.5s FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 30.6mpg / (extra urban) 45.5mpg / (combined) 37.7mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Seven airbags, anti lock brakes, ESP WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4500/2180/1740

FREE TAKE TWO
The Land Rover Freelander 2 aims to redefine the compact 4x4 market with a blend of quality and capability that the opposition are powerless to match. Andy Enright reports

Recommending a compact 4x4 isn’t an easy task. If you’re in the market for a car like this, there’s every chance you’re going to be rather label conscious. As good as the latest Japanese offerings may be, a good quantity of buyers won’t look beyond Land Rover’s Freelander. In the past, this meant buying a car that was rather average, later rising to class competitive at best. The Range Rover and the Discovery showed just how good Land Rover could be when it set its mind to it and few doubted that the Freelander 2 would wipe the floor with the opposition when it finally arrived. Well arrived it has and rival car manufacturers across the globe have a choice. Either bust the overtime budget in an attempt to keep pace or give up now.

The shape is instantly familiar, albeit one which looks as if vehicular geneticists have artificially inseminated a Freelander with some purebred Range Rover DNA. The MK1 Freelander was one of those rare exceptions – a vehicle that just got better and better looking throughout its lifetime and the second generation car has upped the ante again. Whilst it retains the chunky good looks, Land Rover has imbued it with a far more premium look and feel, which is just as well as the entry level price has increased from just under £20,000 for the old five-door to over £21,000 for the latest car. It feels more than that – but that’s because a cheap three-door variant is no longer offered, nor is the rather weedy 1.8-litre petrol engine that never did the Freelander any favours.

"It was only a matter of time before the build quality of the Range Rover would trickle down to Land Rover’s baby"

A pair of new engines are offered in the Freelander 2, one diesel, the other petrol powered. The oil burner is a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel that’s good for 159bhp and which develops 400Nm of torque – a useful increase on the 352Nm of the old Td4 diesel unit. It’s enough to make this model the one to go for if you’re planning on towing or plenty of urban use, a fact reflected by its excellent combined fuel economy of 37.7mpg. Jointly developed by PSA Peugeot Citroën and Ford, this engine will be badged TD4 and features the latest common rail technology and electronic injectors. For the technically minded, this engine’s key highlight is a variable-flow twin port system that increases midrange urge without having to wind the turbocharger’s boost up overly high. Mated to a six-speed manual transmission, the TD4 is a sweet piece of kit but owners of this variant can also talk to their dealers about an automatic option. The 3.2-litre petrol engine is the powerplant the Freelander has always deserved and generates 232bhp. This Volvo-sourced all alloy straight six (badged i6) is so compact it’s mounted transversely and is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with Land Rover’s Command Shift system offering the driver the option of knocking the stick back and forth in a sequential mode while there’s also a sport mode for added zip. One of the most exciting parts about this model is Land Rover’s decision to fit their excellent Terrain Response system, standard on all but the entry-level model. This allows the driver to select what sort of off-road conditions the car is experiencing via a rotary knob on the dashboard and the car’s electronics work out how best to dole out power and maximise traction, turning the Freelander 2 into a far more capable off-road tool. There’s still no low range transfer case, which may scrub the Freelander 2 from the shortlists of those who want something really rough and ready, but the Freelander 2 comes up with a number of other ways to get you out of a tight spot. A full-time intelligent 4x4 system is based around a sophisticated Haldex centre differential which helps keep economy manageable on road while a sophisticated Gradient Release Control system is a logical extension of the old Hill Descent Control system for descending steep and slippery slopes. Although the shape is familiar, you get more Freelander for your money now. It’s 50mm longer, 109mm wider and 32mm taller but the wheels have been moved further towards each corner, freeing up another 105mm in the car’s wheelbase, making rear seat accommodation a whole lot better. Weight has crept up a whopping 250kg to around 1770kg in the process but a parallel improvement in safety, refinement and quality is a transaction most customers will be willing to accept. Land Rover has big expectations of this model, hoping to shift around 80,000 Freelander 2s in its first full year of production, a decent return from a company that used to think 50,000 sales across its entire model range represented a good year. The Freelander’s biggest sales year was 2002 when it sold 72,000 units and it was still the top selling compact 4x4 in the UK as recently as 2005. Although it was the top selling 4x4 in Europe for five years after its launch, the explosion in choice and the profusion of budget marques in this sector means that Land Rover are realistic about the Freelander’s sales, not expecting it to outsell some of its Japanese rivals across the EU. Bigger, cleverer, better looking and built in the UK, this is one car that we can all get behind and be proud of. There may be elements of France, America and Sweden in this car’s makeup but it could only have ever been produced using the expertise of home-grown talent. Just as it did in 1997, the Freelander has once again redefined what a compact 4x4 should be.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Land Rover Freelander 2 range PRICES: £21,325-£35,395 – on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 11-14 CO2 EMISSIONS: 194-265g/km PERFORMANCE: [3.2] Max Speed 124mph / 0-60mph 8.4s FUEL CONSUMPTION: [TD4] (urban) 30.6mpg / (extra urban) 45.5mpg / (combined) 37.7mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Seven airbags, anti lock brakes, ESP WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4500/2005/1740

HIGH SPEED, TRAINED
Land Rover think they’ve built the best-looking compact 4x4 on the market with the Freelander. The HST version takes the chunky styling to the extreme. Andy Enright reports

The merits of the Land Rover Freelander 2 are already well appreciated. Many sell on the strength of the cohesive styling and the Freelander HST model is edgier still, the body modifications giving the car a more aggressive, urban look. The effect may not for everyone but it may well attract new customers to the marque.

It’s been interesting watching the Land Rover Freelander develop from rather gauche arriviste to something that could genuinely be purchased by ‘old money’. Of course, the Land Rover badge helps with the expedition of that process but there’s no substitute for time and solid product development. It’s hard to believe quite how far the Freelander has come in the years since it was first launched in 1997. What was then a high quality concept but rather patchily executed vehicle has been beasted into shape with the Freelander 2 knocking the rough edges away and resulting in a very polished performer. Some groused that with no low range gearbox, the Freelander still wasn’t proper, but drive one off road and it’s clear that clever electronics do much of the work and a low range box would just be an irrelevant waste of money to 95 per cent of customers. With the development of the HST model, Land Rover has given us a street-biased Freelander that’s all about attitude. It follows on the heels of Range Rover and Range Rover Sport HST versions which, while about as subtle as an elbow to the ocular orbit, both undeniably have presence to spare and, if Land Rover dealers are to be believed, are creating quite a buzz.

"One thing the Freelander HST doesn’t lack is presence…."

Choose the 2.2-litre Td4 version of the Freelander HST and it will hit 60mph from rest in 10.5 seconds, so it’s not among the quickest of the diesel compact 4x4s but it always feels keen and puppyish, the 158bhp four-cylinder engine delivering its maximum torque at 2,000rpm with peak power chiming in at 4,000rpm, giving a decently wide power band. The 3.2-litre petrol HST packs 230bhp and will get to 60mph in 8.4 seconds and keep accelerating until that not insubstantial frontal area fails to punch a hole through the atmosphere, by which time 124mph should be showing on the clocks. Both get Land Rover’s excellent Terrain Response system for off-road driving, which goes a long way towards excusing the Freelander for its lack of a proper low-range transfer case. It’s doubtful too many Freelander HSTs will get their wheels overly dirty though. Many small 4x4s are set up to ride firmly on road, their manufacturers knowing that they will rarely, if ever, be subjected to off-road use. The Freelander is different and was engineered with off-road use very much in mind but the HST has a different bias and has stiffened springs and a lowered ride height to cope with sportier on-road driving. As with all Freelanders, the shape is instantly familiar, albeit one which looks as if vehicular geneticists have artificially inseminated a Freelander with some purebred Range Rover DNA. The MK1 Freelander was one of those rare exceptions – a vehicle that just got better and better looking throughout its lifetime and the second generation car has upped the ante again. Whilst it retains the chunky good looks, Land Rover has imbued it with a far more premium look and feel, which is just as well given the prices being asked. In case you weren’t so familiar with the Freelander 2, it’s a very different vehicle from the original. It’s 50mm longer and 109mm wider but the wheels have been moved further towards each corner, freeing up another 105mm in the car’s wheelbase, making rear seat accommodation a whole lot better. Weight has crept up to over 1,900kg in the process but a parallel improvement in safety and refinement is a transaction most customers will be willing to accept. The interior is a somewhat unusual mix of very high quality materials with some surprisingly cheap plastics. Your local Land Rover dealer will charge you £31,990 for the diesel HST variant that almost all buyers will choose – a premium of around £1,000 over the previous flagship HSE model. For the petrol model, you can expect to pay £35,125. One thing the Freelander HST doesn’t lack is presence. The bluff front end differentiates it instantly from standard Freelander models. The HST gets a Sports Styling Pack with front and rear bumper aprons, side sill mouldings and a rear roof spoiler. The 10-spoke 19-inch alloy wheels are finished in shadow chrome and fill out the arches beautifully to give the HST an aggressive, hunkered down appearance that works well with the chunky styling. Privacy glass and metallic paint are also standard. As with the HSE, HST buyers can expect leather seat facings and a 14-speaker Dolby Pro Logic stereo. It’s no use ignoring the fact that all this makes the Freelander into a very expensive piece of tackle but sales figures suggest that many see it as a price worth paying. Once you’ve got over the initial purchase price, ongoing running costs are reasonably manageable. There’s certainly no grumbles about fuel economy for the Td4 model most will buy, the claimed 37.7mpg fuel figure being one of the best in the class despite the hefty kerb weight. On test, we averaged just under 29mpg, but that was with a notoriously lead-footed crew of drivers and the 68-litre fuel tank gave a very respectable touring range. The V6 petrol engined car doesn’t fare so well with a combined fuel economy figure of 25.2mpg and CO2 emissions of 265g/km. On our test route, a bit of spirited driving saw the average drop to significantly below 20mpg, so you’ll need to be rather saintly to equal Land Rover’s economy figures. The Freelander HST also looks set to offer extremely strong residuals. The Freelander 2 is no shabby performer in this regard and the flagship HST will be in especially strong demand. Insurance quotations might not be quite as friendly as with some rivals, insurers having cottoned onto the fact that any car that’s respectable off road may generate a few claims from pernickety customers with little or no no-claims bonus for items such as scratched alloy wheels or cracked front spoilers. The Land Rover Freelander 2 HST is a very clever piece of marketing. Strip away the HST fripperies and you have an excellent foundation, the Freelander 2 now being the sort of vehicle Land Rover would have designed from scratch, it being no great secret that the company inherited the original Freelander and were forced to bring an average design up to speed. The HST won’t find favour with the type of rural buyers who have taken the Freelander to their hearts but as a cheaper and less cumbersome alternative to a Range Rover Sport, it works surprisingly well. Both engines are decent powerplants but the Td4 diesel will certainly outsell the rather thirsty V6 petrol unit. Prices start at £31,990 but the market has shown that it will certainly pay this sort of money for a top end compact 4x4. With the likes of Audi and BMW getting their game faces on, the Freelander 2 HST won’t have things easy.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Land Rover Freelander 2 HST range PRICES: £31,990-£35,125 – on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 13-14 CO2 EMISSIONS: 194-265g/km PERFORMANCE: [Td4] Max Speed 115mph / 0-60mph 10.5s FUEL CONSUMPTION: [Td4] (urban) 30.6mpg / (extra urban) 45.5mpg / (combined) 37.7mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Seven airbags, anti lock brakes, ESP WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height mm 4500/2180/1715

WEEKDAY WORKHORSE
It earns its keep as a van during the week and transforms into a stylish small 4x4 for active weekends. Jonathan Crouch looks over Land Rover’s Freelander Commercial

Land Rover has historically done pretty well with commercial van derivatives of its Freelander and it’s easy to see why. Though there are plenty of 4x4 vans, there aren’t too many smaller ones. At the same time, just as ‘lifestyle vehicle’ buyers are increasingly opting for smaller 4x4s, so van users are also looking at more compact alternatives.

Like this one? Well let’s see. It’s based on the usual five-door bodyshape, with a design that’s the work of Land Rover Special Vehicles, the department who produce the car. These are the same people who turn regular Defenders and Discoverys into ambulances and fire tenders. Commercial buyers benefit from everything you’d get on the latest Freelander 2 car range, which means you’ve a choice of the familiar 2.2-litre TD4 diesel or 3.2-litre six cylinder petrol engines. The Freelander 2 Commercial is available in 'S' and 'XS' versions. The specification is as a standard Freelander 2 at the respective trim levels, without rear seats and side airbags but with the addition of a full-height solid bulkhead with mesh panel, a floor support frame, a floor panel with lashing points, fixed rear side glass, a rubber loadspace mat, tail door and side window guards and rear cargo lighting. You’ll need the 'XS' derivative if you want to go seriously off road, as it’s the only one that benefits from Land Rover's acclaimed Terrain Response system. The XS package also includes 17" alloy wheels, powerfold mirrors, a full size spare wheel, front park distance control, part leather trim, automatic climate control and branded ICE.

"The Freelander 2 Commercial should elbow its way into a market niche with few rivals…"

Land Rover company hopes that the Freelander 2 Commercial will appeal to police, fire and mountain rescue organisations. However, it’s also likely to find favour with the small business owner who needs a stylish work tool during the week and wants to haul fishing gear or a jetski to a remote lake at the weekend. Signwritten with flair, this would be an ideal mobile billboard to advertise a shop, restaurant, courier service or plumber. Up front, you’ll find the same practical cabin as the passenger Freelander. That means clear instruments, a logical control layout and comfortable seats with an ample range of adjustment to suit bulky tradespeople. Permanent four-wheel drive is standard – no self-respecting ‘Landie’ comes without it – while Land Rover’s ingenious Hill Descent Control is also included. Of course, Land Rover is no stranger to offering buyers the highly useful combination of load-lugging capacity and the ability to laugh at terrain that would halt most commercial vehicles. Thousands of farmers already make the most of Defender ‘vans’, or still use their predecessors dating all the way back to 1948! More recently, a three-door van version of the Discovery attracted many buyers drawn by its combination of smart looks, practicality and agility. The Freelander Commercial should elbow its way into a market niche containing very few rivals. The passenger-carrying Freelanders have proven very popular with people who want to make a ‘lifestyle’ statement in the golf club car park or on the school run. Yet those same buyers know their vehicle really can haul a horsebox out of a muddy field or reach a hill country cottage retreat through driving snow. The commercial version is ideal for those who need a van for work and crave an off-roader for active outdoor weekends, yet can’t afford both.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Land Rover Freelander 2 Commercial range INSURANCE GROUPS: 11-13 CO2 EMISSIONS: [TD4]194g/km PERFORMANCE: [TD4] Max Speed 115mph / 0-60mph 10.5s FUEL CONSUMPTION: [TD4] (urban) 30.6mpg / (extra urban) 45.5mpg / (combined) 37.7mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front airbags, anti lock brakes, ESP WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4500/2180/1740