defender, freelander, discovery,range rover

hiya,

As land rover's have advanced over the years, what does the different LR use off road to prevent them from getting stuck in mud etc.

How does the freelander keep up with the likes of the range rover and discovery.

if they all went head to head off road what one would win,

i think i have too much time on my hands with me sitting thinking, yes i know thats dangerous.

gary

it doesn't Deepender

Straight from the showroom?

Discovery 4 would be the best all round off road, I am sure.

Cheers

Blippie

Blippie said:

Straight from the showroom?

Discovery 4 would be the best all round off road, I am sure.

Cheers

Blippie

Click to expand...

straight from the showroom would still be deepender

i must admit i thought the range rover would have been the leader, my thoughts being as they are so expensive i imagine you would expect it to be in the lead

gary

gstuart said:

i must admit i thought the range rover would have been the leader, my thoughts being as they are so expensive i imagine you would expect it to be in the lead

gary

Click to expand...

Just cos somethings expensive it doesn't mean its good...often it means its also expensive to repair.

gstuart said:

i must admit i thought the range rover would have been the leader, my thoughts being as they are so expensive i imagine you would expect it to be in the lead

gary

Click to expand...

It is expensive because it has more luxuries and should use higher quality materials. It does not necessarily have more capabilities. Not only that, but it's designed to appeal to a market consisting of people with lots of ££££££££££. That said, the suped up Discovery 4 doesn't look very far behind in that respect!




It's weird to think that in 10 years time from now, many of us on here will be driving those beasts, doing exactly what they're built for!

gstuart said:

i must admit i thought the range rover would have been the leader, my thoughts being as they are so expensive i imagine you would expect it to be in the lead

gary

Click to expand...

most rrs and new discos will never see conditions worse than a bit of snow, high kerb or a deep puddle

chances are they will be very capable off road but have also been designed with compromise. the depender was and is designed as a work horse to be used off road (better ground clearance in standard form, lower ratios etc.)

hiya, the new shaped discovery looks very nice, i know what you mean about the RR, but assumed which i supposed i shouldnt do costing in excess of 50,000 would be the ultimate in off road capabilities, .

however after youve kindly explained to me the defender was designed as a single tool and not a multiple tool like the RR.

how does the freelander stand up against the rest be it the FL 1 TD4

gary

gstuart said:

hiya, the new shaped discovery looks very nice, i know what you mean about the RR, but assumed which i supposed i shouldnt do costing in excess of 50,000 would be the ultimate in off road capabilities, .

however after youve kindly explained to me the defender was designed as a single tool and not a multiple tool like the RR.

how does the freelander stand up against the rest be it the FL 1 TD4

gary

Click to expand...

We can spend all day listing the pros and cons for each. The easiest way to look at it is like this:

Freelander 1:

The Freelander is a car which is designed mainly to be driven on road but also to occasionally go off road. Its off road capability is mainly limited by its low ground clearance and lack of a low range gearbox.

Discovery 1 & II:

The Discovery is a true off road vehicle, with excellent off road capabilities. It's suitable for regular on road driving, but it does not excel at this.

Defender:

Also a true off road vehicle, often described as a workhorse. It excels off road, but leaves a lot to be desired on road.

That is how I look at it. They are all aimed at different markets. It would make more sense to compare a Freelander with a Rav 4 or a Discovery with a Toyota Landcruiser in this respect.

brilliantly put richard, thanks for that,

gary

Or...

1. The freelander is ****.

2.the defender and disco arent.

oh well thats one way to put it about the freelander,lolololol

i must admit after owning the older 88's and 109 and a 110 i prefer the freelander for its comfort and its capabilities suit me for what i need, ie occassionally off road, able to tow and having the auto option, a/c etc

gary

storm99 said:

Or...

1. The freelander is ****.

2.the defender and disco arent.

Click to expand...

I agree that the Freelander is far from perfect. However, so is the Disco and the Defender. At least in my case anyway.

I signed up on this forum in 2008, wanting info about the Freelander, I got scared away from the Freelander (after reading about reliability issues) and after failing to find a suitable 4x4, I bought a trusty old BMW 3 series which NEVER let me down, not once. I don't care what people say about the people who drive these cars, but they are generally exceptionally good cars. That's why I bought one. Despite that, and almost 2 years later, my desire for going off road led me to look for a 4x4 again. I had £4000 to spend.

Here's how I saw it:

Disco II = A decent one was over budget at the time. + wouldn't wanna get one dirty at that price
Disco 1 = Moderately poor MPG. Rust seemed like too much of an issue considering it's not something I could fix myself + I am paranoid about rust
Defender = Yeah right, I have to travel up and down the country
Jeep Cherokee 2.5TD = Seemed an ok choice until I read about them being costlier to fix than a Freelander
Freelander TD4 = Acceptable for light off road use, good fuel economy for type of vehicle, good road handling for the type of vehicle and ofc lots of potential niggling issues

I came to the conclusion that there's no car close to perfect in the realm of 4x4s. (for me) At least not for £4000 anyway. That's when I took the plunge and got a Freelander TD4. Still, I wish I got a disco

ive only had my TD4 auto for a few months now and really do like it as it drives like a conventional car, i know its not fast but its happy to sit on 80mph on the motorway with no problem at all.

im at the moment getting just over 33mpg on a run

i like your self looked at the disco and felt them to be far to expensive for me to own and run, but mainly as its only going to be me my wife and i with the dog in the back the freelander fitted the bill.

gary

gstuart said:

ive only had my TD4 auto for a few months now and really do like it as it drives like a conventional car, i know its not fast but its happy to sit on 80mph on the motorway with no problem at all.

im at the moment getting just over 33mpg on a run

i like your self looked at the disco and felt them to be far to expensive for me to own and run, but mainly as its only going to be me my wife and i with the dog in the back the freelander fitted the bill.

gary

Click to expand...

You're supposed to mention the need to go down mud tracks, negotiate rough terrain or haul moderately large trailers. Otherwise you risk getting shot at, especially on a Land Rover forum.

sorry forgot to mention when i go fishing i use the Freelander to pull the fish out of the river, up the mud bank, along the grass bank, whilst towing the BBQ behind me,

Have a look at the image below, it was taken on the offroad course at last years Peterborough show, I stopped & my missus snapped this from outside the fence, you can just see the marshalls leg appearing in the right of the pic, he walked round to my window & asked me if I needed help, I told him no I had just stopped for a photo op, he said "oh, I thought you needed a push because several 90's have done the same thing & we've had to push them out", front left & rear right wheel spinning & no forward motion. Thanks to the FL's traction control I drove off without drama & I think I am right in saying that newer defenders are now fitted with traction control. Based on this would I go as far as to say the Freelander is better than the 90, obviously not, but as this incident demonstrates they are certainly not ****e & I think if it wasn't for the Freelander Land Rover as we know it probably wouldn't exist.

matacaibo said:

Have a look at the image below, it was taken on the offroad course at last years Peterborough show, I stopped & my missus snapped this from outside the fence, you can just see the marshalls leg appearing in the right of the pic, he walked round to my window & asked me if I needed help, I told him no I had just stopped for a photo op, he said "oh, I thought you needed a push because several 90's have done the same thing & we've had to push them out", front left & rear right wheel spinning & no forward motion. Thanks to the FL's traction control I drove off without drama & I think I am right in saying that newer defenders are now fitted with traction control. Based on this would I go as far as to say the Freelander is better than the 90, obviously not, but as this incident demonstrates they are certainly not ****e & I think if it wasn't for the Freelander Land Rover as we know it probably wouldn't exist.

Click to expand...

Looks nice. What tyres do you have one it?

RichM said:

Looks nice. What tyres do you have one it?

Click to expand...

Tyres are Cooper Discoverer AT's 205/80/16, about £75 a corner