FL 2 Off road experience day ?

Hi

I would like to book my wife an off road driving experience, but specifically for a Freeland 2 Auto, nothing too extreme just so she can see what the vehicle is capable of.

Any suggestions, I live nr Manchester

Many thanks Ian

You may find something with a web search. There's a number of companies that offer this. But may not have a FL2 available. Most want you to supply the vehicle yourself for use on their oft road site. The alternative is land rover experience. You can book a 1, 3 or 7 hour experience. They only use latest vehicles. A few still have old tratters. The disco sport will be simular to the FL2. It will be an auto. Lots of places all over the country. Eastnor castle being one of the best. You have the option of on and oft road. Or just pick one. They cover you for on road insurance. All done with one of their instructors.

Hippo said:

You may find something with a web search. There's a number of companies that offer this. But may not have a FL2 available. Most want you to supply the vehicle yourself for use on their oft road site. The alternative is land rover experience. You can book a 1, 3 or 7 hour experience. They only use latest vehicles. A few still have old tratters. The disco sport will be simular to the FL2. It will be an auto. Lots of places all over the country. Eastnor castle being one of the best. You have the option of on and oft road. Or just pick one. They cover you for on road insurance. All done with one of their instructors.

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Hi
Thanks for your reply, as I suspected a taster sessions in a FL2 is not really available.

As an alternative we could go to an 4x4 'play' area and look to see what they can do, does anyone know where one might be local 'ish' to me ?
regards Ian

ihs61 said:

Hi
Thanks for your reply, as I suspected a taster sessions in a FL2 is not really available.

As an alternative we could go to an 4x4 'play' area and look to see what they can do, does anyone know where one might be local 'ish' to me ?
regards Ian

Click to expand...

What are you wanting to learn?

The FL2 is surprisingly capable due to the traction control system, it can make all its wheel spin, where many other vehicles may end up with drive to only 2 wheels under some circumstances.

However, the FL2 like the original Freelander lacks a low range transfer box, it also has pretty poor ground clearance and poor approach and departure angles. While it can be made to cross challenging terrain, it is also very easy to damage the vehicle and paintwork.

Have you ever off roaded before? And I suppose back to my original question. What are you wanting to learn? Are you wanting to learn how to drive off road or how the systems work in the Freelander 2? As they are not exactly the same thing.

Driving off road is pretty much the same in any vehicle, however modern Land Rovers with Terrain Response are far more complicated and you need to be an expert on the terrain AND the vehicle to make the most of it. Older vehicles without things like Terrain Response are generally far more simple and easier to drive off road.

The Land Rover experience centres can be quite fun and a Discovery Sport or Evoque will be about 90% the same as a Freelander 2 off road in terms of controls and options. But the Land Rover experience centres are demonstration tracks, so the off roading is actually very very mild with zero risk of getting stuck. They are purpose designed to "show off" the vehicles and allow anyone to drive round.

A pay & play site will be quite the opposite and much of it will likely not be driveable. If you plan to go to one of these, go with another vehicle, so there is a chance of being pulled out if you get stuck. And really you would want to prep the vehicle with some recovery equipment. At this time of year you'd also be wanting a good set of All Terrains or Mud Terrains. In the summer, when dry out, you'd get away with road biased tyres. You'd maybe be able to find someone to sit in with you, although many many people have no idea how Terrain Response works, in which case such a person is unlikely to be a good source of info for learning your specific vehicle.

Thank you so much for your reply
My wife has a 2014 HSE that I wanted her to see how capable they are for 'mild' off roading and what is the best way to use the terrain response.
That why I was looking specifically for a FR2, incidentally we did look at a Evoque & Disco Sport before purchasing the FR, she did not like the limited visibility esp the Evoque compared to the FL, then there's the horror stories of the Ingenium engines !

Did a LR Experience in a FL2 some years back the Freelander went 90% of the same route as the bigger cars.
They will surprise you for most use.
Just be aware LRE are expensive. I would shop around for local off road instruction and explain to instructor what you want and have you have FL.
Not near but he was good, Dave Mitchell in North Wales if they still going. Otherwise try googling ROSPA or LANTRA.

Doubt you will find anyone doing 4WD experiences in Freelander.

They wouldn't have a very successful business.

You'll need to find 1 that you can book to do the course in your motor.

I haven't done 1 in a long while, but when I did, these guys were running fairly new cars - so they weren't going to trash them. You'll likely find the Freelander will do everything they would have done in their regular car without damage - especially if your tyres aren't to sissy. But you could let them know how adverse you are to any damage.

See if there is a local 4x4 club to you, or join GLASS.
I bet there would be a few ‘easy’ green lanes suitable for what you want to do, and you can use your own vehicle.
But do speak to the experienced locals… they will have a good knowledge of the conditions and difficulties.

Thank you for all the replies

Ian