Freelander Awful in Snow

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kurtjohnson10 said:
In all you guys opinion what is the most reliable, economical Freelander and the most pleasure to drive?
I am looking for one for my son :)
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What sort of budget does he have and what sort of DIY will go into maintenance?

The FL2 is probably more reliable, but I'm sure its not by much because F1 is a very reliable motor (V6 aside). If an F2 goes wrong though, you can be in for serious grief because of all the modern electronics and gear - and those parts can be silly expensive.

If you are looking at an F1, I should think that the overall cheapest to run is a 1.8 K Series petrol. The K Series has a poor reputation, which in many ways is quite right - but it is only because of blowing head gaskets. If you are a into your DIY, then they are cheap and easy to fix - and it seams there's bugger all else that goes wrong with them. The K Series was sold across the life of F1, so you can get early basic ones and later more 'posh' ones - for real posh though you need to go F2.

The L Series diesel is on a par with e K Series for running costs and reliability - mine's 20 years old, I've owned it for over 10 years and its boringly reliable and will take 5 on a road trip with luggage and get very close to 40mpg. Its a cracking characterful setup, but your boy will be beaten off the lights by 18 wheelers and they were only sold up to 2000 so are quite basic.

I love driving my L Series, its slow off the lights, but fine on the open road and will easily pull very illegal loads.

If he is after a manual, then I'd be wary of a TD4 - the clutches appear to need replacing at quite low mileages and the clutch slave is inside the bell housing so is a gearbox off job to replace. They are though the only option for an auto. The TD4 is a common rail, so much more refined than the L Series and also more to go wrong, but they're still OK. If your son mainly does town driving though, in auto for, don't expect much more than 25mpg.

Parts are dirt cheap for F1 and loads of suppliers. I don't know what its like for F2. As I say, I wouldn't entertain a V6. They run very hot, often to hot!, and drink lots of fuel. You'd be better off with a V8 Disco.
 
It amazing how many people think a 4x4 can do anything in snow etc. Serious all terain vehicles have diff locks and all sorts. In inexperienced hands they aren't much better than a 2 wheel drive, worse in many cases cos the driver expects the car to do everything for him/her. A Freelander that's on the blink and only in 2 wheel drive is worse than an ordinary 2 wheel drive in slippy conditions.

Col
 
Colthebrummie said:
It amazing how many people think a 4x4 can do anything in snow etc. Serious all terain vehicles have diff locks and all sorts. In inexperienced hands they aren't much better than a 2 wheel drive, worse in many cases cos the driver expects the car to do everything for him/her. A Freelander that's on the blink and only in 2 wheel drive is worse than an ordinary 2 wheel drive in slippy conditions.

Col
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And you look like a great tart anorl. o_O
 
Colthebrummie said:
It amazing how many people think a 4x4 can do anything in snow etc. Serious all terain vehicles have diff locks and all sorts. In inexperienced hands they aren't much better than a 2 wheel drive, worse in many cases cos the driver expects the car to do everything for him/her. A Freelander that's on the blink and only in 2 wheel drive is worse than an ordinary 2 wheel drive in slippy conditions.

Col
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I agree, I don't expect the Freelander to be able to do anything extreme. The reason I took it to mam tor car park was because I tried driving out of the village by my normal route and the car got stuck on the hill and ended up sliding backwards. As I was cm away from hitting the dry stone wall on a single track road I thought it would be best to take it somewhere open to test the car out, without fear of damage.
 
GeogreO2717 said:
I agree, I don't expect the Freelander to be able to do anything extreme. The reason I took it to mam tor car park was because I tried driving out of the village by my normal route and the car got stuck on the hill and ended up sliding backwards. As I was cm away from hitting the dry stone wall on a single track road I thought it would be best to take it somewhere open to test the car out, without fear of damage.
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The Freelander will go pretty much anywhere, in any conditions, so if it won't climb a simple snowy hill, there's a problem. It's probably running FWD, because the PTU spline has failed, or the Haldex isn't working, but that will normally show a fault, but the PTU won't.
 
GeogreO2717 said:
Went for a drive today in my newly acquired 2009 Freelander 2 TD4 up to mam tor car park in the peak District to test out the TR in a safe location. And while it seemed ok, the moment I lost any momentum I lost all traction. I did what everyone said and put on the accelerator but I just ended up at 4000 revs and a car going nowhere sliping and sliding. I have seen videos of them doing amazing in snow so unsure if I have a problem or not. The car has a set of 4 brand new perrelli scorpion Verde all season tires so it's not old warn tyres. Tried in general mode, and GGS both with and without DSC and it made no difference, the wheels slip and the car doesn't move. It's going into the garage on the 3rd march for timing belt and parking break, is this something I should mention? Never driven off road before, however I'm sure it would've been better than that.
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4,000 revs in snow? No wonder yer lost control.

If yer pull away with 4,000 revs you'll be at max acceleration. What's the chance of tires gripping snow?

Check the rear wheels are spinning. Film it with yer phone or get someone to watch. Yours may have been converted to 2 wheel drive or broke'd.
 
DanClarke said:
Shouldn't the thread title be "Freelander Awful". I don't think you need to add the "in snow" bit at all. ;)

I'll get my coat. ;)
Don't tell @Bobsticle or @DevonGuy I said anything about the lovely Gaylander...please. :D
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Gaylander! That really IS hilarious!! Never heard that one before! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
24 years ago the haters thought up 3 jokes about the Freelander: 1) Where is the hairdryer 2) The doors fall off and 3) It's really called a Gaylander. In 24 years that's the best they could come up with.
Having actually owned a Freelander for 7 years I think I'm better qualified than most of the haters as to its performance. In snow, it's a very good little performer and will show a clean pair of heels to most of the competition. If you don't believe me, just try it, There's no cheaper way to own or run a LR product.
 
Hippo said:
4,000 revs in snow? No wonder yer lost control.

If yer pull away with 4,000 revs you'll be at max acceleration. What's the chance of tires gripping snow?

Check the rear wheels are spinning. Film it with yer phone or get someone to watch. Yours may have been converted to 2 wheel drive or broke'd.
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I didn't pull away at 4000 revs, I put it in GGS with DSC off and tried to pull away slowly just as I would in the fiesta (2nd gear and low revs). The thing was when I lost traction, I applied a little throttle as suggested on most forums, however that did nothing. I tried it again with a little more throttle and it reached 4000 revs and I still didn't get any traction.
 
DevonGuy said:
Gaylander! That really IS hilarious!! Never heard that one before! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
24 years ago the haters thought up 3 jokes about the Freelander: 1) Where is the hairdryer 2) The doors fall off and 3) It's really called a Gaylander. In 24 years that's the best they could come up with.
Having actually owned a Freelander for 7 years I think I'm better qualified than most of the haters as to its performance. In snow, it's a very good little performer and will show a clean pair of heels to most of the competition. If you don't believe me, just try it, There's no cheaper way to own or run a LR product.
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Which is why I thought I would give you this marvelous opportunity ;) We all know there's nothing wrong with them. :)
 
Hi:
Hello, here is a good example of how to drive on a snowy ramp. You will see that if you accelerate too much you lose traction and dig into the ground. Smoothness. If it sinks back a little and start smooth again. By the way and very important, it seems that it has M + S and 3PMSF tires.



 
GeogreO2717 said:
I didn't pull away at 4000 revs, I put it in GGS with DSC off and tried to pull away slowly just as I would in the fiesta (2nd gear and low revs). The thing was when I lost traction
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I say again. There's something mechanically wrong with it.
It sounds like it's only FWD, which can happen if the PTU splines have stripped, which is actually quite common, equally as common as the rear diff failing, or the Haldex failing due to lack of maintenance.

You need to get the AWD system checked by someone who knows what they are looking at.
 
kermit_rr said:
starting off on a slippery incline takes practice and appropriate tyres help.
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The OP has suitable new tyres, although in my experience, the Freelander makes the most of the available grip, doing OK even on crappie summer tyres.
The vehicle in question must have a mechanical issue.
 
A couple of observations:

1. There's snow, and there's "snow". Impressive YouTube videos of cars tanking through axle-deep snow look impressive, but fresh, new snow, is actually quite grippy. The nasty stuff, is the hard-packed snow, especially if the sun comes out and melts the top surface very slightly. When that happens, EVERYTHING will struggle! (Unless you have studded ice tyres)!

2. When the OP says the wheels were spinning, was the back end sliding? That might give some clue as to whether drive was reaching the rear axle as well.

3. Was the OP's traction control light flashing on the dash?

4. Personally, I find "all season" tyres a bit of a compromise. Mrs. Avocet's late X-Trail was on Scorpions and they're a great all-round tyre, but true "Winter" tyres are better on the cold stuff. My daughter has a completely standard 1300 cc Mazda 2 and lives in the Scottish Highlands. She runs on Kumho Wintercraft (other brands are available!) Winter tyres and has, on occasions, driven past stranded 4x4s. The fact that her car is light, also helps on slopes. Eventually, of course, she runs out of ground clearance when the snow gets too deep. That's where the 4x4s have the advantage, but on packed snow that's not deep, she can do just fine. True Winter tyres have a three peaked mountain with a snowflake symbol moulded into the sidewall. Tyres with "mud & snow" on them are not necessarily Winter tyres. That refers to tread pattern whereas the real secret is in the rubber compound used in a proper Winter tyre. It grips much better at low temperatures. Some "All season" tyres can just about scrape into the "Winter category" and meet the minimum grip requirements to be classified as such, but a true Winter tyre is likely to exceed those requirements by more of a margin. Nokian are another very reputable make. Popular in Finland!

My FL1 is on Event ML 698 "all terrain" cheapo tyres and they're OK in fresh snow, but they're pretty rubbish on the hard packed stuff or on ice.
 
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