Nodge68 said:

I'm sure the thread title should be "Freelander's Aren't Rubbish Off Roaders!!"

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monkfish24 said:

No, I wanted to stir up a bit of interest!

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monkfish24 said:

They aren't bad at all. mine seems to be coping with farm duties quite happily. So much so that I haven't even had to fire up the series and get it running. (Not starting at the moment). It's warm, has a radio, is versatile and seems to be taking the abuse I'm giving it.

Even my wife enjoyed her drive around the fields while sat on the roof bar.

The head gasket has finally let go now though. It'll get fixed this week. (This is a problem from before it's working life.)

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300bhp/ton said:

“Good” is a relative term though. As it depends on the exact terrain and use.

For its design limitation the Freelander is surprisingly capable. But lacks low speed control, has poor ground clearance, poor suspension travel making it less stable on rough terrain and has huge overhangs and vulnerable bumpers.

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300bhp/ton said:

“Good” is a relative term though. As it depends on the exact terrain and use.

For its design limitation the Freelander is surprisingly capable. But lacks low speed control, has poor ground clearance, poor suspension travel making it less stable on rough terrain and has huge overhangs and vulnerable bumpers.

On the flip side the TCS and lowish weight mean they generally work well on loose and slippery surfaces such as wet grass, snow and sand. But they are less at home with deep mud, steeps ascents and descents and big axle twisters.

Eg

Coil sprung independent suspension limitation results in an unstable vehicle with wheels in the air:

Vs something with live axles:

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GrumpyGel said:

I'm not so sure you are using a good example there. All 3 vehicles pictured have open front and rear diffs. The Freelander is obviously getting no drive to the back axle due to 1 wheel being in the air, the other 2 will have limited traction due to the suspension being at its limits. The Freelander and RR have an automatically locking traction between front and back axles, the Series will have manual - so with 3 wheels firmly on the ground, all 3 vehicles will be able to drive through the those "obstacles". If one of the front wheels loses traction though, an axle twister, that's different. The Freelander will have TC on all 4 wheels so will be able to drive through it. The RR will have limited TC - so will hopefully drive through it. The Series has no TC so will get stuck.

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300bhp/ton said:

Theory is fine. However as 2 of the 3 vehciles are mine and the other my Mums. I can give conclusive results that the Series is by far the most capable of the 3 despite having open diffs and least likely to get stuck on this terrain. The Range Rover is very good also and the 4 wheel TCS is superb. But ultimately it’s long wheelbase, big bumpers and large overhangs limit it’s ability on this terrain and it will, even in extended off road mode (after its been beached) end up sitting on its belly rather a lot and you end up with a lot of impacts under the car.

The Freelander is cool and is brilliant in the snow. But there is no denying it feels boarder line scary on terrain like this. It feels massively unstable lifting wheels off the ground and sometimes flops over with alarming momentum. Most of the time it probably is miles away from rolling over. But doesn’t feel it from the drivers seat. And ultimately stands more chance than the others at ending up on its roof.

This Freelander is a manual Td4, although we had a 1.8 previously. Have driven autos, L-Series and V6’s too.

HDC is brilliant and for laning works well. But on technical terrain is too fast and unlike the D3 and newer models isn’t programmable. Think it’s 5mph which is 4mph too quick! Lack of low range means you don’t have the wheel torque either. Both of these things mean you have to drive quicker and harder to cross the terrain. Which is hard work and potentially more damaging.

All of the manuals have a weak clutch too. Which means you end up spinning it on technical off road use.

Having driven a few Freelanders over this terrain they all stuff their front bumpers into the ground. And take serious knocks under the Vehcile. They can do it. But it feels brutal and largely unstable.

The terrain isn’t that extreme either. But has plenty of axle twisters and it somewhat technical.

Haven’t got any footage of the Freelanders going round. But here are some other Land Rovers to give an idea.



This is a Range Rover Sport on the same terrain. So it too has independent suspension. But the air suspension has cross linked air bags to simulate a live axle. It also has more wheel travel than a Freelander. Yet despite this it still ends up with wheels in the air quite a bit. Although obviously is capable. However it still took some exterior trim damage going round here.

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gstuart said:

thought this video was a good one showing different models

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GrumpyGel said:

@Hippo has a video of the same event - IIRC shows F1 not getting stuck, unlike the Defenders/Tratters

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Hippo said:

Ere we go again picking ont Freelanders. If it lets yer feel betterer about the failings of yer own rust heaps then that ok with us.

The reason why Freelanders lift a wheel is because we only need 3. Balance and agility is the art of true control of a vehicle. Balancing on 3 wheels reduces tyre wear anorl.

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gstuart said:

that would explain why desert sand lizards lift alternate feet up, lol

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300bhp/ton said:

HDC is brilliant and for laning works well. But on technical terrain is too fast and unlike the D3 and newer models isn’t programmable

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Nodge68 said:

The D3s adjustable HDC is a really nice touch, that the Freelander could have done with.
I found the D3 pitched just as much as the Freelander in axle twister situations. The air suspension not allowing full travel, particularly when it was set at off road hight. This allows the rear wheels to become airborne just as often as the Freelander does. With a D3, there a lot more vehicle to become unstable, which feels more alarming than being in the Freelander over the same ground.

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gstuart said:

Ref full travel, is that where u turn the DSC off so that the suspension will act the same as a live beam axle plse, so indeed tries to keep it level as possible

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