Anyone offroading a Freelander 2?

I`m looking at getting rid of my BM and 90 next year and replacing with one car, the Freelander 2 seems to fit the bill in size, comfort for daily use, fuel consumption and from the videos i`ve looked at pretty good off road, anyone have any experiance of them. There seems to be no off road bits for them like rock sliders etc so thought i`d post up for any onhand experiance of them
cheers

I've driven a FL2 oft road at a LR experience day. Capable vehicle and improved traction control system over the FL1 version. Low power helps it trickle along slowly.

That seems to be the jist of what little info I can find, so sounds like a contender shame about the lack of any off roading accessories like rock sliders etc

It's true FL1 and FL2 protection is limited. But we don't do such rough oft road stuff as other vehicles which may be the reason. We're not into accessorising gok style like the tratterers. I guess it's down to how mad you want to go. Most tratterers buy the basic protection. Others like to accessorise with bling that's never going to be used.

The only protection I have seen are sump guards and fuel tank protection which depending on how mad you want to go should be enough.

Probably the only other thing I would like to add to that would be some sill protection

They won't be able to answer that question if they are, unless they have a phone signal, because they will be stuck in a field.

Low ground clearance just means yer need to pick yer route more carefully:



Traction control stops wheels with no grip from spinning:



This one gets far more exercise oft road than most of the tratters on ere, owned by the tratterers who pick on Freelanders and their owners the most:



Snow and ice:

Well said that man

I think the FL2 will definitely fit the bill for me, what are early high milers like as I don't think I could bring myself to drag a newer motor through some of the lanes round here

I've owned 3 of them and used 2 of them off road, in some pretty extreme conditions in places too. Ground clearance has not been the issue that I've read about and the approach and departure angles are superb! In addition, their much lighter weight and compact dimensions can give them big advantages over the "proper" Land Rovers.

The only issue are their lack of low range and the slightly weak manual gearbox clutch (the auto gearbox helps a lot here) along with the vulnerability of the fuel tank, which sits proud of the underbody by around 4"! Any serious off reading will require a Mantec tank guard.

Cheers, good to hear from someone who`s used one in anger so to speak the only thing from what i`ve read is the Mantec tank guard seems to be a bit fragile so would be looking into making something a bit more substantial.

What you've read really surprises me! I can't imagine why anyone would ever write what you've just read.

I have used one of these for the last 2 years and I can't imagine anything, short of a 50 cal round, that would have penetrated or damaged it. It's built like the proverbial brick "outhouse" and I would completely trust it to use as a jacking point if necessary.

Thats good to hear, its just i read a lot about them bending easy and having to be removed and straightened along with the brackets, but if you`ve had no problems must be user error on their part

Odd that, mine's still completely straight and not even marked. It's off the car and could now and could use a good wash, but that's it.

If or when I move on from my D3 a Freelander 2 would be my choice of replacement.

I would have thought the bumpers are vulnerable as I've managed to scratch mine at the bottom when oft road. FL2 is painted show it shows up more than just plastic.

Hippo said:

I would have thought the bumpers are vulnerable as I've managed to scratch mine at the bottom when oft road. FL2 is painted show it shows up more than just plastic.

Click to expand...

Manual TD4's come with a fair chunk of unpainted plastic low down and with very short front and rear overhangs, combined with sharply cut away approach and departure angles, I've never really had a problem.

By far and away the biggest issue, especially in convoy with bigger LR's, is the lack of low range

PS: Unscrew and remove the two stupid curtains that fix to the bottom of the front bumper on the later cars, it'll give you another 2" of clearance with the added benefit of making even bigger splashes in deep water

You may want to look at this site for off road kit http://www.mansfield4x4burystedmunds.com/index.php

Oft road gear is expensive for what it is.