clutch pedal stiff and noise??

hi guys,i have just bought my first freelander(2000 1.8 5 door)and the clutch is a little heavy but seems to go into gear ok and fairly smooth(slight crunch going into reverse)and a low biting point,my question is do you think i could improve the stiffness of the pedal if i changed the master/slave cylinder set-up?or do you think its just wear on clutch?its done 80000 miles,i looked at another and the pedal was great but it had a new clutch a while ago and these are the only 2 that i have driven.Secondly when driving mine i get like a whirring sound from underneath(hard to explain but like you can hear the 4x4 system,i wondered if this was normal for that type of set up?my old disco was really smooth and v8 so only heard the engine burble,again the other i drove was terrible!it made loads of moans,knocks and vibrations and mine is lovely compared to it but as i said ive not had any experience with freelanders so looking for some help,cheers all and great site!

the rod going in to gearbox at the slave cylinder probably siezed get plenty wd 40 sprayed on it!! and whirring could be prop shaft bearings both pretty common and easily fixed