First offroad attempt

SES88 said:

Speed is key, bottom of the car doesn't drag that much so just keep going, need to drive faster in a freelander than a disco anyway. Doesn't sound the best, but no damage is done

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This^^^^
Of road in the Freelander requires momentum. The TC works best with the wheels spinning faster anyway.
Momentum is the key

With a lift and bigger tyres they'll do most ruts it's if you try to keep up with modded ones with bigger wheels you'll struggle. They're great on green lanes where you're unlikely to come across ruts deeper than standard landy wheels. Mines done the intermediate course at Eastnor Castle with no dramas embarrassed a few discos

Speed is good in mud and in soft ruts. On rocky ground, slow and pick your line...... I have a Disco 3, a Series 3 88" and a FL1 for offroad toys (and have just got rid of our 2010 90 CSW) and have yet to find anything offroad the FL won't do in more comfort than any of the above. It's lighter and more nimble than a D3, so doesn't pitch and wallow under the weight, which is a huge bonus.

I must say I wish some of the lanes I drive had standard size ruts lol

Get your angle grinder out and fit 35s !!

Na 35s are to small 40s.... Much better

I'm hoping these will be a go with a 2 inch lift and 30mm wheel spacers
There 245\70\16 and just short of 300 quid a set


Any one fitted that size before to a freelander with those mods

RO51 said:

Na 35s are to small 40s.... Much better

I'm hoping these will be a go with a 2 inch lift and 30mm wheel spacers
There 245\70\16 and just short of 300 quid a set

Any one fitted that size before to a freelander with those mods

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Hmmm. That'd be interesting, I'd expect you'd be very close to the size of mine with them so you'll run into loads of clearance issues. I had to use the camber bolts to get strut clearance. Mod the front arches a lot even mod the tyres a bit. But the now fit and don't rub.

Dam lol I don't want to make any drastic mods to the arches

Might drop down to 235/70/16

235/70 or 225/75 is what you want to go for

I can get a set 5 of 235 70 16 for 337 delivered that's not bad for the event bfg rip off so that's the way I'm going to go I think

If I was buying tyres again I'd go for 235/70 over the 225/75 i got last time

SES88 said:

If I was buying tyres again I'd go for 235/70 over the 225/75 i got last time

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That's the size to make it look more manly I think lol
I was going to go with 205 but I think it's just to skinny as the freelander is not a light wagon at 1.8 ton plus my kit etc etc

I have the Event ml698's fitted, Have been good tyres so far 8,000 miles done

They settled in and didn't make so much noise after around 200 mile they seem to get better day by day for road holding/handling

Offroad they have been pretty good. 10x the road tyres i had

size fitted to mine are 215/65/16 but if i planned on using it alot more offroad i would probably buy something bigger and a lift kit

Got mine supplied and fitted by a friend so couldn't beat the price either which was good.


Did a small test on a uphill course i know. With road tyres the only way i could get it up the hill was with loads of revs using the traction control after fitting at tyres i tried it again and just drove up normally like it wasn't even mud traction control didnt even kick in!

SES88 said:

Speed is key, bottom of the car doesn't drag that much so just keep going, need to drive faster in a freelander than a disco anyway. Doesn't sound the best, but no damage is done

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Skill is key also - a Disco 1 or Defender is very forgiving and will stand a lot of grounding out and doing silly things. As many have said off-road driving in a FL with traction control is a different book, you need a better understanding and better interaction with the vehicle (in my opinion).

I have a TD4 FL1 and a Disco 1 and whilst I am not a greatly experienced off roader/green laner I have easily got the FL accross a very muddy field where the 300 Tdi Disco got cross-axled because it has no traction control...

Tannaton said:

Skill is key also - a Disco 1 or Defender is very forgiving and will stand a lot of grounding out and doing silly things. As many have said off-road driving in a FL with traction control is a different book, you need a better understanding and better interaction with the vehicle (in my opinion).

I have a TD4 FL1 and a Disco 1 and whilst I am not a greatly experienced off roader/green laner I have easily got the FL accross a very muddy field where the 300 Tdi Disco got cross-axled because it has no traction control...

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A muddy field and a well used by way are two different things some of the lanes I use round this way I think will never be driven by my freebie it just won't get down them. There are a couple that are sand and will put the car over enough for the passenger to touch the floor from the seat through the window. And will cross axle my old disco easy with over 3 feet of suspension travel on each corner.

I have been offroading and building off roaders for years and have had some good trucks from different makes, some out the box performed great and others need work but you can always tell if a car has the potential to be hard core or just ok. The freelander I think would lend itself well to places like Salisbury plain where there is a second line to take if one looks iffy.... but hard core it will never be with its factory layout

That's not to say it's crap, it's just... different lol

Being fair it is marketed as a sports utility vehicle so can't expect to much in the way of outstanding 4wd capability but should be a good all rounder

Compared to its competitors it is good off road. Compared to off roaders it has its merits and drawbacks. If you want an offroader buy a defender. If you want an offroader that is family friendly and still capable buy a disco. If you want a car with 4wd that can tackle more than the average car buy a freelander

I think I have just been spoiled with my previous cars I wanted something that returns good mpg and that was capable of being off the tarmac, I will be honest and say I'm disappointed with its off road capabilities in standard for after reading about them on guess I expected more from it.
Still o will modify it and adapt it until it does work as well as I think it should.

PROBABLY KNOW THIS ALREADY SORRY TO REPEAT

May sound stupid but are you driving correctly offroad. Its not like driving a normal disco/defender with diff lock.
Tried this several times and at first was driving slowly it didnt work.
Mine is a 1.8 petrol so revs are different

Keep revs up to around 2,500rpm and when the wheels are spinning the traction control works very well and all 4 wheels turn. try approaching a slippy muddy hill going slow and the car just grinds to a hault with 2 wheels spinning 1f+1r

Traction control slows down the spinning wheels with the least amount of grip forcing power onto the other drive wheels. i.e locking all diffs in theory!