Freelander 1 Freelander Tyres!

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Dartmoor Navigator said:
I wuz desperate, me tratter went boom followed by the slitty...

This is a temporary measure :D... but I quite like it so it might stay a while :oops:
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Looking back at yer post history it looks like yer been admiring Freelanders for a long time. I knew we'd convert yer one day. :p
I hope yer still kept yer pig?

Freelanders rule. :D
 
There's nothing wrong with the Freelander. It's some form of perceived stigmatizm that's been applied to its owners, where the problem lies. It's a good vehicle, that doesn't require as much welding as the larger Land Rovers.
 
Nodge68 said:
There's nothing wrong with the Freelander. It's some form of perceived stigmatizm that's been applied to its owners, where the problem lies. It's a good vehicle, that doesn't require as much welding as the larger Land Rovers.
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There is a huge amount wrong with the Freelander, from poor design, poor build quality and using it for something that it wasn't designed for.

In fairness, tho, most vehicles have similar faults, just different in detail.
 
The Mad Hat Man said:
There is a huge amount wrong with the Freelander, from poor design, poor build quality and using it for something that it wasn't designed for.

In fairness, tho, most vehicles have similar faults, just different in detail.
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:rolleyes: Exactly, they never put the right tyres on it, ground clearance is a bit of an issue and a low box would have been helpful. But oh no, they had to use a bunch of left over rover parts that were lying about :oops:

:D

There is something about the doorway shake and seat height, I have to scrape my head and cock my neck over to get in. Never had it in any other car and I'm only 5'10" - anyone else have this problem?
 
The Mad Hat Man said:
There is a huge amount wrong with the Freelander, from poor design, poor build quality and using it for something that it wasn't designed for.

In fairness, tho, most vehicles have similar faults, just different in detail.
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It sold well for a vehicle that was cobbled together with what Rover had kicking about in parts bins. Don't forget that the sales of the Freelander stopped LR from collapsing financially for many years;)
Dartmoor Navigator said:
:rolleyes: Exactly, they never put the right tyres on it, ground clearance is a bit of an issue and a low box would have been helpful. But oh no, they had to use a bunch of left over rover parts that were lying about :oops:

:D

There is something about the doorway shake and seat height, I have to scrape my head and cock my neck over to get in. Never had it in any other car and I'm only 5'10" - anyone else have this problem?
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You get used to ducking your head when you get in. The seat was deliberately set high to imitate that high driving position. Once you're in, the drivers seat is a pleasant place to be. Oh and the doors don't fall off when it rains ;)
 
Nodge68 said:
There's nothing wrong with the Freelander.
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The Mad Hat Man said:
There is a huge amount wrong with the Freelander.
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Slightly opposing views there :)

My view is that there are a lot of "IF"s with Freelander that you need knowledge to know these IFs exist. eg IF you don't let the VCU go to tight, IF you run 4 matching tyres, IF you make sure tyres pressures are all consistent, IF you steer clear of the petrol engines, IF (and this may be a bit harsh) you steer clear of the German engines. IF you follow those simple steps, then there's not much wrong with them and not much will go wrong with them.
Nodge68 said:
It's a good vehicle.
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The Mad Hat Man said:
In fairness, tho, most vehicles have similar faults, just different in detail.
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+1 on both those.
The Mad Hat Man said:
poor build quality
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That's a wierd one. All the reviews talk about poor build quality, the Dog & Lemon guide goes on about it - but that guide is so ****e as to make nothing in it reliable. Maybe when they were new there may have been issues, but the youngest F1 is a decade old now and they appear to have aged really well. Mine's 17 years old and apart from some water ingress, everything works really well - there's not even any rattles or plastic bits falling off.
 
Dartmoor Navigator said:
:rolleyes: Exactly, they never put the right tyres on it, ground clearance is a bit of an issue and a low box would have been helpful. But oh no, they had to use a bunch of left over rover parts that were lying about :oops:
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If they had "improved" any of those aspects, the car would have been awful.

Off road tyres would have given the car poor reviews because of road noise & on-road performance drops. Ground clearance is fine and you can very easily and cheaply get it up to Disco clearance with the added benefit of not dragging diffs through the dirt as well. I'm sure id they had put a low-range function in, the torque would blow the transmission somewhere, so everything would need to be beefed up, the cost would rise and they wouldn't sell any of them because everyone would buy Ravs, HRVs and Subarus etc.

So I think they got it about right as a "package".

As for the Rover parts bin - we joke about it but all car companies to it - they'd soon go bust if they didn't. I'm really glad my engine came from the Rover parts bin, although when K and KV6 owners are sitting there watching the steam escape their bonnets, they probably are not agreeing with me :)
Dartmoor Navigator said:
There is something about the doorway shake and seat height, I have to scrape my head and cock my neck over to get in. Never had it in any other car and I'm only 5'10" - anyone else have this problem?
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You need to remove your high heels :) I'm much taller than you (when measured in mm) and don't have a problem getting in.

Getting out is a bit less "fluent" as my thigh/bum drags across the side of the seat - which probably explains why all Freelanders have worn sides to the drivers seat.
Nodge68 said:
The seat was deliberately set high to imitate that high driving position. Once you're in, the drivers seat is a pleasant place to be.
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Not sure how you "imitate" a high driving position - it either is or isn't! I agree though, I find the driving position gives good vision and comfort either maneuvering around town or cruising out on the open road.
 
GrumpyGel said:
If they had "improved" any of those aspects, the car would have been awful.
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I wuz h'actually taking the mick :p, the Freelander is a car not a builders truck like a 90 or 110 :D.

When I bought this one I had considered a 90s and another disco, but you get fed up with filling the fuel tank up. I've still got my Mitsi Shogun Sport, the HG is weeping., it's a really nice comfy car to drive but I get fed up with the fuel bills!

I do more mileage in my works Skoda Yeti 4x4 than the Freelander, the Skoda is very sure-footed in terms of traction in wet / icy conditions, the down side is there is bu99er all space in it and it has been costly in parts - new discs by 20k and a new clutch at 28k, and for new car the MPG isn't anything to write home about.

I think there is a lot to be said for AWD systems. Take my Shogun, it's normally in RWD, stick it in 4wd and it essentially does the same as a Landy in diff-lock. Well that's OK if your on a loose surface but for winter roads where the surface is normally mixed it's a real bu99er as it winds up and is a sod to steer. Then take a disco, 90 or whatever.... if you don't have diff-lock engaged it can still send all the power to one spinning wheel. So, for me, these all wheel drive systems on the likes of the FL and Yeti have been brilliant for road / track driving where additional traction is needed. With the Yeti I can feel the car 'squat' into snow and ice, sensing the wheels and moving the car on - superb beastie in that respect - the HDC is weird, you can take it out of gear and feet off the pedals and ABS takes over...

Now, going back to the original question about tyres, under those conditions (above) having rubber that's bit more capable on an all wheel drive system makes sense when you are likely to encounter mud, ice, snow... in short, it delivers a driving package that makes a compromise between practical day to day family driving and winter conditions. The FL also tows my boat very well.


Now that's my excuse and i'se stick in' to it. :oops:
 
FWIW - future reference...

Freelander 1 - 55plate - 225 65 R17 Yokohama Geolandar A / T S G012

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It was a ton a corner, that's fitted inc vat. I think perhaps there's wriggle room to negotiate a fiver or so off that but I had already chopped the supplier back from his original price by about 30%. It seems there's loads of room to manoeuvre on tyre prices, you just have to ask.
 
Dartmoor Navigator said:
I wuz h'actually taking the mick :p, the Freelander is a car not a builders truck like a 90 or 110 :D.

When I bought this one I had considered a 90s and another disco, but you get fed up with filling the fuel tank up. I've still got my Mitsi Shogun Sport, the HG is weeping., it's a really nice comfy car to drive but I get fed up with the fuel bills!

I do more mileage in my works Skoda Yeti 4x4 than the Freelander, the Skoda is very sure-footed in terms of traction in wet / icy conditions, the down side is there is bu99er all space in it and it has been costly in parts - new discs by 20k and a new clutch at 28k, and for new car the MPG isn't anything to write home about.

I think there is a lot to be said for AWD systems. Take my Shogun, it's normally in RWD, stick it in 4wd and it essentially does the same as a Landy in diff-lock. Well that's OK if your on a loose surface but for winter roads where the surface is normally mixed it's a real bu99er as it winds up and is a sod to steer. Then take a disco, 90 or whatever.... if you don't have diff-lock engaged it can still send all the power to one spinning wheel. So, for me, these all wheel drive systems on the likes of the FL and Yeti have been brilliant for road / track driving where additional traction is needed. With the Yeti I can feel the car 'squat' into snow and ice, sensing the wheels and moving the car on - superb beastie in that respect - the HDC is weird, you can take it out of gear and feet off the pedals and ABS takes over...

Now, going back to the original question about tyres, under those conditions (above) having rubber that's bit more capable on an all wheel drive system makes sense when you are likely to encounter mud, ice, snow... in short, it delivers a driving package that makes a compromise between practical day to day family driving and winter conditions. The FL also tows my boat very well.


Now that's my excuse and i'se stick in' to it. :oops:
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I need my humor radar tuning!

Completely agree with what you say about the switchable and permanent 4WD setups. My old Disco would obviously handle the beach fine - but it needed to go into diff lock and low. When you get to firmer ground though your then switching in and out of lock. The AWD Freelander just gets on with whatever is under its wheels. I always had Kumho ATs on that Disco, the Freelander only had standard Goodyear Wrangler HTs.
 
Dartmoor Navigator said:
...the HDC is weird, you can take it out of gear and feet off the pedals and ABS takes over...
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Just a small point, HDC will only operate in 1st or reverse for manuals and manual 1st and reverse for auto's. Feet oft the pedals and it will limit speed using the ABS as best it can. ;)
 
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