A Day with the Freelander 2!

[Maverick5490]

Hey Guys,

Land Rover is presently testing the Freelander2 big time in Mumbai.The car is here from the past 3-4 months on Carnet, and being driven extensively along the length and breadth of Mumbai.On weekdays, the car is driven through city traffic and certain routes to cover roughly 100 Kms/day. Whereas on weekends, it is supposed to be driven for at least 500 Kms!! The oil samples, fuel samples, etc are closely monitored by LR technicians from the UK.
Ok enough said, I finally got a chance last Sunday (12/10/2008) to take the beast for a long drive.Did not get much time to plan, so simply decided to drive upto Shirdi and back,with Wifey,Sis and BIL for company.

Now the Initial impressions:

Looks:Smart, Tall and handsome.Decades ahead of the earlier freelander.Looks distinctive, and people keep flashing lights at you or move out of the way!

Interior:Again very well made, driver oriented console.The front 2 seats are very luxurios and comfortable,with armrests.Steering reach and feel is very good (getting used to blinkers and wipers on the opposite side needs some time).
The rear though is dissappointing.The back and lumbar support is good, but the leg space is terrible.Me being almost 6 feet, found it uncomfortable.
The boot space is amazing, some of it should have been used for the leg space in the middle row, but.. The boot floor can comfortably hold a 21 inch Rolls Royce Rim with tyre.Not many cars can do that!
The air-conditioning was also not upto the mark.Considering exterior temp in excess of 36 degrees, no dark tints and sunroof in the front and rear without internal shade, made the rear seats begging for more cooling.(Point has been raised to LR).The front though is comfy!

Now the Driving part:
It was my first long drive in an AT 4WD, and I was simply blown away.The engine is a 2200 cc 4 cylinder TC Diesel unit dveloping around 180 PS.Step on the gas and she moves, try a kick down and she sprints! 100 kmph to 140 kmph is very easy, though I did not push her too much.Could easily have gone upto 200!The braking part is something to be cherished.It gives so much confidence in the corners,Ghats etc that we were having a ball!
And then the suspension, people must be wondering what blazed past them when they were carefully avoiding the potholes and rough patches.She simply glides through whatever rough patch the road had to give us,without any body vibrations, noises and jolts!Something that will suit th Indian roads perfectly.
Also tried a little off-roading by the road side, was just a walk in the park for her.Wished i had her in the monsoons!
The car was tested right in the peak monsoon in worst possible roads and has done more than 11,000 MILES so far, and there is no body noise.And the mileage that we got in our 560 km journey was approx 13kmpl!
Had heard earlier that the Freelander 2 would be launched between the range of the BMW 3 series and 5 series, will have to wait and watch.Its totally worth the money I would say!

This is the first time i have written so much here.. now enjoy the pics!

[Maverick5490]

And now, the remaining pics!

[Sahil]

Great write up !
Looks like the family had a good time too while your enjoyed the beast on the highway.

I really like the front end looks and the rear to an extent, not too sure about the side profile, i does tend to lean on the boring side. Those meaty alloys add a lot to the exteriors.

Point you raised about the interiors being cramped and no rear ac would drive away many buyers, i hope they rectify this before they launch.

[.anshuman]

Any idea of the expected price in india?

[madhokritesh]

Nice writeup wanted to know wot the VX08 EOP Numberplate really means also the front numberplate is in white and the rear is in yellow, was it intentional ? Also how did u manage to get the for the drive Freelander ? was it because of good contacts?

[Maverick5490]

Originally Posted by madhokritesh

Nice writeup wanted to know wot the VX08 EOP Numberplate really means also the front numberplate is in white and the rear is in yellow, was it intentional ? Also how did u manage to get the for the drive Freelander ? was it because of good contacts?

The car is in India on Carnet, so the UK plates, and I work for Navnit Motors.. so the good contacts point is cleared!

[amtak]

Wow! Nice pics Mav! Freelander and Fun filled weekend with family. Good Combo.

PS: I guess your wife is not belted up in some of the pics? The pics at the top, she's belted up but not in the remaining ones. Not a very safe thing to do considering that you were off roading.

[Maverick5490]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Any idea of the expected price in india?

Not yet.Even the launch time frame is not confirmed.

Originally Posted by Sahil

Great write up !
Looks like the family had a good time too while your enjoyed the beast on the highway.

I really like the front end looks and the rear to an extent, not too sure about the side profile, i does tend to lean on the boring side. Those meaty alloys add a lot to the exteriors.

Point you raised about the interiors being cramped and no rear ac would drive away many buyers, i hope they rectify this before they launch.

Ya, she is not the kind where people will turn around and gawk, but that was what i liked about the FR2, she can blend in when the need be!

Originally Posted by amtak

Wow! Nice pics Mav! Freelander and Fun filled weekend with family. Good Combo.

PS: I guess your wife is not belted up in some of the pics? The pics at the top, she's belted up but not in the remaining ones. Not a very safe thing to do considering that you were off roading.

Lol.. that cannot be, i never drive without seatbelt and ride without helmet, and even my wife is used to the seatbelt.The pic without the seatbelt is when the car was stationary, and besides the FR2 keeps on giving a very irritating beep which will make you belt up even if you dont want to!!

[DocG]

Sushil that looks great man. Love the new FR2, I like the understated looks a lot. In some ways it looks even better than the Range!

Glad to know she also performs like an LR is supposed to. And hopefully they fix the problems raised for the Indian market...

cheers:

[egangsta]

Sushil, lovely pics, so it looks like the Freelander made its second trip via Nasik ..

[maddy42]

Well well no wonder i remember seeing this car in front of my house here. Well the roads are reaslly pathetic there and they must have been testing it there.
Mileage figures are to die for. SO whats the expected price range for this vehicle??

Must have been a fun drive to do something in the name of testing buddy. Tc

[speedy]

Hey great write up Maverick. The car looks better than in pictures for sure, i saw it in Dubai and now here. The front is awsome and somehow looses it by the time you reach the rear. A very capable offroader for its size. The drawback as mentioned by you maybe due to the fact that the car is designed keeping UK tempratures in mind where you dont really need the rear Ac, but it should be powerfull enough to cool the rear seats as well. The size like you mentioned is cramed for a tall person sitting in the rear, i wonder how this would be rectified, it could be a major diterent for a customer. IMO the car should be priced in the 25 to 30 lac ex showroom price range, so roughly around 35 or 36 lacs on road giving it a slight edge over the X3 and the still awaited Tiguan and Q5. All in all a great car. By when do you think LR would launch it here?. My brother wants a smaller SUV and this would definately be one of the contenders.

[Maverick5490]

Originally Posted by speedy

Hey great write up Maverick. The car looks better than in pictures for sure, i saw it in Dubai and now here. The front is awsome and somehow looses it by the time you reach the rear. A very capable offroader for its size. The drawback as mentioned by you maybe due to the fact that the car is designed keeping UK tempratures in mind where you dont really need the rear Ac, but it should be powerfull enough to cool the rear seats as well. The size like you mentioned is cramed for a tall person sitting in the rear, i wonder how this would be rectified, it could be a major diterent for a customer. IMO the car should be priced in the 25 to 30 lac ex showroom price range, so roughly around 35 or 36 lacs on road giving it a slight edge over the X3 and the still awaited Tiguan and Q5. All in all a great car. By when do you think LR would launch it here?. My brother wants a smaller SUV and this would definately be one of the contenders.

Ya speedy, the car should be around 35 lacs, not sure.No idea when its gonna be launched, might take sometime!

Originally Posted by maddy42

Well well no wonder i remember seeing this car in front of my house here. Well the roads are reaslly pathetic there and they must have been testing it there.
Mileage figures are to die for. SO whats the expected price range for this vehicle??

Must have been a fun drive to do something in the name of testing buddy. Tc

Where exactly did you see it maddy?

Originally Posted by egangsta

Sushil, lovely pics, so it looks like the Freelander made its second trip via Nasik ..

Nope not the second one.. its going there almost every alternate week!

Originally Posted by DocG

Sushil that looks great man. Love the new FR2, I like the understated looks a lot. In some ways it looks even better than the Range!

Glad to know she also performs like an LR is supposed to. And hopefully they fix the problems raised for the Indian market...

cheers:

Very true doc, i liked the looks of the FR2, not that big daddy Rangie looks bad,but its too intimidating! The FR2 is very low key for those who do not like to grab attention and yet have the performance!

[atom_ariel]

You said that the interior(in the rear) is disappointing.Can we see actually how bad the rear is?Have you any pics?

[maddy42]

Well i did see it in powai near customs colony. There is this 300 mt stretch with absolutely pathetic surface(No road). It gets worse in the rains.
I do remember the number of this vehicle. So when is the launch?