Land Rover Freelander 2: day trip & driving impressions This past weekend, a family friend wanted to take his new Freelander 2 (LR2 in the US) out for a spin. We drove from Mumbai to Lonavla, and came back the same day. While at Lonavla, we went on some dirt / mud trails - basically roads that lead to farmlands, where typically tractors go. The following are my driving impressions on the car. Note, that I drove the base version - the 150 BHP version.
1. FIRST IMPRESSION:
The first impression that I had of the car as I approached it to get in was actually 'meah'. It didnt look special. It didnt have the jazz of the Audis. It didnt have the elegance of the Benz. Didnt have the oomph of a Beamer. I wondered to myself if my friends have made a mistake by buying this car, which is priced squarely inside the M-B-A triangle.
Once I got in, what immediately hit me was how much light gets inside this car. Huge windows, dual sunroof and very clear rear visibility. The AC was powerful enough to keep the entire car cool, so no worries there.
The fit and finish is good - but not benz good. The quality of the plastics is solid, but not luxurious by any means. The grilles that cover the speakers were not perfectly even - but good enough. Seats are comfortable, yet not plush - just the way I like the seats.
Overall, when I sat in the car, it felt like they had overpaid.
2. CITY DRIVING: Bandra to Vashi
We left Bandra, and immediately landed up in the Sion-Chunabhatti mess. The car moved effortlessly from one lane to another, and was actually quite comfortable in intense traffic. The side view mirrors and huge rear glass provide spot-on visibility of all surroundings, and make the car easy to drive. Transmission, pick-up etc is smooth - no turbo lag that I found at all. The steering is light - which is awesome in city driving. I had the feeling though that this light steering will not be as much fun on the highway.
Summary: the car was very comfortable in the city. Like a sedan would be. In fact - maybe better.
3. DRIVING IN THE RAIN: As if crossing Chembur in sunlight wasnt a challenge already
Once we hit Chembur, it suddenly started raining. a LOT. The automatic wipers of the car and automatic headlights kicked into action. The rear windshield wiper was a godsend. The high visibility because of the windows etc was a boon.
Summary: Driving in the rain even in traffic was actually very easy in thing.
4. THE HIGHWAY BEGINS:
I'll cover the highway driving impressions in the next section, in the 'return' part of the journey
MUDROADING: Farming for a good slide
Near Lonavala, there are a couple of small roads that go off from the old Pune-Mumbai expressway. Some of these roads stop being paved after a while. Perfect.
I took the Freelander to these places, and deliberately took it in places where I'm sure my sedans cant go. And the Freelander just went. There was a point when it slid around a bit, and I got a bit worried. But that was before I turned the 'Mud mode' (or whatever its called) on. A dial near the transmission can switch the car between Normal, Grass / Snow, Mud & Hill Descent modes.
With the mud-mode locked in, I was very confident in this car now. It went where I wanted it to go, and stayed true. The steering was a little too light - I wish it provided me more feedback about the terrain. However, it did everything I asked it to do. I didnt do any rock-trail offroading though. Didnt want to risk dents on their brand new car.
Summary: This is a genuine offroader. It doesnt feel as solid as the LR Discovery, and may be less capable than an X5 (not sure about this), but this *far* outperforms the X3, Q3 and Q5. Lets not even talk about the X1, because this is a happy thread.
5. HIGHWAY IN THE RAIN: Raindrops are falling on the sunroof
This is where I was truly impressed with the car. The steering was precise. The handling was precise. The car was stable all over. Windshield wipers were powerful enough. Rear windshield washers worked well. Everything basically worked. But not in a luxurious way -- in a way that just... works. The car didnt have as much power as I would have liked, but plenty of low-end torque. This is not a car which will throw you back in your seat when you floor it. But its powerful enough.
The stability of the car has to be commended. I felt completely safe driving htis thing in the rain on the M-P Expressway, and not once did anything get in the way. Heavy splashes of water from trucks in other lanes were immediately wiped away by the good wipers. Even pools of water were easily navigated by this car, and with solid grip all the way even at high speeds. This, really, is the USP of the car. Stability & Utility. Everything does what its supposed to do - but nothing more. Oh - also, there was barely any body roll at all. However, I wish the steering was a little more firm at higher speeds.
Summary: Best rain-highway ride I have had in a long long time
6. FINAL IMPRESSIONS: Should you get it?
This car has no features whatsoever. In 2012, they are selling a 6 CD changer. Which is ridiculous. There is a piece of **** MapMyIndia nav built in to the system, which crashed ('Invalid USB device plugged in. Enter key' was the error message in a Windows dialog box. WINDOWS!? REALLY!?). The GPS is a writeoff. No electronic seats. Buttons look like they were designed in 1987. Theres nothing 'new' about this car from the inside.
This, fellow BHPians, is an unbelievable car.
I can enumerate a hundred flaws with the car. Features. Fit and Finish. Colors. But when you drive it. Oh, when you drive it. All those flaws disappear when you drive it on the highway, in mud and in the city. Its like falling in love with a woman who you know has a lot of flaws. Like maybe she carries around a Windows CE phone still. But what're you going to do - when you're in love, you're in love.
Summary: The Land Rover Freelander2 is a utilitarian vehicle that is good for the city, highway and even offroading, if thats what you like to do. Beware of global reliability reputation of LR though.
If you're looking for a car in the 35-50L segment, its a crime not to test drive this car. Maybe you wont see what I'm saying, and maybe you'll not buy it because it has *no* gizmos (apart from utilitarian / safety gizmos like head lamp washers etc). But maybe... just maybe, you'll fall in love with it and buy it even though it doesnt have bluetooth audio. |