Land Rover Freelander 2 (2006-) Review

On the road

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Being a Land Rover, the Freelander has a 'Command' driving position. So you sit high in your comfortable seat (same as a Range Rover Sport's), even with the seat-height adjuster at its lowest, and have a fine view out over the flat, square-edged bonnet with its raised outer sections (like a castle's battlements in cross section, Land Rover's designers think). The pillars aren't excessively thick and the door mirrors, electrically foldable in higher-spec models, are pretty big. Instruments and switchgear are clear, neat and not obviously related to those of other cars in the Ford empire.

On the road the Freelander feels keen and agile, thanks to steering with a surprisingly quick and sharp initial response given its lightness. It stays flat in corners, too, and never feels as if it might trip over itself as 4x4s sometimes do. It behaves mainly as a front-wheel drive car, but a slippery surface and a deliberate footful of accelerator can provoke a gentle tail slide if you try hard enough. So we are told, anyway. The key to the Freelander's easy agility, at least by compact SUV standards, is clever calibration of the dampers: compliant when subjected to very short, sharp shocks, more resistant to gentler ones such as a quick steering movement, and able to control large wheel movements tightly.

And off-road? We've sampled the Freelander on a variety of surfaces in the UK, Morocco and Iceland and it performed exceptionally well for a small SUV - even when fitted with standard road tyres. The Gradient Release Control got a bit confused when jerking down some steps, but the Hill Descent Control, nowadays with descent speed alterable via the cruise control buttons, worked well and at no point did the Freelander get stuck. It can wade in water deep enough to cover the bottoms of the doors - though we had water lapping at the windscreen at one time and the Freelander took it in its stride. Terrain Response helps it cope with different surfaces, the settings are normal, grass/gravel/snow, mud/ruts and sand. There's no rock-climbing setting, though. That's left to the Discovery and Range Rover.

The lack of a low-range transmission matters little in practice, because the Td4 diesel is both very torquey from around idle speed and commendably free of turbocharger lag. One other Terrain Response trick is a display panel with a diagram showing the front wheels' steering angle. Useful if you've become disorientated on a seriously glutinous surface.

There's little doubt that the Freelander would cope far better off-road that anything else in the class.

The 158bhp 2.2-litre Td4 diesel is available as a six-speed manual or automatic gearbox and it's a punchy, rapid drive with minimal turbo lag and excellent pull from low speeds thanks partly to its variable inlet porting. At low speeds just one, high-swirl port is open per cylinder, while at higher speeds another, more direct port opens to feed the greater demand for air with minimal resistance. Maximum torque is an impressive 295lb-ft from just 2000rpm. Official figures see 60mph come up in 10.9seconds and a top speed of 112mph.

Although the 3.2-litre i6 petrol looks to have the edge on paper - its 229bhp means a 8.4second 0-60mph time - though it loses out on torque (234lb-ft @ 3200rpm), and the auto 'box feels as if it is taking 50bhp for itself before pushing it wheelward. The best all-round choice is the diesel - the petrol's really only here for the US market.

The six-speed gearbox, similar to the Ford Focus ST's, has a tight, smooth shift and a good spread of ratios to allow relaxed cruising. And if you need to lose speed in a hurry, you'll find the brakes powerful, progressive, pleasingly short in pedal travel and not at all snatchy.