Freeloader

[gmookher]

(Cut and pasted from another forum)

Engines used for the Freelander.

RoW spec (rest of world)
In 2000, the Freelander diesel uses a 2.0 litre Td4 designed by BMW and is mounted in the engine bay horizontally. This engine is supposed to be very nice.

RoW spec petrol engine is based on the K-series 1.8 litre Rover engine.

NAS Market (North American Spec)
The Freelander petrol model uses a 2.5 litre KV6 .

 

[brianhoberg]

So was the LR2 Land Rover's attempt at hoping everyone will forget about the Freelander?

 

[Jayseal22]

wow odd my girlfriend has one and its great. Inside and out. Just had it in the mud today. I think it seems to be more of a case of the people that own them are not on boards and vocal. Its just a nice version of the CRV. And a Disco guy calling a freelnder a timebomb is like a crack head telling an alcholic he has a problem.

 

[rmuller]

No Jayseal, it is the truth.... they dont last, not the NAS version at least.. the forum muddyoval.com was once freelander central, everyone there had them... now they've either completely gotten out of land rovers all together, or upgraded to different LRs.. They wouldnt be that bad if there were replacement engines available for them!

 

[gmookher]

so where does one find out whats up with the lr2's service history for a could be buyer of a lr2/mdx/rdx/lx400 ish in the next 6 to 8 months(not for myself tho..for 'her')? besides muddy shovel that is, IP blocked there, woo hoo!

 

[Jayseal22]

but it was the best selling 4x4 in europe? Iam sure you can get them shipped in. Heads can be reworked and there are options. I have heard the same crap about discos. They fall apart its an ass pain to get new engines the are garbage. doesnt stop me from having 3 rovers in the driveway. or my sister having one and I am even looking for a mid 90s range rover. I have seen brand new hondas fall apart, Ferraris catch on fire, chevy cavaliers blow up, you just never know its all a gamble. And once something is out of warrenty doesnt matter if its from joe blow or mega car shack they all laugh at you.

 

[garrett]

wow odd my girlfriend has one and its great. Inside and out. Just had it in the mud today. I think it seems to be more of a case of the people that own them are not on boards and vocal. Its just a nice version of the CRV. And a Disco guy calling a freelnder a timebomb is like a crack head telling an alcholic he has a problem.

Most Land Rover dealers refuse to sell them. That should tell you something. They only time they set foot on a dealer lot is via a flatbed most of the time.
I talk to service and sales people from 8 different LR dealerships frequently. They all say the same thing. Junk.

 

[DJG]

but it was the best selling 4x4 in europe? Iam sure you can get them shipped in. Heads can be reworked and there are options. I have heard the same crap about discos. They fall apart its an ass pain to get new engines the are garbage. doesnt stop me from having 3 rovers in the driveway. or my sister having one and I am even looking for a mid 90s range rover. I have seen brand new hondas fall apart, Ferraris catch on fire, chevy cavaliers blow up, you just never know its all a gamble. And once something is out of warrenty doesnt matter if its from joe blow or mega car shack they all laugh at you.

I bought one for my wife, and sold it two years later. Glad I did.... although she really did enjoy driving it. From what I understand the vehicle was never designed to have a gas engine in it. As noted in a previous post, they have 4 cylinder diesel engines in them everywhere else but the USA. They (LR) thought there was a market for these and shoved a gas engine in them to get them over here. Bad move.

An example of the bad planning in the location of the oil filter. Have you ever looked under the vehicle and noticed where it is? You have to remove the plastic skidplate and various other small parts to get it out. Pretty shitty design and a good example of what happens when you rush a vehicle to a market.

 

[Rocky]

I bought one for my wife, and sold it two years later. Glad I did.... although she really did enjoy driving it. From what I understand the vehicle was never designed to have a gas engine in it. As noted in a previous post, they have 4 cylinder diesel engines in them everywhere else but the USA. They (LR) thought there was a market for these and shoved a gas engine in them to get them over here. Bad move.

An example of the bad planning in the location of the oil filter. Have you ever looked under the vehicle and noticed where it is? You have to remove the plastic skidplate and various other small parts to get it out. Pretty shitty design and a good example of what happens when you rush a vehicle to a market.

Never designed for a gas engine?

BS

They weren't designed for the V6. It was a 1.8 liter 4 (?K series) petrol from the getgo.

 

[LiftedFreelander]

wow odd my girlfriend has one and its great. Inside and out. Just had it in the mud today. I think it seems to be more of a case of the people that own them are not on boards and vocal. Its just a nice version of the CRV. And a Disco guy calling a freelnder a timebomb is like a crack head telling an alcholic he has a problem.

I have a freelander and I love it. It especially did me well when I went off roading one day and a guy in a mid ninties Z71 2 door tahoe started talking shit about Land Rovers. Then he showed me a place where his chevy had trouble going up, I asked him to go up it and he spun all four tires and it really struggled going up. So I got in the Freelander, put it in first gear and gave it throttle and it didn't spin a tire. His eyes were as wide as coke bottles.

Most people with a Freelander aren't gonna post up on site like this unless they are asking about technical questions, even then, they most likely will ask a service manager.

Mine has done great, it's only had one major problem, the rear main seal started going out, I caught it in time and warranty fixed it. I've been able to get 25mpg going 75-80 mph in it, it cruises really nice at 90 going to San Antonio (speed limit on I10 is 80) and I'm getting ready to make a few more mods to it and take it to Moab for the 2008 LR National Rally.

I wanna add a grill guard, stronger skid plate, winch, and auxilary lighting.

A lot of people underestimate the Freelanders, and I honestly don't blame them because it doesn't have a low range, I wish it did. But I've never had mine stuck and never had to back out of something. I've been in everything from sand to mud to big rocks and all kinds of crap.

But one thing I wish mine had even more than the low range, is the diesel motor, but we have the gay treehugging states to thank for all of the Land Rovers not being available with diesel engines.

 

[garrett]

If you're not getting stuck, you are likely sticking to fire roads. Assuming it's bone stock.

Low range is a HUGE downfall of the vehicle along with ground clearance that rivals an Outback and complete lack of suspension articulation that again rivals an Outback. The problem with not having low range is that you are then forced to give the vehicle too much throttle in areas where it's not wanted. Brake modulation is the only way to slow it down and keep you crawling on the front and back side of obstacles.

The LR2 is a vast improvement in quality and looks, but the lack of low range is still a huge setback.

They were obviously designed without off-road ability in mind hense the lack of low range.

I am sure they are zippy, mobile little cars, but they have too many weaknesses in my mind to be of any value.

 

[LiftedFreelander]

I've taken the Freelander through worse stuff than my dad has his LR3 but that's cause my dad doesn't take his LR3 through bad stuff.

My Freelander has the 2" lift and BFGoodrich All Terrains which offer about another inch of lift.

I plan on doing a few more things to it later on.

I just had surgery so I gotta wait till I heal up to do more to it.

 

[CADisco]

If you compare the Freelander with say the Subaru Outback, its a really neat little rig. Very capable on icy mountain roads and when you use the auto-manual shifter, its a lot of fun to drive. My son's best friend had one and I've been off road with him several times. Its not a rig for running on rocks, deep ruts or steep muddy climbs, but it can handle the average trail much better than anything in its class.

Fuel economy, Freelander out performs a Discovery.

Acceleration and handling around mountain roads, a Freelander out performs a Discovery.

Flat muddy, wet grass, or leafy terrain, the Freelander out performs a Discovery.

Name anything without a low-range transfer case that can perform off road better than a Freelander?

As for its mechancial shortcomings, well Land Rover shot themselves in the foot there. The thing was the most popular SUV in all of Europe when they imported it over here. Now it has a reputation of being a nightmare to keep running. They killed any good PR it ever had and changing the name to "LR2" isn't going to be enough to rebuild the trust in the smallest Rover. The new vehicle probably is better mechancially, but the damage is already done and people will not forget that the first Land Rover they ever bought wasn't worth any more than a Yugo when they went to trade it in or sell it.

 

[LiftedFreelander]

I've been impressed with mine.

 

[garrett]

If you compare the Freelander with say the Subaru Outback, its a really neat little rig. Very capable on icy mountain roads and when you use the auto-manual shifter, its a lot of fun to drive. My son's best friend had one and I've been off road with him several times. Its not a rig for running on rocks, deep ruts or steep muddy climbs, but it can handle the average trail much better than anything in its class.

Fuel economy, Freelander out performs a Discovery.

Acceleration and handling around mountain roads, a Freelander out performs a Discovery.

Flat muddy, wet grass, or leafy terrain, the Freelander out performs a Discovery.

Name anything without a low-range transfer case that can perform off road better than a Freelander?

As for its mechancial shortcomings, well Land Rover shot themselves in the foot there. The thing was the most popular SUV in all of Europe when they imported it over here. Now it has a reputation of being a nightmare to keep running. They killed any good PR it ever had and changing the name to "LR2" isn't going to be enough to rebuild the trust in the smallest Rover. The new vehicle probably is better mechancially, but the damage is already done and people will not forget that the first Land Rover they ever bought wasn't worth any more than a Yugo when they went to trade it in or sell it.

No. The "new vehicle" [LR2] IS better mechanically in every respect to the Freelander. They are totally different vehicles now. The LR2 traction control is the only item that I've noticed that still suffers a great deal. Compared to the LR3 traction control it is crap. Night-Day.
"Wet grass"? "Leafy terrain"? Are we "wheeling" in my backyard? I dunno about you, but that's not my idea of driving off-road or even where I drive.
I can give you lots of things that will perform better than a Freelander off-road that does not have low range.
Tell me what makes a stock Freelander more capable off-road than say an Outback, RAV4, Jeep Compass, etc.?

EDIT: I'm impressed with my Simplicity lawn tractor too, but I'm not off roading with it.....yet.

 

[CADisco]

No. The "new vehicle" [LR2] IS better mechanically in every respect to the Freelander. They are totally different vehicles now.

I have no doubt, but the reputation will linger for a while to come. People who buy stuff that has had the issues the Freelander has had, generally don't go back for more. They move on to something more "reliable". Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me...

Tell me what makes a stock Freelander more capable off-road than say an Outback, RAV4, Jeep Compass, etc.?

I don't claim to be an expert of the Freelander, I don't own one myself, but I have seen them on the trails, and there seems to be evidence on here and elsewhere among the Land Rover online community of folks taking them off-road and being pleased with the performance. I don't see much if any such comments about the Outback, RAV4 or the Compass. maybe that is more a testiment to the folks who own Freelanders than to the vehicle, but I suspect its a little of both.

"Wet grass"? "Leafy terrain"? Are we "wheeling" in my backyard? I dunno about you, but that's not my idea of driving off-road or even where I drive.

What, they don't have grassy fields and leaves where you wheel? LOL :rofl:

 

[quick128]

my wife has had a freelander since 05 and no problems. I've had it mildly off road and it goes great. she loves it in the snow. It got her home past all the other 4x4s in the ditch last winter. she now wants a LR2. small for me but seems like a great vehicle for her.

 

[JohnOlson28]

Yea, I almost never see those driving anymore ha I had totally forgotten about them!

 

[garrett]

Yea, I almost never see those driving anymore ha I had totally forgotten about them!

Most owners wish they had too.

 

[expectthebest]

Just noticed some youg kid in town with a 3-door Freelander. I'll bet he has no idea what he got himself into.