The capabilities of a Freelander, just how good are they?

[OneRace]

Calling all Freelander bashers...

How capable is the Freelander off-road, especially of endurance and competitive safari's? (Assuming that the shocks, suspension mounts, etc have all been suitable upgraded).

The model in question would be latest V6 Freelander.

Is it presumptuous to make the assumption that it is a 'soft-roader'?

[s.stirley]

Just buying one now, and from all the research I've done (quite considerable !) it's definately *not* a soft-roader ..

Obviously it's not up to the off-road capabilities of a 'proper' LR, but then that's not what it is. If I really wanted to go off-road I would buy a V8 Rangey I think, but since I want to go off-road occasionally and have a comfortable not too big car that doesn't break the bank to drive I've gone for the Freelander.

There are a lot of clever electrical gizmos like ETC, HDC etc that I like .. love my gadgets :)

[Lighting90]

Look in June issue of LRE page 28, they have a good pic of the M-sport prepared V6 Freelander, it was a recce vehicle for Colin McRae.
If you are willing to spend the money, any car can be converted, just how much is still original is the question.

[da bomb]

I had the good fortune to having driven all of the current range of landrovers at Eastnor Castle, with the exception of the latest Rangie.
Now Eastnor is rough in places and the freelander still made it around, the only problem being that it is a bit low slung, and it dragged its ass nearly the whole way, making some nice noises in the process until we had to rehang the exhaust that came off its rear mount!
In its class, i would say it wins hands down, in icey conditions, and this came from the instructors, nothing else can touch it, with its reasonably lightweight and electrickery kicking in, it will go places nothing else will (which isnt much good in the desert!)
The problem comes with it's independent suspension, put a load in it, and the whole floor pan gets alot closer to terra firma, put a load in a defender/disco, and the axles are always at the same height, keeping it out of the muck, to a certain extent.
I would of said, given your situation (Fuel/spares/safety gear/tools/water etc) that you would have some considerable loading above your average rally stage vehicle, im not totally sure if it would take that long term abuse loaded like that?

[OneRace]

How extensively could be suspension be modified? Could it be raised a few inches, have stronger shocks/dual dampers installed?

If the Freelander could be modified to have a ground clearance similar to a Discovery....???

[da bomb]

I suppose that you could modify it alot, after all it happens to the majority of manufacturers vehicles used in the endurance rally type event, where you get the parts from etc im not sure, could give the Landrover boys a go, see if they have done anything outrageous to one of their own, or have a look at what was done to that rally stage recce car.
It would certainly be a lighter vehicle than other stuff in the range and with a V6 it would be reasonably torquey/quick.
Who makes the engine for that, is it a Rover item or a BMW unit?
If you can get a full internal cage, you could stiffen up the shell no end, including the suspension mounts, which means you could modify the suspension points, and fit quite a range of dampers, including even more exotic stuff with seperate reservoirs to keep them cool etc, i would say have a look at Car and Car Conversions, its a magazine big into motorsport, and covers rally preparation etc, also has all the big suppliers of motorsport equipment etc advertised. Could always find out through them if they have reccomendations for this line of query.

[Tim in Scotland]

There is a 2" lift kit available for the Freelander from Bearmach I think. I believe that because of the Suspension geometry and transmission it isn't possible to go any higher than that without major reconstruction.
Try asking on the Yahoo egroup for the Freelander Club or on the forums at www.Freelanderowners.com - there are at least 2 guys who have done it, one of whom is a Yank who did it to his V6 and then got a $10000 bill to fix it all back to normal when it went horribly wrong offroad and he ended up on a flatbed to get home and the dealer and LRNA didn't want to know or help.

[Mark Charnley]

There are various mods out for the Freelander now! Just buy ALL the landy mags for a couple of months and you will find what yuo need!

[s.stirley]

Bearmach are online here - http://www.bearmach.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Freelander_Parts_165.html

[OneRace]

Been speaking to an American chap who has had a 2" lift and was very successful, he even did the measurements and sent the specs to us!

Just been on the NCAP website, the Freelander is not the safest of vehicles when crashed! The roll cage and structural mods should take care of that though.

One concern is its performance in sand & mud (especially sand). Recently we took a Discovery in to the Oman desert for five days and had to use the diff lock and low range a number of times to get unstuck. The freelander doesn't have this does it...

So traction control, which is the alternative in the freelander...is it as good?

In the British Off-Road Championship one competitor uses a Shogun Pinin (the most weird vehicle I have ever seen, it just doesn't look right) and is successful.

Anyway, feedback on the traction control would be appreciated. Is it reliable?

[s.stirley]

I've read a number of times that traction control just stops you in really bad sand, not ideally what you want ! people asking how to disable it ...

In use it's very reliable, but I've never tested it in sand so can't comment. It's great for all other conditions, including normal wet roads :)