Land Rover Freelander Review (2013) | Part Two

The Land Rover Freelander 2 is a very easy car to get in and out of and the driver’s seat even offers easy in / easy out - by power sliding the seat backwards to help you.

Finding the ideal driving position is easy thanks to the powered driver’s seats, which adjust for height and reach (3 memory slots), as does the steering wheel although that is manually controlled. The high seating position affords a commanding view of the road ahead making progress easy.

The ride is a bit on the soft side but it is very comfortable soaking up all but the most vicious of pot holes. However, there is too much body lean to make spirited progress on ‘B’ roads. Although there is plenty of grip and it does not feel too compromised when compared to a normal family car.

But of course this is subjective and to be honest we do not feel it will upset too many owners.

The Freelander is equipped with an intelligent four-wheel drive system which can respond to changes in traction in 150 milliseconds to adjust torque between the front and rear axles. Plus there is a new Terrain Response system which optimises the electronic systems for the prevailing conditions. There are four settings, Normal, Grass-Gravel-Snow, Mud & Ruts and Sand, which help to control how power is delivered by modifying the traction control, stability and anti-lock-brakes.

We wouldn’t recommend venturing too far off road or doing anything too adventurous, as the Freelander lacks, locking differentials and a low ratio gearbox, which prevents progress over challenging rough terrain or very muddy conditions but it does cope well with green lanes and will happily tow a horsebox.

We have used a Freelander in difficult winter conditions in the Welsh mountains and never once did we feel it was out of its depth, finding both the terrain response and hill descent invaluable.

As we said getting in and out is a fairly easy affair, although some people might find the seats a little high to climb up to. There is plenty of head and shoulder room for all occupants and the front seats are wide and comfortable. The Freelander is equipped with theatre seating so that the rear seat passengers, depending on their height can see over the front seat occupants.

The interior feels light and airy with twin-sunroofs but only the front one opens but both have blinds to shut out un-wanted sun/heat. Dual climate control is standard so that front seat occupants can control their temperature preference - there are also heated front and rear windscreens, which are great for removing winter condensation.

The rear seats fold on a 60/40 split -� folding completely flat although the boot is quite shallow and is compromised a little by the intruding rear wheel arches. It can accommodate 755 litres of cargo with the seats up and 1,670 litres with them fully down.

There is even a full size spare alloy wheel, which is a rarity these days in the wake of the weight saving and penny pinching measures.

Parking is easy due to the front and rear parking sensors combined with a reversing camera and all-round vision is good but some will complain about the thick rear pillars which accommodate the speakers. The Freelander does not support self-parking, which is an option on certain Range Rover Evoque models.

Creature comforts include LED day time running lights, supported by Bi-Xenon headlights - which automatically come on at dusk and automatic wipers. There are remote audio controls on the steering wheel along with cruise control (not adaptive), Bluetooth telephone and we liked the central TFT panel between the speedometer and rev counter, which normally displays trip data but will show navigation info when needed.