Ever since the Range Rover Evoque arrived on the scene, you can’t help but get the impression the Land Rover Freelander has been tossed into the back of the cupboard like an unloved old frock. Are we being overly fickle?
Sure, to help avoid this from happening, Land Rover has tarted-up the Freelander unashamedly with black trim and bigger wheels as you’ll find on our ‘Dynamic’ specification test unit. The Dynamic accompanies two other specification levels, namely SE and HSE. But it’s hard to believe they’re fooling anybody really. Jerry Seinfeld said it best when he told the bit about ‘Golden Boy,’ the best t-shirt in his closet that was always first pick after a load of laundry. “He’s the Golden Boy because he goes out there and plays every game: Wear, wash, spin, rinse, spin – but one day Golden Boy will die.” We all have items of clothing like Golden Boy. One day we’re wearing them on New Year’s Eve, the biggest event in the life of clothes, but the next they’ll end up ripped, torn and in the back of the cupboard. It’s the same with the Freelander and the Range Rover Evoque. The Evoque has taken over as the duties of New Year’s Eve outfit.
Land Rover have nevertheless tried their best for the 2013 Freelander 2, with new LED technology for the head and taillights; blackened trim for the grille and fog light surrounds as mentioned before on our Dynamic model; and new 19-inch alloy wheels. So while it does look a bit tartier, the simple, relatively compact Land Rover Freelander formula remains much the same. And that is hard to fault because the Freelander is just very pleasant to use on a daily basis. This might sound bizarre but when I drive any Land Rover, I find it simply makes me want to be a better person. The Freelander 2 is no exception. I want to be the type of person who takes part in his community, who helps with the neighbourhood watch duties, or at the very least smiles and acknowledges everyone in his suburb.
There is little else to do but waft to a preordained destination in a Freelander so you take your time and interact with your neighbours. In a Freelander it’s all about the destination and not the enjoyment of driving. The ride quality from its independent suspension is very good and the amazing wheel travel over any road surface is sublime. So dirt roads and a bit of light off-roading is a synch. But there is a slight scuttle up through the cabin from the tyres when you get it on a highway, quite simply because of how far any vibration needs to travel up from the road, but 98% of the time the Freelander is unbelievably comfortable and relaxing. This gives you time to enjoy the rather Spartan interior. It features a brand new centre console and Meridian sound system, with 7-inch colour touch-screen, as found in the Evoque and the manual handbrake lever has been replaced in favour of an electronic item, making space for the Terrain Response controls to be repositioned behind the gear lever, but it’s struggling to hide its age I’m afraid.
The new engine is pretty gutsy though. The Si4 is the same 2.0-litre, turbocharged, 4-cylinder engine found in the Range Rover Evoque and it replaces the Freelander’s Si6, 3.2-litre, 6-cylinder engine in the hope of improving fuel economy and emissions. This it does, the Si4 brings more power and torque to the range, 177 kW versus the Si6’s 171 kW, but also improved fuel economy and all-important CO2 emissions; around 8.7 L/100km versus the Si6’s 10.7 L/100km. The engine is mated to a six speed automatic and while the gears are shifted with an occasionally jerky, surging motion, the engine itself is pretty progressive and fun to rev out to the redline. It’s pretty fast too. I even helped another colleague shoot a road test video, using the Freelander as a camera car on and off road and the power and torque allowed me to keep up with the brisk hero car, no sweat, with 0 – 100 km/h coming up in 8.8 seconds and a top speed of 200 km/h on the nose.
This last venture unfortunately also took me out of the Freelander’s, neighbourly comfort zone and did show me some of its dynamic flaws. Around a mountain pass it was obviously never going to keep up with a hot hatchback, but the extent of its lack of agility was far more than I’d expected. Super light steering, and a dynamic disconnect between the driver and the road surface make for very little in the way of control when driving spiritedly. This is a shame because these sorts of cars really need to deliver in this department if they are to remain relevant and true to their marketers’ claims.
And on that basis, the Range Rover Evoque with the same 2.0-litre petrol engine is the pick for me. It’s a little bit more hi-tech and it’s most certainly more dynamic as an everyday driver. But even more than that, it’s new and it’s as good looking as a concept car spinning at an international motor show. It’s the ‘Golden Boy’ and the Freelander 2, I’m sorry to say, just isn’t any more.
What we like…
- Interior quality, comfort.
- Good acceleration from the SI4 engine
- Its tarty but it looks good now in ‘Dynamic’ specification
What we would like…
- Someone to pay for the fuel bills if possible.
- For the Freelander to have adopted more car like tendencies.
- To move off gracefully into the sunset, out of the Evoque’s shadow.
| Quick Facts | |
| Base Price | R500 400 |
| Warranty | 5-year/100 000 km |
| Engine Capacity | 1 977 cm³ |
| No. Of Cylinders | 4-cylinders, in-line |
| Aspiration | Turbo-Charged |
| Power | 177 kW @ 4 000 r/min |
| Torque | 340 Nm @ 3 500 r/min |
| Transmission | 6-speed Automatic |
| Drive type | All-Wheel Drive |
| Acceleration | 0-100 km/h in 8.8 seconds (claimed) |
| Top Speed | 200 km/h (limited) |
| Fuel Consumption | 9.7 L/100km (claimed combined) |
| CO2 Emissions | 224 g/km |
