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Land Rover Freelander 2 - 2.2TD4 HSE

HAVING CRITICISED THE RANGE ROVER for its bulk, which is fine if you want to take four fat friends to the polo, and not being a fan of the equally vast Discovery, useful for taking animals to market, I also tried the much changed and more user- friendly Freelander 2. This was another SUV which made me re-assess my views.

This car is a great improvement on its predecessor and it comes with just two engine options – a 3.2 litre six cylinder petrol engine and a 2.2 litre four cylinder diesel engine. I chose the latter as being more comparable with the X-Trail. Interestingly this unit produces 160 bhp – less than the X-Trail’s – but 400 Nm of torque – more than the X-trail’s. In practice they feel quite similar and have much the same fuel consumption. A six speed manual gearbox is standard with an automatic option.

The Freelander’s cabin is comfortable and classy, although to get the same level of standard equipment as on the X-Trail you have to opt for the HSE specification and still pay extra for Xenon headlamps. However, I was pleased to see that the rear privacy glass was not included and costs a further £300.

In most respects these cars are very comparable with the Nissan perhaps having the edge in practicality while the Land Rover is a little more up market. In the reliability stakes history would suggest that the Nissan would win, but we will have to wait to see how Land Rover fares under its new Tata ownership. Both cars represent the acceptable face of 4 x 4s..

 

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