Land Rover Freelander 2 News

...with the British brand planning a mild makeover this year.There are predictable changes to the grille and lamps but the most important thing is more efficiency for the engines.

The engine is a 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine, developing 110kW of power in the TD4 version or 140kW in the SD4, both with 420Nm of torque – and increase of 20Nm on the outgoing model. An updated manual transmission with Stop/Start now comes standard in the TD4, with the SD4 only available as a six-speed auto.Land Rover says the new unit is "quieter and more refined but sacrifices nothing terms of fuel economy or emissions."Outside, the Freelander 2 sports a new front bumper and grille with fog lamp bezels. Body coloured handles, washer jets, mirrors, lower door panels and rear bumper are offered as standard, and with alloy wheels and additional colour options, Land Rover describes the new look as "fresh and distinctive".Inside, seating has been upgraded to offer a broader choice in trims and adjustment options and all versions get a new-look instrument pack.Another notable change is the Land Rover logo. Gone is the gold on green, which has been replaced with a more contemporary bright silver on green.

The upgraded Freelander 2 will feature the technology that switches off the engine when stationary. Like most stop-start applications, it will only be available in the manual transmission, but Land Rover Australia public affairs manager Tim Krieger says they are working on an application for their automatic transmission. Land Rover claims it will be the first manual diesel SUV with stop-start technology when it arrives in Australia in December. The system controls throttle closing, ramps down fuelling and turns off the alternator to ensure the engine stops smoothly and has a bi-directional crank sensor and trigger wheel to quickly establish the crankshaft position, improving start-up time by 22 per cent. The new Freelander 2 will also feature new diesel engines with more torque, revised interior with new instrument dials, three new exterior colours, new alloy wheel options and a silver and green "Land Rover" logo replacing the traditional gold on green. The new diesel models have also been fitted with a fuel tank mis-fuelling device as standard to prevent drivers accidentally filling up with petrol. Krieger says the vehicle will have "significant appeal" in the market and that sales volume will "continue to build". Freelander is currently running sixth in the luxury SUV class behind Volvo XC60, selling 127 last month (down 2 vehicles or 1.6 per cent) and 568 year to date which is up 5.1 per cent, while the segment up has increased 17.5 per cent. Krieger says those sales are strong considering an upgraded model is imminent. He is also not concerned about competition from the compact Land Rover LRX which has now been formally named the Evoque. "We feel that there is room in the market for both products," he says. "The Freelander 2 is a well-established Land Rover product that offers all-round capability, practicality and comfort to customers. The Range Rover Evoque opens the brand to a new set of customers. Our research shows that this smaller, more urban SUV will naturally expand the breadth of appeal of the Range Rover brand to a younger and more style conscious customer. The Evoque will offer a very different proposition to the Freelander 2." The updated Freelander 2 features a new 2.2-litre direct-injection turbo diesel engine, claimed to be quieter and more refined than its predecessor. It comes with either 110kW of output as the TD4 model with an updated manual transmission and stop-start as standard, or the 140kW SD4 with the six-speed auto only. The engine in both models has an increase of 20Nm of torque to 420Nm, while fuel economy (6.6L/100km for TD4) and CO2 emissions (174-185g/km) remain the same thanks to a water-cooled variable geometry turbocharger that can run at higher speeds. For the first time, the Freelander 2 diesel powertrains are compatible with 10 per cent biodiesel up from 5 per cent. The Freelander 2 also includes "mild hybrid" technology that uses kinetic energy from the brakes when slowing to help recharge the battery rather than sapping the engine's power. Freelander will continue with the 3.2-litre straight six which has been re-calibrated to meet tougher European emissions regulations with unchanged power and torque of 171kW and 317Nm. FREELANDER 2 TD4 and SD4 Engine: 2179cc 4-cylinder, 16-valve turbo diesel, common rail fuel injectionPower: 110kW (TD4), 140kW (SD4)Torque: 420nmEconomy (l/100km): 6.6 (manual), 7 (auto)CO2 Emissions (g/km) 174 (manual) 185 (auto)Transmission: 6-speed manual with stop-start (TD4), 6-speed auto (TD4 and SD4)Drive: 4WD with Haldex rear axle differentialFuel tank: 68 litres0-100km/h: 11.7secs (TD4 manual), 11.2secs (TD4 auto), 9.5 (SD4)Top speed: 181km/h (TD4), 190km/h (SD4)Suspension: Macpherson struts (front); strut assembly with lateral and longitudinal links (rear)Brakes: ventilated 300mm discs (front), solid 302mm discs (rear)Dimensions (mm): 4500 (l), 2195 (w), 1740 (h), 2660 (wheelbase)Turning circle: 11.3mWeight: 1785kg, 1805kg, 1805kg

Our resident car reviewer brings us the low down on the new Landrover Freelander.I have to be careful because the original Freelander was dubbed 'freeloader' and that name has sort have stuck in my mind.By the way the original Freelander was given that less than flattering nickname because it was a pretty big disappointment – I wonder what paul will think of the new series 2 model.For all this and a lot more, listen to the podcast above...

Land Rover, whose sport utility vehicles are prime targets for green-minded politicians, will cut the average carbon dioxide emissions of its vehicles by some 20 per cent by 2012, which is more than the average cuts the European Union is seeking; according to its managing director.The brand and its sister Jaguar marque, which their owner Ford Motor wants to sell, are investing pound stg. 700 million ($1.6 billion) in CO2 improvements in their five-year business plan, with most of the money earmarked for Land Rover, Phil Popham told the Financial Times.The EU is preparing legislation requiring car makers to reduce their cars' average CO2 emissions through improved vehicle technology to 130 grams per kilometre by 2012, about 18 per cent lower than last year's average of 160g/km.Land Rover, like BMW, Porsche and other premium car makers, is unlikely to meet the target, and favours legislation that will take into account vehicles' weight, size or other relative factors when mandating cuts.“The pound stg. 700 million is a bit north of a 20 per cent improvement,” Mr Popham said. “We can meet the intent of the legislation in terms of percentage improvement, but there's no way we're going to get the fleet average down to 130g/km.”Land Rover and Jaguar, with no smaller vehicles in their line-up, are seen as two of Europe's brands most vulnerable to souring political sentiment on high-emission cars. After lagging behind competitors in developing smaller and cleaner cars, they are now investing heavily in them.At last month's Frankfurt Motor Show, Land Rover teased viewers with a film showing an image of a smaller concept vehicle expected to be unveiled next January in Detroit. The crossover-type vehicle was shown pulling out of a parking garage alongside a Mini, making it clear it would be smaller than anything in Land Rover's fleet.Land Rover is installing emissions-cutting 'stop-start' systems on its 2009 Freelander vehicles, which it will make standard on its fleet. The brand is expanding its diesel offering and developing a full hybrid car.CO2 is seen as perhaps the biggest single risk factor dogging the sale of Land Rover, which, unlike Jaguar, is profitable and reporting record global sales.Potential bidders doing due diligence on the brands including; Ripplewood Holdings, Terra Firma, Cerberus Capital Management, TPG, One Equity Partners, and India's Tata Motors; are privately pressing Ford for guarantees on the issue.London Mayor Ken Livingstone is mooting a flat pound stg. 25 a day congestion charge for big cars. 

There have been rumours for more than a year about something new from the British brand, and the confirmation came with the single press picture released at the Frankfurt Motor Show.The shot asks more questions than it answers. Still, it is obvious the car in the picture is a big departure from the chunky off-roaders that fill out the Land Rover line-up from the flagship Range Rover down to the near-new Freelander II.It is lower, much smoother and appears to have only two doors. And it has a swoopy roofline which is more like the new BMW X6 crossover coupe (also revealed at Frankfurt) than a traditional off-roader.It also promises much lower fuel economy, up to 10per cent better than the Freelander II, as well as luring younger buyers to the brand.The newcomer could be displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show in October, instead of fighting for space at Frankfurt in a Ford family group, which included the all-new Jaguar XF, Mazda6 and facelifted Ford Focus, but there is no firm timing for showrooms.“Next year would probably be too early. But we are not talking about the timing,” says Land Rover's Natasha Waddington. “We are just showing this picture for the moment.”The Land Rover teaser comes as another luxury brand, Mercedes-Benz, gets ready to downsize on the four-wheel-drive front.It has a GLK soft-roader ready for next year that will slide in below its existing ML and GL four-wheel-drives as a rival to the Freelander II and BMW's X3. But the GLK, which is based on the mechanical package used for the C-Class sedan, is not coming to Australia.“The GLK is not going to be made in right-hand-drive. We could not make a business case,” Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman David McCarthy says. “There is not enough volume. We would have liked it, but on the right-hand-drive side there is only Australia, the UK, South Africa and Japan. Not enough to make the numbers work.”The sneak peek of the new Land Rover comes at a good time for the company, which is on the auction block together with Jaguar and, most likely, Volvo as Ford looks to cut costs and complications to get it back into the black.It also shows Land Rover wants to follow Jeep into a more-youthful area of the four-wheel-drive business.The American company has been very successful in the US in turning Jeep into more than just a heavyweight off-road company, although its soft-shaped Compass has not done well in Australia. The Patriot, which is even newer, promises better results.Land Rover has its own model to copy, though, as it has done very good business with the city-focused Range Rover Sport. It is much more like a car to drive, even with its boxy body.The other Land Rover news from the Frankfurt show is a stop-start engine system that will be fitted to its vehicles from 2009. It is claimed to improve fuel economy by up to 10 per cent by killing the motor when the car is stopped in traffic, but it is only promised for manual transmission vehicles with more work needed on an adaptation for automatics. 

In the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) results this week, the Toyota Aurion, Toyota Camry and Holden Commodore all received a four-star safety rating, adding to the previously tested four-star performers, the Ford Falcon and Mitsubishi 380.NRMA Motoring and Services Vehicle Safety Expert, Jack Haley says most of these cars failed to reach a top rating because of the lack of side curtain airbags.The Toyota Aurion is the only car equipped with side head protection as standard, but Haley says Toyota chose not to proceed with an optional pole test. This meant they were unable to score five stars in the overall testing. The testing involved the top-selling version of each model and Haley says the other large cars offered curtain airbags as an option, but not as a standard feature in the models tested.“Obviously our aim is to get all cars up to a five-star safety rating,” Haley says. “We'd like to see curtain airbags in all vehicles and we would also like to see stability control as standard.”The Toyota Aurion and Holden Commodore have stability control as standard, but it is only an option in various other family cars. But Haley says stability control didn't contribute to the ANCAP testing, as the results show how a car performs in a crash, whereas stability control is an active accident-prevention device.Each car underwent three main areas of testing under ANCAP.They included frontal, side impact and pedestrian tests.Many Japanese and European cars have already received a five-star rating in the European version of testing, known as the EuroNCAP.They include the Toyota Corolla, Peugeot 207, Ford Focus XR5, Land Rover Freelander 2, Citroen Picasso, Mitsubishi Outlander, Volvo C30, VW Passat and Mini Cooper.Most of these models were tested as top-of-the-range, whereas in Australia the extra airbags are optional on some models. ANCAP advises motorists to buy vehicles with a full six-airbag package, including side head protection and electronic stability control.The Toyota Tarago and Mitsubishi Triton also scored a four-star rating in the recent testing, an improvement for the Triton, which is up from a previously low two-star rating.The Hyundai Accent scored three stars and the Mitsubishi Express van scored poorly with just one star. STAR RATINGS  Source: ANCAP 2007 

Ford has asked Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise on the sale, which is said to be in early stages and does not include Volvo, the third luxury brand in its Premier Automotive Group.The loss-making car company's share price was trading 1.5 per cent higher at $US8.36 on Monday afternoon after news of the sale. Ford is understood to be selling the two brands jointly.Jaguar and Land Rover's vehicles do not share common architecture, but the brands share purchasing and some other functions. Land Rover's Freelander 2 is made in the same facility in Halewood, England as Jaguar's X-type range.In March Ford sold control of Aston Martin, the sports car marque, to a Kuwaiti-led consortium in a £479 million ($1.12 billion) deal that included its own retained minority stake, worth £40 million.The company declined to comment yesterday on what it called “speculation”.Analysts were uncertain of how much Ford may get for the brands, whose earnings it consolidates with those of Volvo and Aston Martin. Ford's premium PAG group reported a pre-tax loss last year of $US327 million ($387 million).Land Rover, which sold a record 192,500 vehicles in 2006, is said to be profitable, but Jaguar, which is refreshing its line-up in an effort to regain market share, is losing money. “It may be `buy one, get one free',” said a person familiar with the two brands.The sale is likely to draw interest from buyout groups following last month's $US7.4 billion sale of loss-making US car maker Chrysler to private equity group Cerberus.Analysts said that many established car makers would baulk at taking on the two brands, whose large, powerful vehicles are costly to develop at a time of rising curbs on car emissions.Fiat Auto and Renault yesterday denied any interest in them.News of the sale followed months of denials by Ford that it was looking to offload the two brands. “They may be saying, `It's time to get back to what we know: volume car production,”' said Eric Wallbank of Ernst &Young in London.

Yet the all-new Freelander II is moving on up for 2007, from its styling to a focus on on-road performance and even a cockpit that is far more like a luxury car than a workhorse Land Rover. It is bigger in every direction — longer, wider, taller — and the pay-off is a cabin that is much more roomy as well as providing more luggage space.The price will also take a Range Rover-style move into the prestige world with a likely starting point around $50,000.The newcomer definitely takes the Freelander nameplate away from the dowdy original, which was slow, tight inside and outclassed by cheaper Japanese rivals. It was loved in Britain but fell well short of its opponents in the real world, despite impressive off-road ability.There will be two powerpacks in Freelander II — six-cylinder petrol and four-cylinder turbodiesel, both with an automatic gearbox — and two levels of equipment, with the first local deliveries around the middle of 2007.It is everything you would expect from a car company that has re-discovered its mojo, with minimal interference from its owners at the Ford Motor Company, and Land Rover Australia is predicting an early sell-out.It also says Freelander II will take the company into new territory, well above Japanese compact four-wheel drives such as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V and into a head-to-head contest with the BMW X3, currently priced from $64,900.But the three-door Freelander is gone and there are no plans for a replacement with less luxury or a tighter price."The volume for the three-door was pretty minimal, so it did not go forward," says Roger Jory, the new general manager of Land Rover Australia. "We're not going to do a bargain-basement vehicle. That's not where the brand is going, or what Australian customers want."We will have two models, probably a mid-spec car with a lot of standard equipment and then an HSE on top of that."Jory describes the new Freelander as a "cafe and Kakadu" car and it was previewed to the world's press in Morocco, over a broad mix of country bitumen roads, rocky tracks, sand dunes and beach running.It handled everything easily, as well as showing off well on luxury equipment including air-conditioning, alloy wheels and satellite navigation, which was specially calibrated for the remote road conditions near the city of Essaouira.The new Freelander is more than a compact look-alike for the Range Rover. It also drives like the Land Rover flagship, both on and off the road.It has commendable grip, poise and comfort on the bitumen, and can go everywhere you really need to go in a four-wheel drive. Both engines are punchy and enthusiastic, yet should be relatively light on fuel.Freelander II will be a success, without any doubt, although the final price will have some impact on the number of Freelander IIs sold in Australia and the suburbs in which they are garaged.There were a few minor shortcomings on the Morocco test drive, but Land Rover is working on at least two.It is investigating the unexpected and unprovoked failure of a six-cylinder engine during some sand driving — with a promise from the very top that there will be no repeat in production cars — and installing extra baffling in the rear end to reduce some tyre drumming on coarse bitumen surfaces.Still, the seats are a little short in leg support and the giant sunroof will need more than net screens to stop serious sunburn in Australia. It was hard to peg expectations for the Freelander II, because the new Land Rovers are so good but the original Freelander was so ... lacklustre.It hardly mattered, as the new baby was great from the get-go. It accelerated briskly away from the airport and it was much easier to get comfortable, also knowing the luggage space is up by more than one-third. Even the back seat is roomier and more comfortable, with a "theatre-style" layout that puts passengers a little higher for a nicer view.And the cramped footwell from the original Freelander is finally gone, just like the cheapy dashboard which has been replaced with a classy design with direct links to Range Rover.There is even good space for the satnav screen, a comfy new steering wheel and clear-and-classy dials and switches.The inline six, a departure from the usual V6 preferred for compact vehicles, was eager and the turbodiesel also showed plenty of punch. Land Rover says the six will run to 100km/h in 8.4 seconds and the turbodiesel will manage 10.9. There is no reason to doubt the claim, or the way the powerplants deliver at Aussie-speed overtaking runs.The test drive took the Freelander II over all sorts of roads.The bitumen was much like home, as were a lot of the dirt roads, until they really got into the rocky ranges.The big question now is price. If Land Rover Australia can deliver the right deal, the only problem for Freelander II will be keeping up with traffic coming out of showrooms.

The compact SUVs spruiked at the show all had the same message: it’s still big enough, but it drinks less at the bowser.For the first time in a while, the show itself opened not with a futuristic technological concept car, but with an old-school ex-army urban assault vehicle.As the covers dropped on Holden’s new import, the H3 Hummer, there was absolute silence from the media, the photographers, and Holden employees.It was a heavy decision indeed, to make the ‘smaller’ H3 Hummer the opening star attraction.But it set a precedent for the rest of the show.Big is not necessarily better anymore, and even the leviathan Hummer has been shrunk to a more user-friendly size. So goes it with the SUV market, entering a mid-sized makeover with several smaller, more user-friendly five and seven seat models.A different seven-seater on the Holden stand may prove slightly more popular to both media and the environmentally and socially aware buyer.The Captiva is Holden’s new foray into the SUV market, a big moneymaking niche from which it has been excluded since the demise of Jackeroo and Frontera in the early 2000s.The newly-released five-and seven-seat Captiva, which runs a 3.2-litre six and sips 11.5L/100km, is Holden’s hopeful in the battle against arch-enemy Ford and its long-running local favourite, the Territory. But the Holden will have company.Though the SUV market has taken a dive in recent times, the mid-sized market is in a revival.Three prominent new mid-sized car based SUVs were launched at the 2006 Motor Show: the Land Rover Freelander 2; Subaru Tribeca; and Mazda CX-7.The Freelander 2 stands apart from the bunch as a premium model with more focus on off-road ability.The tired first-gen model with its lacklustre engines and major handling and safety concerns is replaced with two new models running a 171kW 3.2-litre six petrol and beefy 400Nm 2.2-litre TD4 diesel.Both are connected to a six-speed auto and full-time 4X4 system, and both the exterior and interior of the new model has had a major design overhaul. It looks tough, instead of tired.Subaru has finally brought in a model for the five-plus family to gorge on.Fears of losing the brand-loyal but expanding family have brought the Tribeca to the fore, part SUV, part MPV, Tribeca is the first all-new Subaru since the Forester in 1998.While second and third row seating in the seven-seat model looked tight, and its big hamster nose is as polarising as a pair of sunnies, the equipment levels for price of the $55K and up model line, combined with the safety of AWD, six airbags and five-stars in crash testing is a sure inducement.But the buzz surrounding the Mazda CX-7 was loudest in media circles.Looking like a Mazda3 on steroids, the CX-7 is the shapely new SUV entry that will join the recently-facelifted but still ageing Tribute, and the plain old MPV models.Just like the recently-launched MX-5 Coupe, we were the first market in the world to see the right-hand drive version of the CX-7, and also will be the first to get it on the street (in mid-November).CX-7 is definitely a challenge for Ford’s Territory Turbo; it is powered by the turbocharged 2.3-litre four-cylinder DISI engine from the Mazda Performance Series (MPS) in the 6 and 3 lineup.Slightly down on power at 175kW (compared to the sedan and hatch MPS’s 184kW) and in auto only, CX-7 should be on or under $45K for the luxury model, with a bargain basement base sitting well below the leather and BOSE specced flagship.It is five-seat only, but a proposed seven-seat CX-9 (are the numbers confusing you yet?) could be here in another one or two motor shows.Ssangyong also had a tilt at the compact SUV market with their Motor Show release of the Actyon.Dubbed a “coupe SUV”, the Actyon further demonstrated a trend for car makers to trim down the softroader end of their “4WDs”.The Actyon is driven by a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine, with 104kW and 310Nm, and also comes with a 2.3-litre four with 110kW.The Actyon will also have electronic stability control and double-wishbone front suspension with a five-link rear end.Be it sporty, off-road capable, or fitting into a small parking space while fitting the basketball team in its innards, the irony still remains. In a world crammed with oversized SUVs, the mid-sized and compact market is also eyeing off a big parking spot. It is harder to argue the negatives of these more socially friendly, eco-friendly and carpark-friendly SUVs.Thank goodness for the likes of the Hummer H3.