Now I have had the new car for a few weeks, I thought I'd write my thoughts.

Land Rover have clearly improved most area's of the car. It is quieter, smoother, quicker (as it is SD4) and although wind noise was not in my opinion a major issue on the old car, it is much better on the new car.

The infotainment is light years ahead of the original model. The touch screen is easy to use and the features are easy to find.

The phone system is excellent and paired up both my iPhones first time and it works very well. The USB socket is a nice touch. The dash is more classy in the way it is laid out with less buttons and a more upmarket feel. The old car had more personality, but this I am sure will come in time with the new one.

The auto box is really good, and makes the FL2 a far superior car to drive than the manual. So absolutely no regrets on buying the auto. The reversing camera is excellent, and the three different functions for the reverse camera screen is very good. So there is one set of graphics for guided reversing, one for when you get close to an object and the other for when reversing to a tow hitch.

The thought of a heated steering wheel seemed like a daft idea but in reality it is a really nice feature.

The main downside, is the mpg is not that great. Used in the same way as our old car, we are averaging 26mpg compared to 33mpg from the old car. But then again, this engine only has 9700 miles on where the old car had just under 64000 miles and was well run in. The new one will no doubt loosen off and the mpg increase as an average.

Other than this, it is purely Freelander 2 which I have always loved.

So a good job by Land Rover. They haven't spoilt the essence of what the Freelander 2 is about, and just made it a little more upmarket to see out its last couple of years. Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........

Cheers Mav, looking forward to getting mine! SD4 HSE Lux Orkney Grey,Full size spare tyre,Ugly kid glass.

Nice to see you are enjoying you enjoying your new FL2.

Nice feedback write up Mav, sounds like you and the new freely are getting along well
Sounds like your impressed with the changes BETTER looking half of the famous Twinlanders
The wanna be other half - http://www.freel2.com/forum/member-carriec.html

Think I'd agree with all of that (except the reversing camera, which in my case I have not got). Except that mine's doing about 36mpg. Mind you that's long trips. It struggles to get near 20 until it's warmed up.

Can't disagree with any of that. Regarding the MPG. I have yet to get above 37 on long journeys, and pottering around the Warwickshire hills brings me around 34. I feel that I was getting better on my MY2012, but it's not a big criticism. Mav, difficult to probably compare against your old one, but the Auto box on the MY2013 seems to me to be a lot smoother than the MY2012, to the extent that sometimes I can't even feel the gear change, and have to flick the gate over to the left to check what gear it's actually in! Whatever they have done with it, it seems a vast improvement over the old one. As does the soundproofing... Foraging near Gaydon....
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MY13 HSE Lux SD4, Baltic Blue - current, 30,000> miles without fault
MY12 HSE 2.2 SD4, Sumatra Black - gone after 10 months/43,000 fault-free miles

I know the mpg is never going to be as good as the manual and I accept that. But the joy of driving the auto to me far out weighs the lower mpg.

One thing I forgot to mention. The sound system. This one has the 17 speaker Meridian surround sound, and to be honest I think the older HSE 14 speaker Alpine system had the edge in terms of sound and definition.

But I am yet to have a proper play with the set up on the new system. When we tested the Dynamic, I was not overly impressed with the Meridian 11 speaker system. But again, I was comparing it to the old 14 speaker Alpine set up. Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........

One day I may get a new one and I prob will get a SD4 next either way....

I'm not 100% convinced about the integrated audio on any car mainly because I have seen problems with the radio not right affecting the hardware ( my Vectra needed the OEM radio to program the gear box as it serves as a link from CANBUS high to low.... ).

That said it seems the FL2 is still a cracking car...

Thanks for the review Mav.

T Terran



'The' Car For The Modern Day UK Roads ( ie all the pot holes )

'A Freelander that leaks oil is just marking its territory' - Wise words

Now a member of the FL2 'Silly Bill' Club

Agree with Mav on pretty much everything. It is so much better than my old 07 SE (and I was really pleased with that!). Not had much chance to get the miles on it as I have been in New Zealand for a few weeks (only saw three FL2's in all that time!). I do notice the difference in fuel consumption but expect it will improve in time.
Has anybody tried driving the SD in 'manual mode' for any length of time? I find it useful on hilly speed restricted roads (especially 30 mph) as the auto hunts around a good deal at that speed. There is plenty of torque to leave it in one gear which makes you feel a bit more in control. I've not taken the caravan out yet with the auto but looking forward to not having to ride the clutch when reversing! (rear view camera is great for hitching up).
Off up to Lancashire next week so will see how frugal or not it is likely to be. I could easily achieve 40 mpg on a long run with the TD manual but don't expect to get more than 36-37 with the SD, but if I was worried about fuel I would have bought a BMW instead of a Land Rover (perish the thought).
Another thing to remember is to program all the seat settings as I had only set one and caught one of the other memory setting while I was driving - a bit disconcerting when the seat disappeared backwards - especially when you are a bit of a shorthouse! 2007 SE Manual : Gone and missed but 2013 HSE Lux is better!
Series IIa : Gone but hopefully still alive.

I took the caravan out yesterday for a run and I have to say it is far better than the manual. It's just in another league.

On the mpg front, ours has only done mainly town work in the 2 1/2 weeks we have had it, so mid 20's is expected for a young engine.

But on the 120 mile run back from Bradford, she was averaging 45mpg on a run averaging 65/70 mpg. Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........

Changed to 2013 HSE Lux from 2009 HSE both Auto

MPG at 11000 miles is noticeably better, approx. 4MPG over similar journeys. I did get 40mpg on one longish run , not going over 70mph . Best on a similar run in the 2009 model was 35 MPG Very satisfied.

One thing I do hate is the keyless start , it is only a half measure.

Take key out to open doors , get in and now I have a key in my hand, place in centre tray , get out of car no key . Back in car get key , lock car.
.
This is not a major issue just irritating . I had a BMW with keyless start and entry and exit , perfect. Key always in pocket.

At least in the 2009 model you had to have the key docked and you knew where it was.

My 36mpg was averaged over a couple of thousand miles in Germany. Quite a lot at 50-60mph, most of it on motorways at around 80 (but I did get it up to 120 at one point) and a little bit of off road. Two things probably helped - one was that there was virtually no cold running, and the other is that it was running on continental diesel, which I'm pretty sure has a slightly higher cetane rating (their truck diesel is always sold separately and is slightly cheaper - even the truck pumps sometimes have a separate nozzle for car diesel). Car has 7500 on the clock (rather less before the weekend!).

I have got used to the keyless start now and kind of like it. I never did like the complete keyless systems. Freelander 2 HSE Lux 2013MY - Barolo Black with Ivory Leather. Alpine DVD - Privacy -Evoque 20" Dynamic Wheels and more to come.........

Mav71 wrote:

I know the mpg is never going to be as good as the manual and I accept that. But the joy of driving the auto to me far out weighs the lower mpg..

joy of driving an auto ??

Iain

Just put my first 1000 miles on mine after 2 weeks "MY 2013 HSE Lux SD4 Santorini Black" coming from a TD4.e.
I didn't really want another FL2 in the current guise, but needed a change and nothing else fitted the bill for similar money.
Got to say I'm impressed, the difference between the models is like night and day. Much smoother, far quieter, feels like it's been bolted together better, a real pleasure to drive!
Noticeable improvements are: Sat Nav, infotainment system "wasn't really noticeable over my previous 17 speaker Alpine unit until I plugged my iPod into the usb", sound proofing. Never thought I'd say it, but the auto box is so smooooooth. I quite like the EPB now, took some getting used too, fumbling around at lights for that little switch and the auto release is a dream. All those little dealer programmable options are now selectable via the dash too!
Negative points are: Electrical system shuts down after 20 minutes, so no more charging through the AUX socket in the boot and I now need to hardwire the Blackvue, but to what!
Indifferent. The heated steering wheel will be great in the winter after a good long snowball fight but otherwise, I can't see the point. neither can I see the point in the seat automatically dropping down to floor level to let you in or out, unless you're a real short a**e