Land Rover Freelander 2 Review & Road Test: Freelander 2 SD4 HSE (2011) Part 2

Freelander 2 SD4 Review Part 2

Ever since the V6 petrol engine quietly disappeared from the Freelander 2 some time ago – without fanfare or farewell – there’s been a bit of a gap in the Freelander range. Hobson’s choice on the engine front isn’t the end of the world, but a bit more oomph wouldn’t go amiss.

Land Rover has taken the opportunity with the 2011 refresh of the Freelander 2 to give us what we asked for – the Freelander 2 SD4 – at the same time as getting the PSA 2.2 litre diesel to comply with Euro 5.

So the bog-standard Freelander 2 TD4 actually gets fewer horses – 148bhp as opposed to 158bhp – and a bit more torque. So performance ends up much the same, but economy improves.

The new SD4 manages a nice jump in power to 187bhp, gets an auto ‘box as standard and now has performance – 0-60mph in 8.7 seconds – on a par with the Range Rover Sport.

So we end up with the Freelander 2 SD4 offering some very ‘Premium’ offerings on the inside and performance under the bonnet that matches the 3.0 litre diesel RRS. What’s not to like?

In truth, not a lot.

Just as before, you can hustle the Freelander if you set it up properly. But despite having on-road, straight-line performance that’s now on a par with the best of the competition – the new BMW X3 and the Audi Q5 – the Freelander 2 still isn’t as planted as they are.

There is more body-roll than an on-road compact SUV should ideally have, but not so much it’s a real problem. You just have to make sure you enter bends at a less-brisk pace than you would normally choose, and use the additional power to feed in early and power out.

The extra power the SD4 has makes progress just as brisk as it is in an X3 or Q5. The only trouble is, it’s a bit noisy. I can’t decide if it’s noisy per se, or just noisy compared to Land Rover’s other diesels – the Ford-sourced 3.0 litre and the new 4.4 litre in the Range Rover. Still, it’s not ear-bleeding noisy, just noisier than I expected.

In terms of price, the Freelander 2 SD4 HSE isn’t the cheapest kid on the block. It comes with a list price of £35,510 and our car has the Premium Pack (£1200) and Adaptive Bi-Xenons (£995) plus a few other bits to take it up to a not insignificant £38,425.

But if you appreciate the Freelander’s USP of being able to go anywhere – just like a every other Land Rover – then the premium you‘re paying for a compact Range Rover is very reasonable. And it’s no more than you’d pay for a similarly equipped X3 or Q5, for example.

Perhaps more importantly, it’s actually less than you’ll be paying for a similarly equipped Range Rover Evoque when that hits the road this summer. And that’s perhaps the key to seeing the value in the Freelander 2 SD4.

It may not have the cool and funky profile of the Evoque, and it may well be that the Evoque has better road manners. But until Land Rover sorts out its range properly in a couple of years time, the Freelander 2 SD4 is going to be with us, and offers a lot of Range Rover-esque goodness at something of a bargain price.

Just like the Discovery.

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By Cars UK