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The Freelander started off with a 2.0-litre turbodiesel and a 1.8-litre petrol which was okay when it had only a manual transmission. But when Land Rover wanted to start selling in the US, it needed to have an automatic transmission available and this necessitated the use of a bigger 2.5-litre V6 petrol engine to ensure the right level of performance.
The V6 is an all-aluminium 24-valve DOHC engine which is derived from the one in the Rover 75 but specially tuned and engineered to Land Rover’s requirements. A Variable Induction System (VIS) which uses twin plenums connected by a balance valve (plus individual power valves on each of the six intake tracts) optimises torque across the rev range for great flexibility. It does this by adjusting the intake resonance characteristics to suit varying engine speeds. Fuel injection is fully sequential, and ignition is direct, with an individual coil for each sparkplug. The engine management system, in addition to controlling the fuel delivery, idle control and ignition, also oversees the VIS, the main radiator cooling fans and the fuel pump.
It is important for V6 engine performance and sound quality that the exhaust down pipes, one from each cylinder bank, should have equal lengths to their junction point. At the same time, Land Rover’s stringent off-road specifications meant that all exhaust pipework had to be located well out of harm’s way; both requirements were met by some intricate shaping of the downpipes.
On a compression ratio of 10.5:1, the engine produces 130 kW (177 ps) of power at 6,250 rpm with 240 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm. This gives the Freelander a 0 to 100 km/h a claimed acceleration time of 10.1 seconds and a top speed capability said to be just slightly over 180 km/h. With the larger 64-litre fuel tank, the range is now extended to over 500 kms (based on the EU combined cycle).
The 5-speed electronically-controlled automatic transmission is a tiptronic type with what Land Rover calls “Command Shift” for manual selection when desired. Specifically tailored to the V6 engine, with a special torque converter and gear ratios to suit off-road motoring, this transmission also has a special final drive arrangement to link with the intermediate reduction drive unit.
The gearbox is equipped with two drive modes for different driving preferences. ‘Normal’ mode uses a default shift map while ‘Sport’ mode induces changes of downshifts more readily and also holds onto lower gears longer in order to aid acceleration and improve responsiveness.
The driver also has the option of shifting manually and a short forward or backward movement of the lever gives up or down shifts, allowing fast, smooth changes. The extra benefit is that during off-road driving, the driver has more control and power and traction losses are also reduced.
The electronic control unit for the transmission has sophisticated adaptive programming that enables it to analyse and understand the operating conditions, and thus ‘co-operate’ with the driver. In automatic mode, it can recognise the characteristics of mountain tracks and general hill climbing. This means that lower ratios are held even during variations of gradient and speed that might otherwise lead to fussy ‘hunting’ between ratios. Similarly, it can recognise downhill travel – if the driver lifts off the throttle on a descent to slow down, the transmission inhibits an unhelpful change to a higher gear, and if the driver also brakes, the transmission will change down as appropriate to provide increased engine braking.
Other intelligent control features include special uses of the torque converter lock-up clutch. Normally deployed in 4th and 5th gears for economical cruising, the lock-up can also be applied in lower ratios if the transmission fluid begins to overheat, thus cutting out the fluid heating caused by converter slip. Conversely, from a cold start, the lock-up is inhibited and the change-up points raised to give the fastest possible warm-up.
The Freelander’s 4WD system uses a viscous coupling (less costly than a centre differential) which was developed with lessons learnt from the work done on the Range Rover’s drivetrain many years earlier. This simple, yet extremely effective device, allows the necessary slippage to compensate for the different speeds of the front and rear wheels. But if there is a significant variation in the speeds, then it instantaneously tightens up. This has the effect of increasing torque to the rear wheels to compensate for loss of traction at the front. The whole process is automatic and is said to add to the off-road capabilities of the Freelander.
The internal reduction drive (IRD) provides the lower overall gearing necessary to match the vehicle’s rather large wheels and cope with on and off-road driving. The IRD unit has a built-in oil cooler and its lubricant is supposed to be good for 10 years or 260,000 kms. It also contains the front differential and the bevel gear to send power to a subframe-mounted rear differential. The rear differential, enclosed in a light die-cast housing, is lubricated for life and has an extended breathing breather tube for situations where deep water is encountered.
All Freelanders have multiplex electronic systems that use the Bosch CAN (Controller Area Network)-Bus technology, already familiar on several European vehicles. CAN-Bus is a high-speed serial data bus system capable of transmitting half a million bits (500 kilo baud) of information every second. This high frequency is necessary to achieve the best results with the fast-acting interactive control systems for engine, automatic transmission and ABS braking/traction control. The CAN-Bus links the electronic control units for each of these elements and for less speed-critical interconnections, there are lower frequency multiplex connections, such as the ‘K-line’ bus, specified to the ISO 9141 standard and operating at 10,400 baud, which connects the service diagnostic socket to the majority of the ECUs around the vehicle.
Demonstrating its leadership in the 4WD class, the Freelander has two advanced and innovative applications of ABS (with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution or EBD) technology. These are Electronic Traction Control (ETC) and Hill Descent Control (HDC), both of which keep the vehicle unquestionably ahead of its rivals. ABS is, of course, also included in the 4-wheel disc brake system. ETC is essentially ABS ‘in reverse’: it cuts down excessive wheelspin by application of the brakes (discs in front, drums at the rear) automatically. Because it is part of the ABS, sensing of wheel speeds takes place 250 times a second and the likelihood of loss of traction due to wheelspin is almost eliminated.
With HDC (a Land Rover innovation which is patented), the objective has been to provide a safer way to drive down very slippery slopes. In the bigger Land Rovers, there is a secondary range of gears with extra-low ratios to permit maximum engine braking and crawl speeds. But because the Freelander has no transfer case, this approach was not possible. Careful and lateral thought led to the development of the HDC which uses the ETC braking facility in a novel way. When first or reverse gear is selected and the throttle is in a closed position, the system applies the brakes under ABS control to maintain a steady descent of 9 km/h. If the descent is complicated, the wheel sensors will detect this condition and reduce the speed by another 2 km/h. However, if the driver has the confidence, he can also increase the descent speed.
The independent suspension layout is a radical departure for Land Rover which has all along espoused the merits of non-independent suspension (which typically means a live axle) as being the best for maintaining grip on uneven terrain. Axle articulation is also an important point here and independent suspension arrangements don’t do this well because of driveshaft limitations.
The Freelander has MacPherson struts for all four wheels and these operate independently. Some features include linear damping characteristics and an innovation in the front stabilizer as well as the arrangement of the lower arm pivot bushes; both the latter items are to be patented. The rear suspension geometry has self-stabilizing characteristics to enhance handling. The front and rear suspension are also bolted to tough steel subframes mounted high above the ground to avoid any risk of being ‘grounded’.
Another departure from traditional Land Rover engineering is the use of rack and pinion steering instead of the recirculating ball or worm and roller system. Basically, the recirculating ball system was preferred because of its robustness and the indirect linkage meant that shocks were absorbed instead of reaching the steering wheel.
However, buyers of the Freelander are not expected to venture into terrain where the wheels will be so severely pushed around that they will feel discomfort. So a rack and pinion system is a better idea, especially for road use. Some spring deflection in the system does provide for reduction of shocks. There are also very long track rods which virtually eliminate any tendency towards bump-steer.
The cabin layout has all the hallmarks of a Land Rover product with emphasis on usability and ease of access to controls. The heritage is evident from the linearity of the dashboard and the way some sections are designed. For the new 2004 version, some areas of the dashboard have been redesigned and two cupholders set in the middle.
Stowage space is still plentiful, as would be expected, and rear seating area is generous enough, though not as wide as a Honda CR-V or Ford Escape. Various configurations can be set up to carry more cargo or people. The rear door swings to the right but need not always be opened to put things in. The owner can also lower the rear glass alone by remote control, a feature which is found only on a few bigger 4WDs.
An innovative feature of this frameless design is the electronic interlock which allows for a short drop of the glass out of its sealing channel before the door is opened (and the opposite after closing it).
And now for the part which you’ve been waiting for – The Price. Back in 2001, the price of a new Freelander V6 was close to RM300,000, a figure which was just too high for a small SUV, never mind that it was a Land Rover and a premium product. For that kind of money, most people could get a ‘reconditioned’ Lexus RX300 and still have money left. It was even more expensive than the locally-assembled Discovery Td5 so Land Rover Malaysia (LRM) never bothered to offer it, instead selling the Freelander Td4 turbodiesel which was priced under RM200,000.
In 2004, the new Freelander V6 has the same engine size (but the engine has been improved here and there, of course) but it costs less. It’s not due to AFTA – which has not kicked in for Malaysia anyway – but due to the fact that the model is now assembled locally. Before, as a completely built-up (CBU) import from UK, the import duty was 100% whereas getting it put together at Swedish Motor Assemblies in Shah Alam (which also assembles the Discovery and Volvo cars), the import duty is now just 10%. However, where excise duty was not imposed before on CBU vehicles, there is excise duty for locally-assembled vehicles and under the new tariff structure, it is also higher than before at 70% for this engine size.
LRM had hoped that the excise duty would not be so high when it indicated in December that the price of the 2004 model would be ‘under RM200,000’. Well, at RM188,300 without insurance (RM191,300 for Sabah/Sarawak), it is certainly below RM200,000 and about RM100,000 less than what it cost in 2003. According to a source at LRM, the price does not reflect the full impact of the new tariff structure for 4WDs as the company has decided to absorb a bit of the cost.
If you have 55% NCB, the insurance premium would be around RM2,500 which puts the Freelander just a shade over RM190,000. That it is more expensive than other similarly-sized SUVs cannot be denied but bear in mind it also has a larger engine displacement and it is also a premium product which has gone through an evolutionary process to become a more highly developed vehicle today.
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To find out what it’s like driving the new 2004 Freelander V6, click on the link below:
