My FL2 from new appears to pull away in 2nd,very subtle but if it starts to move and then select 1st you could feel it change down ! or if you boot it and there is a slight hesitation as it then selects 1st and takes off. I always asumed this was normal and when towing I used to have to override and select 1st to ensure swift pull away, HOWEVER it now always moves off in 1st making it very swift,
The only difference was fitting the earth strap to cure all the electrical foibles the L/R seemed to think were my imagination ! its now 5 months since fitted and no issues since and have finally started using it ! but now realise it always pulls away in 1st.
Does anyone know which is correct ? the hire ones I had when mines been in have been manuals ( how stiff is that gear lever and hard work ! )
I never gave it a 2nd thought as my Merc always pulled away in 2nd unless it was booted off the mark.

Just been at Dealers for 2 days and I also had an SD190 auto for two days and the fact that mine now pulls away in 1st gear is actually correct, it has also had the Q106 update, only noticeable difference is after kickdown as soon as you lift off the gas it changes up quicker.
As it quite rightly says in the handbook it will pull away in 2nd only if command mode is selected.
Obviously the fact that mine has suffered a poor earth causing so many problems including " reduced engine power was effecting the autobox. Lets just say I was not dissapointed to return the SD

Last edited by oldgeezer on 3rd Jun 2011 8:22 pm. Edited 1 time in total

oldgeezer wrote:

the hire ones I had when mines been in have been manuals ( how stiff is that gear lever and hard work ! )

LR must have given you a faulty one. The manual is a great smooth short throw action and pulls away easy enough in second.

Life is of course much easier for towing in the auto but being as I don't tow, thats not an issue.

Back on topic, I never bothered trying this when I had an auto as a loan car when I had the panel in the B pillar looked at. LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

In "D" it will pull away in 1st, in "command" it will pull away in 2nd unless you use command shift to move it into 1st.
It is the way it is, you will notice it if in 'command' mode and slow down to a stop, it will be in 2nd gear and a pull back of the stick will put it into 1st.

It would have been nice if the 'gear' was shown in the display all of the time.

Last edited by EYorkshire on 7th May 2011 3:35 pm. Edited 2 times in total

mine pulls away in 2nd generally, as did my e90 330i. As you say you can get it to kick down or I think if the gearbox learn's to a situation or pre-empts something using TR then it will use first...

Perhaps the change in driving style has meant that you box has learnt to use first... Go easy on it and dont tow and I bet it will start using 2nd again Freelander 2 TD4 Auto, SE, Narvik Black, Alpaca full leather, Rear Headrest Entertainment System, 6 CD, 18 HSE Wheels, Privicy tints

or reset the gearbox...

There used to be a way of doing this on my e90 but I cant find anything for the Freelander, short of doing a hard reboot (disconnect batt) unless anyone else knows any different? Freelander 2 TD4 Auto, SE, Narvik Black, Alpaca full leather, Rear Headrest Entertainment System, 6 CD, 18 HSE Wheels, Privicy tints

Thanks Cpt worm

I was sure it used to pull away in 2nd so that confirms that as 1st is very very short and whiney !
I do drive it very carefully although its been like a new toy having found all this extra power. Its only done 2k in the whole year but 800 of that in the last few weeks now it works properly. Its done quite a lot of driving without towing this week 100's of miles but selects 1st every time !

I have come to the conclusion reading all the posts that actually on the whole the LR2 isnt bad but the dealers are something else. getting one to listen would go a long way to helping and get them to belive you would be a marathon, they seem to think that we dream our faults up ! and if the computer says no then that be it!
Mine has been a pig and I should of shouted louder when it was 3 weeks old and started going wrong, trouble was I left it at the dealer for 3 weeks and no difference but gained my first dent ! ahhhh

Land Rover use 'intelligent' auto transmissions...they adapt to how you drive

However if yours has taken 5 months to sort itself out then it seems to be a bit of a slack learner! Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County

Whilst mine is at the dealers I have had a SD190 auto, well it pulls away in 1st everytime so I guess mine had never been right always pulling away in 2nd gear .
Obviously after all the issues for some years and fitting the heavey duty earth strap mine suddenly started pulling away in 1st caused me some confusion and had originally put it down to the new found grunt and perhap needing to re-adapt, but would appear now that they should pull away in 1st gear unlike my Merc or BM that both use 2nd !
Well the 190 auto has no noticable grunt improvement over my Auto ( if mine had not gained this new found grunt then yes there would have been a big difference as mine was like a slug before ) and there is no turbo noise as some have reported.

This has got me thinking now, I always assumed that mine was pulling away in first, but I did notice in command it only returned to second when I pulled up. Not sure it makes a whole lot of difference unless you are trying to out drag someone from the lights in which case I would recommend a motorcycle. that said I would like the display to show what gear you were in even when the car was in drive, but you can't have everthing can you. SD4 Sport LE Firenze Red - no options or modifications yet, but it's early days.

Fuzz Kazz
If its in command mode it will select 2nd when it pulls away, but mine has always pulled away in 2nd and when towing I have always had to select command then 1st to get it to grunt away off the mark, just dissapointed now that the number of times it had been in the dealers that they had never ither dealt with the issue or even noticed how low it was on grunt or advised me that its pulling away in 2nd and needs further investigation.

Auto in D starts in second, you need to switch to command if you wish to start in first (check the manual!) If in D and it starts in first possibly your extra earth is to blame? Upgraded to an ex demo, 7 mth old, Rimini Red/Ebony Napoli Auto HSE on 28th Jan 2011, added roof rails, mudflaps and side strips.
Gone - A great 57 Plate, Auto SE, Bought Feb 2009, Roof Rails and Mudflaps added on purchase. Blue colour, anything but drug dealer black.....

My auto (2011MY) in D starts in first and always has done. The only way I can get it to start in second is to go into Command Shift. Andyfr

Just been at Dealers for 2 days and I also had an SD190 auto for two days and the fact that mine now pulls away in 1st gear is actually correct, it has also had the Q106 update, only noticeable difference is after kickdown as soon as you lift off the gas it changes up quicker.
As it quite rightly says in the handbook it will pull away in 2nd only if command mode is selected.
Obviously the fact that mine has suffered a poor earth causing so many problems including " reduced engine power was effecting the autobox. Lets just say I was not dissapointed to return the SD