Hi!

I am starting this topic regarding my Freelander 2 to get some advice from you and to share with all what improvements can be done to the model for improving offroad performance.

The car is an SD4 Freelander 2, HSE, MY 2011. So far it is pretty standard. The only real change i've made was to fit some Mantec sump guards, one for the front and one for the tank. Apart from this, I bought some recovery equipment, like a Bushranger exhaust jack, shackles and tow straps.

Other modifications which are in perspective would be:
- tires - one of the most important things in offroad. The car came with CrossContact tires, which are basically highway tires. Looking at buying some ATs for 3 seasons a year. In the winter probably I'll go for dedicated winter tires, as offroad is also slow during that season and safety on the street is much more important. Would have loved to find some severe-rated AT tires which fit Freelander 2, though...
- suspensions - not sure how replacing current suspensions with more performant ones would influence offroad behavior. Still, it's something which can be analyzed in the future.
- winch - I was thinking of portable models as I do not want to modify the front bumper too much
- suplementary lights - mostly for the looks than for functionality as I think current lighting system is excellent

Equally important would be that I want to make only changes which do not void the car's warranty. One can start chopping their car for extreme offroad and replace almost everything on it, but this is not the purpose here.

I am looking forward to hearing from you on the above ideas and other I did not think of.

Some photos below.

Thanks!

Mantec sump guard for the tank


Offroading

Click image to enlarge

If you are looking at tyres then you will find little available for the 18" wheels fitted to the HSE.
Goodyear MT's are/were available for the 17" rims.

These work very well off-road, reasonable on tarmac, but do increase noise levels.

The new General Grabber AT are available for the 17" rims, not tried them, but the olders AT2 worked well. Both quieter than the Goodyears. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Thanks Andy! From what I've read so far, it seems the MTRs, while excellent offroad, offer too less street performance for me. Due to this, probably I'll compromise to ATs - General are also a favourite from what I've heard.

As for the rims, I will change them to 17" - as you pointed out, there are not so many AT tires on 18".

Too bad that the tire size also for 17" is quite a restrictive one - many producers (life BFG for example) do not have proper tires to fit a Freelander and still respect the dimensions in vehicle's book.

Hi MihaiB,

Having gone through a learning curve - as with all my previous SUVs - Subaru Forester, VW Tiguan - and invariably sustaining some damage - albeit cosmetic only - prior to determing the "intact" limits of the vehicle, I attach some links to posts I had made on a local forum which may give you some further ideas.

Just to put things in perspective, any part/accessory available for a Freelander 2 locally, is around 2x the price of e.g. the UK market. This creates a situation where it becomes cheaper - if you are familiar with the engineering and manufacturing industries - to design and manufacture a part rather than buying it. Of course, with the added advantage that it is EXACTLY how you want it, based on practical experience.

So herewith the links: http://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=56245 and http://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=65393.

You could also view these two utube links which will demonstrate the competence of the LR2 traction control as opposed to that of a Nissan X-Trail: and .

Regards

Johnie

Hi JJJ,

Thanks a lot for the info. I have actually read part of the forum you indicated and admired your work in the LandRover 2 threads. Congratulations for your work and the very detailed explanations! I will continue to follow your posts and tips.

For me, one of the main restrictions is the fact that the car is new, the warranty is ongoing and I cannot really do much upgrading without the approval of the local Land Rover dealership. Therefore, I must stick to parts approved by them and which they can install. For example, the Mantec guards were purchased by me from a specialized shop and installed by Land Rover service, in order to make sure they won't object in terms of warranty.

Unfortunatelly, there are very few officially approved upgrades for LR2 - hopefully in time some more will arise. Still, it is a very capable car as it is

Thanks again!
Mihai.

The only off road improvement needed by a Freelander 2 is more ground clearance in some situations. It is the only thing that has pulled mine up. I wouldn't like to upset the on road performance though, so optional air suspension would be great. About 3" would be enough.

Optional air suspension? What is that? Can it be bought / made / installed?

By the time the manufacturer - or yourself - has added air suspension to the topline Freelander 2, you could have bought a base-model Discovery 3/4 for the money spent.

You will also see from the accessory catalogue for LR2s that it's all bling, and no substance. It is almost - actually? - as if even the manufacturer does not take the capabilities - or perhaps rather the perceived limits where the 99 percentile owner would be prepared to push it to - seriously. So air suspension on the Freelander 2 ain't gonna happen, mate.

It's up to the 1% remaining Freelander 2 owners themselves to do PRECAUTIONARY mods to their vehicles in order to WHEN the clearance is insufficient, prevent damage, or contain it to the sacrificial part that has been added.

So I'm actually disappointed that there are so few owners actually sharing what they have done - surely there must be at least TWO per country that has a creative spirit and/or a sense of adventure.

Come on guys! Let's hear it for the mods!

The trouble is, any options you put underneath tend to decrease the clearance even more. Things like rock sliders on the sides or heavy duty bash plates underneath etc. I know the air option will never eventuate but it would be nice. The underside of mine looks like it has been beaten with a hammer. I have had to get a section of the exhaust cut out and rewelded because the dents were constricting the flow. I regularly go out with Disco's and they are impressed with the cars ability, but if we come to a rock step too big, or a set of ruts just that little bit too deep then they can crawl through and I have to find a chicken track. I dream of jacking the car up and crawling through with them What a completely awesome car it would be then. They can stick their bling and 19" wheels.

In principle, it should be possible to mount a suspension lift (for example - http://www.toddcosuspensions.com/larofr2sulik2.html) in order to add larger tires and increase the clearance. However:
1) I am pretty sure this will void the warranty, so probably owners with newer cars will not do this
2) Wheel spacers should also be added in order to compensate for the raising of the vehicle, to maintain the driving characteristics.

I am not sure if anyone done this already and explained in detail how and what is the end result.

As per JJJ's question - seeing how few upgrade parts are available for Freelander 2 from reputable offroad equipment manufacturers, I am guessing the demand is not that high either. Maybe this is why there aren't too many mods. The Freelander offers great offroad capabilities as it is and most likely the owners are still at the "i wouldn't think it could do this" phase rather than the "what can be improved" one, in terms of offroad

excellent thread and some good links,
Its nice to see people using the fl2 properly, and nice to see that it works as an off roader.
I can't agree more about the lack of official upgrades available, it's amazing that you can't even get the basics like a winch, under body protection, snorkel and a suspension upgrades, even more amazing is the fact that for my 2007 SE Landrover recommend a V rated tyre (149 mph) which makes it almost impossible to find a decent AT / MT tyre!
After checking with my insurance i went for the new Grabber AT.

I'd go with stiffer springs, because a stiffer spring will raise the vehicle while maintaining the max. vertical wheel travel, because the halfshafts are designed for a certain vertical wheel travel, given by the shock absorbers. With spring spacers, you may exceed that distance and have problems with the halfshafts and their CVJs.

D99 wrote:

excellent thread and some good links,
Its nice to see people using the fl2 properly, and nice to see that it works as an off roader.
I can't agree more about the lack of official upgrades available, it's amazing that you can't even get the basics like a winch, under body protection, snorkel and a suspension upgrades, even more amazing is the fact that for my 2007 SE Landrover recommend a V rated tyre (149 mph) which makes it almost impossible to find a decent AT / MT tyre!
After checking with my insurance i went for the new Grabber AT.

Nip onto the G4 website, FL2 do come equipped with decent MT tyres(Goodyear), underbody protection(Mantec), and a winch(Warn) all supplied by Land Rover. No Snorkle though.
Definately works as an offroader  Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

A permanent lift might chew the cv's out. Ideally, the car only needs the lift when it's crawling over something at low speed. I already have 245/65/17 Geolander AT-S on which give it a puny 7 mm lift via the wheel/tyre diameter increase.

cheers andy, is this the site? http://www.g4ownersclub.com/