Had mine nearly nine months now and living in the mild south have yet to come across a situation where I've had to use it. I bought the car mainly for the looks and driving position. Nearly bought a Disco 3 for its off-road capabilities too before I got the FL . Hands up all those in a similar situation. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

I think you are supposed to use it before you get into a situation as apposed to when you are in one I've used a couple of the modes before now; sand: for making a quick getaway at the lights. and snow : for doing donuts in the car park in the snow (though you need to take the DSC off first)

Use it most days at work. Also often use Grass Gravel Snow when the roads are particularly wet or in a queue of traffic.

What's the advantage to Grass/Gravel/Snow when in a queue of traffic? 2011 MY SD4 HSE + planning some interesting stuff
Previously: 2004 Discovery Td5 ES Premium + lots of stuff
Previously: P38A Range Rover 4.0 SE
Hampshire and Berkshire 4x4 Response Founder and Treasurer

Grass Gravel Snow makes the accelerator response more progressive which in effects reduces the amount of power delivered for the same amount of accelerator travel and as a result smooths out acceleration. Also in a manual with anti-stall I find GGS allows me to put it into 1st gear and crawl forward without constantly applying brakes, dipping clutch etc.

I use mine, every day in normal mode

GGS in exceptionally wet weather or snow

Mud/Ruts on wet fields whilst towing

Sand not very often at all due to living in yorkshire Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I find the terrain response obtrusive esp in mud and ruts as it puts the hill descent on and activates it when you dont want it. ggs is quite handy.

Ive never found a use for hill descent in either fl1 fl2 or rrs.

I find I actual use the air suspension on the RRS more than I thought , more clearence when on farm tracks, not estential but the grass in the middle of track rubs on the car too much otherwise. most of these tracks can be sriven on in any car, some fishermen often drive down it in a small (already beat up) peugeot At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

I use HDC in the snow, keeps the car nice and steady. Really depends on how steep the hill is. 21MY Defender 90 S 3.0 D200

I use GGS in winter (we get quite a bit of snow up here), and periodically M&R on a variety of fields, tracks, byways and UCRs. HDC can be very useful on steep snow-covered hills. Haven't found a use for sand mode yet - not much sand one can drive on in the UK.

In practice the FL2 (properly driven) will go pretty much everywhere it'll go in special program modes in normal mode, the programs just make it easier. Perhaps the biggest advantage of M&R, for example, is the reduced throttle response - it stops the power surges you'd otherwise get over rough terrain as the accelerator pedal bounces up and down under your foot!

I used the TR in anger once when towing the caravan in Norway I was at over 62 deg north with sat nav set for the required camp site GPS coordinates and I must have got one digit wrong. Thinking I was near the site and following the S/N, I turned on to small relatively unmade road in woodland that quickly got very loose and uphill. I felt the steering "grab" a couple of times as the tyres slipped so I promptly selected GGS. As a result, the car quickly shrugged off the fact it was on a loose surface plus towing 1450kg and just drove uphill like it was solo! It felt so confident I continued as the road was single track with no place to turn. I continued uphill for about a mile before the road then turned downhill bringing me round in a loop. It was then we met a huge logging truck on its way up . We both stopped and I backed up about 50 metres or so before we could pass. Thankfully we recovered to metalled road soon after and I re-set the sat nav to find I was just a couple of km from the site. It turned out I had strayed on to a logging trail! Very impressed with the Freelander and the caravan was none the worse for its experience, apart from the liberal coating of dust everywhere, that is!  10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

I tried the mud and ruts the other day, side slope on track, next to a horse paddock,

only when I thought I had passed did it slide, unlike the toyota pickup that was sideways.

Pick-ups are hopeless unless there's some weight in the back - empty all the weight is up front giving a nice pivot point for the tail to swing around!

Use M&R, GGS when greenlaning and GGS in the snow last winter. Sand a few times for quick getaways  2020 Defender D200 110S Pangea Green
Gone: 2018 L550, TD4 SE Tech Auto, Carpathian Grey
Gone: Defender 90 200Tdi, Grey Raptor
Gone: 2012 FL2, TD4 GS Manual, Santorini Black

Never used it, car copes well without it.

I use "Terrain Response" all the time in the Winter (Canadian). "Grass, Gravel, Snow" mode whenever there is more than a few inches of snow (or freezing rain). I also live in a new construction zone, so "Mud and Ruts" mode also gets used.

They truck will cope if you don't adjust the "Terrain Response" but it will handle the situation better when you do select the appropriate mode. I sometimes forget to switch back to normal mode when I back on the main road trying to accelerate under the limited performance of "Mud and Ruts" mode. But then again I also read the LR2 's manual, and I also used the rear audio controls (now unavailable).

Land Rover probably developed the 2013 Range Rovers "Auto Sensing" mode for "Terrain Response" because new owners where not manually adjusting (Terrain Response) when needed (i.e before they get stuck) .