Last weekend I took up the opportunity of the half day LRE at Rockingham Castle and got to see first hand exactly what I could do (if I really wanted!) in a Freelander.

The car on offer was a white SD4 HSE. Now I've driven various Land Rovers off road, in various situations, from a Series III, the military spec Wolf, and all types of Disco up to Disco 3. I have to say we came away extremely impressed with the Freelander. The Rockingham centre has a good selection of tracks with some steep slopes and a little bit of everything except extreme rocks. It was dry so there was no excessive mud and the water crossing wasn't quite at the limit for the vehicle.

The Freelander was happy to follow a Defender and Disco 4 everywhere, and only on one section of deep ruts was there any sensation that ground clearance was compromised - even so it sailed through. Mark, the instructor, was happy to point out that in muddy conditions the Freelander may even get further than the others due to its lack of weight.

What impressed me most, along with the terrain response system, was the complete lack of stress in the engine - no thrashing the motor even on the steepest slopes, and the ability to just trickle the throttle over the riugh stuff.

The car was fitted with Pirellis which the instructor doesn't like, especially when worn as they lose wet grip on the road. They prefer the Goodyear Wrangler AT as the best all round tyre; but I guess it depends on where you drive and your driving style.

Don't let anyone tell you the Freelander is a second rate offroader; it will go anywhere!

All I need now is enough bottle to take my new pride and joy off piste! Td4 XS manual, Orkney Grey, MY2014

Nice, I really fancy tryng this (but not in MY FL!) From a time when dinosaurs weren't just confined to zoos!

They would have let me take mine round (supervised) but I decided against it - mainly because their pressure washer was out of commission! Td4 XS manual, Orkney Grey, MY2014

I, too, had my experience at Rockingham with Mark (he contributes regularly on here under a pseudonym), and found both him and the course a brilliant afternoon out. It really makes you appreciate what the car can actually do, and on my occasion, it was wet, wet and wetter, which in turn showed just how well it could cope with deep mud.

For those that have yet to do one of these, and are curious as to just how well the car fares off-road, I can only suggest that you save your pennies up and crack on and book it. The skills that you are taught will stay with you for a long while afterwards... Foraging near Gaydon....
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MY13 HSE Lux SD4, Baltic Blue - current, 30,000> miles without fault
MY12 HSE 2.2 SD4, Sumatra Black - gone after 10 months/43,000 fault-free miles

Out or interest how many were in you vehicle and how long did you get driving

I and the wife booked the half day experience with exclusive use of the vehicle. With that you get coffee on arrival and the instructor gives you a short technical input on the vehicle. He then took us on a demo drive and went through the systems and techniques on different terrain. The entire experience lasts about 3 hours, of which the wife and I both got a good hour behind the wheel each. Td4 XS manual, Orkney Grey, MY2014

We had ours at luton hoo, half day great experiance and nice and muddy and flooded. Great fun.

Few more

I had a half day at Rockingham a couple of years ago but can't trmrmber the instructors name.
I got a voucher courtesy of my dealer for having a winter health check but don't think they do that kind of thing anymore.
It was both my brother and myself plus the instructor, we both managed a reasonable time behind the wheel.
As already said it's an eye opener what the freelander can really do but it's a fair bet few of us in this country would ever find ourselves in a situation where we would have to use the skills we were taught.
A thourghly enjoyable afternoon. FL2 SD4 Metropolis Auto Santorini Black / ivory completely stock.

It's true that light travels faster than sound, some people look quite intelligent until you hear them speak.


Stop global winging.

I had a half day at Rockingham too. The dealer gave us the voucher when we picked the car up new, or it came in the post shortly afterwards I can't remember. We had the choice of any of the current range of Land Rover's at the time, but of course it had to be the Freelander 2. The wife and I loved it! It was a great day, would do it again in an instant. Not sure how much it costs? Bet it's quite expensive! MY11 Freelander 2 TD4 S, Santorini Black, Almond Cloth, Full MY 2013 facelift, Factory Privacy Glass, Clear View Pack, Folding Mirrors, Rear Parking Sensors, LR 19" DogLeg Alloys, and lots of other stuff!

Last weekend I took my LR2 up into the Blue Ridge in the US and had a ball. Most of the driving was simple cruising on steep tarmac, but my camp site was up a heavily-rutted gravel road that's only a shade more road than llama track. The first bit is at about a 30-degree incline followed by a VERY rutted hairpin turn. I switched to the Mud/Ruts selection on the terrain response system and kept it at a steady 5-10mph and she never put a foot wrong. Easiest drive up the mountain I've ever had, and I've gone up that particular road 4x a year for the past 17 years.