Hi everybody and my best wishes for 2017 !

I saw this video on you tube. It happened in Russia or Poland.





Did you personally try your Free on sand (desert or beach) ?

I never tried mine on sand because beach driving is forbidden in France (even in winter I think).

Any advice except putting the car on Sand mode with DSC off and not stopping in the sand than pulling off ?

Cheers !

Julie Freelander 2 TD4 S / Santorini black / Genuine factory GPS with Bluetooth phone connection / Front and Rear parking aids

Lower tyre pressure to at least 22-18 psi. (Lower if you get bogged). Select sand mode. Don't touch brake pedal. Turn DSC off.

Yes it manges ok on beaches... keep a bit of throttle on and it will go most places.

I'm no expert, but it looked like he kept lifting off the throttle too early in that video and losing momentum.

Bad technique?

Walruslike wrote:

Lower tyre pressure to at least 22-18 psi. (Lower if you get bogged). Select sand mode. Don't touch brake pedal. Turn DSC off.

Yes it manges ok on beaches... keep a bit of throttle on and it will go most places.

Hi Julien,

Manual doesn't mean it will stall. It's definitely easier with auto but manual can go anywhere auto can. The trick is to slip the clutch a bit on starting in the gear you intend to stick in for the tricky bits. Obviously without a low range it might be more tricky but it's certainly doable. If it's too hard to start in second for instance then start in first and let it rev high. Don't change gear in the soft sand.

Avoid the clutch and the brake after your rolling, and keep momentum up, and let the engine revs provide power while the traction control shuffles it where it's needed.

Freelanders have done arduous desert crossings here in Australia but I'm unsure if any were manuals. I'd be surprised if none were.... it took years before I could be convinced a auto was any good off road.

Yes but trust me. If you slip the clutch on a Free 2, it will smell like hell. And going off road with a Manual with no low range can kill the clutch.

So that's why it is better to use an Auto in these circonstances or while towing. I read dozens of topics on this forum about this.

Did you try to go off-road with a manual Free to compare with your car ? Freelander 2 TD4 S / Santorini black / Genuine factory GPS with Bluetooth phone connection / Front and Rear parking aids

Hmmm... you may be right. My off-road experience was with a manual Discovery. So I had low range and a choice of gears to work with. It went on many beaches and up dunes etc without any problems.

Only times it got bogged was when I would be inattentive or lazy.

I've only had this Freelander on one beach and it was very easy and no fuss driving. But as you say... it's an auto.

So all that might mean that in soft sand a manual Freelander means first gear only till you find a downhill bit or harder sand. But if your taking off in first you won't need to slip the clutch and if you give it revs it should still travel on sand ok.

Does anyone here take their manual Freelander on to sand?

Driving with bear feet? He ain't getting out of there

Hi Julie,

The Landie is brilliant in sand - I crossed solo the Simpson Desert in Australia, some 400 km of very fine dry sand, climbing through 1100 dunes, some of them more than 30 meters high in up to 40° C heat. I don't know what the hell this Russian guy was doing (they speak Russian), but the sand he was trying to drive on looks ridiculously easy.

Even the normal driving mode of the Landie is good in sand, but the "sand" mode with DSC off is just perfect. The tyre pressure is crucial. Normal, heavy sand will ask for about 15, 16 psi, but for the real powdery staff like the Simpson Dessert you'll need to drop down to 10, 11 psi, being careful not to make sharp turns for the tyres might come off the rims.

You can read about my driving adventures here: https://rumenmarinov.com/my-trip-to-the-red-centre-4/

Cheers! 2011 Freelander 2 SD4 SE

Amazing with 18" rims!

Which tyres were you using? Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

On that trip I was with the original stock tyres.  2011 Freelander 2 SD4 SE

You can go/get anywhere with a Freelander and the right type pressure. I've been all over Fraiser Island and right to the tip of Sandy Cape. In the soft stuff just let the pressure off till about 10-18 psi depending on how fine the sand is.

X2
It's basic 101 sand off-roading actually!
It elongates the tread contact area. MY15
Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
Surround Camera System
InControl Apps soon to be replaced with CarPlay (WIP)
Meridian Premium Surround Sound
Digital Audio Broadcast
Timed Climate
Cruise ECO Data
Follow Me Home Reverse
Extra Features Menu
Picture In Motion
4x4i screen (WIP)
Digital Broadcast TV
Meridian Rear Media with WIFI
Factory Powered Tailgate
Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM)
Reverse Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA)
Electrochromatic Wing Mirrors (WIP)

The driver in the video definitely didn't lower the tire pressure. You get stuck very easily if you get on the sand with 32 PSI (or similar).
I do beach driving quite often and had no issues at all (yet). Depending on how soft and deep the sand is, I lower the pressure to 13-18 PSI. Once I had to lower to 10 PSI because one section on the beach was very tricky, going uphill and car before me Toyota Prado got bogged there, but Freely had no issues at all. It also very depends on driver's technique (which is very different to driving on the road). I have All-Terrain tires which I think helps a lot.

Know your limit
LR2 does not have below essential powerfull tools for offroad

1. Low Gear
2. Differential Lock (Central, Rear, Front)