With the manual gearbox and the lack of a low-ratio or suitably low first gear, I’m sure we are all used to putting the car in first (or reverse) and letting it crawl up steep slopes without any input from the accelerator pedal. But does anyone have any idea just how steep a slope it will handle without stalling? I know it copes with ease on a 15% gradient, but how much steeper will it handle? 2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel

The maximum slope is probably around 15° full tare weight including maximum towing weight from a standing start. So for the Freelander 4505 kg from a standing start on 15°.

Obviously tackling difficult 4wd tracks it would be wise not to tow anything. I did about a 35 degree slope, it was not too difficult but having an automatic allowed me to take my time avoiding minor obstacles on the track but in general keeping momentum up & the ground was firm.

Best to have an observer so you can get feedback for minor corrections, but plan your path to start with. Preplan a retreat route.

Correct tyre pressure will do wonders! 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

Thanks. I’ve not tried standing-start to crawl on 15%, I’m not sure the manual will handle that. The anti-stall seems to need to sense the situation for itself, and even on the flat needs very sensitive clutch work to pick up properly. Since crawl is at about 800 rpm on mine, doing the hill-start with the micro clutch adjustments would probably be into smelly-clutch territory. Getting down to crawl from having accelerator input, without a complete stop, is not easy, so it is also quite tricky to drop from normal hill-start down into crawl. It doesn’t seem to crawl in reverse nearly as well, I guess the reverse ratio must be higher than first? 2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel

A few years ago trying to get out of a caravan park at Lago di Garda with relatives we cooked the clutch. It was not that steep but with 3 people pushing we just got out. 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

Crawling at 800rpms with a manual? is that possible? Max torque is achieved around 1600-1800rpms, so operating in this range in 1st gear would be the optimal crawl/offroad speed. Am I wrong here? Going slower need riding the clutch, and that will ruin the clutch pretty fast...??

I remember reading somewhere that LandRovers are supposed to be able to start on a 1 in 3 (or 4?) hill. Apparently it was one of the issues when BMW owned them in that the BMW engineers couldn't understand why it was necessary, the answer "because it's a LandRover". 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

MRRover75 wrote:

Crawling at 800rpms with a manual? is that possible? Max torque is achieved around 1600-1800rpms, so operating in this range in 1st gear would be the optimal crawl/offroad speed. Am I wrong here? Going slower need riding the clutch, and that will ruin the clutch pretty fast...??

Simple question: How is the best way to get up this hill with a manual without stalling the engine and/or ruin the clutch? Going in the so called "crawl mode" mentioned here would just stall the engine. There is not enough torque to get things going at 800 RPM`s. Correct me if I am wrong

Click image to enlarge

Pray that you still have inflated tyres at the top!

The photo below I inched over the rocks & this was level ground. I would not have given it a go in a manual as you have to move far too slowly.

Click image to enlarge

That FL1 looks to be doing OK although I did notice when I had one that first gear was very low to make up for lack of lo-range box. FL2 gearing in a manual was not as low as far as I recall. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

MRRover75 wrote:

MRRover75 wrote:

Crawling at 800rpms with a manual? is that possible? Max torque is achieved around 1600-1800rpms, so operating in this range in 1st gear would be the optimal crawl/offroad speed. Am I wrong here? Going slower need riding the clutch, and that will ruin the clutch pretty fast...??

Simple question: How is the best way to get up this hill with a manual without stalling the engine and/or ruin the clutch? Going in the so called "crawl mode" mentioned here would just stall the engine. There is not enough torque to get things going at 800 RPM`s. Correct me if I am wrong

Click image to enlarge

my first ever 4x4 was a MK2 Frontera 2.2 DTi Limited. Manual 5 speed box, on the fly switchable 4x4, and a low range box.

I took it on an organised greenlaning day in the Peak district which involved going down the tarmac road at Monsal head, crossing the bridge over the river, and then up the lane going up the side of the hill opposite the pub/café above the viaduct.
Low range, 1st/2nd gear, feet off pedals... it went up with no problems what so ever.

Did the same hill a couple of years later in the my 1st landrover, a 2001 FL1 Auto, in manual 1st/2nd, but at a much higher revs/speed than in the Frontera meaning a bumpier, crashier ride and quite a few wheel spins.

IMO you cant beat a proper low range box for low speed crawling.

That is correct! I guess that is the main reason why the FL 1 and 2 are seldom seen when the big boys are out playing D:

the group I used to go laning with used to split into 2 separate groups, the soft roaders who did the less challenging lanes but still pretty tough in places (Freelander, Japanese, Korean etc) and the big boys (uprated and standard Japanese stuff, Defenders and D2) who did the big boulder crawling stuff like Stanage Edge

Unfortunately the eco crowd targeted them with online and actual abuse, so they folded their website. Even though they were responsible in their routes etc. and careful not to tear anything up.

MRRover75 wrote:

Crawling at 800rpms with a manual? is that possible? Max torque is achieved around 1600-1800rpms, so operating in this range in 1st gear would be the optimal crawl/offroad speed. Am I wrong here? Going slower need riding the clutch, and that will ruin the clutch pretty fast...??