Does anyone know why the FL2 has such poor engine braking? Both the manual and auto that I've owned just rev out right up to 4000rpm before I feel anything like retardation/resistance.
Whilst on holiday, down under, I had a few different diesel hire cars with auto gearboxes. Toyota Highlander, Toyota Landcruiser, Mitzy Pajero Sport. They all had better engine braking. Also, my previous Citroen diesels have all had decent engine braking.
Seems odd to me that with something like a 20:1 compression there seems to very little on these Freelanders. MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

I think the others have larger engines in relation to car mass as they don't have a turbo. Then there would be more engine mass to push around. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

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Every car mentioned has a turbo.

Apart from the Landcruiser which was a 3.0, the others I don't know what size they were. MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

Not sure why but the Disco Sport that I now have with the Freelander 2.2 engine has loads of engine braking and its an auto. You hardly need the brakes as you can drive it on the throttle most of the time. Although its only about 5 months or so I can`t really remember what the Freelander I had prior to this was like in terms of engine braking. (manual gearbox)

blacktiger wrote:

Does anyone know why the FL2 has such poor engine braking? Both the manual and auto that I've owned just rev out right up to 4000rpm before I feel anything like retardation/resistance.
Whilst on holiday, down under, I had a few different diesel hire cars with auto gearboxes. Toyota Highlander, Toyota Landcruiser, Mitzy Pajero Sport. They all had better engine braking. Also, my previous Citroen diesels have all had decent engine braking.
Seems odd to me that with something like a 20:1 compression there seems to very little on these Freelanders.

Thanks for all the replies so far but most have missed my point. And that is that the FL2 is a lot worse than other similar cars. MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

Different. 2010 Freelander2 TD4_e GS
--
"Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members -- the last, the least, the littlest."

I do use the sports mode in a lower gear for long down hill braking & have found it works really well but I do have a petrol engine. I would have thought a diesel would have been even better. One learns something every day!

Down under there are signs all over the place asking truck drivers not to use engine braking in built up areas. 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

blacktiger wrote:

Thanks for all the replies so far but most have missed my point. And that is that the FL2 is a lot worse than other similar cars.

Is it something to do with the anti-stall?

No engine braking on my SD4 auto, it just speeds up going down a hill and changes gear to match. Interestingly my wife's new Suzuki Swift auto (with a torque convertor) behaves exactly the same on the same hills. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

You will not have effective engine braking below 2000 RPM.
Switch it to sport mode, where the TCC will engage as soon as possible and remain that way as much as possible and keep revs above 2000 and you'll have engine braking.

Alex, If you read my first post again you'll see that I say that the engine revs up to 4000rpm without having much engine braking.
It doesn't matter whether it's in command shift or not. Yes, that would hold it in a lower gear and I do do that but it doesn't feel comfortable going down a long steep hill, trying to stop the brakes smoking, with the engine screaming. MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

If I need engine braking, I put it into 'sport' and then choose a suitable gear.

Yes, the engine does not seem to give much braking below 3k rpm, but it seems to do the job of avoiding long periods of braking.

I have noticed that when I select 'drive' again the FL2 seems to be reluctant to revert to 'drive' again if I am going below 20 mph and still on a slope. When it first ignored my request I thought that I had a auto gearbox fault, but it seems that it is a 'feature' of the car. (I hope) FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

blacktiger
Sorry, I was carried away with the others responses... My mistake.
Although, if I remember correctly, my auto has enough engine braking on slopes with up to 10% gradient (didn't find more than that around here), enough braking that sometimes I need to press, for short periods, the gas pedal in order to not become to slow for the cars behind...
Of course, with the gearbox in manual mode and trying to select the correct gear in order for the RPM to be around 2500 RPM.
The engine compression, according with the manual is about 16.6 to 1...