Swanny wrote:

Hi all,

Does the Freelander 2 (2013) have variable power steering? My power steering is great at very low speeds but as the speed builds it remains super sensitive. So much so driving on winding roads you have to really take care not to turn the steering wheel too quickly.

If the road is bumpy and my arms are shook from this therefore the wheel jerks it can really unsettle the car. I can't allow any bumps and arm movement to transmit to the wheel. Is this normal?

I thought maybe if it has variable speed steering it may not be working. Can this be possible?

Thanks.

IanMetro wrote:

As for your FL2 steering, my own experience is that, with low profile tyres on 19in wheels, the steering is very accurate and sensitive. My only concern is that the short (stiff) tyre walls lead to some tram-lining on the deeper lorry ruts that are in parts of the motorway slow lane.
It is not violent and only needs a very slight correction at steering wheel. It is similar to that experienced in the good old cross-ply tyres. I would expect your problems may be diminished by choosing a smaller wheel diameter and therefore deeper sidewalls on tyres.

Hi, I moved from a discovery 2 to the Freelander
and on the drive home(48mile) I found the steering to be very "twitchy"
which at time I really though there was a fault somewhere,
but I must say by the time I arrived home I had stopped noticing it,
(car was check over and all correct)
The only way for me to describe it is a similarity to going from a NON power steering car to a POWER steered one. DAVE.

@ Swanny.
AFAIK the FL2 does not have variable PAS.
No mention is made of it in the JLR manual.
See page 536 onwards lots more steering info. If you dont have it - then load it from from

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n0e6q5jj1l1fe2z/...6-2010.pdf


Your steering issues suggests a fault somewhere to me; eg tracking, bushes, bent suspension.

FWIW None of our three FL2s have had overly light steering, nor affected by bump steer to any degree.

Oops Just realised Swanny posted a year ago  Jules

Last edited by jules on 3rd Feb 2024 8:38 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Dave47 wrote:

Hi, I moved from a discovery 2 to the Freelander
and on the drive home(48mile) I found the steering to be very "twitchy"
which at time I really though there was a fault somewhere,
but I must say by the time I arrived home I had stopped noticing it,
(car was check over and all correct)
The only way for me to describe it is a similarity to going from a NON power steering car to a POWER steered one.

may be check all the tyre pressures are correct.

Nodge68 wrote:

Dave47 wrote:

Hi, I moved from a discovery 2 to the Freelander
and on the drive home(48mile) I found the steering to be very "twitchy"
which at time I really though there was a fault somewhere,
but I must say by the time I arrived home I had stopped noticing it,
(car was check over and all correct)
The only way for me to describe it is a similarity to going from a NON power steering car to a POWER steered one.

The steering on the Freelander 2 is very similar to that of the Discovery 3/4, in that it's nicely weighted and very precise.
However the steering is also very quick to respond, with only the tiniest movement of the wheel needed to change direction. Getting out of a D2 and into an FL2 would have been a shock, but the Freelander is a better place to be.

Every time I get in the wife's Audi A5 I notice just how nice the steering of the Freelander is, and how sluggish the steering feels in her Audi.

Totally agree there Nodge,
once you've "tuned" into the streeing of the Freelander 2, you tend find it's very well set up. DAVE.

Simply get in a car without power steering & then you will have something to complain about!


Having said than I think the Freelander steering is great. It is also great on outback corrugated roads. Try that on other cars & then you will have something really to complain about. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

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Apologies for not writing sooner on resolving the steering issues I was having.....

The poor handling and what I thought was sensitive steering in the end came down to Shock absorber top mountings. Previously in an effort to solve the issue I replaced all four shocks to no avail. But at the time I had no idea about shock absorber bearings and mountings....I didn't know these were active and important parts of the whole suspension system. They for sure are!

It came to light when in an effort to solve the problem I tried to tighten the top mounting bolts and snapped a head off one. My Mechanic told me the only way to replace it was to remove the strut,bearings and fit a new mounting. Damn!!! stupid mistake on my part. So as I am replacing one side I always feel it's good to do both. Ordered new bearings and mountings and BOOOOOM!!!! It transormed the handling immediately.....wasn't expecting it at all but as soon as I drove away what a difference.....incredible!!!

For those that do not know the top threaded end of the strut is bolted to the mounting sits within a rubber washer which absorbs some of the shock when suspension is working. If the rubber mounting is tired and softened it allows about 10mm or more of movement before the shock/strut can do its work. This is where the tippy'ness comes from. Going into corners or on uneven road surfaces the car would feel unstable because the shocks were doing nothing for the initial roll or dip of the car......such a simple thing.....amazing!!! And not expensive apart from fitting them of course.

Begs the question why didn't my Mechanic either know this or suggest I replace them at the time....would have saved me a lot of money.....ahhhh....right.....there you go. Lol!

Spindrift wrote:

Swanny wrote:

Hi all,

Does the Freelander 2 (2013) have variable power steering? My power steering is great at very low speeds but as the speed builds it remains super sensitive. So much so driving on winding roads you have to really take care not to turn the steering wheel too quickly.

If the road is bumpy and my arms are shook from this therefore the wheel jerks it can really unsettle the car. I can't allow any bumps and arm movement to transmit to the wheel. Is this normal?

I thought maybe if it has variable speed steering it may not be working. Can this be possible?

Thanks.

Hi my name is Steve "Spindrift" is my user name.
I bought a Freelander2 SD4 XS in November 2023

I have an issue as you with the power steering being too sensitive when cruising and there are lots of narrow twisty road on the island which make matters worse. I found your thread about the same issue however I don't know if it was ever resolved.
I had an X-Trail for the past three years and that handled beautifully.
Did you find the problem.
Many thanks

Good to know there was a solution to your problem.

I've had two Freelander2s, a diesel and a petrol and run them for the past four years. One of the worst things about them is the steering! I have checked for issues and think they are just designed to be too light and insensitive, which is fine on a fast, smooth roads but not on the very uneven roads I often use. What makes it troublesome is that the anti-roll bars (~sway bars) are far too stiff, in what I believe is an attempt to make a fairly tall vehicle sit flatter through the bends. What that does, though, is push the car around a lot when one side encounters a dip in the road - and the over-light steering means I can't not over-compensate. I've also found, on my diesel model, that the shocks soften when they warm up (in a very Japanese car sort of way), which doesn't help.

Hey, it's no sports car and I am sort of used to it. Still, I have to wonder when people praise the steering. I suppose they just grew up driving cars with strong assistance and probably never drove something like an early Escort or Peugot 309, with superb steering feedback and precision!

Ive had a sporty car of some sort and a Landrover of some sort for decades.

The 3 FL2s were ther first Landrovers we've owned that had modern steeriing racks. All have had light steering but were accurate and didnt suffer bump steer or tramlining and one could chuck them into corners without any worries.

As always, if there are steeeriing issues - you have to check all the suspension mounts for wear and mis-alignment first. Jules