I had a Freelander 2 as a courtesy vehicle whilst my Defender was being serviced and I must say that, contrary to my expectations, I was very impressed. It was a TD4 HSE Auto and lovely to drive.
Thinking about buying one to replace my wife's car.
I wished they put that engine in the Defender. Although mine is tuned to give 150 PS and 420 Nm torque. Defender 110 Crew Cab (2009)

Good to hear you liked it

Out of interest why did you 'expect' not to though

I was in Portugal a couple of months ago, I didn't see any FL2' until we drove past a dealer on the way to Faro airport, or any other new LR car to be honest  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

That's my dealer. LOADS of Land Rover in my area (so called "Golden Triangle" of Vale do Lobo, Quinta do Lago, Vilamoura). Essentially RR and quite a few Defenders. A few Freelanders.
In the summer, I would say that 50% of the cars around here are RR, the rest being Continental convertibles (well I exclude the rental cars..). Or at least that is the way it feels....

It is just that I still had in my mind the original Freelander which I always found ugly and not up to the LR image.

NB: RR in this context means Range Rover, not Rolls-Royce.

NB 2: One thing I did not like AT ALL was the Start/Stop button and ignition key. What a pain in the a*s. Defender 110 Crew Cab (2009)