Hey guys,

Having had my 07 plate XS for just 2 years, and having all kinds of annoying niggles, I've decided to change it.

I decided to give the Freelander another go, in the hope that the niggles I had were limited to just my current car.

So now I'm waiting to pickup a 58 plate SE auto at the weekend.

I've driven a couple of automatics over the years, but nothing as new as the Freelander and not enough to really get the hang of the best practices and stuff.

So does anybody have any tips with regard to driving an automatic Freelander?

Cheers

Peter

Dont got the clutch when you stop. Sounds flippant I know but you will do it at some point and boy does it show you how quick the car can stop  For a free country, it does seem pretty expensive these days.

Tuck your left leg out of the way for the first couple of drives - as weirdfish said you WILL go for the clutch at some point resulting in your nose being pressed to the windscreen!

Otherwise the Freelander auto is pretty nice... just put into drive and leave it! There are the obvious things... like foot on brake pedal if you want to start car, change gear etc.. also I find that there is a momentary pause after selecting a gear whilst drive is being taken up... if you give it gas straight away you will get a driveline shunt.. if you just pause for a second with foot on the brake and then feed in power after selecting the gear then it keeps it smooth.

Oh and the gas pedal has a kick down for changing up a gear if you need to accelerate quickly, personally I dont use this and find just squeezing the gas a little bit more is enough for it to slip a cog and pull away. If you know that you want a lower gear ie to overtake then slip the stick to the left (into sport or command shift) and select the most appropriate gear before doing your manoeuvre...

Oh and finally if you are parked on a hill pull the hand brake on firmly before entering park... this will reduce strain on the transmission pin and will also avoid a loud thump when you first engage drive the next time you use it.. obviously if you are just doing a hill start then the auto in D will hold the car (no need for hand brake) and a little gas will make it creep slowly Freelander 2 TD4 Auto, SE, Narvik Black, Alpaca full leather, Rear Headrest Entertainment System, 6 CD, 18 HSE Wheels, Privicy tints

Sensible advice from Captain Worm

D and go. Arrive and P.

'N' is for chain (IMO/ARC type) carwashes only No need to use it otherwise.

Kickdown is an outdated concept with a new Freelander, with all that torque, just press the accelerator and it will find the right gear.

Sometimes* when overtaking or pulling out across busy roads I just nudge the lever left into Sport, again just press the accelerator and it will find the right gear. I never bother with command shift.

Enjoy!

*but mostly I don't; mine is in D 99.9% of the time Trevor

'60 reg SD4 XS (long gone!)

trevd01 wrote:

D and go. Arrive and P.

Couldnt put it better myself  Freelander 2 TD4 Auto, SE, Narvik Black, Alpaca full leather, Rear Headrest Entertainment System, 6 CD, 18 HSE Wheels, Privicy tints

Thanks guys - am looking forward to having a play! Didn't realise there was a sport mode - did know about commandshift though.

I borrowed my dads M plate, auto Disco 1 during the snow that fell over Chrimbo 09 (Freelander was in having a few oil leaks fixed - quoted 3 days, they had it for 3 weeks - don't get me started on that one!). Obviously a much older and more primitive auto box than in the Freelander but it was magic in the snow - just point and go.

Might be a dumb question - but what are the other gears for? Obviously I know what D, P and N are. But when are (or should) the others be used?

The only other one is reverse, hopefully you are aware of what happens there

Knocking the stick over to the left in D will put it in Sport mode, which basically holds onto the gears longer before changing up. Once in sport mode you can move the stick forward and back to select a gear manually. This is fairly common place with modern auto boxes and does have it's uses if you want to preselect a gear to overtake but is unnecessary to use for just driving purposes. I also think it's the wrong way round. It's the same as my Audi was but I think it should be forward for a lower gear, back for a higher one. For a free country, it does seem pretty expensive these days.

Manual is for simply when you want the car to stay in gear, for example for engine braking, potentially if you can see a situation where you are about to accelerate hard and don't want it to change up, then back down. I use it mostly when towing to save it hunting slightly, or over revving.

If you put it in manual, it will change up when you hit the redline on its own, likewise it will change down if it is going to slow and is labouring.

'Sport' mode just holds onto gears a bit longer than auto and changes down a bit more readily.

There is a 'switch' if you floor the accelerator, this activates kickdown, but it's a waste of time as mentioned above. Press the throttle to accelerate quickly to the button, not through it as the gearbox gets confused!

When the car's clap cold it will feel sluggish, the gearbox won't properly connect to the road for a while and give the impression of a slipping clutch. This is normal and sorts itself out after a mile or so as the temperatures increase.

If you're gonna be stationary for more than 3 or 4 minutes, knock it into Neutral, saves fuel and is a bit less stressful on everything, but don't do this if you're only stopping for a few seconds. And use your handbrake at junctions, you'll need shares in a brake light bulb manufacturer if you just use the footbrake!

And 'R' is for reverse  Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County

Ah, the Disco I mentioned had 1 and 2 available for selection as well - I presumed the Freelander had as well.

Big Dave wrote:

If you're gonna be stationary for more than 3 or 4 minutes, knock it into Neutral, saves fuel and is a bit less stressful on everything, but don't do this if you're only stopping for a few seconds.

I don't think this is true with the latest gearbox. it effectively puts itself into neutral when you are stopped.

As for the handbrake, well the Americans call it a parking brake, and that's what you should use it for.

Yes I get the point that people make; the brakelight thing apparently dazzling people behind, but find on my daily commute that 90% of cars are sat with their brakelights on in traffic, and I can guarantee that 90% of cars commuting into Leeds, UK are not autos.

Oh yes... I have driven automatic cars for over 20 years without a brakelight failure.

But hey it's your car... Trevor

'60 reg SD4 XS (long gone!)

There is one aspect to an auto that is quite important and that is when to put it into Park (P).

When going in to Park it engages a pin within the gearbox that locks the gearbox. This means that if you are on a slope or hill and the handbrake is not applied then the only thing stopping the car from rolling down the hill is that pin. Putting a load like that on the pin is not a good idea and it can damage the gearbox.

So, when on a slope it is well worth making sure that the handbrake is applied first and the foot brake released with the gear level in neutral (N) so that the load can be taken by the brakes before putting it into Park.

What I do is:

1) Stop, apply the handbrake and place gear lever to N.
2) Release the foot brake allowing the car to put the load on to the hand brake
3) Place gear lever to Park (P)

Doing it that way will always ensure that the brakes take the loads rather than the pin.

The same applies when putting the car into P at any time so I never put the car into Park unless I am actually parking. At other times I will use N at traffic lights etc rather than P.

Never, ever, ever use P at traffic lights.

Accidents can happen that way. You have to go through 'R" to get to 'P' and back through "R' to get to 'D'.

All too easy to drive off backwards.

...and if you are worried about the effect of the car behind sitting with your brakelights on, think of the effect of your reversing lights coming on - twice.

I would be interested to see what any of our American members think of this thread. Neutral at traffic lights? Unheard of  Trevor

'60 reg SD4 XS (long gone!)

Trev, do you have an SD4? You're car will disengage the transmission when you stop, our previous models don't though.

And if you've never had a brake light fail you don't keep cars for long! Our D3 had 4 in 5 years!

And no the new cars don't have the numbered gears on the selector. On the D1's and D2's the numbers stopped the transmission shifting past the number you select, but manual control makes this feature pretty much redundant  Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County

Just a small point about using sport mode. Whilst it is useful for towing as it holds the lower gears for longer giving you a smoother ride and it is useful for quicker acceleration make sure you change back to normal drive when cruising as "sport mode" does not change up to sixth gear. So sayeth the man from Eastnnor! Fuel useage would be the penalty paid. Ralph
Zurmatt Silver, Diesel, Automatic, side steps, mud flaps, mats, boot liner, TomTom Start 60 installed, rubbing strips, removable Brink tow bar, after market tinted glass, front styling bar, Rear spoiler, Motorlicious tail pipe trim. Wood Company centre armrest

Big Dave wrote:

Trev, do you have an SD4? You're car will disengage the transmission when you stop, our previous models don't though.

Big Dave wrote:

And if you've never had a brake light fail you don't keep cars for long! Our D3 had 4 in 5 years!