I have read that the auto box on the Freelander is good. How do they cope when towing a caravan. A few years ago I had a Scooby doo Outback and once towed a caravan to Devon. It was horrible. Changing gear if I so much as rested my foot on the thottle, even on a level road and drinking petrol like it was going out of fashion. I want to consider an auto in my next Freelander, if the box would let the engine torque do the work before dropping down a gear and revving it's guts out. I would like some feedabck please.

Having towed with an Auto FL2 for 3 years I would not hesitate to recommend one.

The auto box is very intelligent (electrics plugged in & the car knows) and picks the correct gear without labouring, or constantly changing, in D. If you want to hold gears a bit more, you can use Sport mode, or instruct a manual change also. Having experienced scooby auto boxes they are not in the same league.

I have heard that manual clutches can be 'fragile' towing, and can wear/fail early, so because of that & the fact automatics are more sought after on the re-sale market, I would say it was a no brainer.

I'm sure others will have different views but that's my 2p.

I would definitely have another as a tow-car without hesitation.

P.S. Van was a 1500kg Swift, & trailer 2000kg Ifor Williams.

As to fuel economy WRT towing & auto, (I have a lead right foot, and mine was an 57', so older engine compared to the new ones which are better on fuel);

Solo 27-30mpg (mostly local stuff)
Towing 21/22 (worst) to 25mpg

That's very reassuring and what I like to hear. Many thanks for your input.

I have the SD4 and towed to Cornwall, Scotland and the Gower peninsula last year and it handled itself spot on. Winding 'A' roads are best handled in 'Sport' mode as it will hold its gears better but even then will not rev itself silly and change when needed.
The 'Manual' mode is ideal for engine braking down hills and reversing is brilliant with the 'Auto' compared to the high reverse gear of the manual where slipping the clutch can be the norm on a gradient or soft ground.
Economy is about 38-40mpg solo (motorway), 33-35mpg (solo rural) and 27-28mpg (towing, I managed 30mpg on one trip)

21-23 towing a large twin axle. Tows a dream, I go to the Alps & south of France each year and the Auto box is a dream.

auto mpg sucks had a loan car from my dealer td4auto 12 plate 26mpg ave mpg mixed roads m/way ,urban god knows what you get when hooked up to a trailer , my td4 manual give me towing 1000kg 1/2 caravan 37mpg down to cornwall last year pulled it like a dream  rainy-city
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my td4 manual give me towing 1000kg 1/2 caravan 37mpg down to cornwall last year

Some on here would be happy to reach your 'magical' towing figure of 37mpg when solo , could it be that it had to do with you towing 1/2 a caravan

"auto mpg sucks had a loan car from my dealer td4auto 12 plate 26mpg ave mpg mixed roads m/way"

Mine did that when it was new, infact until about 14K miles but now it returns 33ish overall & 42 on a long steady run so not bad for an auto.
I have had 26 ish towing but mostly 21-23 but thats not bad with 17-1800KG on the back.

i think it tows well, mpg on mine is anywhere between 18 and 23mpg

I cannot ever understand these MPG figures, both wife and myself drive a 59 plate HSE auto.

We are not boy racers but do not hang about and to be honest I do not worry about MPG.

However my indicator , which I rarely reset reads between 29.9 and 31.3 , the car has done about 27K.

When I tow the race cars , the trailer is approx 1400kg the MPG seems to drop to about 27.

As I say I do not pay a great deal of attention to the figures but I believe these are correct.

I have never noticed any figure in the high 30's

Caravan towing - about 1200kgs.

I have towed about 12k miles with a 2007 TD4 auto. Excellent, but 6th gear not used very often.

Now have the SD4 auto. Towed so far about 3k miles, still excellent and 6th gear now frequently used, and about 5 -10% better fuel consumption.

It seems that complaints on the MPG of the Auto always seem to come from someone who normaly drives a manual and is in an auto courtesy car, mine is no different to what I was getting with a manual, is it anything to do with the fact that they are courtesy cars and are being driven like ther are stolen and they often comment on the gear change, anything to do with heavy right foot and the bending of the floor pan:?:

my auto does a 100miles less per tank than my old manual, but the auto loan SD4 did less miles than my TD4, not sure why though

I found the SD4 had lovely mid range torque though

Your MPG doesn't count Nick, you've a hole in the tank