So the LR shock absorber must be quite extended in normal use for it to allow the oil to port across the piston so quick

Perhaps fully laden it might not happen because there would be more oil to port across

There is nothing compared with several hundred kilograms/pounds of force of a suspension spring added with some quite heavy wheel and wheel assembly... No shock absorber will resist to that...

I understand what you are saying Alex, but some do it and some don't and the Freelander 'crashes' quite easily
Other 4x4's have just as heavy parts hanging off the body suspension points, Do you think it is because the FL2 is biased for comfort on the road

Some do and some don't is because you are not comparing like with like. If you had a standard size speed hump and every freel2 owner hit it at the same speed you would get the knock. Reduce the speed and they won't.

But I don't want to compare like with like, I want to compare 4x4's of similar kerbweight that have MacPherson strut suspension like the Freelander has.

The only discernible difference then must be the coil spring and/or the shock absorber, so is it the 'setup' to give a comfortable ride that lends itself to 'crashing'. If I just creep off a high kerb (well, a bit faster than creep) at an angle to it, it 'crashes', is that because one wheel is in air

It doesn't bother me, I'm inquisitive.

EYorkshire wrote:

If I just creep off a high kerb (well, a bit faster than creep) at an angle to it, it 'crashes', is that because one wheel is in air

EYorkshire wrote:

But I don't want to compare like with like, I want to compare 4x4's of similar kerbweight that have MacPherson strut suspension like the Freelander has.

The only discernible difference then must be the coil spring and/or the shock absorber, so is it the 'setup' to give a comfortable ride that lends itself to 'crashing'. If I just creep off a high kerb (well, a bit faster than creep) at an angle to it, it 'crashes', is that because one wheel is in air

It doesn't bother me, I'm inquisitive.

It's a mixture of all and a trade off of one attribute against another and to be subjective you need to compare like with like in the same situation to determine if there is an issue or not. It is irrartional for example to compare a RAV4 against a freelander as the vehicle attributes are so very different. They share the same class but have very different attributes so therefore your argument is null and void and can neither be proved or disproved on that basis. If you'd care to PM me EY I can probably put it into yorkshire speak