Just how capable is the FL2. I found out this past weekend when succeeding to summit Ongeluksnek (Accidents Pass) between Lesotho and South Africa. The attached link provides full details in HD video format of the pass and its difficulties.

To be noted is that the video was compiled in Oct 2013 and since then the grass has grown further to the extent that some of the pass is merely a track and has degraded even further following the summer storms.

The FL2 managed the most difficult sections requiring, according to the commentator, low range 3rd. Admittedly, I stopped on a number of occasions to identify obstacles and potential car damaging rocks, ditches etc so it took a little longer than would a Defender. Having had a test of this nature I can only say that the car is awesome. After the trip, a significant portion of which was on rutted gravel roads, I had the wheel alignment checked. Not one adjustment was needed - to me indicates just how robust this car is.

The car has a 10mm lift kit installed and slightly larger tyres (Grabbers) so in part this would have made the route a little easier but not much.

The car is that impressive off-road that my wife agrees that should we ever need to replace our FL2-Pumpkins the name as is the colour it will only be for a newer FL2. I am confident that this car is more than capable of tackling all but the grade 4 and 5, 4x4 trails.

Not sure how to post more images = the one below was done by luck more than know-how.

http://www.mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za...-pass.html

Good for you - well done.

It really is a great car, and it's good to hear about it being used the way it was designed to be used.

Yes FL2 is a great car

Had a little crawl about in the mud this morning in North Oxfordshire...vehicle did ok, but given the recent rainfall, some of the gradients were just too boggy for it to manage the incline. Still, a lot of fun had killing an hour, and she came back filthy, as planned. Yes Taz, I know it needs a wash, but I'm refusing on Heritage grounds (and the fact that there's plenty of milk around!)



 Foraging near Gaydon....
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MY13 HSE Lux SD4, Baltic Blue - current, 30,000> miles without fault
MY12 HSE 2.2 SD4, Sumatra Black - gone after 10 months/43,000 fault-free miles

Well done PumpkinZA and Freely2, proper job.

The Victorian High Country out here is a tough 4x4 challenge requiring high clearance and low range....unless it is an FL2 of course. Between myself and Vesko, we have done most of the main challenges up there in our cars. The Mt Pinnibar track as an example...I read of a Mercedes ML trying it and completely failing. The owner went on a forum to warn any normal all wheel drives not to attempt it as it had wrecked his car. Vesko's car didn't miss a beat all the way to the top when we did it. If only we could pump the suspension up a few inches for certain obstacles and have a snorkel for deeper water crossings....it would be able to go anywhere.

Tradewind 35 wrote:

Well done PumpkinZA and Freely2, proper job.

Ahhhhh Proper Job.....the finest Ale known to mankind. God Bless St. Austell  Foraging near Gaydon....
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MY13 HSE Lux SD4, Baltic Blue - current, 30,000> miles without fault
MY12 HSE 2.2 SD4, Sumatra Black - gone after 10 months/43,000 fault-free miles

My son is an Agronomist, his job requires him to travel around farms advising on crop protection issues so he spends his time daily in his Freelander on motorways or main roads and then driving across ploughed fields and farm tracks. He does get stuck at times but very rarely and at times has been amazed that the car has managed to get out of some situations by itself. All of his colleagues use Freelanders and when he goes to an Agronomist meeting or conference the car park is full of them and everybody swears by them. (despite reliability issues)
So here we have a group of people whose jobs depend on the capability of their vehicles - what does that tell you?

I have said in previous posts about how my son uses his FL2 for work. This week he has done about 400 miles, a mixture of motorways, country lanes and lots of driving across fields and muddy lanes (the car is covered in mud and you can't read the rear number plate at present). The interesting thing was that in a discussion with his brother he made two interesting points.
1. Hill descent control is brilliant and he uses it a lot.
2. Forget about the terrain settings, the best thing to do is just leave it in the "normal" setting and switch off DSC and let it sort itself out, the other programs mainly affect throttle response.

I guess that not many people use the car's full capabilities for everyday work like this.

Interesting observations by your son. On an experience day at Honiton, the instructor had us coming down a wet grassy field and turning full lock to see how the car reacted with and without DSC switched on. Without, it went all over the place without the driver having any true control. With, it turned brilliantly and complete control was maintained. We tried this several times with DSC definitely being the safest option.
The same was then done using TR or not, again the TR came out the best option.
I suppose different conditions will mean trying different methods, but for me having tried all combinations, the electronics win. (Having said that, I have switched the DSC off a few times in snowy conditions when the car seemed confused).

Actually my son went on an experience day at Honiton last year and it was them that gave him the tip about turning DSC off. Perhaps different instructors show you different things. The other thing they said is that the "normal" road setting is just another program mode anyway which chooses the most appropriate response for the conditions.

I think that switching DSC off is only good for certain situations. The DSC can get confused sometimes and cut power which is bad if you are off road and actually need the power to clear an obstacle. A very large sand dune is the perfect example. You won't make it with the DSC on. As for the terrain response, if you tried the same dune in normal mode, then you would need to be in command shift not auto so as to keep the gear change from happening at the wrong time causing loss of momentum. Sand mode handles this well. The trick with these cars is to learn how the features work and use them to your advantage in a given situation. Ninety nine percent of the time the DSC is fantastic, but it is good that we have the option of trying a different way sometimes.

As a footnote, I believe the LR engineers got it wrong on 2 points. For proper sand driving, not beach driving, you can rarely go faster than 40kph or about 25mph. Therefore DSC is a bit of a waste of time and only a hinderance at that speed. Cutting power on sand gets you bogged. There should be an option to have DSC off as default when switching to sand mode. It is a pain when in sand mode, switching the car on and off and always forgetting that DSC comes back on again when you restart the car.
The second is mud ruts and HDC. I only want HDC when I actually want HDC. I switch to mud and ruts to climb a steep rutted hill, I don't want the HDC until the other side. I've been caught a few times by the car doing the wrong thing for the situation because HDC has come on automatically with the mud ruts setting.

As an aside my other son works as a geologist in remote parts of Africa and he reckons that all you really need is a Toyota Landcruiser with centre diff lock, snorkel and low range. But that's another story.

As long as it is an older reliable one. I don't think Toyota or Nissan really know how to make a common rail diesel that is reliable. They are in love with Landcruisers out here, but they use too much fuel and drive like rubbish, especially places like a shopping mall car park, for my taste. Toyota is living off a reputation that finished 10 years ago. The newer Hilux diesels need new injectors every 100,000kms. The new Landcruiser 200 series has severe oil problems in its v8 diesel requiring complete engine rebuilds in less than 100,000kms. Nissan have stopped making diesel Patrols and opted for a v8 petrol only instead. Do they sell Patrols in the UK? The 3 litre diesel Patrol was called the "grenade" here because it blew up so regularly.

Let's hope that in a few years time when the complete range of new Discos and Defenders are on sale then markets like Oz will come back to the green oval and ditch the Jap crap  * GONE. GS TD4 Manual MY2013. Orkney Grey with privacy, cold and clearview packs, armrests (a must!) and a spoiler.
* 2011 4.4 TDV8 Full Fat. Amazing piece of kit.
* GONE.2012 RR Sport HSE SDV6 Orkney Grey. Rocket ship. 33mpg.
* Range Rover Classic '93 200Tdi Factory fit
* 1949 80" in family since 1975