Hi,

I saw this topic on another site and they claimed FL1 was superior cos the FL2 has a guard on the fuel tank which reduces ground clearance to less than that of the FL1. What difference do you think the terrain response makes in an off road show down?

I had an FL1 previously and it was good off road but I haven't taken my FL2 off road yet. Anyone used both in the rough stuff to give us a comparison?

Cheers LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

did a lot of off road stuff in petrol fl1 , exhaust dragged easily but fine other than that. I would say fl2 is better protected underneath At work
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winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Have done LR experience using FL2 Auto, January this year lots of snow and ice, coped better than I would have expected of a Discovery. See my gallery photos.
My previous 08 FL2 GS Auto covered many forrest miles running as course car ahead of rounds of Scottish Rally Championship, usually about 60 forrest miles per event running 1 hour ahead.
As championship scrutineer for Scottish Land Rover Owners Club I attend off road events where even service roads and service areas often demand 4x4 vehicles.
My impression of FL2, have just bought a 10 plate GS Auto. Enough said.  All FL2's (3) Gone
2011 Mercedes C180 CGI Gone
FL2 GS Auto SD with heated leather, factory tints, alloy spare and a few other bits.

When off-roading, in many situations, the ground clearance reduction near the axles is unimportant. And the FL2's fuel tank is above rear axle.
Remember the imaginary triangle used for defining breakover angle (ramp angle) - Handbook, page 221.
Anything outside (above) that triangle has little importance, because when approaching an obstacle, the wheels lift the body in the axles area, increasing the ground clearance. Those tank guards are well outside the triangle zone.
Think of a real off-roader like Defender. The lowest points on it are the differential cases. Comparing with a FL2, those differential cases of a Defender are way lower than the FL2 tank guards. And there is no problem with it.
Of course, for hightening the ground clearance, there is a solution for these differential cases: portal axles, like on Hummers or Unimogs. But this is a different discussion.

2006 Auto Vs 2008 Auto

I have found that when off roading in the FL1 the exhaust back box hits the floor long before anything else.
When eventually it gets too damaged replace it for the smaller single tail pipe version and it tucks away even better. It is cheaper to replace the back box than fit a Mantec guard.
The front just needs the plastic sump tray replacing with a piece of aluminium checker plate, use 6mm not 8mm as 8mm is a right to form into the right shape, and even harder to reform back into the right shape when/if you bend it.
Propshaft bearings are exposed on the FL1, tucked well out of the way on the FL2.

The FL2 demolishes the fuel tanks when offroading , the mantec guard solves this problem at a price but does reduce ground clearance by 60mm. The sump guard from mantec doesn't reduce ground clearance much, but doesn't actually cover the sump.

The FL2 auto cannot be driven in a single gear - it will always change up when it decides it knows best (not a feature that I am happy about), on the FL1 you could select 1st or 2nd and it would stay there all day.
The terrain response works well in snow, the FL1 was good but the FL2 is better.
In mud the FL2 seems to take longer to respond when locking the Haldex coupling, loosing momentum. Sand setting seems to work better in mud than "mud & ruts"
In water the original FL1 with the non TD4 engine was best as it had a float that shut off themain air intake and diverted air from a smaller raised intake under the bonnet. On the TD4 version the rear would actually float before water entered the engine. On the FL2 wading and getting it even slightly wrong is going to be terminal - and no I don't need a boat.

Not tried the FL2 in soft dry sand, but it is possible to get the FL1 stuck if you mare really stupid



Fl2 works very well on the beach though.

Then again maybe I drive too fast, too deep, with little finesse, and have loads of fun.
My choice
PS Wife says don't buy a used car from this man. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

The tank guard on my FL2 was the most vulnerable part in my experience, to the degree I had to replace it.
Actually, thinking about it, there was more damage to the exhaust heat sheild which is attached to it rather than the tank guard itself.
The only other thing was the plastic guard which sits between the front bumper & the sump guard.

Failing that, I couldn't fault it.
The 2 available Mantec products for the FL2 would of eliminated any damage completely. FL2 HSE Manual in Stornaway Grey
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Andy131 wrote:

2006 Auto Vs 2008 Auto


The FL2 auto cannot be driven in a single gear - it will always change up when it decides it knows best (not a feature that I am happy about),

Think, if it's like the D3, command shift works, but it will still change up, if you run for too long in a gear, at high revs.

Put it in 1st gear command shift, and if you try to stay there too long at high revs it will always change up.

In the FL1 I had to spend extended periods clambering across rough terrain with 4x4's equipped with low box, keeping in 1st gear helped to keep the transmission cool - suspect it was because at higher revs the torque converter was locked up. If allowed to go into 2nd the engine (cooling systems linked) would start to overheat after about 20 mins, forcing the transmission back into first brought the engine temperature back to normal.
Did you know if the engine temperature starts to rise the aircon turns off not good when it's 40 in the shade. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Andy131 wrote:

keeping in 1st gear helped to keep the transmission cool - suspect it was because at higher revs the torque converter was locked up.

Well, from experience of driving my own D3, and a D3 at Dunkeld, if you select a gear using command shift then the car stays in that gear now matter how high the revs or length of time. ______________________
2011 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8
2012 FL2 SD4 Auto HSE
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Not much chance of testing the cooling at 40 degrees in UK this summer
Just glad they have thought about the transmission cooling, because it would be an issue if the same strategy used on the FL1 was used without the ability to lock it into the lower gears. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

I agree with Dave on the auto box.