Test drive Land Rover Freelander 1998 - 2000 SUV
Price of freedom
In the company of tramps, defenders and pioneers two years ago, a frivolous newcomer traveler appeared, Freelander. When the model was only preparing to launch production, the conservative world was alarming: in the press the SUV was called Baby, a city cowboy, and one crazy American even opened the site on which he still collects signatures under the appeal: people! Stop! Freelander will destroy Land Rover! But time was all in place today, according to the manufacturer, Freelander seized the leadership of sales in his sector in Europe. In order to completely crush competitors, Munich cartridges a month ago reduced the factory price for the base model to $ 18 thousand. And next year thunder will suffer for Russia at the Kaliningrad enterprise Autotor will begin assembly of domestic Freelander, which will make the SUV even more accessible to the wide layers of workers.
FREEDOM OF CHOICE. The fact that Freelander belongs to the Land Rover family, there are no doubts about this. Recognizable headlights and grille, as if borrowed from the Discovery stamping in the roof, increasing the space above the rear seats and the luggage compartment, even the repeater of the stop-signal over the reserve imitates the ellipse of the company's emblem. Freelander only seems small. In fact, its wheelbase is close in size to Range Rover. Freelander is only lower and shorter than the flagship of the company. In the cabin, this is practically not felt: a gentle slope of the windshield and a transverse engine is given to the driver and the front passenger is enough for a comfortable driving. Torpedo affects with its symmetry: it is clear that the instrument panel can easily accommodate both on the right and on the left. The handle is talking about the English origin of the car
opening the hood, located near the right front door. The finish is played, but very practical: it will not be possible to reach the cloth upholstery even in the boots, only easily cleaning plastic below. The salon has a bunch of drawers, pockets and holders, in which all five passengers can dissect their belongings. Caring for the needs of the owners, and especially their individuality, the manufacturers generally put a joke at the forefront, the list of accessories that can be filled on Frelander has over a hundred positions: additional lamps, trunk on the roof, moldings, coupled with twelve options for setting two bodies, they give A potential buyer is a truly unlimited space for fantasy. Although, in fact, the only serious option for Freelander, we considered the air conditioning before it was turned on, it was stuffy in the car, and I did not want to open the windows in this Land Rover close to the ideal. In general, there are a lot of little things that can make the owner of the fan in Frelander. You can not go anywhere at all, but to enjoy exclusively from opening and opening the back door. The glass is in it without a frame, and when you slam the door, the electric motor sends the glass upwards with two for two for toughness. The opening takes place in the reverse order: he took up the handle, the glass moved down, clicked the lock, the door opened. One problem with a sowing battery, it will be simply impossible to open this door.
Freedom of movement. Our trip to Freelander began with a small embarrassment. When touched, the car jerked and stalled. Freelander agreed to send on the road only from the promoted up to 2000 per./Min. engine. On the highway, the car discovered a very sharp steering wheel and habits of a front -wheel drive of a solid mass of the steering wheel, imposing roll, the maneuver itself. The checkpoint of the checkpoint is convenient, but in circulation it requires certain skills: the curtains are very cramped and you can easily plug the third gear instead of the fifth. Freelander honestly accelerates to 165 km/h, but this acceleration cannot be called dynamic. Of course, the supporting body with an independent suspension made the smallest Land Rover lighter than his older brothers, but 120 hp. Obviously little for almost two tons of equipped weight. This year, manufacturers promised to equip the model with a 2.5-liter KV6 engine, but for some reason they limited themselves to a leather salon, and the gasoline engine remained the same 1,8i from the MG-F sports car. Although, if you think about it, and this has its own fan. It is generally accepted that the content of the SUV is seriously hit on the wallet of its owner. Frelander a happy exception. The scrupulous British calculated that in the first 60 thousand mileage an economical and unpretentious SUV requires only $ 0.29 per kilometer, which is comparable to the content of such a car as the Audi A4 1.8 SE AVANT. Having made an amendment to ours as a cheap gasoline and the habit of being repaired in the garage, we can conclude that the freedom of movement on Frelander is just for nothing. 
THE FREEDOM OF ACTION. Land Rover products SUVs, and therefore the tests outside the asphalt program for Freelander are mandatory. Actually, strategists from Solehilla announced their ambitions at once: last year the novelty took part in the Latin American stage of Camel Trophy, where, according to eyewitnesses, it showed very good results. The Baltic coast, of course, is not Chilean off -road, but analogues of the average Russian realities were not difficult to find here. If the front wheels are pulled on the Freelander highway, then the sensors should fix the insufficient clutch with the road, as the viscous axis connects the rear axle. In ravines and on the buuds, this principle works impeccably. The Hill Descent Control (HDC) descent control system tested on Freelander, which has already managed to christen Highlander, tested on Freelander. He crossed the yellow selector on the gearbox control handle and be sure: going down the mountains in the first gear, the car itself will limit your speed up to 9 km/h when it is necessary. One trouble: HDC is installed only on expensive XEI/EDI versions of the machine and only one knot with ABS and ETC (system control system). If the owner of a more stripped version I or DI lives on the plain and he does not need HDC in principle, he will not be able to install naked ABS, but he will have to fork out for the entire option package.
True, having moved to the sandy beach, we immediately buried on the hub. Attempts to rescue the car from captivity led to the fact that an unpleasant smell of paired clutch appeared in the cabin. It seems that off -road rubber would not help here: 2000 revolutions, to which you need to spin the engine to move on the asphalt, is clearly not enough on the off -road, and 5000 rpm. And a sharply abandoned clutch pedal, you see, is not the best reception of off -road driving.
However, all these are trifles. When in Solekhille they only prepared for the assault on this market sector, the company's marketers calculated that most European jeepers rarely move to the laundry and most importantly for them this sense of freedom and confidence, which in practice there is no need to confirm. Land Rover Freelander got to the very point.
Text Dmitry Gronsky, photo Dmitry Popov
Source: "Autopilot"
