Today's roads are clogged with SUVs and every one of 'em is just a little bit different and appeals to a little bit different kind of customer. When all is said and done though, the big differences all boil down to toughness. Is the SUV macho or is it a wimp? Sadly, the vast majority of SUVs sold today are wimpy vehicles that are nothing but station wagons that look just different enough from Dad's 1970s era Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser to let our generation be smug about being different.

Many manufacturers produce vehicles (often the same basic model) in both macho and wimp configurations. Jeep has always produced some very capable 4-wheel drive Wranglers for people who really want rugged vehicles, but Jeep actually sells an ocean full of 2 wheel drive Grand Cherokee Laredos that are equipped for nothing much more demanding than a trip to the day care.

Ditto everybody else. Ford might once have been known for rugged Broncos, but today's crop of Escapes are, at their heart and soul, just very, very average cars.

It gets worse. The guys at Lexus pander to the female corporate executive crowd with their posh RX330, a vehicle that's about as macho as sipping Chardonnay while trying on bustiers. And the Lexus isn't even the wimpiest one out there (that honor goes to the new Porsche Cayenne -- the stupidest fake SUV ever to roll on pavement -- and you can quote me on that totally unbiased opinion).

Don't even get me started on the wimpy little mini-SUVs like the Hyundai Santa Fe or Toyota Rav 4 -- we just don't want to go there...

Fortunately, the manly men at Land Rover were evidently out on safari the last few years while all other SUV manufacturers were getting in touch with their feminine sides.

Today, Land Rover is the only SUV marquee with real credibility and real substance. Jeep's lost it. Nobody else ever really had it.

Land Rover continues to produce only vehicles that are capable off road performers. These are vehicles that truly can go off road without a blink of the eye. And that applies to every one of their vehicles, from the basic entry-level Freelander on up to the biggest, poshest, over-equipped Range Rover.

Land Rover doesn't sell 2 wheel drive models. Period. If you see a Land Rover, any Land Rover, you don't need to wonder if it's a real SUV or not -- it is. And to prove it, just take a look at the Freelanders.

Freelander
The Freelander is Land Rover's smallest and least expensive vehicle. Prices start at about $25,000 and go up into the mid 30s -- not chump change, but considerably less than any other European SUV, and well within the competitive ballpark of domestic and mainline Japanese brands -- especially when you compare equivalently equipped vehicles, since most SUVs charge extra for 4-wheel drive and off road performance packages, putting them within spitting distance of a Freelander's price tag.

In its base configuration, the Freelander is a full-time all-wheel drive model with an automatic 5-speed transmission (that's shiftable manually, if you wish), it's also equipped with traction control systems, and a hill descent control system. It's also got a substantially beefier suspension than most SUVs on the market today, and it comes with bigger, fatter tires and wheels than most small SUVs (16-inch wheels are standard with the basic "S" trim package, 17-inch standard on the upgraded "SE" or "HSE" packages -- SEs will start around $28K, HSEs around $32K.)

With its firm suspension and solid build, the Freelander feels good to drive no matter how bad the road might be. Bumps, no problem. Jump the curb if you want, the Freelander doesn't care...it's built for off road.

So while very other SUV manufacturer today talks the talk. Only Land Rover sticks to basics and walks the walk. Land Rover does SUVs, ONLY SUVs, and they do it right.

Pros and Cons...
I've been driving the Freelander for almost 6 months now, and like every vehicle, there are things I like and things I dislike about it.

I have not had any serious problems with this vehicle, although it does have its quirks and it does show some annoying quality control issues that bother me, some minor, some less so.

The most important problem I've had with the vehicle is the quirky hill control system. In an ideal world, the system senses when I'm heading down a steep incline, and it steps down the engine to help control braking. On my Freelander, the HCS system would kick in and gear the vehicle down even when all I'd done to trigger it was to brake for a light in downtown Houston. Houston doesn't have hills, and it's not a particularly rigorous place to drive. The fault lights show an error condition and the system doesn't kick itself off unless I shut off the car and restart. It's only done this a few times, and it's a minor annoyance that I plan to have my dealer look at next time I bring it in for maintenance.

The day after I took delivery, I realized that one of the factory-provided keys would not start the car. It would open the doors, it would even let me turn on the accessories, but it wouldn't start the engine. I called my "guide" (Land Rover speak for salesman) and he promised to order me a new key. Which he did -- even though it would take almost 4 months before said key actually made its way to Houston and into my hand. I hope I never lose my keys.

The only other problems I've had have been with trim fit and finish. A piece of plastic that fits up under the glove box fell off the first week I had the car, and the plastic ring around the ignition key regularly pops itself off every 10 days, whether it needs to or not. Annoying, but not indicative of the quality of the vehicle itself. Still, this is one area that Land Rover should really get a handle on, especially since Japanese companies like Honda and Toyota have long ago showed the rest of the automotive world how to make the controls and trim feel right. Some of the ergonomics and controls on the Freelander feel 10 years behind the rest of the industry.

What I like about the car is its ride and handling. Very firm handling with zero play in the steering and a rock solid ride that handles bumps like they're not even there. It's an amazingly quiet vehicle too, free of most road noise with very solid seals on every door.

Interior
Back Seat...
The biggest difference between the Freelander and pretty much every other smaller SUV on the market is the back seat.

Freelander is the only small SUV I've ever driven that has a truly usable and fully functional backseat. 6 foot, 200 pound adults can sit in the back seat without having to bend their knees to their chins or put their legs up on the seat. This is a radical departure from badly designed back seats (especially on the Toyota Rav4, whose horribly uncomfortable rear seat can really be used only for very tiny, Japanese, midget infants with amputated legs).

Even with the driver seat in its full back position, the Freelander has adequate back seat leg room for three adults.

In the Front Seat...
I like the firm feel of the front seats, which have good support everywhere I want it. The front seat legroom is excellent. Mechanical seat controls are effective and easy to use, but they feel more like the kind of levers you find on work pickups than on typical cars.

I generally like the feel of this vehicle from the driver perspective, but Land Rover has some quirks with its usability (or rather, lack thereof) and the refinement of its controls.

While knobs and switches have gotten better in most cars over the last decade or so, the state of the art seems to have passed on by Land Rover (probably while they were out on safari again). The air conditioner controls click into one of 4 defined speed levels, the first of which is always far too light, and the 4th that captures the blast of a Saturn V rocket (but without the heat, unless of course you turned on the heat).

Likewise, the cruise control is very hard to use. It has steering wheel controls, but it can't actually be engaged from the steering wheel, despite the presence of a "Set" button -- you have to push in an inconspicuous button on the left side of the dashboard, unintuitively labeled with a picture of a road with a barrier across it. I have no idea who thinks this is a good icon for cruise control, but it's not.

I've also learned to hate the window controls on this vehicle. They're placed on the center column, which can work acceptably well (at least it does for Mercedes, who usually push them further forward than the very far back design of the Freelander's center console). I would far rather have the controls on the door, which is where most vehicles put them.

I can't abide most underpowered car stereos, so I opted for the upgraded Harmon Kardon system, which adds 6 speakers along with about $500 to the price tag. In retrospect, I probably should have bagged it and just gone to Car Toys or Circuit City and added a truly powerful after market stereo, which is what I usually do. Although the upgraded speakers don't distort when I crank the volume all the way up (a necessity when you're listening to great latin CDs like Limite's Soy Asi), the stereo still can't go as loud as I like it (no, I never did grow up).

One option I can definitely skip is the heated seats. I can't see myself ever wanting to drive further north than about Dallas, so I doubt that I'll ever see a day that's cold enough for me to want my butt warmed...

You could get heated mirrors too. I'm surprised nobody's thought of heated bumpers yet, or heated roof rack. It's just a matter of time, I'm sure.

Cargo Space
There's no such thing as a free lunch, and Freelander proves it with the cargo space. While the front and rear seats are spacious and comfortable for every passenger in the vehicle, that space comes at a price -- you don't get jack for cargo space.

The depth of the cargo area behind the rear seat is only about 30 inches. That's enough for suitcases or groceries, but it's not enough for any kind of hauling. Most SUVs give you more cargo space than Freelander, but far less passenger space. It's a trade off. Personally, I think Land Rover made the right call and put the emphasis on the back seat, which most people are going to need far more often than they want big hauling capacity. The seats do not easily fold down in a functional way (they don't fold flat).

Figure out what's important to you though. If you really WANT or NEED cargo hauling ability, the Freelander might not be the best choice for you -- you'd probably be better off with one of the current crop of crew cab pickups, or with a bigger, longer SUV.

Under the Hood...
I'm very happy with the 175-horsepower V6 engine that's standard on the Freelander. It's got an authoritatively throaty growl to it as it starts up and although it seems torqued more for power than for acceleration, it is still a good performer on the highway with more than adequate acceleration for most everyday driving situations.

The steering is amazing -- simply amazing. I've always loved the precise steering, cornering, and braking of BMWs, and this is the first SUV I've driven that I think comes anywhere close to that level of performance. The steering is tight, without a hair's breadth of play in the wheel, and the response is excellent.

SUVs are not known for stability, but the Freelander feels very solid in typical cornering situations. The local Land Rover has a test track where they demo these vehicles, and before I bought the Freelander, my "guide" took me out on the track, which is essentially a mock mountain where you go up and down ridiculously steep rocky inclines, balance the vehicle on two wheels, and drive it sideways along a 35 degree incline -- all to show how the vehicle's systems are geared to performance in off road conditions that many customers (myself included) are unlikely to ever encounter, though the vehicle is engineered to handle them just in case.

Bottom Line
The Freelander stands apart from the small SUV pack mostly in terms of rugged build and true off road capability. Freelander is about substance over style. It's not yet another prettied up, glorified station wagon, as are most vehicles in this class. Freelander is essentially a truck, not a car, and it has a rougher ride and more masculine feel to it than just about any other SUV out there, yet in some ways it's more suited to the suburban driveway than more popular car-like SUVs, which often sacrifice rear seat usability in terrible ways.

Freelander is an SUV that a manly man should not be afraid to be seen driving. Women (and men who are a little too comfortable with their feminine sides) might be happier with a car-like SUV than with the tough riding Freelander. Perhaps a Honda CRV or an Acura MDX. Fortunately, today's SUV market has something for just about everyone...

I've been driving the Freelander for 6 months now, and I love it more and more each day. It has its occasional quirks, but subtance and competence always impresses me, and this is one competent little SUV.



Amount Paid (US$): 25000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003