Introduction

If only a Land Rover Freelander had been available, the characters in Jules Verne's "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" could have saved themselves days of toil over harsh terrain. A Freelander would have quickly transported Professor Hardwigg, his reluctant nephew, and guide Hans to the volcano that allowed them to follow in the footsteps of subterranean explorer Arne Saknussemm. In reality, no one, including Land Rover, has ever been to the center of the earth. At least not to our knowledge. But Land Rovers have clambered over most of the crust of this planet. For our part, we drove the new, highly capable Freelander up the side of a volcano and partially across a huge glacier. Technically, the new Land Rover Freelander doesn't match the off-road capability of the bigger Discovery or of the expensive Range Rover. In reality, though, it will go much farther into the backcountry than most anyone will want to go. Equipped with permanent all-wheel drive, traction control, Hill Descent Control, and a surprisingly capable suspension, the Freelander easily surpasses the capability of the Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V and other so-called cute-utes. For practical purposes, the Freelander matches the off-roadworthiness of the impressive Jeep Liberty. On the road, the Freelander drives superbly, much better than the LIberty and it's more satisfying than the other cute-utes. Crisp rack-and-pinion steering, an agile road-worthy suspension, and an extremely rigid chassis give it excellent road manners, even when driven aggressively. The Freelander is stable at high speeds both on pavement and on gravel. It has excellent brakes. It rides smoothly and it's comfortable. The sport shifter that controls the automatic transmission makes it fun to drive on winding blacktop, allowing the driver to keep the V6 engine revving in the power band. In short, the Land Rover Freelander strikes a fine balance between asphalt agility and off-road capability. Around town, it's smooth and quiet. It feels like an premium vehicle. The Freelander is, as Land Rover puts it, the first premium, small sport-utility vehicle.

Walkaround

In a broad sense, the styling of the Freelander is similar to that of other small sport-utilities: aerodynamic headlamps and creases on the sides that say small utility wagon. Coming head-on, though, the Freelander looks tougher than the CR-Vs, RAV4s, and Foresters of the world. The prominent front skid plate says it's ready to go off road. It's not just for show, and it's backed up with additional underbody protection to reduce the chance of damage off road. Black trim helps distinguish the Freelander, though the front bumper juts out a bit farther than aesthetics dictate. From the rear, the Freelander is distinguished by round lenses in its tail lamps that give it a British/European it's-from-over-there look. Overall it's an attractive design.

Interior Features

Freelander offers a high seating position with plenty of headroom and legroom. The seats are firm and supportive. They are manually adjustable in all models with no height adjustment. HSE comes with slightly larger seats, wider and deeper, designed for better comfort. However, I found the seats in the SE quite comfortable and didn't notice a major difference in comfort between the two models. The cloth in the S model appears to be of higher than average quality. Cordura-like material covers the door panels. A cup holder strap on the door is clever; the fancy cup holders on top of the dash are not ideally located, however. (Brits and Europeans just do not understand or respect America's interest in cup holders and continue to struggle with them.) Window switches on the center console are placed far enough to the rear as to make them awkward. The steering wheel feels nice, and trimmed in leather on SE and HSE models. The dash has a utilitarian appearance, noticeable among today's more organic designs. Dual glove boxes add storage space up front. The rear seat is roomy and comfortable for two people. Getting in and out of the back seats is a bit of a squeeze past the inner rear fender. Pressing buttons on the rear center console lowers the rear windows. The rear seatbacks fold down and the seat flips up to increase cargo capacity from 19.3 to 46.6 cubic feet. That's a decent amount of cargo space, but considerably less than what's found in the Toyota RAV4 or Jeep Liberty.