Getting it right

I tested the old Freelander when it first came out, taking it up the M6 into the Shropshire hills and returning with backache. That apart, I thought it a good car in four-door form, as did plenty of others — it became Europe’s best-selling smallish 4×4. But I and they were wrong: a component that would have cost a few pence to improve in manufacture meant that the majority of petrol versions had coolant problems requiring new engines at some stage (one dealer I know replaced 60), while build quality of petrols and diesels alike meant that the trim disintegrated around you. For Land Rover lovers such as me, they were an embarrassment.

Will I be as wrong about the new version, Freelander 2, tested last week? Signs are that I — and Land Rover — might have got it right this time. The good reports at its launch two years ago still hold and, after a week of running around, so did my back. The leather seats were excellent. Larger than the old model, it looks and feels like a mini-Range Rover. The doors are high and wide, making ingress and egress a back-preserving pleasure, and the cabin echoes the Range Rover’s elegant masterpiece. The 2.2 litre diesel chatters a bit on tickover but is smooth and surprisingly torquey when you get the revs up. It does 70mph at a quiet 2,000rpm in sixth and the claimed 37.7mpg (EU combined) consumption is credible. This latest model has the vaunted engine cut-out at traffic lights or in jams, which is fun to play with for a while but it’s hard to believe it saves much and anyway you can disable it with a switch.