Land Rover and Range Rover aficionados will recognize that I have slightly mangled the brands The best 4×4xFar tag line, and with good reason.
Ive just spent a week driving a Freelander 2 eD4, a front-wheel drive version of the compact SUV with stop-start. OK, this was a UK spec diesel with six-speed manual, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed driving the car.
It was smooth, had a good ride and for a car with a high center of gravity dealt with the twists and turns of my local country roads with aplomb. OK, so the interior might be beginning to look a little dated but I actually like its matter of fact robustness and no nonsense approach to design.
Drawbacks? Well, of course its off-road ability, compared to the all-wheel drive version, is severely limited. Venturing across a neighbors steep field quickly proved too arduous for the front tires which rapidly clogged up with unctuous mud, but that would have been the same for any faux off-roader. A longer run at the hill might have helped but, I suspect, not by much.
This might be the first front-wheel drive car in the Land Rover product line-up, but it will be joined later this year by a two-wheel drive Range Rover Evoque.
Given that the Land Rover and Range Rover brands are growing apart – with the latter taking on a more luxurious and refined role – and Land Rover retaining the marques original mantle as no nonsense work horses, albeit sophisticated ones, then the Freelander 2 eD4 hints at what a front-wheel drive Evoque might perform like but with an even more sophisticated ride and ambience, combined with more sporting performance thanks to its lower centre of gravity and a less obvious command driving position.
Of course going two-wheel drive with stop-start helps the Land Rover stable reduce its CO2 levels and there will be plenty of customers for Freelanders and Evoques whose idea of off-roading is riding the curbs when parking: can you imagine style fashionista Victoria Beckham fumbling around with Terrain Response? Nah, neither can I.