I’ve grown up with Land Rovers, and I’ve been terribly fond of them. They took us to holiday destinations up rocky paths, muddy mountains and riverbeds deep and wide. To this day, when I get in one, I immediately get a relaxed feeling like I’m going on holiday. Land Rover, however, realized that they needed more people getting this type of holiday feeling, and created a smaller entry level Landy, a soft roader, but with all the Land Rover pedigree and good bits. Well the first incarnation of the Freelander had the pedigree, but sadly, no good bits

The only bits it had, either broke, or feel off while you were sailing down the highway. It was a terrible car, and did the brand more damage than good. I’ll give it to Land Rover, they were having a rough marriage with BMW, one which turns out was just a gold-digging (read: Land Rover offroad bits) BMW sleeping in the same bed as the English to get some valuable and much needed 4-wheel drive bits and gizmos. Once she’d gotten all she needed, the divorce was swift. However this terrible marriage sprouted the bastard child Freelander series 1. It should’ve been thrown out with the bathwater at first glance, but wasn’t.

None-the-less, I can tell you up-front that they second incarnation is much, much better. It probably would have gotten a lot more attention had it not been for the first born being such a hooligan child that nobody wanted to know anything about. Series 2 is a total redesign, and you can see this the first time you get in. Quality was the main focus, and they did an excellent job at getting perceived quality up. Fit and finish of all interior paneling is excellent, as well as choice of materials. While we’re inside, let’s carry on. Seating for 5 is good, seats being fairly comfortable and in the HSE spec, electrically adjustable with memory function on drivers side. HSE spec does make this car very easy to live with. What say you, makes me say this?

Well… the following are all standard: Leather seats, full satellite navigation with touchscreen interface, 6disc CD changer linked to an Alpine 10 speaker system with sub (Excellent system btw). A very nice addition is earphone jacks in the rear for rear passengers to listen to something else the car has on offer should mom and dad be stuck on Neil Diamond. Leather steering wheel, armrests, and rubber floor mats as an extra set. Another very nice addition is the dual sunroofs as standard.

So it looks better inside, and certainly isn’t a Fiat Multipla on the outside. Land Rover aligning all rover looks with the Range Rover exterior.

The engine is competent, very much so in fact. It pulls with a fervor I haven’t seen in other petrol Landies…strong and determined. However it isn’t exactly a hot hatch. The 3.2litre straight six (171Kw and 317Nm at 1700RPM) is not my ideal choice of engine. To say it guzzles petrol, is like saying there’s a small problem of corruption in Africa. This thing burns fuel at the rate BP pumps it into the Gulf of Mexico. Seriously not ideal when travelling into Africa. It is, however, very nippy in city traffic, much more so than the 2.2 diesel.

So it’s not a Prius when it comes to economy… how’s the handling then? Well, it is, in my books, the most competent small SUV on the market, so ride height is quite substantially raised to overcome those ruts and rises. Wheels are at the very extremities of the car, to keep the nose and end from scraping on up and downhills in the rough. All this, which contributes to great off-road driving, makes for a rather wallowing ride. It’s not terrible, but if anyone has driven an oldschool Caddilac - it rides nearly the same. When really pushing into corners the front washes wide before the ESP realizes and reigns you in, but this is only when really pushing hard. Overall it’s a really comfortable drive.

My only real gripe would be the steering, which is exceptionally sensitive. A glance in the direction of the wheel and it throws the car on its head. Slightly over-assisted I’d say, especially at highway speeds, where you literally can throw the car on its roof if you’re not careful.

Pricing, well, it’s not exactly cheap, current pricing is R462,000. It compares in pricing to the BMW X1 (which won’t come even closely speced), Subaru Forester, Mazda CX, Honda CR-V2.2 Diesel…none of them closely capable off-road.

Overall I’d probably opt for the diesel, even though it’s not as nippy in city traffic, it’s just more frugal and a better option off-road. Considering the competition, I’d definitely still opt for the Land Rover. It always gives me that holiday, go anywhere feeling, more so than any of the competition can ever dare to imitate.