2004 Land Rover Freelander

Review

Sporting the New Family Face

The smallest Land Rover, the Freelander, has just received its second update in five years (first since arriving in North America). Whats prompting the frequent redesigns, you may ask? Increased competition and aging are two of the most appropriate answers that could be given at this point, but its actually a little bit more than that.

For 2004, the Freelander will be sold all over Europe for the first time. Changes have also been brought on by suggestions (read complaints) from the two of Freelanders largest markets, the U.S. and Canada.

On the outside, the smallest Land Rover continues to evolve. A family resemblance now trickles down from the top-tier Range Rover, past the recently restyled Discovery onto the little Freelander, featuring large, clear multi-lens headlamps. These bright and powerful beams deliver 70 percent increased intensity for enhanced visibility.

The front bumpers have also been revised, now featuring integrated fog lamps at each corner. Two strips of black trim run vertically downward and match up with the lower fascia trim. The wheel wells, side sills and rear bumper have also been revised. Also, the previously bumper-mounted brake lights have been shifted to a higher position reducing damage caused by minor bumps.

Though its nowhere near as upscale as the Discovery, and not even on the same planet as the Range Rover, the updated Freelander improves many of the original interiors downfalls. The cabin was actually the worst part of the last generation Freelander, with cheap tinny materials and substandard controls that were difficult to operate. As a result, its general ergonomics and material choices have been upgraded, with the obvious hope of coming close in quality to its soon-to-be-released upscale BMW X3 rival - not to mention Jeeps full-load Liberty.

The new interior sees splashes of fake aluminum around the instrument cluster, down the sides of the center console and around the shifter. Trim rings around the gauges also bring an air of sophistication. These minor improvements help to make the Freelanders interior slightly more bearable, at least until the next small Land Rover comes along.

Freelander S, SE and HSE models continue forward, while a new Sport version will be offered. Featuring newer, more supportive seats trimmed in Alpaca leather, the HSE boasts finer details all around the cockpit for a more luxurious ambience. At the opposite end of the spectrum, finally accepting the notion that the Freelander may never see anything worse than a massive traffic jam, the Sport package sees the vehicle lowered by 1.2 inches, with firmed up springs and dampers, and eighteen inch wheels fitted with road-only performance tires.

All models still feature a variety of engines, but the highlights are still the Rover-sourced 2.5 liter KV6 gasoline engine, and the BMW-sourced 2.0 liter Td4 turbodiesel, the latter only available in Europe.

At the end of the day, does this updated Freelander offer enough improvements to keep it on the collective radar screen of upwardly mobile compact SUV buyers? That will remain to be seen. With the 2003 model starting at a steep $25,330 and topping off at $28,330 fully loaded, its going to get a run for its money from the X3.

Also, Land Rover might want to consider not making customers pay extra for heated front seats on top-line HSE models, something the majority of its rivals offer standard on base models. The same goes for metallic paint.

Nevertheless the 2004 Freelander looks much better, and offers a fresh enough makeover to cause current owners to trade up, and wanna-be Discovery/Range Rover owners the opportunity to buy into a legendary brand with arguable cachet value.