landrover freelander 2

[StephenHowie]

Hi all

Can anyone out there tell me if the freelander 2 auto or manual gearbox is best for towing was thinking of getting one

thanks

Stephen

 

[DJM]

Hi Stephen,

Both the manual and auto FL2's are very capable towcars. It really depends on the individuals choice of driving styles. For me it has to be auto every time, I just find it so much easier and you have the command shift option on the gearbox if you want to use it. However, there are an awful lot of caravanners who will only choose to drive vehicles with manual gear boxes. Obviously the manual gear box FL2 is considerably more economical than the auto, so that is another factor to decide upon.

Go and test drive both and then have a good think about it.

 

[wombat1]

I don't have a Freelander, I have an XC90 with the Geartronic box, but having just returned from a weekend in mid Wales I found the auto to be better for driving comfort than a manual (previously owned a Galaxy manual. The manual overide option was very useful when negotiating those double double bends down steep hills, the auto mode didn't seem to change down soon enough.

 

[RogerL]

The Freelander 2 uses an Aisin-Warner autobox. Aisin-Warner is a division of Toyota and their autoboxes have long been used in Lexus, Toyota, Volvo, Opel/Vauxhall, Saab and more recently in Ford, Jaguar, Peugeot and Citroen models.

In lock-up mode modern automatics can match, sometimes better, their manual counterparts for fuel consumption at cruising speeds but are always heavier around town so overall consumption is slightly worse - not nearly as much as autoboxes used to be, though.