2013 Land Rover LR2 & Freelander Snowy & Icy Off-Road First Drive Review

The newly revised 2013 Land Rover LR2 ( or you could call it a Freelander ) is ready to take on the road and everything beyond.

At least that’s what Land Rover tried to demonstrate when they let us loose with the newly revises 2013 Land Rover LR2.

The redone entry level crossover features a new 240 HP 4-cylinder turbo charged engine, new headlights, new interior that’s very similar to the bigger brother LR4.

In this exclusive TFLcar first drive Off-road review we put the LR2 through a snowy Canadian winter to see just how well it handles the mud, ice and of course snow of Great White North.

Editor’s note: Contrary to speculation, there is more to the 2013 Land Rover LR2 than being an overdressed Ford Escape. The underpinnings are off road capable, beyond an average crossover, and the 2013 Land Rover LR2’s interior refinement is reported to be outstanding. There is no reason why the 2013 Land Rover LR2 can’t compete with the likes of the Audi Q4 and BMW W3.

With that said…

There are several components that are, indeed, shared with Ford.

The same can be said for the award winning Range Rover Evoque. Both vehicles are loaded with Ford mechanical tidbits, electronics and running gear. Does that make the 2013 Land Rover LR2 a bad vehicle? Hell no. We all know how crappy British components used to be and the performance coming from those aforementioned Ford components is top notch.

We’ll put the 2013 Land Rover LR2, and it’s Ford bits, to the test when we get one out to the Rocky Mountains.