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“The all-new Freelander 2, appropriately, gets two exceptional new engines. The petrol i6 is one of the smoothest and most refined 4x4 engines in the world. Very compact and packed with technology, it delivers bags of torque across the rev range. For such a powerful engine, its fuel consumption and CO2 figures are also excellent. The new TD4 is one of the world’s most advanced and efficient diesel engines – easily the best small diesel we’ve ever installed in a Land Rover, with great response and outstanding refinement.” Andrew Foster, chief programme engineer.

Refined New I6 Petrol Engine

The powerful and torquey 3.2-litre i6 petrol engine is brand new for 2006, and gives Freelander 2 on-road performance comparable to that of many compact saloons. The vehicle accelerates from 0-60 mph in 8.4 sec (0-100 km/h in 8.9 sec) and has a top speed of 124 mph (200 km/h). More relevant for everyday motoring, it also has impressive kick-down acceleration.

Maximum power is 233 PS (171 kW) at 6300 rpm, and maximum torque is 317 Nm (234 lb ft) at 3200 rpm. These figures are substantially higher than those offered by the outgoing Freelander’s V6 engine (177 PS/130 kW, 240 Nm). Performance is also much better than the outgoing vehicle’s, as is fuel economy – which is improved by 10 per cent on the combined average cycle.

The six-cylinder i6 engine is ingeniously designed to combine a straight configuration – intrinsically, the most refined and smoothest engine arrangement – with an exceptionally compact size. This allows the engine to be transversely mounted, which improves cabin packaging and gives extra space, in front of and behind the engine, designed to help optimise the efficiency of the vehicle’s safety systems.

The key to this compact new design is the unique and innovative Rear End Ancillary Drive (READ) system. Conventional engines drive camshafts and other engine ancillaries (including alternator, water pump and air conditioning compressor) from a series of chains and belts overhanging the front of the engine. The i6’s READ system takes drive to these items up the rear face of the engine – the side attached to the gearbox – with much less overhang. The result is an extremely short engine, just 600.5 mm long. This substantially increases engine bay space, allowing the i6 to be fitted crossways and the vehicle’s advanced crash structure to be configured around it.

The i6 engine has an aluminium block, head and bedplate and all are structurally optimised to balance low weight and stiffness. Even the camshaft cover is structural, allowing it to incorporate the camshaft bearing caps for further weight reduction.

There are twin overhead camshafts and 24 valves (four per cylinder) to provide optimal engine breathing. This is further improved by a patented Cam Profile Switching (CPS) system that features two completely different intake cam profiles machined onto the same camshaft. The engine management system decides which cam profile to use, depending on the engine’s running conditions and driver’s torque demands. One profile is ideal for low-speed/low-load driving; the other, which gives longer valve lift, is better for higher speeds and loads. An ingenious two-piece hydraulic valve tappet arrangement alters the cam profiles.

The i6 engine also features a continuously Variable Valve Timing (VVT) system, which constantly alters valve overlap to achieve optimum power, efficiency and emissions. The combination of CPS and VVT gives the new engine impressively broad power and torque bands, and improves both outright performance and general driveability.

In addition, the Variable Intake System – which alters both intake tract length and, more unusually, plenum volume – boosts low-end torque and high-end power, further enhancing the engine’s breathing capability. Eighty per cent of the vehicle’s maximum torque is available across the entire rev range, and 256 Nm (189 lb ft) is on tap all the way from 1400 rpm to 6400 rpm.

Aluminium pistons and forged steel con-rods operate a 7-bearing forged steel crankshaft with induction hardened bearing surfaces. The crankshaft timing ring and starter ring are incorporated into the flexplate that sits between the engine and automatic transmission for more compact packaging.

Power from the READ system is taken from a gear on the rear crankshaft web, which also drives the oil pump. This drives a mid-shaft gear that powers an idler-shaft carrying two different-sized gearwheels. The front gearwheel drives the alternator: the rear gear takes drive to the overhead camshafts through an inverted tooth chain, and also drives the power-steering pump, engine coolant pump and air-conditioning compressor via a polyvee belt.

The highly accurate fuel-injection system features four micro-nozzles per cylinder, each with a diameter of 0.29 mm. Capable of injecting a large volume of fuel when high performance is demanded – up to 250 cm3/min – they are also able to provide total precision when minimal performance is required, helping the i6 Freelander 2 achieve its combined fuel consumption of 25.2 mpg (11.2 l/100 km).

The base engine has been developed primarily by Land Rover’s Premier Automotive Group partner Volvo. Built at Bridgend, Wales – alongside the Land Rover / Range Rover V8 engine family – the i6 engine has been extensively developed for Land Rover’s demanding off-road requirements, including improved dust, mud and water protection and the tolerance of operation at more acute angles of tilt.

New TD4 Turbodiesel

The second engine for the Freelander 2 is an all-new 2.2-litre TD4 turbodiesel, which combines great torque and impressive refinement.

Maximum power for the new diesel engine is 160 PS (118 kW) up from 112 PS (82 kW) on the outgoing Freelander’s 2.0-litre diesel. Maximum torque is 400 Nm (295 lb ft) – up from 260 Nm (191 lb ft). Naturally, performance is improved substantially. Acceleration from 0-60 mph takes 10.9 sec in manual guise, substantially reduced from 13.2 sec for the previous Freelander diesel (0-100 km/h now 11.7 sec, from 14.4 sec). The combined average fuel consumption is 37.7 mpg (7.5 l/100 km), better than the outgoing Freelander diesel despite a 43 per cent increase in power.

The TD4’s advanced technologies include variable in-cylinder swirl, the latest ‘generation 3’ common-rail fuel injection, a new Garrett variable-nozzle turbocharger, a double-walled cylinder block and sump-mounted balance shafts. The result is impressive torque spread, fuel economy, performance and refinement. The engine exceeds the demanding EU4 emissions requirements, and a maintenance-free catalysed Diesel Particulate Filter (cDPF) is also available for even cleaner performance (all diesel engine data quoted is without the optional cDPF fitted).

The peak torque of 400 Nm (295 lb ft) occurs at a very usable 2000 rpm. The power curve is flat, delivering 80 per cent of peak power across more than half the rev range. A hefty 200 Nm (148 lb ft) of torque is available from 1000 rpm to 4500 rpm. As a result, the Freelander 2 TD4 is responsive, rewarding and easy to drive.

In automatic versions of the Freelander 2 TD4, hard acceleration delivers extra performance for short periods thanks to Transient Overboosting, where turbo pressure is increased. The new GT17B Honeywell Garrett Variable Nozzle Turbine (VNT) turbo gives great low-speed response, huge mid-range torque and plentiful upper-end power. Its small turbine wheel is light, further reducing turbo lag, which is virtually unnoticeable.

The engine combustion is very efficient, with piezoelectric injectors, high fuel pressures and variable swirl technology all reducing combustion noise and in-cylinder pressure. Piezoelectric injectors provide exact control of the fuel delivery, while the ‘generation 3’ common-rail injection system is capable of injection pressures of 1800 bar (over 26,000 psi), about 30 per cent higher than ‘generation 2’ systems. Common-rail systems can supply a high volume of fuel at peak load conditions, one reason why common-rail engines offer much better performance – as well as better economy – than older diesel engines.

The new cylinder head design optimises swirl across the entire engine range. In many diesel engines, this is a compromise between achieving acceptable swirl at low speed and avoiding excessive swirl at high gas flow rates. On the TD4, an innovative intake port deactivation system solves this problem, improving diesel swirl – and combustion efficiency – at both low and high revs.

Each cylinder has two intake ports. The low-speed tract applies air at an acute angle to create swirl at low engine loads. Once higher gas flows are demanded, a second tract opens, providing extra air – but without increasing swirl.

The cylinder block is manufactured from cast iron, and is double walled. This not only strengthens the block but significantly reduces radiating noise, a little like double glazing. The head is aluminium alloy while the engine cover is made from lightweight polypropylene, housing foam to absorb specific noise frequencies. It is simple but highly effective, reducing engine noise by up to a half.

The crankshaft is made from fillet rolled cast steel and is supported on five main bearings. A dual-mass flywheel absorbs engine vibrations. At the other end of the crankshaft, a torsional vibration damper isolates the crank from the valve- train and ancillary drives. To aid engine refinement further, the TD4 uses two counter-rotating balancing shafts, housed in the sump. These shafts, rotating at twice crank-speed, counter the natural four-cylinder engine vibrations. They help deliver a remarkably smooth and refined diesel engine.

The engine – which makes its world debut in 2006 – is a result of the co-operative agreement between the Ford Motor Company and PSA Peugeot Citroën which also produced the acclaimed TDV6 fitted to Discovery 3 and Range Rover Sport. As with the i6 petrol engine, the TD4 engine has been specially developed to meet Land Rover’s unique requirements for wading and extreme off-road angles, as well as for class-leading dust and mud protection.

New Six-Speed Automatic and Manual Transmissions

Both Freelander 2 engines are available with a sophisticated six-speed automatic transmission, while a six-speed manual is also available for the TD4 (diesel auto models become available from Spring 2007).

They are both new transmissions specially developed for Land Rover’s challenging blend of on-road and off-road driving, and deliver power to Freelander 2’s unique full-time intelligent 4x4 driveline.

The Aisin Warner AWF21 six-speed automatic transmission is a light, compact unit that features a unique remote breather, deliberately routed above Land Rover’s wade line (500 mm water depth). Seamless shift quality is ensured by a new fully integrated electronic Transmission Control Module. The module uses different gearchange maps, depending on whether the transmission is in full auto, sport or manual CommandShift mode, and when the vehicle is using one of the special Terrain Response programmes.

• In sport mode, the auto transmission is programmed to hold low gears longer and to shift down more readily, to assist acceleration.
• CommandShift allows manual sequential gearchanging.
• When Terrain Response special programmes are engaged, different mappings are applicable, depending on the mode chosen. The Transmission Control Module also manages torque converter lock-up, which has different requirements depending on the selected Terrain Response mode.

The six-speed manual gearbox, available only with the TD4 diesel, is a Getrag M66 unit, specially adapted for Land Rover use. It has a four-shaft design, and gear selection by twin cables, to ensure short, positive changes. The dual-mass flywheel carries a single-plate 250 mm (9.84 inch) hydraulically actuated clutch. The system is fully self-adjusting, to maintain constant pedal loads through the vehicle’s life.