My wife and I spend a great deal of time on Tortola, in the BVI (British Virgin Islands). Anyone who has ever visited Tortola knows that most every road that gets you from one side to the other(all the beaches are on the N side of the island), is loaded with extreme angles and switchbacks. While most manual box cars cope adequately, only the autobox vehicles with larger engines manage the grades without bogging down.
We have rented a 1.8 auto Freelander many trips, and occassionally a manual. Either has handled the grades without protest.
Where the Freelander does shine is on any of the 'trails' into the more remote beaches. These are far from 'greenlanes' and have more extreme slopes, and are very rocky, and I don't mean small rocks, or gravel. These trails have been carved out by excavators and that's the end of it. most trails are not wide enough to pass, and the rocks are very sharp, so control is critical, considering a slip and over the edge you go. The guy we rent from has often offered me his Defender, but it's way to big to get into our driveway, or any of the favorite beach access trails. We have never grounded the Freelander, but frequently did so with the Mitsy and Suzuki
Last edited by TerryS : 04-07-2006 at 02:18 PM.
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