Looking at Fronteras

[geoffbeaumont]

Hi,

New to the forum - I dropped in looking for advice as I'm considering replacing my 300Tdi Discovery with a B series LWB. The Discovery has been a pretty good car, but it's not going to pass it's MOT without a lot of money spent (mainly on welding). I like Land Rovers, but the options within the age range I'm looking at (P38 Range Rover and Discovery 2) are both stretching my budget and inclined to non-DIY friendly electrical gremlins, so I'm looking at other options.

We took a 2.2 Petrol, manual LWB out for a test drive yesterday, and it seems like a reasonable option. This particular car had a few electrical gremlins (dodgy instrument cluster, which I see is a common fault), airbag and ABS faults as well as a couple of other minor things and a few patches of rust. To be fair it was an unprepped car at a second hand car dealer, but I think I'll be passing on it. I was pleasantly surprised by the 2.2 petrol - it didn't feel as slow as I expected, at least around town (I didn't push for a run up the motorway - one of the faults was a half flat tyre...), though it certainly wasn't a rocket car.

According to a friend who used to work for Vauxhall the 2.2 petrol is a good engine, 2.2 diesel is average and the V6 he's had bad experiences with but suspects the car he had had been clocked. He also said the Frontera wasn't much cop off road.

The car will be used for a 40mile round trip commute every day, mostly motorway and open roads, and as a general workhorse. It'll occassionally be used for moderately heavy towing, on road and round fields, and a bit of green laning. Basically an all round work horse.

Aside from the instrument cluster, is there anything else I need to watch out for on the B series trucks?

I was originally thinking that a diesel was the obvious option, but on paper the 2.2 petrol is a bit quicker and shouldn't be much more costly to run - how does it compare in the real world? I could imagine the 2.2 petrol is a bit lacking in torque off road, but I couldn't shift the transfer box into low, and I know the Discovery is a completely different vehicle in low range. What is real world fuel consumption like with a V6? Think they're going to be too thirsty, but the much better performance is certainly attractive!

The transfer lever was completely solid, wouldn't move at all - is this normal for a truck that's never been in low? How hard is it to free off? You get the same problem with Land Rovers, but there's usually still a bit of movement in the lever, it just won't engage low.

What about off road? I would imagine the long wheel base is a handycap (SWB isn't big enough inside to be an option). What underbody protection is advisable on a Frontera? What about recovery points and the like?

What are Frontera's like on the motorway? Are they working a bit hard (as the Tdi Discovery is) and a bit on the noisy side, or are they fairly relaxed cruisers?

TIA,
Geoff

[Road Hog]

Hi bud,
2.2Dti fuel consumption

It will happily run all day at 85mph with loads to spare for overtaking

were you in 4wd high before trying low box
The high low lever can only be moved AFTER the engage button has been pushed & it has locked the front axle in high range

[geoffbeaumont]

Well, that explains the button on the dash which we couldn't work out (salesman didn't know). Picture of four wheels and transmission, front wheels turned, when pressed and identical symbol flashes on the dash (presumably until it manages to engage)?

I'll know for the next one I look at

Fuel consumption looks very good!

[Road Hog]

Thats the kiddie it flashes until locked,then you can change high low (car should be stationary),the button can be pushed at upto 50 mph,thus the high low interlock.

It can be handy when green laning to only engage 4wd when needed.

To date mine has done most of the popular lanes in Wales but is not used for proper offroading as it is mainly a motorway car.

[fogman]

hi geoff, i brought a 2.2 lwb b series early this year, & although i cant comment on any offroading etc i have been quite pleasantly surprised with the fuel consumption so far, bearing in mind most of my driving is in town and only short journeys only its been returning approx 25 mpg not really much less than the 1.8 mondeo i had before but now i can get all my carp gear in with loads of room to spare
the guys on here are excellent with their help & quite often any questions are answered with in hours if not minutes

[Trugga]

I've only hands-on experience of the A series (pre 1998), in both Estate and Sport versions.

My 2.8TDi Estate is used as a daily driver, covering a 60 mile round trip to/from work each day, which includes 50 mile of motorway - no problems with the 2.8 staying in lane 3, but the 2.0 Sport does suffer up the hills at speed.

Under body protection is adequate on the B, but the plastic protector is known to disappear if used on rough terrain - a steel replacement can be fabrigated.

Unlike a Landrover, the Frontera is part-time 4x4 and therefore has no centre diff - when in 4x4 mode, it is effectively centre diff locked, making it a useful off road as a LR, although the latter does have a little more ground clearance.

Having driven A friend's B 2.2DTi, I was impressed with its power and prowess - a definite improvement over the A

Here's a few vids of some Fronteras in action:

Aston Cantlow - first FOG P&P meet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvht8Vf0 ... re=channel
Beginners green laning in standard Fronteras: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6qfg8R5 ... re=channel
Three A's laning the GAP road and Stata Florida: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaWmgpXN ... re=channel
More P&P: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrhl3j6g ... re=channel

loads more: http://www.youtube.com/trugga

Lawrence

[geoffbeaumont]

Think I need to have a drive in a diesel.

What about diffs? Do they need any protection off road? I know Land Rover ones are particularly poor in this respect, but I've no idea where Fronteras come on the spectrum. It's one thing counting against going for a Frontera - I've got all the bits to go on a Land Rover (at least, one a bit older than I'm hoping for ), but nothing to fit a Frontera.

It's far too much to hope for that Frontera take the same size tyres as the Discovery, isn't it? Can anyone tell me what size standard tyres are?