CAR reader spies new 2011 Land Rover Freelander facelift

(Reviews Car BLog) CAR reader James MacDonald spotted the facelifted Land Rover Freelander recently – parked in the car park at a service station on the M42 not far from the company’s Gaydon HQ.
CAR reader turns paparazzo

‘I papped this Land Rover on Saturday night at a services on the M42,’ says James. ‘It was parked right at the back of the car park, with a chap in the driving seat. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stop long enough to get a shot from the front, but it too was cloaked like the rear.

I drove round the car park to get to the exit, and spotted the Landy in the back corner. Noticing the cloaking, I decided to take a slight detour from my route and pulled up behind it. Thankfully I had the camera with me on the back seat, so grabbed it and took a couple of snaps. Had the driver not been in the car, I probably would have braved taking some photos from the front.

It was exciting to see it parked up, and in my haste to take photos, I managed to block up most of the car park, drawing ever more attention to the poor chap in the Freelander clearly trying to shrink into his seat!

Last time we showed you spy pictures of the Land Rover Freelander, the company was busy preparing the Evoque (né LRX) ahead of its launch. Now the Evoque is done and dusted, Land Rover is able to concentrate on facelifting the Freelander before its launch in autumn 2010.
So what’s new on the facelifted Freelander?

A series of cosmetic and hardware changes will keep the Freelander up to date. Inevitably in this carbon-crunched age, many of the updates will focus on engines producing less C02 and more mpg. A new Ford-PSA derived 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel is one of the main technical upgrades.

Cosmetic changes will keep it in line with the other Land Rover family cars, though the 2011 Freelander won’t have the split tailgate like the Range Rover. It sticks with the conventional hatchback.
That looks good! Where and when can I see it in the metal?

The facelifted Freelander will be launched at the 2010 Moscow motor show. If Moscow is too far away for you, expect to see it at Paris with the car going on sale in early 2011.

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Jumpstarting A Stalled Car with Battery Cables

Remember how I made a very long pair of jumper cables a while back? (read about it here) Well, I finally got to use them a couple of weeks ago. My cars battery died down and instead of bringing it to the service center for recharging - Ive decided its time to put my jumper cables to the test!

My cable is 7 meters long - much longer than the ones you see in auto shops because it its designed to be used with my VW beetle (youll see why it has to be that long later on).

The car with the dead battery :(

Voxy ready to save the day! :)

Connect the positive cable/clamp to the stalled cars positive battery terminal...

... and the other end to the donor cars (Voxy) positive battery terminal.

Next connect the negative cable/clamp to the donor cars ground/negative battery terminal...

... and the other end to the stalled cars body ground - make sure that it is a good grounding point - it could be an unpainted part in the engine block, tranny case, etc. IMPORTANT: Never connect it directly to the stalled cars battery. A direct battery to battery series wont start it up. I  came across someone who was having difficulty jump starting his car. When I asked him to try connecting the negative cable to a good body ground and his car started without a hitch! :)

Now you see why I needed an extra long set of jumper cables. It makes jumpstarting with my beetle hassle free :) NOTE: Never allow the two cables clamps touch each other/never let the positive cable touch both cars body to prevent arcing, sparks and possible damage to both cars.

Start up the donor car and let it idle for a couple of minutes - rev the engine a couple of times (around 10-20 seconds per rev) - this somehow charges the dead battery. Make sure all accesories in both cars are turned off (i.e. radio, A/C, lights, etc) to avoid unecessary power load/drain. Watch the video to see how my lancer started right up :)

Start up the stalled car. Once its running, disconnect the jumper cables in the reverse order youve connected them - leave the car running for around 20-30 minutes to charge the dead  battery - revving it once a while :) The car should start easily after this not unless you have a bad battery or a faulty alternator :)

Yes! You Can Jump Start a Stalled Car :)

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