First Freelancer Troubles... Ever?

[onca]

Nope.
I've been getting something similar, the game seems to freeze for a poofteenth of a second, then it carries on as per normal.

I found the same thing. It happens when a Navy group, player, or other collection of large ships is about to hove into view. It's probably the server sending a large amount of data to the client suddenly... as Discovery gets bigger, so the amount of data coming downstream gets larger too.

I dunno about the OP's problem... but my graphics card doesn't handle particles too good, so it goes a bit choppy when I have thruster on. And, surprise, when in turret looking out the rear. Could be related.

edit: @Cam are you using widescreen 1920x1080 mode? I found that can really slow the PC down.