Home Articles Cars n Bikes New Ford Endeavour

New Ford Endeavour

Ford has managed to find a niche for the Endeavour in which it sits happily without having to worry about too much competition. There is no other SUV this big for the price and in such a tough, go-anywhere package. After three years, the Endeavour still doesn’t have any challengers. The Tata Safari may match it on space and comfort but lacks the Endeavour’s solid build and sheer road presence. The Pajero may match and even exceed the big Ford’s capabilities but it is Rs 5 lakh more expensive, which throws it out of the ring. Soft-roaders like the Tucson, CR-V and Grand Vitara are more car-like in their character and simply don’t have the Endeavour’s battle-tank image. It’s an enviable situation for Ford but thankfully the company isn’t resting on its laurels. With the eventual arrival of the Toyota Fortuner, the Endeavour will face its biggest threat and so a pre-emptive strike with this new spruced-up Endeavour is a good idea. Ford claims that its latest Endeavour is 75 percent new but there are no extensive changes to the exterior. The main differences centre around the nose of the car where the large rectangular grille of the earlier Endeavour gives way to a square design that extends down into the bumper. The bumper is new and so is the bonnet with contours that follow the shape of the new grille. The headlights are also different and Ford says they have been improved with greater light distribution but it’s still not of the clear lens variety. The Thai model which we drove a few months ago has turn indicators integrated in the mirrors but this is missing in the Indian model. Perhaps Ford wants to save some goodies for later! The rear is virtually unchanged except for different tail-lamps and a top light in the roof spoiler. The chunky side cladding is gone, to be replaced by a slim panel at the bottom of the doors, and this takes a bit away from the Endeavour’s butch image. But what also weakens the Endeavour’s stance is narrower tyres on taller 16-inch rims. MRF’s ‘Big Daddy’ radials are not as big anymore; the fat 265/70-R15 rubber has been replaced by 245/70-R16 boots. The overall tyre diameter remains the same as does the ground clearance which is a towering 210mm. The advantage of narrower tyres is that rolling resistance is lower, which means better fuel efficiency and the steering is lighter too. Under the skin, there are quite a few changes to improve the Endeavour’s dynamics. The ladder-chassis has been made more rigid with overlapping cross-bracing to improve the handling while the rear suspension has been heavily modified with wider shocks, longer leaf springs and the inclusion of an anti-roll bar. So do all these changes make the Endeavour ride ‘car-like’ as Ford claims or is it still cart-like like the old Endeavour was? Ford had arranged for us to drive the old and new Endeavours back-to-back and it’s immediately obvious that the new model has a softer ride. In fact the front feels a touch too soft with the nose gently bobbing up and down over undulations. It’s more pliant at the back too and much more settled on an uneven surface than the old Endeavour. However, there is a limit to how much you can do with leaf springs and sharp bumps really jolt the passengers. The rearmost passengers sitting outside the rear axle line have the worst time, so hitting an unmarked speedbreaker at a good clip could send them James Bond-style into lower orbit. Even the small rumble strips before the Toll Plaza on the highway are jarring and you feel the rear end kick like an angry stallion. We have always liked the Endeavour’s steering for its response and accuracy and it gets better in the new model. The direct steering makes it easy to punt around in this two-tonne five-metre-long SUV. A tiny off-road course set up by Ford showed off the Endeavour’s 4x4 capabilities which we believe is second to none. The huge amount of ground clearance and torque allows you to gobble up small mountain ranges but we doubt most customers will ever use even a fraction of the Endeavour’s off-road capability. The brakes are superb as well and the anti-lock system works superbly especially under hard braking on slippery surfaces. Completely new in the Endeavour is the engine. An all-new, all-aluminium common-rail, 16-valve motor with a variable geometry turbocharger develops 143bhp and 33.6kgm of torque. It replaces the wheezy 111bhp turbo-diesel that was criticised for being sluggish. The new Endeavour accelerates in a fairly linear way and thankfully the infuriatingly lazy low-end response of the old motor is gone. There is still a bit of turbo-lag below 1800rpm, after which the engine picks up cleanly. The mid-range is superb and the action is concentrated between 1800 and 3500rpm. Stay in this range and the Endeavour will waft you forward effortlessly. Though this Endeavour is quicker than the previous one, it didn’t feel it had a 28 percent increase in power and I expected a lot more punch from the new motor. What blunts the performance is the exceptionally tall gearing that has been achieved in the interests of fuel efficiency. We didn’t get a chance to verify Ford’s fuel efficiency claims of a 22 percent improvement but we are sure the new Endeavour will be considerably more frugal than the older one. The tall gearing means you have to constantly shift down a gear and this can get quite annoying. If you are cruising at a steady 60kph in fourth and you suddenly want to overtake, there isn’t enough grunt. You have to use the gears, row that leather-covered gear knob back and forth. And that’s no bad thing. The gearshift is pretty good and with three synchro rings has a nice positive shift but you do require some effort. The low engine noise level in the old Endeavour has always been impressive and the new model is marginally more refined. The diesel clatter is smothered under the huge bonnet and when you rev it the whine of the mechanically-operated 10-blade fan is more audible. One advantage of the taller gearing is that the Endeavour is a relaxed cruiser and owners will appreciate the low-stressed manner in which it ambles down highways. The biggest improvement we find is in the interiors. Gone is the rather outdated, cheap- looking dashboard and in its place is a superbly-finished cabin, which makes it a pleasure to be inside the Endeavour. The dashboard is completely new. The sporty-looking hooded dials, heavily textured and exquisitely-finished black plastic strips and the rich, pleated leather seats make the Endeavour feel more expensive than it actually is. A moot point is the silver-finished centre console which looked out of place to some but most found it worked well and was superbly functional. In fact functionality was given top priority and storage areas abound. There’s a huge cubbyhole for CDs under the dash, the door pockets are large and there’s a little tray that slides out from above the dashboard to hold your car papers. The seats are extremely spacious with loads of width and headroom but the high floor of the ladder chassis is a design flaw that Ford didn’t manage to sort out. The seats are too low off the floor and you sit in a knees-up position. We were impressed with how easy it is to flip down the middle seat to access the third row but as in the old Endeavour the seat is on the floor. So unless you are meditating or have no legs, you won’t get comfy right at the back. Prices weren’t announced at the time of going to press but we expect a price hike of around Rs 1.5 lakh, which would take the price-tag to approximately Rs 16.5 lakh (for the 2WD version). That’s still a price point where there is no comparable option. So until the Fortuner comes along, the Endeavour continues to be the only choice for those looking for a tough, no-nonsense old-school SUV. Factfile Price Rs 16.5 lakh (est, ex-Mumbai)* Power 143bhp@3500rpm Torque 33.65kgm@1800rpm L/W/H 4998/1789/1836mm Wheelbase 2860mm Weight 1875kg (4x2), 1995kg (4x4) Engine 4-cyls in-line, 2499cc Compression ratio 18.0:1 Bore/stroke 93/92mm Gearbox type 5-speed manual Front suspension Independent, double wishbones, anti-roll bar Rear suspension Leaf springs Front brakes Ventilated discs Rear brakes Drums Tyres 245/70 R16 * 2WD What to expect More refined and well-appointed than before but truck roots are still obvious.

 

< Prev		Next >