With Ford having a good lineup of SUVs globally, in India the Endeavour has been its biggest and most well known true blue SUV.
With Ford having a good lineup of SUVs globally, in India the Endeavour has been its biggest and most well known true blue SUV. Originally it was sold as the Everest in other countries. It is based on the Ford Ranger four-door pickup. The Endeavour has been around since 2003 and has since seen three generations. Ruling as the king of its class, it had no competition in India at that time, until its rivals began to appear. Even today it has a lot of loyal fans who swear by its robustness and its ability to go to places where not many other vehicles can go.
Ford is ready with its latest generation 2016 Endeavour that would be launching soon in India. We got our hands on the 2.2L and the 3.2L Ford Endeavour to find out everything that has changed in it. And to find out if this beast can rule the SUV market here in India. So sit back and read on the exclusive road test review of Ford’s latest.
2016 Ford Endeavour Exteriors:
First glimpse of the New Endeavour and you are instantly struck by its gigantic size and proportions. With an overall length of 4892mm, width of 1860mm, height of 1837mm and a wheelbase of 2850mm, this beast has intimidating proportions and road presence, making you feel diminutive in front of it! Least said the New Endeavour has a ground clearance of 225mm. Upfront you have the dominating and large-sized hexagonal grille in thick chrome with four slats running across. A XXL-sized Ford logo in blue sits handsomely in the middle of its mammoth face.
Headlights get the swept-back styling and are neatly integrated into the body line with their designing. You get projector headlamps with HID and also LED day time running lights placed on the lower part of the headlights that add to the glitz. You also get headlight washers placed on the bumper. The front bumper is a dual-toned affair with body color on top and silver painted section on the inner lower section. This is a very muscular looking bumper with rectangular shaped fog lamps placed on them. The skid plate section gets silver finish. The bonnet comes with deep, chiseled and very strong-looking body lines that give a feeling that the New Endeavour is a regular at the gym.
Coming to the sides, the wheel arches and fenders get the flexed, muscular bulge and look very well in place. The fenders come with a chrome surrounded mock air intake panel with the engine type written on it either 2.2 or 3.2. There is a good gap between the tyres and the wheel arch, which speaks of the travel that the wheels can do while off-roading. The Endeavour drives on 265/60 R18 MRF Wanderer tyres mounted on six-spoke silver alloys. The wing mirrors are also in XXL proportions and come with chrome body housing and integrated turn lights on them. Door handles get chrome on them and the windows get blacked-out masking on them.
The foot board gets a mix of fiber and metal on it, making it strong enough to take a lot of weight on it. The roof has stylish-looking integrated roof rails. You also have a panoramic sun roof on the fully loaded 3.2L version of the New Endeavour. The tapering D-pillar is rounded and looks very neat. The rear gets a thick chrome strip that runs across the mid-section with ‘ENDEAVOUR’ boldly inscribed on it. A large rear spoiler is in place with integrated stop lamps.
The tail lights are rounded in shape and come with an LED glow on them. As with the front bumper, the rear bumper too gets the body color with the silver lower section theme that looks very macho. The rear bumper also gets stop-lamps placed on them. The spare wheel now goes under the SUV and not on the tailgate like its predecessor. The tailgate opens upwards now unlike the older one that opened sideways.
Unlike the outgoing Endeavour, the new one looks very well proportioned and a lot more rounded. The body panels look neatly finished with this being a CKD import. The fit, finish and paint quality is very impressive and gigantic, befitting a true blue American Truck.
2016 Ford Endeavour Interiors:
For getting in to the driver’s seat of this huge SUV, you need to step on the foot board then grab the handle that’s mounted on the A pillar and then swing inside on the seat. Once you are in, you are cocooned nicely in the large and spacious cabin area. The cabin comes in dual tone shades with beige and black playing the main lead. The dash gets its upper half in stitched brown leather, while the lower part is in light beige. The AC vents, door opener levers etc. get a good metal finish on them making them look strong and built for life.
The instrument cluster is a uniquely designed one, with the speedometer in the center with the typical Ford blue needle and two LCD color screens on each side of this meter. The screen on the left displays the phone connectivity and entertainment, outside temperature, time and compass etc., while the display on the right gives you a very colorful display of the fuel meter, RPM meter, digital speedo, Distance to Empty (DTE), trip meter, various settings and the various drive modes (Terrain Response) along with the off-road parameter readings. The steering wheel comes with a neat and soft leather wrapping; you can manually adjust the steering for height. You get all the needed multi-function control buttons mounted on this 4-spoke steering with a generous insert of metal too, to make things look more interesting.
The center console gets a TFT color touch screen that also acts as the reverse camera when needed. You can control the Bluetooth connectivity, phone connectivity, FM stations, USB etc from this screen. The screen also shows a digital compass at all times. You also have SYNC 2 on the New Endeavour that can take your voice commands like phone calls, read out text messages, select music or control the climate control. It is mated to 10 speakers spread across the cabin, and the audio output will please even serious audiophiles.
You get a dual zone climate control with AC vents for the middle and the third row too. You can control the rear AC settings using the front 8-inch LCD screen. The center console gets the automatic shifter and the Terrain response shifter dial placed in front. You get a closable arm rest along with storage space underneath and a lot of cubby holes and storage bins spread around the cabin.
The seats come in full leather and are in beige. The driver’s seat gets full electrical adjust while the front passenger seat can be adjusted manually. You also have lumbar support adjust on the driver seat. The front seats are large in size and offer very good comfort and support. The middle row seat is a 40-60 split-fold seat. You can slide the middle row seats for best comfort seating and also set the back incline to suit. The middle row seats are also very comfortable and offer excellent support and loads of headroom and legroom.
For getting into the third row, you need to tumble down the middle row and then hop in. The third row seat is surprisingly large thanks to the huge cabin and SUV dimensions, with good headroom and legroom. You can fold down the third row seats electrically into a flat floor (on the 3.2L Titanium). On the 2.2L version, the third row seats can be folded manually. You get a boot space of 450 liters with the third row up which swells up to 750 liters when you fold down the third row seats, and if you still need some more space, then simply fold down the middle row seats too, making way for 2010 liters of flat cargo area. The tailgate can be opened and shut electrically. This is a very handy feature and makes the Endeavour feel premium.
The cabin on the New Ford Endeavour is stylish, premium and feels very trendy. Loads of space is the key USP, adding to the comfort level in a big way. Quality of materials used is excellent and feels well put together.
2016 Ford Endeavour Engine, Drive and Suspension:
The New Ford Endeavour when launched will come in two diesel engine options, 2.2-litre and 3.2-litre. The 2198cc 4-cylinder diesel engine makes 160PS of power at 3200RPM and hits out 385Nm of torque while the larger 3198cc 5-cylinder diesel engine belts out 200PS at 3000RPM with 470Nm of torque. Both these motors get mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission. You also have an option of 6-speed manual transmission but only on the 2.2-litre version.
We tested the automatic variants – the 2.2L with 4×2 and the 3.2L with a full-blown 4×4 system. Start the engine and you won’t hear the idle noise easily. This is partly because of something called noise cancellation used by Ford where mics placed in the cabin assess noise levels and the system plays low frequency sounds from the speakers to negate the engine hum; and partly because the car has been engineered exceptionally well in terms of sound deadening. The 2.2L feels a bit quicker than the 3.2L initially and that is because of the lesser weight. The cabin on both the engine versions is super-silent. The torque is spread across nicely and both the engines feel very spirited in urban and highway conditions. Both the engine versions are tuned so well, that they can cruise all day at 150Km/hr effortlessly.
The gear shifts are smooth and go unnoticed. Ford is using the 6R80 Automatic transmission from its lineup and they claim this to be the best they currently have. This is an intelligent automatic torque convertor transmission that studies the driver’s driving style and adjusts accordingly to suit it. Steering is tuned very light and it’s a boon as you can effortlessly maneuver this beast in traffic conditions and also while parking. There is slight amount of body roll but then that’s expected on a vehicle this large and tall.
The ride quality is impressive too. The Endeavour absorbs everything that we threw to it… bad roads, potholes, speed-breakers, any and everything that came in its way, the Endeavour glided over it. Unlike the older Endeavour, this one likes to be thrown into corners and come out of them smiling. The Terrain response system reminds you of the one on the Range Rover but then Ford once owned Range Rover. You get the Normal mode, Sand mode, Snow/Mud mode and Rock mode at a flick of a dial on the 3.2L version. There also is hill assist and hill descent mode and 4×4 low mode for the fun of true off-roading. The New Ford Endeavour is based on the body on ladder frame chassis and so real off-roading fun is still very intact. We experienced just that while off-roading with the 3.2L 4×4 versions, not forgetting the 800mm of water-wading that this beast is capable of.
2016 Ford Endeavour Safety:
The New Ford Endeavour comes with 7 airbags (includes a driver knee airbag), ABS with EBD, electronic stability program, traction control, Ford Emergency assist, Ford MyKey to name a few.
2016 Ford Endeavour Verdict:
Ford got the initial Endeavour into India when it had no competition then. Now times have changed and the New Endeavour is just perfect to face today’s competition. It has all the pluses, comes loaded with all the needed features and a lot more. The SUV looks stylish, is well-built and drives well. And yes, it is a mean off-roader too. You also have options of choosing between 2.2L or a 3.2L engine and also between automatic or manual for the 2.2L. Should you buy it? Well yes, why not, if you are looking out for a premium true blue SUV, making this one the perfect choice. The All New Ford Endeavour would be launching on the 20th of January and we expect it to be priced at around Rs. 24 lakh for the base 2.2L variant and around Rs. 29 lakh for the range topping 3.2L version. This one is surely going to give the Toyota Fortuner many a sleepless nights.
2016 Ford Endeavour Photo Gallery (188 photos):
Pics – Ritesh Madhok
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