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Ford India has given its premium sports utility vehicle Endeavour a posh look and feel to tackle the increasing competition in the car market. Many upmarket car buyers in India prefer buying SUVs than luxury sedans as the former with their high clearance and tough builds are better equipped to tackle the road conditions in India. Premium SUVs available in India, which are priced above Rs 12 lakh, include the Nissan X-Trail, the Toyota Land Cruiser, GM Forester, Hyundai Terracan and Tucson, the Honda CR-V and the Ford Endeavour. The Ford Endeavour, the leader in the premium SUV segment in India comes priced at Rs 13.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the 4X2 variant and Rs 14.8 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the 4X4 (four-wheel drive). The Endeavour is priced at the bottom of the heap with other models being priced in the Rs 15 lakh to Rs 40 lakh range. The priciest one of course is the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado at Rs 38 lakh (ex-showroom). The Honda CR-V at Rs 15 to Rs 17 lakh is priced closest to the Endeavour. Basically the Endeavour is a traditional SUV, meant for offroad conditions. It can seat seven passengers and is equipped with luxury features like power windows, power and tilt steering and personalised dual air-conditioning with independent controls for front and rear seats. It is powered by a 2.5 litre turbocharged and inter-cooled diesel engine. In an effort to increase its attractiveness to luxury passenger car buyers, Ford has added plush leather seats with trim inserts in the doors of the Endeavour. It has also been incorporated with a new high-end, Kenwood sound system, which offers MP3 / WMA / AAC playback formats, a 64-colour LCD with blackout function, rotary encoder and jog control knob for easy operation, and a handheld remote-control. The Endeavour model is basically a South East Asian model, based on the Ford Ranger pickup truck, but is simpler and more rugged, definitely not as sophisticated as a CR-V or Forester. It has a truck-like appearance with cubic proportions. In fact, it is what most people in the country feel what an SUV should look like - big and rugged, with plenty of chrome and flared wheel arches. It is suspended by double-wishbones in front, using torsion bars instead of coil springs and by a simple live axle and leaf springs at the rear. It has a superb suspension and has been re-tuned for passenger comfort in India since it is targeted at sedan buyers. The interior, according to some owners is smaller than expected when one looks at the exterior and is further spoilt by cheap-looking plastics. The Endeavour's 2.5 litre, 111bhp diesel is high on torque, with 27.53 kgm at a low 2000rpm, but its pick up is slow. Above 2000rpm, it begins to respond better and feels almost sprightly. For a vehicle of its size, it gives decent mileage 7.3kpl in city traffic and 10.7kpl on the highway. The best part of the Endeavour is the high vantage point it gives to the driver. On city roads it drives almost majestically, and is definitely an asset on rural roads. It has superb handling for its size, but as can be expected it is not a vehicle to take into the interiors of cities that have narrow roads, and where parking becomes a problem. While the front part of the car offers decent ride quality it gets worse as you go into the rear. As roads get worse, its crude leaf springs get unsettled making the ride uncomfortable. The 210 mm ground clearance makes it easy to take off-road. For its price the Endeavour offers a decent deal but doesn't have the excitement, performance or finesse of SUVs like the CR-V or the Forester.
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