FORD ENDEAVOUR

The new Endeavour is a huge step up both in terms of ride, quality and handling. It does gobble up potholes and other undulations in the road with its massive 265/60 R18 tyres and well set up damping. At the same time, it is neitherfloaty at speedsnor is it a handful around bends. The steering is the right size and feels fairly accurate. Yes, being a high riding SUV there is a fair bit of body roll, especially considering its sheer bulk, but the Endeavour does behave well when asked to corner at moderate or high speeds. The Endeavour gets disc brakes all around and although the feel through the pedals isn’t that great, it still does a respectful job of stopping the big SUV at speeds.

With prices ranging from Rs 24.75-26.68 lakh for the 2.2-litre engine and from Rs 27.78-29.46 lakh for the larger 3.2-litre engine option, the Ford Endeavour is well priced. Its competitors, the Toyota Fortuner and the Pajero Sport aren’t exactly up to date and the recently launched Chevrolet Trailblazer hasn’t quite managed to get the buyers attention. These are all body on ladder frame chassis SUVs, and you could, at this price point, get monocoque SUVs like the Hyundai Santa Fe or Honda CR-V(no diesel yet) too. But for a feature packed SUV with good engine, nice interior, off-road capabilities and sheer road presence, the Endeavour is hard to beat.

Vivek Venugopal