[Ace F355]

What I like

• That sweet steering with spot-on tuning! It is probably the best highlight of this car
• Manual Transmission - a super rare combo of 4x4 capability and slick shifting MT82 gearbox from Ford India stable
• Responsive Engine – the 2.2 lump may miss on sweet thrum of big brother 5 cylinder 3.2, however it more than makes up for it by providing peak torque at relatively lower RPMs and across a broader power band
• Excellent Build Quality – feels heavy duty and abuse friendly construction-wise; positively appealing exterior/interior design language
• Benchmark handling and ride comfort for a ladder-on-frame SUV; sharp braking too!
• Loaded to the brim feature-wise – 2.2 4x4 has same off-road armory of 3.2 including a full-time 4wd setup with low range, factory fitted rear differential lock, active traction control and Terrain Management System (TMS)
• Respectable Fuel Economy for a full size 4x4 vehicle tipping the scale at 2.6 tonnes after mods

What I don’t

• Poorly designed engine bay despite a smaller engine! No space at all for secondary battery, winch control box or an onboard air-compressor
• Similarly, no space for auxiliary accessory switches inside the vehicle for such setups that serious 4-wheel drivers may seek.
• Electronic Nannies sometimes make life difficult for purist off-roaders
• Too many False Alarms related to electronics. They don’t impact vehicle performance, but can be annoying
• Poorly designed fuel tank and its position in vehicle underbody. Whoever in Ford thought this was a good design needs to learn a lesson or two.
• Middle row ride comfort is messed up somehow! Passengers won’t like occasional kicks the Endeavour can give at times over extremely bouncy surfaces

[Ace F355]

Story of how I ended up with this vehicle is full of wild twists and turns.

It all started in early 2019 as all hell started breaking loose over NGT’s order of banning 10 years old diesel vehicles in Delhi NCR and traffic police getting serious about implementing it. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like police departments in NCR have been cracking the whip on these vehicles just yet. However, with Atlantis, my previous ride and pride, a 2009 Toyota Fortuner 4wd, it was getting difficult to bear the harassment police was giving to me almost regularly. May be it was the fact that with a full size Ironman 4x4 bullbar and snorkel, Atlantis was easily noticeable among the mundane traffic on our roads, or may be 1st Gen Fortuner by exterior shape was getting attention from cops, being a vehicle that is potentially nearing end of usable life as per NGT. Keeping the situation in mind with no feasible option left at my disposal, I had to let my Fortuner go despite the car being in pink of its health.

The day was March 28th, 2019; less than a week before Atlantis a.k.a. Gajraj was to complete its 3 years under my ownership, my faithful Toyota Fortuner was on its way to its new mahavat (owner) in Goa. With a very heavy heart, I left the vehicle at Agarwal Packers and Movers dockyard in Gurgaon and returned home, silently re-living all the great memories I had with that car in my thoughts.



Meanwhile, because the thoughts of selling the Fortuner were already hovering in my head, I had started looking for a vehicle that might replace the Fortuner, much before the vehicle was actually sold. This decision regarding a replacement vehicle was not supposed to be easy. At the time of selling, all was well with Atlantis despite offroading almost entirely of its life and the vehicle was as tight as a brand new car despite over 225,000 kilometers on the odo. There is something very methodological and magical about Toyota 4wds. The way Toyota approaches development of their 4wd vehicles must be appreciated via the mechanical simplicity and durability of their vehicles. Having witnessed this firsthand, getting a new generation Fortuner was the default choice, but was it? I kept speaking to so many technically inclined people in my friend circle to discuss; and the outcomes of such discussions left me flabbergasted and even more confused on most occasions.

My requirements were straight like an arrow to me and a very complicated set of parameters to many. Here is what I was looking in my new vehicle.

• Proper ladder on frame SUV – a spacious 5 seater, occasional 7 seater
• Strong 4wd abilities – because of my end-usage of vehicle
• Comfortable – by SUV standards. One must remember that even by considering the kind of hardcore off-roading we get to do during our expeditions, camping and weekend fun; > 95% of the time vehicle is going to spend on road. Therefore, comfort was a key factor to keep in mind
• Durable – the benchmarks set by Atlantis were kind of gold-standard in this aspect
• Usable Life – Having suffered so much pain at the hands of NGT with Atlantis, I guess I wasn’t ready to take similar plunge once again
• Value for Money – The way prices of newer generation SUVs have shot up in recent years and making sense of value of the money being spent during ownership was another key factor. The VFM factor was not about the budget I had for this vehicle, but about the package I could get

This is where many sided with multiple vehicles from multiple vintages. However, the two default choices that topped the discussions were new generation Toyota Fortuner and Ford Endeavour, as vehicles that were serious contenders for replacement of Atlantis.

• Toyota Fortuner

The top choice and an amazing vehicle. The new generation Fortuner has pulled the game many notches above the previous generations and no wonder it shows in the sales charts. As a car, new generation Fortuner has eliminated the Achilles heel for previous generations of this vehicle i.e. poor brakes, poor refinement, bouncy ride, utilitarian feel etc etc. So much so, I tend to think new Fortuner has a design touch of Lexus rather than Toyota. This car ticked the boxes for my requirements very well. However, its just astonishing that with every launch, how Toyota has been pushing the boundaries for pricing. New Toyota was nearly 38L in 4x4 AT form and 36L in 4x4 MT for in my home state. And discounts, what discounts! Toyota salesman have a strange smug smile on their faces when inquired about ongoing discounts… lol. So, this wasn’t the most VFM vehicle by any set of imagination, and this problem was further accentuated by the fact that used car prices of Fortuner are not showing any sign of impact that NGT order has made here in Delhi. A clean 4x4 Fortuner still commends so much premium and is very difficult to come by in the first place. This was going to be an expensive affair for me, but I still kept the car in my list and kept looking for clean pre-owned Fortuners through my network.

• Ford Endeavour

Ah the underdog! New Endeavour has tasted some success in snatching sales from the segment leader mentioned above. And there was no doubt in our mind that it deserves all the praise that has been heaped over the new Ford because its such a well-rounded package. We have been saying it all along. Here is my own old post from a couple of years back about the Ford.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

New Ford Endeavour is an excellent product. In my opinion, there is virtually no comparison between the new Ford and current gen Fortuner. Globally, Everest compares to Prado! We are lucky in India to have the similar product (that too fully loaded) at lower prices than current gen Fortuner.

However, we have had new Endeavour with us for a couple of off-road jaunts during our weekdays. I honestly feel it is too heavy of the lot and it's capabilities are guarded by a full battalion of electronic nannies. For someone who loves the simplicity of current gen Fortuner, I think new Endeavour isn't a brilliant choice afterall. In the long run, electronics may start giving headache to the owner (we don't know it yet, I am simply speculating) and Ford's sub-par after sales and service doesn't help the cause either.

Don't get me wrong. New Endeavour will be my first choice if I consider an upgrade. However, I will not be as comfortable with it as with my current Fortuner because of the electronics and apprehensions regarding Ford's service department. But for occasional off-roading and mixed family use, nothing beats the new Ford, period!

My ideal choice with Ford would have been 2.2L 4x4 Trend variant with Manual Transmission. Full off-road armory of big brother 3.2 and much simpler truck! Sadly, very few were sold and Ford pulled the plug of this variant too early in the day!

New Ford is indeed a much better vehicle overall. As a customer, I will say as much that it will be foolhardy to top the value Ford Endeavour offers in its current package in Indian automotive sector. I have loved this vehicle since it’s launch but there has been only one problem. The 5 cylinder 3.2 litres 4x4 variant only comes with a 6 speed Automatic. Meh! I am not a person very gung-ho about automatic transmissions, despite the local travel convenience an AT offers or the fact that Ford has modeled the Endeavour’s 6R80 gearbox from ZF’s durable and strong 6HP26 gearbox. Look, make no mistakes in your thoughts, I absolutely love the VW DSG and ZF 8-speeds in BMWs. But then I personally think as that in prime years of life, I can still manage to drive MT gearboxes very well and in my books, the precise connect with any vehicle that the 3 pedal setup with a slick shifting manual tranny provides is unmatched. MT gearboxes may be slower in terms of gear shifting etc, however in our 4x4 life, I still feel much more connected to the vehicle and terrain underneath through MT gearbox.

With Ford, for a regular user, I think 3.2 AT remains the best package to grab because it offers the power from that awesome engine with added convenience of AT and 4x4. However, while the 3.2 also offers many more creature comforts including a panoramic sunroof, motorized 3rd row seats, automatic this and automatic that; offroading being a big part of my end usage, the tuning of the gearbox and engine becomes an issue. We have had a couple of 3.2 AT Endeavours in our 4x4 group and the experience has been a bit, underwhelming. Firstly, the 6R80 gearbox saps a lot of power from that engine. Secondly, the transition of power from crank to wheels is abrupt and sudden in nature. Try slow-crawling an 3.2 Endeavour in sand dunes and you would know what I mean. On top of this, even in Tiptronic mode, the gearbox doesn’t hold onto the gears as per driver’s wish and keeps upshifting or downshifting. This can be, and we have clear examples in many videos how, a serious problem during offroading in sand dunes. And don’t get me started on Ford’s active traction control tuning. It activates at far higher RPMs compared to Toyotas, is jerky in action and barely provides any help at all in off-road conditions. Ford, if you are reading this, please get this reworked in future models. You have all the necessary hardware fitted into the car, it is just a matter of software tuning the way I understand it.


So, to cut the story short, I was caught between a rock and a wall with my choices. On one side, was what I thought was an overpriced but supremely reliable and capable Toyota; on other side was Ford Endeavour, an excellent all-round VFM package and a much better vehicle in many aspects albeit with poorly tuned automatic gearbox and traction control. And then out of the blue, a respite happened. While I was having this tussle in mind about which vehicle to choose, a friend of mine I was speaking to very causally, happened to mention about a Ford Endeavour 2.2 Manual Transmission 4wd. And there was a twinkle in my eyes suddenly. I was aware about this variant; however Ford had imported only a handful kits and this model was discontinued back in 2017 itself. I knew the opportunity to own this rare breed of 4WD was not going to come again. I thought hard about it, inquired about vehicle, had to travel multiple times for test drive and final buying etc, got the positive confirmation from Ford about the health of the vehicle and after all green signals, decided to put my money on what was a very remote possibility in terms of market availability. I can’t thank my friend enough who put in so much efforts to arrange this vehicle for me, and he prefers to remain anonymous here on Team-BHP so I will skip on a few details. However, thanks to all help this fella provided, I didn’t blink twice while making the purchase decision and after 35k kms on the odo, I haven’t regretted it ever since.


Ladies and gentlemen, I present my current steed, a Ford Endeavour Trend 2.2 Manual Transmission, 4x4 in Sunset Red, named Lal Ghoda! In this ownership review, let me add more details from my experience and observations from the past. The photographs are from phone cameras mostly and cover a long time horizon through which the car has undergone a lot of transformation.

[Ace F355]

Now, let’s get to the meat of the discussion, shall we!

• Engine

Ah the engine in Lal Ghoda! Oh well, it is only a 2.2 litres inline four which feels puny compared to 198 BHP 470nm 5 cylinder 3.2 litres. It’s a natural reaction from many. However, as a matter of fact, the 2.2 is a relatively newer engine than 3.2. And never mind the absolute figures, the peak torque availability in the 2.2 starts from 1500 RPMs compared to 1750 RPMs in the 3.2. To top it off, the peak torque band is also wider in the 2.2, ranging from 1500-2500 RPMs. However, having said this, there is no replacement for displacement and 3.2 is a better engine overall in my books. W.r.t the 2.2, what got my goat in the beginning was how underpowered this engine felt, especially on highways cruising over 100kph or so. After all, the power figures for the 2.2 are 158 BHP of power and 385nm of torques in OEM state of tune, carrying a kerb weight of ~2250 kgs. That’s a fat vehicle weight to begin with (the 3.2 Titanium is even fatter, at ~2394 kg of kerb weight). Overtaking on highway would require downshifting in the 2.2 and you would need to rev the engine far more to get the vehicle going.

However, many of these shortcomings have been addressed after I got Lal Ghoda remapped from Quantum UK. The remap decision was also impulsive in nature. I was travelling for work and the car was with .anshuman for a couple of days. One fine day, he came back from a long drive, gave me a call saying the car requires far too many gearshifts on highways just to keep the car is proper power band. And just as we were discussing, he said should I check for a remap for the 2.2 with Quantum? I said why not!

For reader's info, .anshuman is running a remap from Quantum UK on his Isuzu DMax, with approx. 195 BHP on the tap. His vehicle has been a benchmark for performance and his ability to harness the available performance without any mechanical upgrade has been a validation of as typical of Toyota and Isuzu providing a lesser powered tune in India, leaving some scope of performance updates for power users like us. In case of Ford, they have been selling the Ranger T6 and T7 utes in the UK/EU for quite some time now and as luck would have had it, Quantum UK did have a remap available for my 2.2 Endeavour. We discussed on phone, I gave a green signal and .anshuman took the vehicle to Quantum dealer here in Delhi, and within a few minutes, the remap was done.

The Dyno Chart for the map that I am running is provided below. I am now tapping on 194 BHP and 460nm in current form, which is about 19% jump in power figures. All in all, let’s just say that I am having similar power to stock 3.2 from my remapped 2.2 engine , so theoretically the power gap is a thing of the past.



In real life, it gives me a couple of advantages to start with.

1. Vehicle response has been transformed. It feels much more brisk in terms of driving, and this comes as a surprise to many 3.2 owners. Since the gear ratios in Lal Ghoda are unchanged, my top whack is unchanged too, its just that the car reaches these speeds far quicker and overtaking on highways isn’t a pain anymore.
2. Because I am having a MT gearbox, the real life transmission losses are lower than AT gearbox. Although the AT gear ratios are relatively longer than my MT82 gearbox, overall drivability of Lal Ghoda is better than stock 3.2.
3. Even in remapped form, my power figures are like stock 3.2, this also means that there is a far lesser probability of mechanical parts such as CV joints, differentials etc giving up in Lal Ghoda during heavy 4x4 usage. For example, Isuzu DMax remains super susceptible for such damages post remap (and/or larger tires); so at least with similar figures to stock 3.2, I don’t have to worry about these things.

• Gearbox

While talking about the engine, let me also elaborate on the MT82 gearbox in Lal Ghoda. It’s a 6-speed gearbox, with a very precise slotting gear lever that adds to the experience. MT82 feels very much a car like, without any vibrations etc. Gear ratios are tightly packed though! My first gear at times feels like I am in low range, it is that short ratio-wise. This does give me a lot of advantage and flexibility during offroad conditions. 6th gear plays a strong role of overdrive gear and is very relaxed on highways. At times, when I want to extract performance on highway, I stick to 5th gear only. Although, the 6th gear allows the car to cruise at ~1900 RPMs at 100 KPH, adding to the FE figures.



From my experience so far, best FE comes at about 100KPH in 6th gear. I have had as high as 14kmpl; but usual FE for a tankful remains between 12-13kmpl with my driving style and 40:60 of city and highway mix.

Below pics are from my local commute within Delhi city during past week only. I must add the DTE calculator of the Ford is also very sensitive to how the past tankful was and varies a lot in terms of whats on display vis-a-vis real life.




During offroad, I have found best gear choices to be 1st High, 3rd Low and 4th Low; depending upon how much momentum I need to carry. For rocky trails or trails where low speed and higher control is required, I stick to 2nd Low (skipping over 1st Low at almost all times unless absolute crawl is a necessity). All around disk brakes are awesome too and provide a stable deceleration no matter how urgent.

The clutch is feather light, and needs to be depressed initially to start the car. Lal Ghoda has in-gear crank feature built in, where if I manage to stall the car on a trail in 4L, I can start the car without depressing the clutch again. It’s a nifty feature that comes in handy during offroad situations. The only grouse of this setup is an expensive flywheel, which is a dual-mass one in nature. Costs about INR 65k at Ford A.S.S., along with additional INR 16k and some change for labor charges for the clutch replacement.

• Ride Comfort

Coming from a previous gen Fortuner (despite having upgraded suspension), the ride comfort has been leaps and bound ahead in Lal Ghoda. I have talked already about how the new generation Fortuner also has taken care of many sour points of previous generation, including ride comfort. However, even between new Fortuner and new Endeavour, I believe the new Endeavour has slight edge in ride comfort department. The OEM suspension setup tuning is really good, at low speeds it soaks up bumps and rough surfaces well and only the heavy jolts manage to infiltrate the cabin. However, as the speed picks up, even such jolts go unnoticed in the Ford. For me, better ground clearance was a priority because of my 4x4 usage, and as a happy ARB customer, I kept with the tradition of upgrading the suspension in Lal Ghoda too. I am running a 40mm lift from Old Man Emu, ARB; with bar + winch load rated shocks and coil springs in the front and OEM load rated setup in the back. If the OEM setup was sweet, the ride quality is further transformed post suspension upgrade. The handling is also a tad bit sharper now and body roll remains controlled despite the higher GC now. This is how the car's front end looks, now that the bumper has been painted in Sunset Red.



Having said all these points about ride comfort, I must mention about the mid-row comfort in the Ford. And I am not able to crack this mystery somehow, in some really rough patches of road, the Endeavour tends to bounce abruptly, kind of kicking from underneath, most severely felt in middle row. This was first mentioned to me by our lovely D-BHPian Turbanator from his ownership of two Endeavours; and I kind of didn’t fully believe him back then. However, now that I have the same vehicle, I have experienced this eccentric behavior at times. It is hard to replicate on road and happens only occasionally, mostly on badly designed speed breakers or some deep ruts that we encounter on our roads at times. However, as I speak to more people who travel in middle row of Endeavour, I am becoming abundantly clear about it. Why it happens, I don’t know. Has the behavior changed post ARB suspension fitment, yeah it has become a bit less noticeable but it does happen once in a while even now. I am keen to hear from other owners about their experiences in this regard.

• Build Quality and Interiors

As typical of Ford, the build quality is top notch. The doors close with a reassuring thud sound. Everything in the interior also feels tightly packed with a long-lasting feel. Although plastics are hard and brittle, they add to the abuse friendliness of the vehicle. For some reason, I find plastics to be scratched a bit far too easily. This never happened in my Fortuner which had equally hard-wearing plastic panels. However, easy scratching means that I need to be a bit careful with loading in the cargo area where I usually keep my recovery kit components like bow shackles, shovel, air compressor etc etc. Seats are well made and are really comfortable for long drives. The leather quality in seats also feel superior to Fortuner.

Interiors are very well appointed, and Endeavour is a nice place to be in. I particularly like the flat dashboard from the top, on Fortuner I find its dashboard to be unnecessarily high. The visibility is very good around, although one has to be aware about the dimensions of Endeavour all the time. The car is huge in size and it portrays its American character very well. However, the electric power steering helps in masking the size of the vehicle by making it very nimble to handle even in tight place. Front and middle row seats have plenty of space with even 6 footers being comfortable in the car. 3rd row however, is a little tight in terms of space, and it requires a lot of effort to get into 3rd row since middle row seats don’t tumble like Fortuner’s. It’s not a problem for me since my car’s 3rd row seat is seldom used anyway. The air-conditioning unit in Lal Ghoda is super effective, chills to the bone in summers while the heater works very well in current cold wave here up North. Overall, NVH levels are far far above than my previous Fortuner and the leap forward in current generation is clearly visible. ORVMs are large with minimal blind spots and help in navigating through city and highway traffic alike.

Speaking of steering, it does deserve a special mention. It’s a lovely unit to operate indeed. At city speeds it is light weight, helping in negotiating tighter traffic situation; while on highways it becomes fairly heavy, providing a good feedback overall. Ford has nailed the tuning of this steering to almost perfection. The only weak point that I could find in this steering is that during many offroad situations, like sand, you feel a bit disconnected to the surface underneath. Don’t get me wrong, its not bad at all, however offroad purists will find a bit better connection with hydraulic steering units.

I am a sucker for thicker and chunkier steering wheels, and while the OEM leather was good, I got the steering wrapped in an additional layer of Stanley leather for better feel. I must say, with the red ribbon inspired by the F150 Raptor steering, now the steering looks absolutely smashing as well.




Ford Sync is one of the better OEM in-car entertainment systems, with very good sound signature overall. I have upped the game a little bit there as well, by upgrading the speakers with Rainbow Soundline series components. These speakers were fitted without splashing my OEM cables and have improved the sound quality a couple of notches above. Ford’s build quality anyway is great, and they have provided enough damping in doors to cull the vibrations etc. So the overall response of upgraded speakers feels solid. Now the weakest link of in-car music is the OEM 8” subwoofer, which I might upgrade at a later stage. The low frequencies are good, but I know they can be made even better. So, that might happen at some point in future.

• Features

One would normally assume that this being a Trend variant, a lot of features would have been deleted. Wrong. The fact is, Lal Ghoda has every conceivable practical feature that there is on the big brother 3.2 Titanium. I have already mentioned in my opening post about 2.2 getting same offroad hardware as the 3.2 Titanium. Even from creature comfort features wise, Lal Ghoda is properly loaded; right from the awesome Sync 10 speaker in-car entertainment system, Cruise Control, ESP, Rollover mitigation, Hill Launch Assist, Hill Descent Control, Rear Parking Sensors with OEM camera, Ultrasonic Burglar Alarm, dual zone Climate Control etc etc, all important features are covered from Ford’s end.

Here is what is missing in Lal Ghoda in terms of features compared to the 3.2 Titanium.

1. Panoramic Sunroof: It’s a nice-to-have feature in my books, not an absolute necessity.
2. Electric rear seats in 3rd row: Again, a nice-to-have feature, I am equally at home in manual folding seats
3. No leather on dashboard: Meh! Who cares!
4. Automatic Headlamps: Initial batch of 3.2 from 2016 came with automatic headlamps which were a big nuisance. Ford later replaced the automatic adjustment with manual adjustment switches. My car had manual adjusting headlamps right from start.
5. Auto Parallel Park Assist: I don’t even know anyone who uses this feature in India’s chaotic parkings
6. Auto-dimming IRVM: My car has manual adjusting one.
7. Puddle Lamps under ORVMs: Lal Ghoda doesn’t have these.
8. TPMS: While the OEM would have been great, I have added my trusty aftermarket TPMS in my car for merely INR 3k

Having said all that, one true omission that I miss in Lal Ghoda are less number of airbags. My car has only 2 for driver and passenger, while the 3.2 Titanium has 7! Added safety never hurts and I do regret not having additional airbags in my car though.

I am by nature a bit vary about the added electronics in vehicles. And with Lal Ghoda, I stay at ease in absence of many of these gimmicky features from the 3.2 in my car. Like I said, Ford has covered the base very well for providing all the necessary features even in Trend variants, so kudos to them.

• Wheels and Tires

Ford provides pretty much crap rubber from factory in form of MRF Wonderer on 18” alloy size. This was the very first thing that I upgraded as soon as I had the car with me. I have switched to Falken WildPeak All Terrain tires in stock size of 265/60/R18.





While there are far better brands available at my disposal including the BF Goodrich KO2s, Toyo Open Country AT2s, Cooper Discoverer AT3s etc etc; the hard fact is that after burning our fingers with Yokohama G015 ATs, we are seeking best possible warranty coverage for rubber with immediate replacement availability. All these niche brands, while available with our trusted tire guy, do not offer any warranty in India and will be hard to find if I lose one or two tires while overlanding. Falken has the base covered in terms of warranty, by offering 2 years unconditional warranty with tire replacement available within a span of 2 days. Moreover, the Falkens that I have are ‘Mercedes Original’ equipment branding (the MO acronym that you see written in the pic above) that Merc offers on diesel variants of G Class. I have had very good initial experience with these tires so far and have recommended to multiple people including our fellow BHPian Mannuj for his Endeavour.

Ideally speaking, I would have liked a setup of 17" alloys similar to the car below. This is standard 265/65/R17 tire size that Ford offers in places like Australia and South Africa. Added rubber sidewall in case of 17" alloys allows for better offroad performance and helps in cases where we have to deflate the tires a bit. Tires in 17" size also enjoy another advantage of wider brand variety and availability, and also come at far more reasonable prices. The car below must have been a test-car for Ford India that came with these alloys.


One shocking omission from Ford’s end in otherwise fully loaded car is steel spare rim with 265/65/R17 tire. For Lal Ghoda, I purchased a 5th OEM Ford alloy, wrapped in OEM size tire and have rectified this mistake from Ford’s end.

I am still contemplating whether to move to 17" size or not as a spare set of Mud Terrain tires, will decide as I start running out of treads on my existing Falkens.

[Ace F355]

Now, let’s gear the discussion to a couple of things which I feel are major weak points for the Ford.

When I bought the car and brought it on a couple of offroad trails, my initial feeling was like I had made a bad decision! Why you may ask. This car, despite boasting of a ground clearance of 225mm, was getting beached on obstacles where a stock old gen Fortuner will crawl over.

And like everything else, there were many catches in otherwise impressive numbers that the Endeavour boasted on paper. First of all, a lot of people fail to understand that the GC numbers are pointless in real life situations unless you are aware of your vehicle’s underbody design and other factors e.g. wheelbase.

While talking about Ford’s strength’s offroad, one needs to keep in mind that the fuel tank tucked in underbody is a major disappointment. Firstly, the fuel tank is placed a bit lower than one would like it to be, secondly, the tank design has a kink rather than being flat, and the kink is very close to the point where Ramp Breakover Angle is measured. What this means is, combined with a long wheelbase of 2850mm, the fuel tank is the first hit taker in the underbody of the Endeavour. While I feel happy about Ford designing and testing the Endeavour in Australia, I fail to understand how this was missed! One look at Fortuner’s or Isuzu’s fuel tank, and you would know they are well tucked into the chassis of the vehicles. This flaw in Endeavour also means that if you were to go offroad, the fiber-reinforced plastic shield will give up by bottoming out on rough trails, leaving the fuel tank exposed to nature’s elements. For anyone to use Ford Endeavour, the priority should be given to add additional protection to the fuel tank.

To make you all understand the issue, here are a few pics.

Here is Lal Ghoda, standing on a perfectly flat surface in a parking. I have taken down the OEM footsteps to click this pic. See how fuel tank sticks out prominently from the chassis line.



Here it is, back to back along with new generation Fortuner. Notice how clean and flat the underbody line of the Fortuner is!


Here is a photograph I had clicked on a highway. Can you see how the fuel tank is sticking out under load? This vehicle had 2 passengers in middle row. Under load, the Ramp Brakeover angle goes for a toss and the vehicle beaches midst of obstacles like a pregnant cattle.



Here is what happens when you offroad with OEM fuel tank protection. This is a friend and BHPian prateekvidya's Endeavour 3.2



Knowing this to be a big shortcoming, I got this shield made through 3mm of steel protection plate at Classic Service Point, Noida. In the process, I have also tried to minimize the kink in the design so that at least the fuel tank doesn’t add to the surface resistance.

Pic is from the time when shield was being prepared.


The OEM footsteps were of really good quality, however, I have replaced them with proper chassis mounted rock sliders. As much as I would have loved to get an ARB or Ironman bullbar for Lal Ghoda, I had to resort to custom fabrication work because of recent changes in Motor Vehicle Act w.r.t vehicle modification. These bullbars grab instant attention from cops, and I didn’t want to leave any opportunity at Police’s disposal in this matter. The custom offroad bumper that I have on Lal Ghoda is fabricated at Classic Noida only. Because we had ARB and Ironman bullbars at our disposal, I requested the Classic fabrication team to study the materials and mounting systems of these bullbars before the fabrication work started. My bumper is made of same grade of steel material as an ARB bullbar, and the mounting system is an exact replica of ARB as well. Since the airbag sensors remain at their original position, in theory what this means is that my bumper should not hamper the airbag deployment in case of a serious accident. Now, is there a way to verify my understanding? Nope. However, all necessary steps were closely followed by me personally and basis the system on which my bumper has been designed, I would like to believe that my bumper is safe that way.

The new offroad bumper also houses a 12000 lbs Runva EWX series winch along with synthetic rope. The winch is an incredibly important asset for offroaders and has paid for its worth already through multiple recoveries. Synthetic rope also means that free-spooling and re-spooling the rope during and after recoveries is a butter smooth process. Synthetic rope also carries a lot less energy in them as compared to steel ropes, therefore reducing the chances of damage in case of breakages. Our group anyway focuses on safety during our offroading and overlanding trips, therefore carrying all possible gear to cover ourselves from any mis happenings.

Now, this brings me another sour point I have with Ford. Why is it that Toyota while carrying a 3.0 or 2.8 litre engines and almost similar equipment has a so much spacious engine bay; while a 2.2 litre Ford is so much packed to the gills!!! While I could put in an additional battery and an ARB on-board air compressor in my previous Toyota, a poorly designed engine bay of Ford means there is no space for such things at all. I have just about managed to squeeze my winch control box in the engine bay, and that was quite an exercise at Classic Noida! On the similar lines, in the interiors, there is practically no space for auxiliary accessory switches for such setups that a serious 4-wheel driver might want. Winch control box extension, nope. Blank switches for accessories like offroad use LED lightbar, air compressor, air lockers etc? Forget it!

Ford, if you want to compete with the Japs in their home turf i.e. offroad prowess; you need to consider the real-life usages of real offroaders. The fact is, Toyota and Isuzu are far more mod-friendly 4x4 vehicles in the aspects I just mentioned above. May be something to ponder upon for upcoming vehicles.

Along with this, I think now is the time to address the elephant in the room. The enormous array of electronics that are there in the Ford. What is going to happen to all these system in due time, and hard use cases like mine? Oh well!!!

The reality is, we don’t know and I find it unnecessary to discuss about the long term reliability at this hour. I simply think it is too early for us making this judgement. However, having said that, I do believe that Ford has put in simply too many systems without even thinking of the end use. Case in point, e.g. poor calibration of anti-stall feature in Lal Ghoda. While the anti-stall feature is such an awesome thing to have, poor calibration in case of Ford means that if I want to crawl in 1st Low while being stuck in sand for example, the anti-stall will raise the idle RPMs suddenly and excessively without me touching the throttle. That means, while I could crawl out of such situation in an old school vehicle like Fortuner, or DMax or Pajero Sport; I can’t replicate the same thing in Endeavour! Such electronic interventions are pointless without proper calibration and make our life difficult in many off-road situations.

Similarly, whats up with all these false alarms related to electronics that we keep getting on the displays . Below are a few that I have noticed and
managed to click pictures.





There was another error related to the brake system where ABS sensors threw some similar error displayed on the screen when the car was parked on an uneven incline. The weird thing is, these false alarms don’t even leave an Error Code for diagnostics later on! And they don’t seem to impact vehicle performance by any means but are really annoying when they pop up out of the blue. We have 6 Endeavours in our offroad group, and these false alarms are common among all of them! Go figure. Like I said, I have learnt to ignore them since they don’t leave even a DTC behind, but this shows how poorly designed all these electronic programs are at Ford!

Recent dune bashing trip was a good time to check on Sand Mode FYI.



In my offroad experience, I found TMS to be completely pointless, hence I have left it in Normal mode all the time. I know this might sound harsh to some because I have seen people going gaga over these Land Roverish electronic nannies. However, in Ford’s case, they don’t work, and I have tried them all in all sort of conditions. All these modes do is change the throttle and traction control sensitivity, which is a child play if you were to replicate with a bit of a practice. I just wish if the TMS wasn’t there, this car would have been a bit more simpler and error-free. I have already mentioned how bad Ford’s active traction control tuning is. The reality is, new generation Fortuner outperforms the Ford in most offroad situations just because it has such an amazing A-Trac system. Ford bounces back in terms of offroad performance because it has an advantage of added mechanical grip through factory rear diff-locker, which is a saving grace.

And to be fair to Ford, the implementation of rear diff locker is awesome indeed . It is nearly impossible to abuse it because of the electronics that guard the system and it works shift-on-fly, something Toyota, Isuzu and Nissan haven’t been able to do in their SUV’s OEM e-lockers abroad.


In order to overcome the shortcomings that I kept noticing in my vehicle, I have taken a systematic approach to rectify them one by one. Here is the entire list of modifications that have been done to the car.

1. Custom offroad bumper with 12k lbs electric winch
2. Underbody Protection
3. Fuel Tank Protection
4. OEM Ford Snorkel
5. Custom Rock Sliders
6. ARB Old Man Emu Suspension with rated coils/shocks and 40mm lift
7. Stage 1 ECU Remap by Quantum UK
8. Headlight upgrade by XenonPlanet
9. Audio System Upgrade - Rainbow Soundline Components

[Ace F355]

Now let me share a few good memories from my ownership time of this beautiful machine in form of a photologue.

Two sides of the same coin! Its easy to imagine why these both cars compete so heavily in our market. Both are excellent vehicles, with their own fair share of advantages and disadvantages. Below you see a super rare combo of new generation Fortuner and Endeavour, both being 4WD and Manual Transmission










At the end of the day, an excellent choice that I made! The all smile photo says it all.


A real highway cruiser! This Ford can chew up miles fast...






My better half has been very much pleased with the Endeavour. She likes to get behind the wheel far more often than she did with the Fortuner.


In our local offroad playgrounds, man I love the little Suzuki equally!


With it's prime rival in Australian market; diesel Land Cruiser Prado 150


With .anshuman's DMax and nkapoor777's Pajero Sport


At ORAZ in Gurgaon


Equally at home in countryside of our farm!


A casual weekend for us. The other two cars belong to our friends Sateesh & BHPian prateekvidya


A prime reason of why we choose to live 4x4life! The ability of our 4WDs to take us away from city chaos to really remote regions with real friends and opportunities to reflect back on things in life that really matter. While offroading is a part of the fun, for me 4wheeling and overlanding to such beautiful locations is addictive.






This little 2.2 litres engine has enough pull to tear through the sand dunes!






A casual campsite for lunch!


Sunrise while travelling in Rajasthan


4 of us traveled to Jaisalmer together in late November, to join rest of the group for dune bashing


Along with BHPian prateekvidya's 3.2


Dubai naa sahi, Dubai ki feeling hi kaafi hai! (Check the custom plate on the Prado V6, you will know what I mean )


Some random shots of beautiful Thar Desert!

[Ace F355]

Continuing with more pics from our recent dunes drive in Rajasthan...

Early morning recce team in search for remotest and most virgin sand dunes in India


What commonality do you see among these cars? That is BHPian sourabhzen's Safari Storme in the background BTW.


Unity in Diversity! Experiencing such a huge variety of 4WDs within our group allows us to learn so much about various vehicles and driving techniques...


When Toyota guys are making fun of my bush repairs! I miscalculated one dune and ended up ripping one side of my rear bumper here.


Some more action shots of Lal Ghoda in the dunes!












Just before the plunge in a big sandy pit!


Just another day in the desert for us...


Some amazing sunsets from the dunes...













Alongwith BHPian prateekvidya's 3.2


Ah! What amazing dune sections these!
















Along with BHPian nkapoor777, preparing for recovery of his stuck Pajero Sport


No sweat climbing these virgin dunes!


What a sight to behold!


As they say, the journey has just begun! Many more trips to come and many more beautiful memories to be shared! Until then...

Oh, and wish you all a very Happy New Year 2020... I hope this new year brings a lot of health, wealth and prosperity for all of us.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

Looks badass . Your car is going straight to our homepage.

[nkapoor777]

Amazing writing Ace! You've covered the good and the bad in an extremely objective way. Kudos!

What a first year we have had with this truck - badass like GTO said. I still remember how it looked the first day you got it home. Every vehicle has it's share of quirks, and one learns to live with them. But this junior FROD holds a few surprises up its sleeve - and we saw that during the recent Jaisalmer dune bashing trip. Wishing you many miles of trouble free ownership with the Lal Ghoda!! It has truly earned this name now.

[prateekvidya]

This is an awesome writeup. I think three very clear points come out :

a) Endeavour is, generally speaking, a really good product. Its advantages of comfort and driving pleasure probably outweigh its quirks (for a regular user with less than 10% off-road time)

b) The car is not designed for too many mods and that just means extra effort - that said - kudos for the work on the bumper (first of its kind in India) and fuel tank protection. I think the difference was more than evident in Jaisalmer where stock bumper owners had to think twice !

c) Most of the advantages of 3.2 over 2.2 purely from a power perspective has already been nullified in Lal Ghoda (rather it is better off with the MT) !! While most of the rest (except airbags) is purely jazzy in nature (3rd power row, leather dash etc etc.) - think its time for Ford to seriously consider offering Sync 2 to Sync 3 upgrade as a standard kit for their premium SUV in India.

All that said and done - there have been a lot of awesome moments together in the short span of time already. So - more to come .. !!

[asit.kulkarni93]

Congratulations on a very different of the Endeavour. The current Endy is like the Innova of SUV’s in India. It’s ticks all the right boxes.

I used to watch your off road videos on YouTube and haven’t been able to keep up for a while. Loved your fortuner.

Any reason why you did not consider a pre owned Montero or a Pajero Sport?

[BZ25]

What a comprehensive review! Sir, you seem to be making full use out of your Endeavour, where a large majority of Endys only get to see tarmac, and are only used in cities.

The Endeavour is my favorite offering from Ford in India, considering it is the closest thing we will get to the Ranger in a long time, and your beast is like a hurricane after the engine remap!

I'm glad that you chose the Endy over the Fortuner, I found the latter to be overpriced and underequipped for a car that is 40 lakhs on-road. The Endy has been priced sanely by Ford, though I'm disappointed that they deleted some features with the facelift.

Wishing you and your family a very happy New Year!

[Sheel]

Truly a non-biased and objective ownership thread. In fact, this thread is unlike others as no one off-roads like you guys do [with regular SUV's].

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Now, let’s gear the discussion to a couple of things which I feel are major weak points for the Ford.

This car, despite boasting of a ground clearance of 225mm, was getting beached on obstacles where a stock old gen Fortuner will crawl over.

And like everything else, there were many catches in otherwise impressive numbers that the Endeavour boasted on paper. First of all, a lot of people fail to understand that the GC numbers are pointless in real life situations unless you are aware of your vehicle’s underbody design and other factors e.g. wheelbase.

An incident which had happened with me. Someone was buying a vehicle which had 210 or 209mm of GC on paper. [Don't really recall, was ~ 2 years ago]. The sales guy [to convince him] was always saying - it has better GC than the Scorpio and blah.

To cut this long story short, this ended with a broken bumper and radiator for that demo vehicle.

So yes, things on paper do not always paint a true picture.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

While talking about Ford’s strength’s offroad, one needs to keep in mind that the fuel tank tucked in underbody is a major disappointment. Firstly, the fuel tank is placed a bit lower than one would like it to be, secondly, the tank design has a kink rather than being flat, and the kink is very close to the point where Ramp Breakover Angle is measured.

This is just so visible and you can't take your eyes off once you see it, In-fact, my Dad quipped about this when a 2.2 AT was playing with us [or us playing with it], your picture truly sums it up.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

In my offroad experience, I found TMS to be completely pointless, hence I have left it in Normal mode all the time. I know this might sound harsh to some because I have seen people going gaga over these Land Roverish electronic nannies. However, in Ford’s case, they don’t work, and I have tried them all in all sort of conditions. All these modes do is change the throttle and traction control sensitivity, which is a child play if you were to replicate with a bit of a practice. I just wish if the TMS wasn’t there, this car would have been a bit more simpler and error-free.

Savage and so true.

Originally Posted by Ace F355

And to be fair to Ford, the implementation of rear diff locker is awesome indeed . It is nearly impossible to abuse it because of the electronics that guard the system and it works shift-on-fly, something Toyota, Isuzu and Nissan haven’t been able to do in their SUV’s OEM e-lockers abroad.

How hard / easy is fitting it with front lockers?

And to be fair to Ford Endeavor, it is a terrific SUV to overland / tour / explore and not necessarily off-road. I will pick a Ford anyday for touring or for everyday usage, but if off-road driving is concerned, will stick with a Toyota / Isuzu.

Please keep us updated .

[ruzbehxyz]

Congratulations on the 2.2 Endy. I was always awe of the 2.2 4x4 MT and wanted it from day 1. However down the line when I went for a test drive , I was always given a 3.2 Titanium. With the raw power and everything right, I ended up with the 3.2 4x4 Titanium.
However the 2.2 MT was always at the back of my mind and I dreamt to try it one day.
Your detailed review made me think that I have now driven this beast.

Congratulations once again and keep posting about the wonderful beast.

[gururajrv]

Congrats Ace! You hit the ball out of the park with your review on this beast.

Honestly, Endeavor is now my favourite SUV in the market. I was a die-hard fan of Fortuner until the new gen came in. Not a fan of it anyway now. Endeavor is absolutely balanced from all angles (minus the uneven surface under the body which you mentioned).

Not a great fan of automatics too. So you’ve gone ahead with the excellent choice of manual transmission. It’s always nice to have the elephant in your leash, isn’t it? that’s how manuals feel like on cars. We decide what gear we want instead of what computer wants for us

Keep enjoying that truck like you did with your Fortuner. Congrats and drive safe.

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[Urban_Nomad]

The dune photography is just jaw dropping! Gorgeous!!

Would you mind sharing how you navigate in the dunes so as to not get lost? Would love to take my bike here for sure