[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by vkochar

Nice thread - one of my favourite SUV's and I find it much better than the Fortuner.

Here is a unique video I found off the internet - [COLOR=#3b5998]http://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=KPFV4_qVARs[/COLOR] on Endeavours. Cool !!

That video is of our very own Tirthankar Basu from Team-bhp. He's been an avid blogger and has amazing views and twists to our daily sights, including cars.

[sameer_tangri]

I test drove the Endeavour 3.0 4x4 on Saturday courtesy Talera Ford at Yerwada, Pune.

It started with me calling Mr. Nilesh, the sales agent, on Friday and confirming the availability of the vehicle at 4 pm on Saturday. He confirmed that the vehicle would be available.

Fast-forward (a sleepless night  ) to 4 pm Saturday. I reached the outlet with my wife and son. Mr. Nilesh met me cordially and we were on the road in 15 mins. I told him that I'll pay for the fuel as I intend to take a longer TD. He accepted without any hesitation and said that we'll take the Pune-Ahmednagar highway as on that road itself, in addition to the good highway, there is a slight detour which goes to the Forest Reserve land where we could experience an off-road drive also.

My wife and son in the middle row, Nilesh riding shotgun and me driving, we set off!

Right from the start, I was extremely comfortable with the Auto gear box and felt 100% comfortable with it. The way out of the city was crowded with it being the weekend I guess, but driving the automatic Endy was extremely comfortable and stress-free.
One of the first things I noted when driving, was that though the Endy looks huge and menacing from the outside, once on the inside, it feels very comfortable to drive with the great front-visibility and huge rear-view mirrors. I almost forgot that it’s also a mini-truck for some people. :-)

We got onto the highway, fueled up and reached the off-road trail, all in the next 15 mins. This road is a winding, single lane, mud and stone trail with just the beginning 500 mtrs being barely tarred. We continued the drive in 2H mode.

Once on the trail, we felt absolutely zero bumps inside even though the road outside was bad. I couldn't imagine taking my Maruti Esteem on this kind of a road.
I absolutely didn't slow down on encountering any ditches, potholes (or mini-craters) filled with muddy rain water. I drove safe though and requested my wife to let me know the moment she felt any signs of discomfort. My intention was to test the ride quality and get a first hand feel and feedback.
My wife's feedback was encouraging - she said the ride was superb and she dint feel a thing.
At the same time, the ride in the driver's seat was simply amazing. I just dint feel a single bump! The high ground clearance made me drive into the water filled craters with zero hesitation and 100% confidence. I just dint slow down like I normally do even for smaller potholes within the city.

Then we came upon a really really rough (and I do mean ROUGH!) 200 mtrs up-slope part of the road. This is where I got some complaints from the middle row. My wife said that she was getting tossed around went on to add that on a road like this, it would be the same in any vehicle.
I on the other hand, was still extremely comfortable in the driver’s seat on this patch.

Past this rough patch, things were back to normal and finally after a good 20 minutes of driving I decided to turn back. Here Mr. Nilesh made me shift to the 4H mode so as to get a feel of the 4-wheel mode.
Frankly, I don’t think the road required this but I did it nonetheless. The difference I felt was that when in 2H mode, the steering was jerking and vibrating a little when we passed over loose stones. However, in 4H mode, this totally stopped and I could feel absolutely no jerks on the steering. An already smooth drive became super-smooth! 

We were back onto the highway, switched back to 2H mode and headed further out of Pune. Now I wanted to test the speed, pickup. I was already confident of the drive (on city roads).
This vehicle is a rocket! I was flooring the accelerator half-way down and it just shot forward…leaving all the vehicles far far far behind. I was shocked to see how far behind I was leaving the other cars. I dint feel any turbo-lag…but to be fair I rarely made any tight over-taking maneuvers. This was because traffic was high and I didn’t want to take any chances with the Test vehicle.
However, people were moving out of our way when they saw the Endy approaching in their rear-view mirrors!

We turned back after a good 25 minutes drive on the Highway and returned to the Agency where I took the financial details. I am still in the planning stage and intend to TD some more vehicles.

Now here are my impressions-
City drive-
Super smooth with no feelings of pot-holes, etc.
No road-noise
Well insulated cabin blocking out most traffic sounds
I hardly felt any NVH and found the engine extremely refined
Driving was comfortable due to the Auto gearbox
Didn’t feel any turbo-lag
I felt that the engine was crying to be revved and pushed but couldn’t do so due to the city-traffic
Drive comfortable in first and middle rows in any and every stretch of the road.

Off-road drive-
Very smooth
Made me feel confident at all times and gave me a much ‘planted’ feel
4H mode made the drive even smoother
Drive comfortable in first row in any and every stretch of the road.
Drive comfortable in middle row in most stretches of the road.
Drive uncomfortable in middle row in extremely rough stretches of the road.

Highway drive-
It’s a rocket! Just takes off and doesn’t slow down. 
People move to give you way
Very smooth drive
Drive comfortable in first and middle rows in any and every stretch of the road.

[rxpaul]

Wow....i've been reading through this report. Is the Endy a RWD (rear wheel drive) while on 2wd mode? . My next 'car' is gonna be a diesel automatic SUV.

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by rxpaul

Is the Endy a RWD (rear wheel drive) while on 2wd mode?

Yes, It is RWD when in 2WD mode.

[siddheshb]

Sameer, join the gang.. let's meet up sometime when you get your Endy, and maybe start a Pune Endy Club I am already imagining a convoy of Endy's taking on the hills around Pune

[sameer_tangri]

Originally Posted by siddheshb

Sameer, join the gang.. let's meet up sometime when you get your Endy, and maybe start a Pune Endy Club I am already imagining a convoy of Endy's taking on the hills around Pune

Thanks Siddhesh. :-)
However, as of now I am only in the fan club and movement to the esteemed owners' club will take some serious financial planning on my part. But God willing, I will join you soon!

I also have to call you and meet up. Will do that soon as currently I have started test driving vehicles (cars and SUVs) on the weekends. My budget is 18-22 lacs (on-road price).
Vehicles I am checking out are- Skoda Superb , Skoda Laura, Ford Endeavour (somehow my favourite right from the beginning even without test driving it :-) ), Honda Accord.
No other SUV is currently on my list as the Outlander AT & Captiva AT are too expensive. The Fortuner and Pajero don't have AT.
AT is simply an absolute absolute must for me.

So currently the Endeavour is the hot favourite for me and my family. :-)

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by sameer_tangri

No other SUV is currently on my list as the Outlander AT & Captiva AT are too expensive. The Fortuner and Pajero don't have AT.
AT is simply an absolute absolute must for me.

Any reason for not considering Grand Vitara? It has AT and falls well within your budget. Not to forget the best service network in the country.

[sameer_tangri]

Samurai,

I have been using Maruti right from the first day I remember. I think it's now time for a change of brand.
I am interested in experiencing the quality and finish other brands (Chevrolet, Ford, Skoda) have to offer as from what I've gathered, these brands do offer a premium feel much above what Maruti offers.

The only things that have put me in doubt regarding the 3 ltr. Endeavour is-
1. Repeated bashing of the Ride Quality (although I personally didn't find this to be a problem during my exhaustive TD)
2. The fact that I am going to do more city-driving (20 kms daily) and occasional highway driving and little or no off-roading.

I also am seeing if the Captiva AWD (AT) can fit into my maximum budget of 22 lacs (on road price) but somehow I think it's a little more expensive than that.

Btw...Do you recommend the Grand Vitara?

Thanks for your inputs.

[4x4addict]

@sameer:

The Grand Vitara is different from our grandfather's maruthi, but a CBU Suzuki with great build quality and fit and finish.

If you want Automatic & don't need the seven seats and diesel, GV is the way to go.

[sameer_tangri]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

@sameer:

The Grand Vitara is different from our grandfather's maruthi, but a CBU Suzuki with great build quality and fit and finish.

If you want Automatic & don't need the seven seats and diesel, GV is the way to go.

@4xaddict,

And which one would you suggest if I was interested in a seven seater SUV I am going to do more city-driving (20 kms daily) and averagely-frequent weekend highway driving and little or no off-roading.

[4x4addict]

@sameer, since you don't plan to use for off-road, the Captiva may make sense as you suggested. It will be a lot more comfortable than the Endy since it is a soft roader. After the Fortuner was launched the prices of the captiva were revised so it may be in the range of 22 lakhs.

[anandpadhye]

Try the Scorpio AT.
6 speed A/T with 7 seats...you can buy with/without airbags, with/without 4WD...
And all the gizmos...rain sensing wipers, etc.

And you can buy 2 of these for the price of 1 endy/GV/Captiva...

At least take Test Drive before you make a decision and please post your experience here...would help everyone.

[ACM]

One of my colleagues did buy a captiva AT quite a few months post the fortuner release. It costed him 24L then after the price downward revision.

The Endy AT seems to be the best option in the list, and if the budget can be stretched then the Captiva AT. Both being diesel make them attractive.

The G Vitara AT is an option if one can live with 5 seats rather than 7, petrol and poorer resale. Slightly lower upfront investment.

[sameer_tangri]

@4x4addict
I have requested the Captiva AT pricing. I'll let you know once I get it.

@anandpadhye,
I will surely post my TD experiences for the benefit of all.

[sameer_tangri]

Hi Siddhesh,

Have you thought of putting in Composite Leaf Springs in the rear of the Endy?
I've read on team-bhp that it vastly improves ride quality.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-te...f-roading.html

Regards,
Sameer.