Ford Edeavour

Ford Endeavor. Exactly my idea of an American truck. Huge, heavy and with power-Lots of it.. But the most important thing also the one that I cherish the most is- being crude...

Though you know you have the injection technologies at work, the delivery of power- though superbly smooth manages to give a crude feel. The Simple 'mind your own business, I'm busy" looks add to that. 

For starters, I'll make it clear that I was driving the new 3 Litre TDCi version and there was never dearth of power. I kept it on low RPM ranges below 2000 at the time of 'getting the feel'.

Moments after I started, I had to encounter a u-turn. I started turning, kept on turning, kept on and on. It was then that the sheer size of this monster actually hit me. I don't want to sound too arrogant but I had taken the turn quite masterfully- having started from the outer curve before 

the turn and almost touching the corner of the inside curve. Yet, the fact was that I'd run out of road and would either have to reverse a bit of get the front left tyre off the road to the mud. Wait a minute. I am driving a SUV!! Jumping out of my silly reverie, I gradually left the clutch and got the left wheels off the highway to the fields that formed the boundary. I could sense the whole vehicle tilt a bit to the left but the process was dampened superbly by the suspension. In a sedan, I would have never dreamt of doing this. But right now I had faith in Ford's unique overlapping cross balanced chassis.

I must warn here that there is loads and loads of body roll coming free with the vehicle. If you plan to take a turn at 50, the body roll is enough to give you shivers. Again, with the sheer size of this thing, that is something you will have to live with.

A great opportunity came my way. I saw a small toy ahead. When you are in an Endeavor, every hatchback is a toy. Note that Ford calls it the "Everest" in Europe and US. I shifted to a lower gear. I wouldn't say this transition is very smooth but is pretty decent. The engine speed jumped from 1800rpm to 2200 rpm. Then, I accelerated a bit. After 3000rpm, the turbocharger comes to life. The effect is instantaneous: the acceleration rate almost doubles. Think of those fast and furious scene where Paul Walker presses the 'NOS/ Nitro' button and is jerked back into the seat with the new fuel delivering more power. This movie scene may sound fictitious, so I'll give a real life description on how the scene is for a observer standing on the road.

Imagine a seagull calmly sitting on the sea shore. Now it notices movement in the calm sea and walks deeper into the water. It knows it cannot afford to walk on it's tiny legs to reach the prey in the shallow water. It spreads its wings and takes off. In no time it is cutting the air with powerful strokes and approaching it's prey fast.

 

An observer standing on the road knows when the turbo-charger kicks in as he can very well relate this to the time the seagull opens its wings.

 

If you are driving this monster, you'll always want to stay in the 3000-4500rpm power band to experience the thrill of the turbo-charger.

 

It is a dream to cruise in the turbo inter cooler. However, the downside is maintaining control at high speed. My nerves were totally blown whenever I crossed the 90 Kmph mark. Carrying that amount of body roll at these speeds guarantee topple at the slightest movement of the steering. Moreover, bringing this gregarious mass to a stop is also a big trouble. The state of the art braking system as well as the mammoth tyres fail to guarantee quick stops.

In all a one of a kind product. The kind that inspires you to flex some muscles and live the attitude. Get this, make lots of trips to places that not many other have the courage to visit.

The turbo… wooooo.. don’t get me started again..