[Samba]

I was a fan of your Fortuner. Felt bad to see the parting shot. Its tough to bid goodbye to a car with so many sweet memories.

Lal Ghoda looks stunning, specially with the black front grille and the snorkel. Am sure it will overshoot your expectations. The manual transmission is the icing on the cake. You really got a rare car. Am yet to spot a 2.2MT 4x4 Endeavour on road.

Will love to see some video's of dune bashing! Infact you can start a whole new thread on Dune bashing! The pics are just drool. Staying in Kolkata, it looks like a distant dream for me!

Wish you 1,000's of happy miles on & off the road. Rated 5*.

[anumod]

Very Nice write-up .. I can clearly relate to your thoughts on Manual .. I just moved from a 2.2 4X4 to 3.2 . The 2.2 4X4 performs better in 4L . (I tried it in the same place, both the cars and 2.2 was able to clear the obstacles easily .. )

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by GTO

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

Thanks Rush.

Originally Posted by prateekvidya

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

Very well summed up Prateek. Looking forward to many more overlanding trips.

Originally Posted by asit.kulkarni93

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

Thanks for your wishes, Asit. Montero wasn't considered since most pre-owned ones are nearing 10 years mark. Pajero Sport belonged to same generation as my old Fortuner and with new Fortuner/Endeavour in comparison, it didn't make sense to me to go for Pajero in today's time.

Originally Posted by BZ25

Wishing you and your family a very happy New Year!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and wishes, BZ25. I agree, Endeavour is also my favorite car from Ford India's stable. We don't have Ford Raptor range available officially here from Ford, yet I put a few decals on my car, but only once I was convinced that performance wise my machine is worthy of wearing these Raptor decals.

Originally Posted by 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].

Thank you Sheel. It's amazing how time flies, it feels just like yesterday when we met in March past year and had a little taste of offroad fun (among the last few rides of mine with Atlantis. Sigh!)

Originally Posted by Sheel

How hard / easy is fitting it with front lockers?

Possible, and the one last modification I intend to do with my Endeavour at this point of time.

I have spoken to ARB Australia about air lockers for my car. Apparently, they also were scratching their heads when I told them such a vehicle existed. Australia used to get 3.2 Everest, followed by 2Litre Bi-Turbo one; but they never had 2.2 MT 4x4 variant there.

I have supplied them the gear ratios for my car, they require more info on differential and axle ratios which I will verify from Ford India. Once this information is with ARB, they can provide me a suitable air locker for Lal Ghoda. I intend to move forward on this mod later this year.

Originally Posted by Sheel

Please keep us updated .

Will do, thanks again for your wishes.

Originally Posted by gururajrv

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

Thank you for your wishes. Exactly my point why I went ahead with this car. Not all automatic gearboxes are bad, but Ford's calibration is the issue here. We have automatic Land Cruisers and new Gen Fortuners in our group too; Toyota's implementation is far better actually, from an offroader's perspective. I haven't driven the new 1.9 Automatic V Cross, so not sure how Isuzu's gearbox is.

All said and done, I enjoy manual gearboxes a lot and in case of my Endeavour, the gearbox helps me connect well with the car during on or off-road.

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

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

Thank you for your kind words. Offroading in dunes is tricky. One needs to be a step ahead in their mind about the track and possible points when he/she may get stuck. Recoveries in dunes are highly technical in nature and require far more efforts than any other off-road conditions. To answer your question, we usually have one person from the group who acts as navigator for rest of us. Typically, an experienced member first does a trail with help from his spotter (a must!), passes the message on radio to rest of the group where we follow the track and instructions from the guy ahead of us. It is easy to get lost or get stuck in virgin sand dunes that you see in the pics here and proper planning is necessary.

W.r.t the bikes, I would say, try your hands on riding in Sam's Safari sand dunes first. Virgin dune sections are remotely located and isolated from any help. So I would highly recommend you to gain some sand riding experience in easy sections of Sam sand dunes before you move deep into the desert.

Originally Posted by Samba

I was a fan of your Fortuner. Felt bad to see the parting shot. Its tough to bid goodbye to a car with so many sweet memories.

Gajraj has been living a very happy life with the new owner in Goa. He is equally passionate about the vehicle and has made sure to continue the legacy further. I am just glad my car is with this gentleman.

I had shared a few latest pics of Gajraj in the ownership thread here (My Pre-Worshipped Toyota Fortuner 3.0L 4x4 MT - 225,000 km crunched. EDIT: Sold!)

Originally Posted by Samba

Will love to see some video's of dune bashing! Infact you can start a whole new thread on Dune bashing! The pics are just drool. Staying in Kolkata, it looks like a distant dream for me!

Thanks Samba. Work has been heavy on our time availability now a days, hence time constraints. In fact, I don't think Anshuman has been able to process our Jaisalmer videos yet, despite one and half month since we got back from there. I will share a few dune bashing videos as soon as we have them put up online. Dune Bashing thread is a good idea, let me see if I can take out some time for this.

Originally Posted by Samba

Wish you 1,000's of happy miles on & off the road. Rated 5*.

Thank you once again for your wishes and rating. I am more than happy to share my experiences with TBHP family as and when time permits. Cheers mate.

I have hundreds of photographs to share though. But I didn't want to dump so many of them here. Let me add a few more for your viewing pleasure.

Climbing over a tricky obstacle in our local playgrounds.


Along side of .anshuman's DMax. This DMax now is twin locked (air lockers in front and back diffrentials) and is beast of a performer offroad.


Another cool shot from recent trip.


Our SandYatch, the 4 litre V6 Prado doing its thing


Giving company to the world's fastest SUV, the Urus.


Alongside of old generation Ford Endeavour of a friend, Manish. Notice how soft and tamed the new one looks in comparison.

Originally Posted by anumod

Very Nice write-up .. I can clearly relate to your thoughts on Manual .. I just moved from a 2.2 4X4 to 3.2 . The 2.2 4X4 performs better in 4L . (I tried it in the same place, both the cars and 2.2 was able to clear the obstacles easily .. )

Thanks anumod. Yours was the only other 4x4 MT Endeavour that I was aware of in my distant circles. 4L performance of 2.2 MT is better because of really tight packed gear ratios, the car can literally crawl over so many obstacles at times! For your upgrade, my suggestion to you would have been to wait a bit more for the upcoming 2 Litre Bi-Turbo with 10 speed automatic gearbox. I am hearing some really good things about that gearbox actually. But, heartily congratulations on your 3.2 upgrade. Cheers.

[JoshMachine]

Great way to start off the day by going through this thread, thanks for sharing some amazing pictures and perspectives of your beastie!

Its getting rare these days to see a MT behemoth but am sure your ownership will rekindle many a folks to take the plunge into the big boy world

My fav pic, was the one where your Lal Ghoda is staring into the setting sun all by itself

[anumod]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Thanks anumod. Yours was the only other 4x4 MT Endeavour that I was aware of in my distant circles. 4L performance of 2.2 MT is better because of really tight packed gear ratios, the car can literally crawl over so many obstacles at times! For your upgrade, my suggestion to you would have been to wait a bit more for the upcoming 2 Litre Bi-Turbo with 10 speed automatic gearbox. I am hearing some really good things about that gearbox actually. But, heartily congratulations on your 3.2 upgrade. Cheers.

Thank you .. I was thinking about the same .. But I am not sure when Ford is going to get bi-turbo to India. There are two aspects, one -- both 2.2 and 3.2 are BS6 ready and second -- India is price sensitive, the bi-turbo will have a big leap in price jump .. I am sure that they will not bring it when BS6 Endeavor launches (if all my assumptions align right and above are the data points for my assumptions)

[swiftnfurious]

What amazing pictures of the beasts in the dunes!! Very well written report. You have been so objective and realistic. Used to follow the Atlantis thread and sad to see this go off (though happy for the new owner). Your group seems to be among the very few who is actually using these vehicles the way its intended.

Wish you miles of safe motoring. Rating it 5*.

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Its getting rare these days to see a MT behemoth but am sure your ownership will rekindle many a folks to take the plunge into the big boy world

Thank you JoshMachine. Indeed, and while I understand why most people want to go for AT (the convenience is unparalleled), I think myself as a little old school and trying to enjoy the MTs as much as I can, as long as I can. No choice is wrong in my opinion, the perspectives vary basis individual needs.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

What amazing pictures of the beasts in the dunes!! Very well written report. You have been so objective and realistic. Used to follow the Atlantis thread and sad to see this go off (though happy for the new owner). Your group seems to be among the very few who is actually using these vehicles the way its intended.

Wish you miles of safe motoring. Rating it 5*.

Thank you for your wishes, swiftnfurious. Yes, we love exploring the remote interiors of our country, use our SUVs as best as we can for 4wheeling and have some fun in the process. Garage queen or mall crawler SUVs aren't our taste so to say.

Many people ask us, why use such large SUVs for offroad? Isn't it too much? My answer usually is, people normally underestimate how versatile the SUVs actually are. For almost all of us, our SUVs are straightforward workhorses during the week and 4WD toys during the weekends. Consider this, my car (current as well as previous one) is my daily driver to office, my weekend OTR companion, a proper family long-distance tourer and a capable overlanding rig, all rolled into one. These are some of the most versatile requirements that one can throw at these SUVs and all of our vehicles fulfill all such requirements to the T in most cases. Plus, the advantage of such a diverse group like ours is that it is much easier to get a real life feel of various 4WD vehicles w.r.t general behavior, performance, comfort, reliability etc. So, as an automotive enthusiast, such conditions allow me to develop a better understanding of my own rig and the competition.

Atlantis set the 4wheeling benchmark for me (and for many of us in our group in general), however I am sure Lal Ghoda should serve me equally well and comparable to Atlantis for my adventure travel. We have a bunch of very capable vehicles with us, so recent trips have been a lot of fun really.

Sharing another pic from past weekend while I was travelling to my native place.

[Ace F355]

Weather has been rainy and snowy here up North. I wish I could head out to mountains for some snow, however work has kept me occupied.

A few pics from past couple of rainy days...









I realized I haven't shared any interior pics earlier. Below are a few.

Love the 3 pedal setup! Everest moniker is a custom print. The wired microphone belongs to my CB Radio unit.


Spoiled by Fortuner's retractable cup-holders in the dashboard; I have arranged for a similar cupholder on my side of AC vent. This one can carry beverage cans and small bottles very well. The small unit visible towards the top is display unit of my TPMS system, it is accurate and charges itself by solar power.


The two screens left and right side of the speedometer provide a lot more information. Some of the options are activated via ForScan.


The Power Distribution module in the right screen is very useful in offroad conditions. Gives a clear idea of which wheels are putting the power down (through the blue bars in the rectangles). On road, keep the Endeavour on a steady speed and it's active centre differential (operated by clutch packs) shuts itself down, making the car RWD (as shown below). As soon as the throttle or brakes are pressed, it re-engages in a split second. I have noticed really fast reaction times of the active centre differential , however clutch packs are a wear and tear item and I will be keeping an eye on how frequently will they require attention from my side.

[drkuldeep1998]

Really nice write-up. I really love the bulid quality of Endeavour. It is a capable off-roader. I wish I would also get a chance to buy one in future

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Hi Ace lovely write up loved every bit of it, Could you please help me with The below 2 things i would really appreciate it.

1. Where in delhi did you source the Falken wildpeak A/T tyres from?

2. Where did you get the Steering wrapped from?

Thanks

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Be Wild

Hi Ace lovely write up loved every bit of it, Could you please help me with The below 2 things i would really appreciate it.

1. Where in delhi did you source the Falken wildpeak A/T tyres from?

2. Where did you get the Steering wrapped from?

Thanks

Thanks B2BW. Regarding your queries...

1. I bought my tires from my regular tire guy who sourced them from Falken distributor in Faridabad. There is a full list of dealers on Falken India website that you can visit here

2. Again, got my steering work done from my old trusty guy in Palika Bhawan. His details are in this thread

[ruzbehxyz]

Just out of curiosity, I always wanted to know how many 2.2L 4x4 MT Endeavours are sold in India. Does anyone have any idea ?

[Ace F355]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

whats up with all these false alarms related to electronics that we keep getting on the displays .

So, since the time I posted my review, a lot of people have been asking me about strange errors this car likes to throw out of the blue. Many even commented that may be I was too hard on the vehicle and the electronics probably weren't able to process. Now, I simply want to put it out here, very politely, that this car likes to throw tantrums randomly... here is a video from YouTube channel TheStraightPipes about the Ford Ranger which is underpinning for our Endeavour/Everest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPX4AwBNVms&t=328s

Watch this video between timestamp 5:44 to 7:44. And remember these guys are reviewing this truck on-road! This should put things in perspective.

Like I said earlier, these errors don't seem to impact the performance and we should learn to deal with these errors as and when they come. However, as .anshuman puts it, this situation is uncannily similar to 'Sher Aaya Sher Aaya' (There comes the Tiger) story! You will never know when the errors aren't foul, so it might be important to see every single time they pop up whether the errors are fake or real!

I have started to keep my OBD tool in the car permanently to deal with these. Sad, but truly a part of the parcel for owners of this generation of Endeavour/Everest/Ranger!

[Ace F355]

Happened to drive the upcoming 2 litre single turbo 170BHP/420nm Endeavour yesterday (don't ask me where and how!). A flavour of driving the new engine below -

1. Amazingly low NVH levels, both inside and outside the vehicle.
2. Finally, you can lock the gears in the new transmission. The car won't upshift after locking even if you redline it the whole day.
3. But - the transmission is jerky in action, especially in 4L. It could be specific vehicle, but there were heavy jerks while shifting from N to D or R while in Low Range.
4. Turbo lag is evident, however transmission does its best to hide it to some extent.
5. Visually, I couldn't find any major changes except for some titbits like Endeavour logo on front fender fins where previously engine + transmission combo was mentioned. Headlamps are now LED though, decent throw as well.

FYI.

[Ford5]

Originally Posted by Ace F355

Happened to drive the upcoming 2 litre single turbo 170BHP/420nm Endeavour yesterday (don't ask me where and how!). A flavour of driving the new engine below -



1. Amazingly low NVH levels, both inside and outside the vehicle.

2. Finally, you can lock the gears in the new transmission. The car won't upshift after locking even if you redline it the whole day.

3. But - the transmission is jerky in action, especially in 4L. It could be specific vehicle, but there were heavy jerks while shifting from N to D or R while in Low Range.

4. Turbo lag is evident, however transmission does its best to hide it to some extent.

5. Visually, I couldn't find any major changes except for some titbits like Endeavour logo on front fender fins where previously engine + transmission combo was mentioned. Headlamps are now LED though, decent throw as well.



FYI.

What about a manual transmission box? Did the front end feel any lighter than the existing endeavour?