2020 Ford Endeavour 2.0L Road Test Review – Now Go Beyond
The Ford Endeavour started off its journey in India way back in 2003. Since then it has been regarded as one of the better full sized SUV available here. Globally the Endeavour received a complete overhaul in 2015, last year the Big Daddy SUV got a midlife facelift too. Now the ‘Endy’ as we lovingly call it gets a new heart to meet the Bharat Stage 6 norms with an all new 2.0L EcoBlue engine making its way to it. We drive the 2020 New Ford Endeavour to know this engine pushing it across some mean and highly demanding Sand Dunes at Jaisalmer Rajasthan getting to understand it a bit better. Read on to know if the 2020 Ford Endeavour 2.0 is the SUV that you should be getting next.
Exteriors
Not much has changed on the 2010 Ford Endeavour, the SUV still looks trendy and in-style for the current times. The few changes that Ford had given the Endeavour during its last update in 2019 still remains, the redone grill which comes with chrome plated and bold trapezoidal grill adding a lot of character to the front fascia. The large front bumper looks butch. The biggest update to the Endy are the all new headlights which now are an all-LED headlamps that provide up to 20% greater lighting penetration for enhanced night-time visibility. The sides still remain the same with the neat looking set of dual tone 18 inch alloy wheels shod with 265/60 MRF Wanderer Tyres. The rear profile remains the same too sporting the classy looking C shaped LED tail lights with the bold Endeavour badging in chrome on the tailgate. Tailgate comes with hands-free electric powerlift feature which can be opened by triggering the sensor with your leg and the tail gate will open and close automatically. The roof gets full panoramic sunroof.
Interiors
Step inside the 2020 Ford Endeavour while the cabin styling remains the same still you will be welcomed instantly with a sporty looking interiors in beige and black color tone. The instrument cluster remains the same with twin color display in the either sides and a large analogue speedometer in the center. What changes on the cluster is an extra digital display for the all new 10-speed automatic gear shifting. Also the Ford Sync 3 touchscreen infotainment system is still in place. This intuitive and responsive infotainment system features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity along with other features. The seats retain their leather upholstery with both the driver and co-driver seats getting 8-way power adjustable seats and manually adjustable lumber support. The Ford Endeavour comes with dual zone automatic climate control unit along with auto headlamps and auto wiper.
The cabin gets further isolated from the outside world with active noise cancellation feature which goes a long way in making the cabin extremely quiet and enhances the comfort level drastically. Comfort and space is abundant on the Endeavour as always with tons of leg room and headroom all around. Seating position is commanding due to the vehicles overall height. You feel dominating and invincible when u are seated behind the wheel.
Engine Transmission Drive
Now getting to the biggest change on the 2020 Ford Endeavour, the heart which now is an BS-6 compliant 2.0L all new EcoBlue series Diesel motor. Codenamed as the ‘Panther’ engine this engine also powers the Ford Ranger and Raptor models outside India. This 1996cc 4 cylinder engine generates 170PS of power @ 3500rpm and belts out a impressive 420Nm of torque between the 2000-2500rpm. The Endy also gets the world’s first all new 10-speed Torque Convertor Automatic Transmission. The Endy is available as a 4×2 and 4×4 AWD options with only the 10-spped automatic transmission.
We drove the fully loaded 2.0L 4×4 fully loaded Titanium + variant on our drive. We took it on some butter smooth roads of Jaisalmer but the real fun was driving the beast off the roads at Sam Sand dunes. This is where the Endeavour shows it’s real mettle. Driving in the sands is nowhere like driving off roads, you can either drive on the sand or get stuck. Once you are stuck it’s a task to get out. We had some real good instructors to get us out of tricky situations and the 2.0L engine was a big boon to drive on the dunes. The Ford Endeavour is a serious off roader loaded with a lot of technologically advanced 4X4 gadgetry. The vehicle comes with and advanced terrain management system which includes drive modes such as Sand, snow/mud and rock. But naturally we used the Sand mode all the time during our time at the dunes. It also comes with an electronic rear differential lock, hill launch assist, hill descent control and a 4X4 Low driving ratio to name a few.
The Endeavour can wade a maximum of 800mm of water if needed. All this gadgetry makes an amateur driver look like a professional and that’s what we experienced. The Endeavour boosted our confidence so much so that we just didn’t want to stop pushing the vehicle thru its paces at the dunes. The new automatic transmission has a very positive shifts , never did we notice the gears shifting. The ratios are closely spaced which helps maintaining the torque at all speeds. You can also manually lock the number of shifts that you want it to shift. For example we locked the transmission using the new SelectShift technology to 1-2-3 shifts using the (+) (-) buttons on the shifter for our sand dune drive, the transmission wont shift beyond the 3rd shift which is perfect for driving in sand. Not once did we feel scared or out of control while doing the tricky maneuvers in the Endeavour at the sand dunes. The Endys natural ability and design helps it in a big way to glide over the off road activities.
Also added to the feature list on the 2020 Ford Endeavour is the FordPass connectivity solution that lets you control operations like vehicle start stop, lock unlock, checking fuel levels and DTE, vehicle location remotely etc via the Ford app.
Safety
The 2020 Ford Endeavour comes loaded with lot of safety features that include, 7 air-bags, ABS with EBD, Electronic stability control with roll over stability and traction control, Customizable Ford My Key, read view camera with active guideline, tyre pressure monitoring system, front and rear parking sensors, parallel park assist etc.
Verdict
The Ford Endeavour always had the right recipe for being one of the better full sized SUV. This important engine update makes its far more better. We had a gala time driving the beast in the sand dunes and this also proved the vehicles capability off the road big time. The in-cabin comfort is best in class, super silent and so are the safety standards. Not forgetting the low ownership cost for the SUV which is as low compared to its rivals. We didn’t really miss the 3.2L engine because the new 2.0L engine has loads of grunt and torque and is perfectly mated to the Endy which also makes it future ready as its all ready for the upcoming norms. Driving an SUV that’s built on ladder on frame chassis gives you the real feel of driving a brute SUV with a smile on your face. This major engine update has made the Ford Endeavour a stronger contender in the already crowded full sized SUV segment still making it one of the better buys in its class.
Oh! Yes our Video review would be coming up very shortly so do watch-out for that one too.
