Road Test: ENDEAVOUR

Dated engine just about manages! Indirect injection technology is on its way out for diesel engines the world over, even for passenger cars. Be it because direct injection engines are more efficient or be it because it is easier to meet contemporary emission norms using direct injection technology. In fact direct injection engines have been preferred over indirect injection engines for a long time now for most applications except where smoothness is required. But now with better fuel injection technologies, higher pressures achieved, better control and better materials direct injection engines are also quite smooth. They may also be using other techniques to tame the behaviour of the engine, such as two–stage injection, electronic control, and acoustic shrouds and fancy engine mounts to mask the roughness. So I really wonder why Ford decided to adopt the Mazda 2.5-litre 4-cylinder engine. The 2499cc engine features three valves per cylinder and is turbocharged and intercooled for increasing efficiency. Maximum power is a decent 110PS, down from the 121PS Everest that we had driven in Thailand, and it comes in at 3500rpm. Maximum torque of 272Nm is produced at 2000rpm slightly more that the Thai car. Manufactures say that the single overhead cam turbo-diesel engine is intercooled for increasing its power delivery, has a refined intake system for quieter operation and has twin internal counter-rotation balance shafts to minimise NVH by cutting down on second order vibrations. This engine also features diagonal exhaust gas flow into the turbocharger to optimise charging efficiency and reduce turbo lag while at the same time improving response at low speeds. I wonder how much worse the turbo lag would have been had it not been for this diagonal exhaust gas flow because below the 2000rpm mark the engine is a dud. Looking at the engine compartment itself one can see that this is not a vehicle that was designed for what it is but an amalgamation of different things which best suited the purpose. Better location of the turbocharger and or better piping might have been one way to overcome the significant turbo-lag. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. While a two-wheel drive version is also available, we tested the four-wheel drive one. A floor mounted transfer case shift lever is used to chose between neutral, 2WD, 4H and 4L. While shifting into 4H can be done on the fly, one has to come to a standstill to shift into 4L. This 4WD system is a bridge between the old ones where one had to wage a battle with a gear lever to first engage 4WD and then had to manually lock the freewheeling hubs to get into 4WD and the modern ones where 4WD is either manually selected by turning a knob or is intelligently selected by the ECU itself. I don’t mind the gear lever to engage 4x4. In fact I prefer it to the knobs as an extra gearhift lever gives the interior of an SUV some character. That is as long as it is as simple to operate as turning a knob. But in the case of the Endeavour there is another button that you should remember to press after you are through with the off-roading for the free wheeling hubs.

Dated engine just about manages!

Indirect injection technology is on its way out for diesel engines the world over, even for passenger cars. Be it because direct injection engines are more efficient or be it because it is easier to meet contemporary emission norms using direct injection technology. In fact direct injection engines have been preferred over indirect injection engines for a long time now for most applications except where smoothness is required. But now with better fuel injection technologies, higher pressures achieved, better control and better materials direct injection engines are also quite smooth. They may also be using other techniques to tame the behaviour of the engine, such as two–stage injection, electronic control, and acoustic shrouds and fancy engine mounts to mask the roughness.

So I really wonder why Ford decided to adopt the Mazda 2.5-litre 4-cylinder engine. The 2499cc engine features three valves per cylinder and is turbocharged and intercooled for increasing efficiency. Maximum power is a decent 110PS, down from the 121PS Everest that we had driven in Thailand, and it comes in at 3500rpm. Maximum torque of 272Nm is produced at 2000rpm slightly more that the Thai car. Manufactures say that the single overhead cam turbo-diesel engine is intercooled for increasing its power delivery, has a refined intake system for quieter operation and has twin internal counter-rotation balance shafts to minimise NVH by cutting down on second order vibrations. This engine also features diagonal exhaust gas flow into the turbocharger to optimise charging efficiency and reduce turbo lag while at the same time improving response at low speeds. I wonder how much worse the turbo lag would have been had it not been for this diagonal exhaust gas flow because below the 2000rpm mark the engine is a dud. Looking at the engine compartment itself one can see that this is not a vehicle that was designed for what it is but an amalgamation of different things which best suited the purpose. Better location of the turbocharger and or better piping might have been one way to overcome the significant turbo-lag.

The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. While a two-wheel drive version is also available, we tested the four-wheel drive one. A floor mounted transfer case shift lever is used to chose between neutral, 2WD, 4H and 4L. While shifting into 4H can be done on the fly, one has to come to a standstill to shift into 4L. This 4WD system is a bridge between the old ones where one had to wage a battle with a gear lever to first engage 4WD and then had to manually lock the freewheeling hubs to get into 4WD and the modern ones where 4WD is either manually selected by turning a knob or is intelligently selected by the ECU itself.

I don’t mind the gear lever to engage 4x4. In fact I prefer it to the knobs as an extra gearhift lever gives the interior of an SUV some character. That is as long as it is as simple to operate as turning a knob. But in the case of the Endeavour there is another button that you should remember to press after you are through with the off-roading for the free wheeling hubs.

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