Toyota Hilux vs Ford Endeavour [2016-2019]

I'm smitten by pickup trucks and their versatility. So, there's no second guessing what I chose when the Toyota Hilux made it to the line-up of the fourth edition of CarWale's annual off-road day. In fact, it was the only massive pickup amongst SUVs here. To cope with the bulk, it has a 2.8-litre turbo diesel engine producing 200bhp and 500Nm of torque. All this power is routed through a six-speed torque converter automatic to the four-wheel-drive system. The latter gets High (H4) and Low (L4) range paired with electronic 2WD/4WD control. Despite the length, it has good approach (29.22degree) and departure (26.36degree) angles and runs on stock Bridgestone tyres (265/60 R18). Let's see how it performed.

We are standing at the entrance to 19 Degree North beside our little fleet of SUVs and ahead of us lies a massive off-road trail and a full day of mud plugging. Our organisers turn up and quickly everyone calls dibs on various vehicles. Caught in a moment of temporary distraction I’m left with the massive Ford Endeavour for the day ahead. On the face of it, I contour my expression into a mask of acceptance but secretly, like Chinese Olympian swimmer Fu Yuanhui, I am pleasantly surprised at my fortune and gladly jump into the driver’s seat of the vehicle I had been eyeing all along!

To celebrate what we have left, we gather a bunch of true-blue 4x4s every year and give them hell!