Old Ford Endeavour beats new Toyota Fortuner, Endeavour, Mahindra Thar, Isuzu V-Cross: Here’s why

Newer generation off-roading vehicles now come with a range of equipment to make them more capable. Here is a video that shows new generation Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour, Mahindra Thar and Isuzu V-Cross take on an off-road challenge where an old Endeavour beats everyone. What’s happening here? Let’s find out.

What is happening here?

The video starts with Isuzu D-Max V-Cross taking on a steep incline but it becomes stuck mid-way and the wheels start to spin. The old generation Ford Endeavour then takes on the obstacle with the differential lock off and it fails even before the point where the V-Cross reached. On the second attempt with the differential lock on, the old Ford Endeavour crosses the obstacle without much effort.

The video also shows the new-generation Ford Endeavour takin the challenge completing it after struggling quite a bit. The new generation Toyota Fortuner can be seen struggling too but completes the challenge easily. The Isuzu D-Max even tries second and third attempt but could not climb on the loose sand at all.

Interestingly, even the Toyota Fortuner and Ford Endeavour fail to climb in the second attempt. This can be because the obstacle has been damaged by the repeated attempts and the vehicles that succeeded before could not find enough grip. Even Mahindra Thar fails to complete the challenge.

The video later shows that the old generation Ford Endeavour also tries the obstacle after everyone fails. It gets stuck for a couple of times but completes the challenge in the end. No other vehicle from the group was able to complete the challenge the second time except the old Endeavour. Later, the video shows a different obstacle where all the vehicles climb easily without much effort.

What makes the old-gen Endeavour so much more capable?

The older-generation Ford Endeavour gets air-lockers, fitted as an after-market accessory. The air-lockers are similar to the manual differential locks but can be operated at the will of the driver. These are different from automatic differential locks, which engage and disengage on their own.

The air-lockers get a 12-volt air compressor that activates and deactivates the locking mechanism inside the differential. The air-lockers are a much-advanced version of the manual differential locks and can be operated through a switch placed inside the vehicle. The person does not need to get out of the vehicle to activate the differential locks.

This extra feature makes the old generation Endeavour much more capable than the other vehicles. Except for the Thar, other vehicles get Limited Slip Differential that is enough in most of the situations but not always works due to the limited slip that it allows. Air-locks can be installed in most of the 4X4 vehicles.

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