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Three for the road

These are big, rugged 4x4 SUVs whose natural hunting grounds include highways and wildlife sanctuaries. Though most aren't tested to their maximum off-road potential, people still buy them for the ‘ go-anywhere' reassurance. The three contenders fighting for your Rs. 20 lakh as well as the right to take you from your outrageous off-road drive to the exquisite executive dinner are the legendary Mitsubishi Pajero, the ever-popular, refreshed Ford Endeavour and the hot-cookie Toyota Fortuner.

SUVs rarely get bigger than these three. Six-feet tall, all of them look and feel rock-solid tough, imposing and not to be messed with.

The Mitsubishi Pajero appears weaker with its relatively small proportions. However, the Pajero has dated rather well and still manages to look rugged. The wheel arches have huge gaps, lots of chrome highlighting and an almost-flat glass area. The Endeavour has been given a facelift recently.

The Ford SUV gets a new bonnet, front bumper and winged headlights which have softened the looks a bit. It looks much more contemporary than the Pajero but it's still a tad boxy. The massive grille and square and upright proportions give it an imposing stance and terrific road presence.

The Fortuner is distinctly taller and wider. The big Toyota abounds with neat stylistic touches such as the big scoop on the bonnet, the inward kinks in the headlights and the sharply-raked C-pillar. The only visible change to the otherwise traditional design is the location of the spare wheel. It's mounted on the tailgate but goes under the car and as we learned is pretty difficult to extract.

All three SUVs are built with a body-on-ladder frame design, all have four-wheel-drive systems and longitudinally mounted four-cylinder engines. All have an independent double wishbone suspension in the front, but the Toyota uses coil springs while the other two use a torsion beam set-up. The centre differential is lockable on all the three. However, the Fortuner runs a full-time four-wheel-drive system while the other two give you the option of a rear-wheel drive. The beefy underpinnings of these SUVs gives them a toughness and go-anywhere capability that's hard to match.

The interior of the Pajero gives you a sense of the 1990s, especially the brown beige and faux-wood interiors. The Pajero trademark altimeter/roll-pitch meter/temperature cluster on the dashboard reminds us of where this car feels most at home the great outdoors. The front seats are quite soft but the bolstering in the lower back area is a bit too much and there's no height adjust either. However, visibility is pretty good thanks to the upright, slim A-pillars.

Jump into the Ford and the interior feels modern. The Endeavour is generously equipped too. The Sat-Nav/Bluetooth/reverse camera/audio system screen dominates the centre console and is easy to use. There are lots of other good bits as well like the richly textured dash and the chunky control stalks. You sit a lot lower in the Ford than in the other two, but you still get quite a commanding view of the road ahead.

The auto gearshift lever is particularly tall and falls easily to hand while an added convenience is the electrically operated 4WD system — the others use a manual shifter to engage the low-range ratios.

The Fortuner's dashboard looks very modern. The instrument cluster with the Optitron gauges looks brilliant and there's a long equipment list. The Fortuner has goodies such as climate control and steering-mounted audio controls apart from the regular stuff. Sadly, it looks and feels too much like the Innova, but it redeems itself by having the most comfy height-adjustable seats, lots of useful cubbyholes and big door pockets.

It might seem odd to compare an automatic with two manuals, but the Endeavour's bigger 3.0-litre, 156bhp motor is no longer available with the standard five-speed manual-box. What you get is a five-speed automatic which does the job reasonably well. It responds well to light throttle inputs and whisks you to 100kph in a brisk 13.7 seconds. The massive 38.7kgm wave of torque can be quite a handful once it kicks in and it's easy to break traction and induce wheelspin, especially on a slippery surface.

The Pajero houses an indirect-injection 2.8-litre turbo-diesel that makes 117bhp and 30kgm. In the city, there's no lag and the engine responds well to any throttle input and pulls well till around 3500rpm — you might even call it peppy. In fact, if you work the slick gearshift to keep the engine in its strong mid-range, you'll be rewarded with good progress. The Fortuner builds pace in a nice, linear manner and it's this trait that makes it so friendly to drive in town. There's power all the way from 1500rpm to 4000rpm and the well-matched gear ratios minimise the need for gearshifts. For a near two-tonner the 0-100kph comes up in just 12.74sec, which is pretty impressive. In the Pajero there is a bit of lumpiness at lower speeds, but it's inevitable on cars with ladder frames. In the Ford there's a lot of pitching from the soft front end and though the spring rates have been softened, the rudimentary leaf springs at the rear give a sharp kick over bumps. At lower speeds and on unbroken roads, the Endeavour feels well-mannered and pliant.

The Fortuner's ride doesn't have the sharp edge of the Endeavour, it is bumpy and unsettled over most surfaces. Build up speeds and the Fortuner settles down to flattening out bumps, never getting deflected off its path. All three cars have considerable body roll and are quite a handful to hustle down ghat roads.The Pajero's steering is nicely weighted, direct and sends the car just where you want to go. Through fast corners, it settles down after the initial 15 degrees of body roll (according to the on-dash roll meter) and feels completely stable. The Pajero's four-wheel disc brakes are fantastic and add to driver confidence.

The Fortuner's direct, well-weighted steering gives you the most confidence at the helm. It's pretty stable, bumps rarely knock it offline. However, with all that height, it rolls the most and the top-heavy feeling is quite awkward. The Fortuner's brakes are not impressive and there's just no bite from the mushy feeling centre pedal.

The Endeavour has a nicely-weighted and pretty accurate steering. This SUV's turning circle is the biggest at 12.2 metres and there's a reverse camera in to help you.

The Pajero has got the best ride, handling and off-road ability. But it is not very spacious. Also, at Rs 24.28 lakh, it is the most expensive car here by a considerable margin.

The Endeavour costs the least — it is Rs 50,000 cheaper than the Fortuner and offers a lot of equipment as well as an automatic transmission. It's well-built, pretty spacious and has that all-important road presence.

True, the Fortuner has an unsettled ride but the way Toyota has combined sophistication along with a tough-as-nails character for a terrific price makes it really hard to resist.

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