Underrated and overlooked |
| (Photo: Michel Deslauriers, Auto123.com) |
In today's world, there are products on the market that are terrible, but clever marketing ensure their sales success. On the other hand, some products are great, but if no one knows they exist, how can they succeed in the marketplace?
This also applies to cars and trucks, of course. Once in a while, there comes along a vehicle that has the potential to sell well, but doesn't.
One of those vehicles is this
Mitsubishi Endeavor.
As with most of the company's products, there's nothing wrong with it. The problem is Mitsubishi's struggle to regain a respectable reputation after a few downfalls and bad decisions. And the fewer vehicles you sell,
 |
| (Photo: Michel Deslauriers, Auto123.com) |
the less people will walk into your showroom, afraid that you'll bail out of the market. Mitsubishi is slowly recuperating from this downward spiral.
Off the bat, the Endeavor boasts a distinctive look. Its fenders and lower-body section that bulges all the way to its door handles give the truck a muscular stance. You can either love it or hate it, but I think it looks pretty good.
Under the hood of every Endeavor, you'll find a 3.8-liter, 24-valve V6 that generates 225 horsepower and 255 pound-feet of torque. Now, it may not seem like a lot compared to a 269-hp RAV4 or a 255-hp Dodge Nitro, but there's plenty of low-end
 |
| (Photo: Michel Deslauriers, Auto123.com) |
torque to get this truck moving. And I usually whine about 4-speed automatics these days, now that I've seen the benefits of a 5th gear, but in this application, it's well-suited to the engine.
The Endeavor is a great road tripper. The ride is smooth, and the SUV is rock-stable on the highway. It's also quite competent on twisty roads, for a truck obviously. The steering is light, with virtually no dead center. During the course of a two-week stay with me, the Endeavor is averaging 12.5 L/100 km, which isn't bad for such a big truck and the weight of all the stuff I piled into it. It comes with a giant 81-liter tank, but it's unfortunate that it requires premium fuel.
 |
| (Photo: Michel Deslauriers, Auto123.com) |
The cabin is blessed with good-quality materials, and the dash has a heavy-duty look to it. The radio and climate controls are so easy to use that some other manufacturers should imitate them. The front seats are very comfortable for long trips. The instruments glow blue at night, which is a nice departure from the usual green, amber or red in other vehicles. Only the digital readout on the top of the dash is of limited usefulness; the fuel consumption readout was always changing drastically, even showing an average that's too low to be true.
