Performance-Oriented CUV Sounds Too Good to be True

Most who've read these pages over the last few years will know that

Here's the new '06 Endeavor, bearing new grille and bumpers. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

I have a fondness for Mitsubishi's Endeavor. I liked it since first setting eyes on it, but not only due to its unorthodox "do it my way" styling, but also because it's so amazingly capable at pretty well everything it attempts - on road that is.

For the 2006 model year, Mitsubishi has given the world's best kept SUV-crossover secret a freshening, in hopes of making it more appealing to the masses. It has certainly lost some of its individuality in the transition, its proud aristocratic body-colour nose softened somewhat, given way to what appears to be a flatter, gray protrusion designed to blend in more with the grille openings at each side. Chrome trim now pulls the entire grille design together, embellished with a bold strikethrough broken at centre by a large, chrome tri-diamond badge.

It's

Left: before; Right: after. As you can see, there is indeed a difference. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

amazing, really, how these few additions can completely change the look of Mitsubishi's flagship CUV, and in so doing make it appear classier, at the expense of its once sporty pretensions. Of course, that sporty character wasn't just skin deep, and for that matter still isn't. Just one drive up the 1-5, including a few high-speed cloverleaf highway ramp entrances and exits jettisoning me onto a half dozen of Portland's ancillary roads was all it took to realize that this updated Endeavor was every bit as athletically inclined as the old 2005 model.

If you remember back to last year, Mitsubishi had loaned our West

How we very much miss our old long term '05 Endeavor... (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press)

Coast office a fully-loaded Endeavor Limited for six months, and we lauded it with each bimonthly update. Road trip after road trip, commute after commute, shopping excursions to Ikea to pick up shelving units in its sizable rear cargo area, after trips to the mall, local grocer, recreation centre and kids' schools, it performed flawlessly, all the while causing my wife Jennifer and I to grow to appreciate it more and more - and we don't often agree on anything automotive. I liked it for its performance-oriented driving dynamics and enticing interior, and Jennifer, for all of the above plus its awesome stereo, which now features MP3 capability, and beyond that its general cool factor.

Cool

New gauges look the business. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

factor still intact, the 2006 model has had its interior updated somewhat. Actually, comparing the new one to the outgoing model, the new matte-black surfaces, aluminum-look switches, plus chrome-trimmed HVAC buttons and instrument dials, really give it an air of distinction. Like the exterior changes, not much as been done to differentiate the 2006 model from the outgoing Endeavor, but enough so that it appears unique, and once again classier.