I was invited to check out the Mitsubishi Endeavor. According to Mitsubishi, the Endeavor is a “midsize crossover SUV”.

Some say that it’s just a midsize and I have to agree with them.

The Mitsubishi Endeavor is powered by a V6 24 valve, 3.8 liter engine that cranks up 225 horsepower @ 5000. It has a 4-speed automatic transmission.

The Automatic has a Sportronic mode that lets you shift gears manually if you want to.

It has a roomy rear. Judging by the size- 40.7 cubic feet, it had space for my 2 big dogs and room to spare.

As for the ride itself, I took it out on the back roads and was rather impressed by the handling. The4-wheel independent suspension handled the bumps quite well.
In fact I was surprised as to how well it did.

Fuel mileage estimates: 15 city and19 highway

Overall this is a great vehicle for the family.

Cost to own $54,704 (5-year national average) and the nice thing about it is that since the Endeavor isn’t leader of the pack sales wise, you could get a couple of extras or get a better deal.

In between the Montero Sport, and the larger Montero SUV is the Endeavor.

A midsize crossover SUV, it was also the first vehicle in the company’s “project America” series. It was designed and built in Normal, Illinois.

On a test drive, I found the Endeavor (SE AWD) to have a quiet and relatively comfortable ride.

The automatic model has a Sportronic mode that allowed me to manually shift gears when I wanted like when in traffic wherein quicker shifting is needed.

With its Active Skid and Traction Control, on sand (and snow I assume), I found the AWD quite capable.

On the inside, it has a driver multi-adjustable power seat, power windows and it has a very spacious rear seat.

Front and side driver and passenger airbags are standard.

The one thing it doesn’t have is a navigation system.

Possibly another downside is that the Endeavor has a 3.8 liter V6 225hp engine that runs only on premium gasoline.

Fuel economy is a respectable 17mpg city and 23mpg on the highway.