Looks Like Ford Bronco is Serious About Taking on the Wrangler

[TheAnimal]

That Bronco looks terrible. Looks are subjective, sure, but damn.

Regardless, more competition is definitely a good thing for consumers.

spot on .... it’s hideous

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[TheAnimal]

Every rendering looks like an FJ Cruiser to me.

Even an fj is better looking than this bronco and I’m not sayin I like looking at either

 

[Shepherd12]

Jeep fanboys....Don't read this: I had a love affair with my FJ cruiser....the lack of solid axles was really of no concern for my style of off roading and the on road experience was way better than any Wrangler can provide. I could drive that thing effortlessly across the country and back.
As long as they design the Bronco without that stupid Vacuum line dependent 4WD and stuff an ecoboost 3.5 in it....I'm probably in.

Doc

I owned an 18 Tacoma TRD PRO with a manual transmission for about 6 months before I traded it for my JL. I bought it because, without a MT in the 4Runner, I felt like it was the closest spiritual successor to the FJ...

But the FJ was better. Better engine, brakes, driver ergonomics. The Taco really took the wind out of my sails for Toyota.

As dad as IFS goes - they never seemed to hinder my Hummer 3.

 

[Springtail]

I owned an 18 Tacoma TRD PRO with a manual transmission for about 6 months before I traded it for my JL. I bought it because, without a MT in the 4Runner, I felt like it was the closest spiritual successor to the FJ...

But the FJ was better. Better engine, brakes, driver ergonomics. The Taco really took the wind out of my sails for Toyota.

As dad as IFS goes - they never seemed to hinder my Hummer 3.

I've seen IFS (in the FJC) go bad at a couple of off road events....Always with a 6 inch lift and in shit that I would never attempt anyway.

Good choice on the Tacoma. The 4Runner is just a little too fancy for my tastes.

Doc

 

[cosine]

first off, i'm keeping my jl for a long time. with that said, i would look at the bronco maybe (highly unlikely) as a second vehicle. but with too many renderings, its hard to judge the final production design to determine if i like it or not. the one rendering i like is posted on the other tread. the other thing i would have to take into consideration is the cost, quality, mechanics, etc.

 

[viper88]

Yep....the renderings are based on those camouflaged images. I hope it looks this good!

You are telling me.....My last F150 (2015) had continuous problems with the vacuum driven 4WD and crappy plastic 4WD hub actuators. All gone bad at 29,000 miles and repeated service visits afterwards (I think 9 in total). The dealer had multiple trucks in at any given time with the same problem. Any dealings that I had with Ford Corporate were negative and made me never want to buy their product again....on the other hand, the dealer was awesome and compensated any way they could.

My local Jeep dealer just pretty much told me to ignore the Autostart dash light that has been on for a month now.



Jeep fanboys....Don't read this: I had a love affair with my FJ cruiser....the lack of solid axles was really of no concern for my style of off roading and the on road experience was way better than any Wrangler can provide. I could drive that thing effortlessly across the country and back.
As long as they design the Bronco without that stupid Vacuum line dependent 4WD and stuff an ecoboost 3.5 in it....I'm probably in.

Doc

Car companies and more dealers need to figure this out. A positive dealer experience make all the difference in the world. Consumers will tolerate Quality Control deficiencies if the dealer does the right thing. Many times that positive dealer experience is what makes the difference when considering the same brand again.

Unfortunately car companies have surprisingly little control over how dealers treat customers.

 

[sourdough]

Wrangler and new Bronco aren’t in the same class IMO. 1st gen. Bronco was in the Jeep class, not this new one. New Bronco and 4Runner seem to be a close comparison. Having owned both in the past, I would probably go with the 4Runner what with Toyota’s reliability over Ford in the past.. But then I’m not shopping SUV’s and haven’t compared the two. Love my JLR, no issues to date,haha.

 

[Sean K.]

The new renderings are making the new Bronco look pretty enticing....

Personally, I have had some pretty bad experiences with my last Ford 4WD system and Ford corporate did not handle it well. But man, this thing looks like it may have some chops.

BTW: I am not one to limit my toys....I doubt this would take my JLs place in the garage.

Doc

https://www.motor1.com/news/391415/2020-ford-bronco-rendered/

To me, that actually looks like what could be hiding under the camo in the 4 door photos (except in a 2 Dr config obviously).

I'm not a fan, but I think if it's close to this, it will sell well in spite of it not being a real competitor to Jeep, b/c it looks like the original in a retro sense.

Again, we'll have to see (and this admittedly looks almost lego like so not really a great "rendering", but W/E).

 

[Sean K.]

Yep....the renderings are based on those camouflaged images. I hope it looks this good!

You are telling me.....My last F150 (2015) had continuous problems with the vacuum driven 4WD and crappy plastic 4WD hub actuators. All gone bad at 29,000 miles and repeated service visits afterwards (I think 9 in total). The dealer had multiple trucks in at any given time with the same problem. Any dealings that I had with Ford Corporate were negative and made me never want to buy their product again....on the other hand, the dealer was awesome and compensated any way they could.

My local Jeep dealer just pretty much told me to ignore the Autostart dash light that has been on for a month now.



Jeep fanboys....Don't read this: I had a love affair with my FJ cruiser....the lack of solid axles was really of no concern for my style of off roading and the on road experience was way better than any Wrangler can provide. I could drive that thing effortlessly across the country and back.
As long as they design the Bronco without that stupid Vacuum line dependent 4WD and stuff an ecoboost 3.5 in it....I'm probably in.

Doc

That one looks good proportionally, but the top's not removable. And I think this whole 2020/21 Bronco thing is a rehash of the FJCruiser. It will be popular with people who are nostalgic about the old Bronco, but don't really need the capability a SFA would provide on harder trails.

 

[Sean K.]

I think the Bronco has a chance to eat into Jeep sales. Most Jeep owners don't care that their rigs are great rock-crawlers. Many buy Jeeps because of the "cool factor." Others used to mod Honda Civics and have now graduated to Jeeps.

IF the Bronco looks cool and is somewhat customizable, it will sell. People like to be unique. Seems like 1 out of every 20 vehicles in my town is a Wrangler.

That said... I love my 2-door Jeep and plan to keep it as long as I can.

Let's face it, there are a LOT of Jeep owners who hate "rockcrawlers" and their shitty 'My-Jeep-is-better-than-yours-b/c-I rockcrawl!' attitude. It's a testosterone-laden pissing contest that makes people who don't want to beat up a newer $50K+ vehicle feel like they may have an inferiority complex.

It's not good for anyone and frankly, I guess it's just shitty human nature. One group likes to feel superior; the other rightly doesn't like the tone but shouldn't worry about what others think about them either.

Meh...whatever.

 

[sourdough]

I am amazed this thread even exists. I don’t see the Wrangler/Bronco comparison to date. Seems closer to a 4Runner. I’d probably go with a 4Runner but without even a Bronco for comparison I’ve got more present matters, like finishing . Fiber rocks . Love my JLR.

 

[Shepherd12]

^ Both valid points.

I think the Bronco is going to squeeze into a slightly different demographic. I expect it to be Wrangler-sized, and probably be able to Ford some water, but I expect it to be faster, with a suspension better suited to soaking up bumps at higher speeds that the Jeep. In that case, IFS makes more sense.

I’m not a Ford guy, but if you look at their general tendencies, the Bronco would fit there pretty well. Especially in a Raptor or ST version. I’d bet that would do really well in the US.

Either way, I’m not even going for a test drive if they don’t give it a manual transmission!

 

[Shots]

Oh, so Ford remade the Renegade? The first thing I thought of when I saw the headlights, and grille was Renegade. Body wise, it looks close too.
So would I consider one? Absolutely.
If it's a reasonable price, it seems a lot like Wrangler and Renegade combo. I'd consider one. I've had many Fords over the years, and I didn't have any significant problems with any of them, and the service department was always fine to deal with.

 

[bkjolly]

I think ground clearance is always going to be an issue for any kind of major off-roading. That being said I think it will attract a lot of the buyers that used to be H2 and H3 fans and some Jeep Sahara buyers.

 

[Shots]

Yeah, that's reasonable. If you're not doing serious off-roading (ahem... a lot of us Sahara owners) the Bronco shouldn't be any less capable of meeting our needs. I can see where it would create competition. I won't be trading my JL for one, but if my wife wants to trade her Renegade for one, I wouldn't argue about it.

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