Test drove two broncos , my review

[Zombienation]

So I ordered a bronco and picked up a lease for a Sahara 4xe from Chapman while I was waiting last summer. Since then I really have enjoyed the 4xe but wanted to close the door on the bronco before I bought out the lease so I sought after a few to drive.

sorry for the long review but TL;DR keeping the 4xe, bronco cool but not better

I found a local dealer with 2 bronco mannequins, a 2 dr wildtrack Sasquatch with the 2.7 turbo 6 and a 4dr 4 cyl turbo big bend. The dealer handed me the keys to both and I was free to check em out.

First up 2 dr Sasquatch:

Positives:

• The 35s look amazing
• ton of fun to drive. The 2 dr v6 is quick for sure and I really enjoyed it
• Steering felt more connected and tight vs the the Jeep
• Same ride feel on the back roads I was on

Negatives:

• Interior reminded me of a 2008 Kia rental car, all hard plastics and definitely didn’t represent a vehicle as expensive as this. I get they are meant for ruggedness and wash out but Ford definitely could do
  better
• Audio, worst sound system I have ever heard in any car I have ever been in, no joke. Sounded like two front speakers only, awful!
• Avg 15 mpg displayed which is worse then my mustang gt
• Instrument cluster makes no sense, the 80s called and want their tach back
• No rear cargo space which was expected
  

4 dr big bend 4cyl auto

• Engine power is definitely adequate, no need for more power but it wasn’t “ fun to drive”.
• Interior cloth seats were nice but the shifter and interior just felt so cheap
• Same awful base audio
• Avg 17.8 mpg listed
• Plenty of room , felt wider, great rear cargo space
• Wheel/tire combo looked a little small on the 4dr

Bottom line driving the 4xe back to back with the broncos it was an easy decision to keep the Jeep and cancel the bronco. I can’t justify the mpg, interior, and audio on a $50k vehicle when my mpg, alpine audio and Sahara interior are far superior. Oh and it will be a year or 3 before mine comes in too. Still a fan of the bronco but the 4xe is awesome and with the tax incentive it’s actually cheaper.

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[Whsky]

Good review! Thanks for sharing.

I’ve got a base 2 door Bronco with Sasquatch on order, but am actively looking at a jlur right now. The Bronco is cheaper, but Jeep is actually delivering vehicles.

I did get to take a 4 door Bronco on 33s wheeling in Moab last year, it did pretty well on a level 4 trail, but it’s a rig that definitely needs lockers because it will commonly have a wheel in the air. That being said, once you get above about 20mph off road, it really comes into it’s own, and starts to feel like a big side by side.

Imho most of Bronco vs Jeep comes down to personal preference. Each have some pros over the other, it just depends what suits your needs. Oooorrr at least that would be the case if Ford actually honored reservations and could deliver Broncos.

Yeah, definitely don’t blame you for sticking with the 4xe, it’s an awesome vehicle!

 

[lowmpg]

I was surprised by how 'small' the Bronco felt inside. Guess my expectations were off as I was use to having F series trucks and somewhat assumed the Bronco would be cavernous like they are. It wasn't.

I wasn't as impressed by the 35's on the Bronco, I mean adding bigger tires isn't really that big of a deal and the OEM 35's on the Bronco don't "look" the part of 35s IMHO. And consider the Bronco has a nearly foot longer turning radius than the Jeep, I wasn't impressed with daily parking comparatively.

Agree completely on the gauge cluster, it looks almost 'fake' or as you say an 80's throw back. And per usual Ford loves to use cheap plastic and lots of it.

I'm hoping the next version of the Bronco improves.

 

[Zombienation]

Good review! Thanks for sharing.

I’ve got a base 2 door Bronco with Sasquatch on order, but am actively looking at a jlur right now. The Bronco is cheaper, but Jeep is actually delivering vehicles.

I did get to take a 4 door Bronco on 33s wheeling in Moab last year, it did pretty well on a level 4 trail, but it’s a rig that definitely needs lockers because it will commonly have a wheel in the air. That being said, once you get above about 20mph off road, it really comes into it’s own, and starts to feel like a big side by side.

Imho most of Bronco vs Jeep comes down to personal preference. Each have some pros over the other, it just depends what suits your needs. Oooorrr at least that would be the case if Ford actually honored reservations and could deliver Broncos.

Yeah, definitely don’t blame you for sticking with the 4xe, it’s an awesome vehicle!

Ya I ordered the Basesquatch 2.7 4 dr. Definitely try and drive both if you can. 100% personal preference for sure, both will be a ton of fun to own no doubt. I am in NJ so my wheeling is pretty much beach and back roads in the state parks with a rare trip to PA.

 

[Whsky]

Ya I ordered the Basesquatch 2.7 4 dr. Definitely try and drive both if you can. 100% personal preference for sure, both will be a ton of fun to own no doubt. I am in NJ so my wheeling is pretty much beach and back roads in the state parks with a rare trip to PA.

Admittedly I didn’t consider the Jeep at first because my head is above the roll cage with a stock seat (being 6’4 has it’s disadvantages with vehicles), once I learned of seat slammers though, I went and test drove some Jeeps.

Honestly I found the “ifs rides better!” claim to be way overblown. With the scientific test of hitting a speed bump, I found out both 2 and 4 door wranglers, and the gladiator handled a bump on 1 tire better than my f-150. The Bronco is also better than my f-150, but the gap between it and the Jeep is not very significant.

Personally I like the interior better on the Bronco, I don’t care about the cheap plastics and the switch/cubby layout is more to my liking. Wireless CarPlay is also a pro.

For the Jeep, the grab handles are way better, and it definitely has the more robust steering of the two.

I’ve reached the conclusion that either the Jeep or the Bronco will work for my purposes, so for me it’s now down to which one I can get by summer.

 

[four low]

Admittedly I didn’t consider the Jeep at first because my head is above the roll cage with a stock seat (being 6’4 has it’s disadvantages with vehicles), once I learned of seat slammers though, I went and test drove some Jeeps.

Honestly I found the “ifs rides better!” claim to be way overblown. With the scientific test of hitting a speed bump, I found out both 2 and 4 door wranglers, and the gladiator handled a bump on 1 tire better than my f-150. The Bronco is also better than my f-150, but the gap between it and the Jeep is not very significant.

Personally I like the interior better on the Bronco, I don’t care about the cheap plastics and the switch/cubby layout is more to my liking. Wireless CarPlay is also a pro.

For the Jeep, the grab handles are way better, and it definitely has the more robust steering of the two.

I’ve reached the conclusion that either the Jeep or the Bronco will work for my purposes, so for me it’s now down to which one I can get by summer.

Summer of 2023 for the Bronco ? Ford has unintentionally boosted sales of Wrangler by their botched delivery, inflated Dealer markups, and failing to honor reservations.
Thank you, Ford !

 

[Whsky]

Summer of 2023 for the Bronco ? Ford has unintentionally boosted sales of Wrangler by their botched delivery, inflated Dealer markups, and failing to honor reservations.
Thank you, Ford !

Haha, yeah that’s a large part of why I’m on this forum too. The best scheduling for the bronco is Thursday, if I’m not in that batch then there’s no real chance of getting it by this summer.

Part of me doesn’t want it at all because of how crappy ford has been, but it’s still significantly cheaper than the wrangler I want.

Either way though, come Thursday I should know what I’ll buy.

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