- First Name
- Tom
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2021
- Threads
- 40
- Messages
- 456
- Reaction score
- 429
- Location
- Scottsdale, AZ
- Vehicle(s)
- 05 Maserati Coupe GT,16 Jag F-Type S,65 Cobra 427
- Your Bronco Model
- Black Diamond
- Thread starter
- #1
I have driven 3 Bronco's recently. 4 door BL soft top 2.7 Auto SAS in Scottsdale. Strongest pulling of the rigs. So much so I am wonder if that Mannequin was running a tune! Next was a 2 Door Hard top OBX 2.7 SAS last night. Didn't pull as hard as the 4 door but still good. Had rattles from the hard top where is meets the windshield. Had a vibration and ride was not as good as the 4 door as expected. Last is the 4 Door hard top WT from Moab Off Rodeo. Did not pull as hard as the other rigs. Moab is at elevation and I didn't expect a twin turbo'd motor to loose that much power at elevation.
Tops- Hard top or soft top-2 door or 4 door the sound and wind noise is about the same. A little but not bad. Maybe a little louder than my Rubi hard top. Soft top is the quietist. 2 door was squeaking and rattling. Annoyingly so and the dealer should have fixed it before putting it on the lot. Front near the windscreen. The 4 door WT wheeling you would hear the panels flexing as the rig did its thing. Kind of a popping fiberglass kind of sound same as a hard top Jeep. Was not annoying and expected in such terrain.
Ground Clearance-Tire PKG- Tires and SAS makes a huge difference offroad on a 4/5 rated trail. Looking at many rigs they have been using for more than 2 months with many newbies that are still in great shape. If you look close anything on 33's had marks under the rig and on the bash plates were they scraped and rubbed. SAS rigs were clean with no marks or rubs. Mine never touched a hard part all day and I was taking the hardest lines I could. 33's got stuck in the mud pit and required recovery. In the Bronco's defense it was it was not enough speed. 37's would have not made it either at that entry speed.
2.7 Motor- Pulls hard on the street. Way more power than a Jeep. Plenty of motor. Not the best sounding like a V-8 but with the right exhaust it will be fine. I liked it quite and stock. Offroad it never needed more power. Trans and programming wants the motor to stay in lower gears while wheeling and spooled up where the power is. Different Goat modes do change how the power is delivered and the shift points. Learning what works best will take some time.
10 Speed Auto- Lots of gears and lots of shifting going on. Trans works hard to keep motor spooled up and in the power. Very smooth shifting. In my Rubi 4wd L I would use the slap shifter to pick the gear and control the speed. In the Bronco you have a shift button and its pretty lame and useless. I tried to put in M and shift it manually for a bit and the rig hated it. You end up in to tall a gear way to often and you have to shift it way to often to keep it the sweet spot. Quote from Scott our Moab guide "We stick it in D and leave it there"- smoothest and easiest without a doubt.
Steering- Both on and off road it offered good feedback and response. No wondering or pulling and very smooth off road with no noise even full lock and loaded.
Ride- Everything I drove was SAS pkg. This is what makes the rig- the ride. Its ride nice and very comfortable. Night and day from a Wrangler with 35's-which you need to build and voids your warranty. 35's out of the factory! Amazing. On highway at any speed it is very smooth and soaks up the bumps. No fighting the wheel or pulling. I was running 80 and it was very comfortable and smooth and had more if you wanted it. Wrangler max speed was 80 and you didn't want to stay there long. Off road it is also super smooth. I am in love and have Bronco fever bad as a result. Wife loved how smooth it is. "I am not getting beat up" We ran into a guy on the trail who did the Bronco off roadeo a couple days earlier. He was running a rented 4 door Rubi with 35's. "I wish I was in Bronco. This Jeep is beating the crap out of me just getting to here". We were at the gate entering the good area, lol. This is the huge win for the Bronco. My Jeep was good at crawling and thats it. Sucked even on gravel roads. Oh I will go fast and drift some corners. Jeep hated it. Suspension would be bouncing and chattering along fighting you the whole time. Bronco, 2WD, Traction control off- MUCHO FUN. A pleasure to drive and it will love road trips unlike the Jeep. Did 4 hours to LA in my Jeep once. Never again.
Interior- Very roomy compared to a Jeep. Materials are on par for the category. Good placement of controls. The A pillar is huge and with the body mounted mirrors visibility looking toward the front tire is a bit limited. Camera's are sweet but I mostly ran rigs with out cams. The front fender sites really help. That being the inside edge of the front tire doesn't seem right but it is spot on and helps with wheel placement. Seats were comfortable doing 10 hours off road so should be fine for long drives too. One thing I hated. The dash board. This guy need to be fired. 1985 Chevy Lumina called and they want there dash back! Someone thought this looked good and was functional? Dam! So you have huge analog speedo taking up a 1/3 of the dash with digital speedo right next to the analog one. Why do I need two. Digital is just fine. The tach is a tiny bar graph and also a digital tach. Shows you the number of RPM's. Both too small and useless while off roading. 80's graphic sucks. I looked at 1/2 the screen warning me my tires were low all day. It a 4x4 morons and we air down the tires to wheel! Hopefully there is a way to change the screens and view but I didn't go that deep. We ran hard between the technical sections so no time to play. My advice to Ford. Lose the Analog Speedo the digital is fine. Just saved you money! Make the whole screen programable so I can set it anyway I want and pick my gauge placement. An update the look and graphics- dam. See Audi!
Goat Modes-Transfer Case- Goat modes seems kind of gimmicky to me. Didn't do a whole lot if you ask me. Also the procedure using them is very picky. Go to fast-start over it didn't switch to 4wd H. ECO makes no difference. I tried Baja and Sand goat modes. Basically it sets your lockers and changes the throttle tip in and shifting patterns of the rig. I didn't like Baja mode at all. 4wd H and rear locker. But it keeps you wound out in the lower gears at redline. I found it was easiest and faster to just keep goat mode in normal and pick 2wd, 4wdH or4wdL as required and pick what lockers I want at the obstacle. For fast running I like Normal 2 wd and Traction Control off. Fun drifting and sliding.
Trail Turn Assist- Fantastic tool. Even better for the longer 4 doors. We had pulled in a tight area to view an arch. I would have done a 5 point turn to spin the rig. No need. TTA and she spun right around in area about 2 rigs wide. Very impressive. Also on the trail the rig in front of me was close to a big rock that could cut a tire or scrape a rim. He used TTA to just pivot around the rock. Very slick.
Trail Control- Basically cruise control for the trail. Move in 1/2 mile per hour segments. Technical sections you can set it and forget and let it crawl through. If it is to steep and you pick 2 MPH it might not have enough momentum to make 3 to 4 MPH seemed to be the sweet spot. It also works in reverse. We did the section down hill deep sand woops where you keep lifting tires as you descend. I went up in reverse just as smooth as can be once I got a straight backing line. Odd you have it climbing backwards and you are just steering. Hit brakes and you will stop and disengage. Hit the gas and it will accelerate as normal but still be engaged until you hit the brake to turn it off.
One Pedal Drive- Great for very tight technical areas. You push the gas to move forward and when you lift off it hits the brakes and holds you there. No sliding back or two foot driving required. Cool option that has practical applications.
Hope you enjoyed the review. Ask questions if you got them. As you can tell I really like the new Bronco. Was very impressed and can't wait for mine to get scheduled. I have Bronco fever.
Tops- Hard top or soft top-2 door or 4 door the sound and wind noise is about the same. A little but not bad. Maybe a little louder than my Rubi hard top. Soft top is the quietist. 2 door was squeaking and rattling. Annoyingly so and the dealer should have fixed it before putting it on the lot. Front near the windscreen. The 4 door WT wheeling you would hear the panels flexing as the rig did its thing. Kind of a popping fiberglass kind of sound same as a hard top Jeep. Was not annoying and expected in such terrain.
Ground Clearance-Tire PKG- Tires and SAS makes a huge difference offroad on a 4/5 rated trail. Looking at many rigs they have been using for more than 2 months with many newbies that are still in great shape. If you look close anything on 33's had marks under the rig and on the bash plates were they scraped and rubbed. SAS rigs were clean with no marks or rubs. Mine never touched a hard part all day and I was taking the hardest lines I could. 33's got stuck in the mud pit and required recovery. In the Bronco's defense it was it was not enough speed. 37's would have not made it either at that entry speed.
2.7 Motor- Pulls hard on the street. Way more power than a Jeep. Plenty of motor. Not the best sounding like a V-8 but with the right exhaust it will be fine. I liked it quite and stock. Offroad it never needed more power. Trans and programming wants the motor to stay in lower gears while wheeling and spooled up where the power is. Different Goat modes do change how the power is delivered and the shift points. Learning what works best will take some time.
10 Speed Auto- Lots of gears and lots of shifting going on. Trans works hard to keep motor spooled up and in the power. Very smooth shifting. In my Rubi 4wd L I would use the slap shifter to pick the gear and control the speed. In the Bronco you have a shift button and its pretty lame and useless. I tried to put in M and shift it manually for a bit and the rig hated it. You end up in to tall a gear way to often and you have to shift it way to often to keep it the sweet spot. Quote from Scott our Moab guide "We stick it in D and leave it there"- smoothest and easiest without a doubt.
Steering- Both on and off road it offered good feedback and response. No wondering or pulling and very smooth off road with no noise even full lock and loaded.
Ride- Everything I drove was SAS pkg. This is what makes the rig- the ride. Its ride nice and very comfortable. Night and day from a Wrangler with 35's-which you need to build and voids your warranty. 35's out of the factory! Amazing. On highway at any speed it is very smooth and soaks up the bumps. No fighting the wheel or pulling. I was running 80 and it was very comfortable and smooth and had more if you wanted it. Wrangler max speed was 80 and you didn't want to stay there long. Off road it is also super smooth. I am in love and have Bronco fever bad as a result. Wife loved how smooth it is. "I am not getting beat up" We ran into a guy on the trail who did the Bronco off roadeo a couple days earlier. He was running a rented 4 door Rubi with 35's. "I wish I was in Bronco. This Jeep is beating the crap out of me just getting to here". We were at the gate entering the good area, lol. This is the huge win for the Bronco. My Jeep was good at crawling and thats it. Sucked even on gravel roads. Oh I will go fast and drift some corners. Jeep hated it. Suspension would be bouncing and chattering along fighting you the whole time. Bronco, 2WD, Traction control off- MUCHO FUN. A pleasure to drive and it will love road trips unlike the Jeep. Did 4 hours to LA in my Jeep once. Never again.
Interior- Very roomy compared to a Jeep. Materials are on par for the category. Good placement of controls. The A pillar is huge and with the body mounted mirrors visibility looking toward the front tire is a bit limited. Camera's are sweet but I mostly ran rigs with out cams. The front fender sites really help. That being the inside edge of the front tire doesn't seem right but it is spot on and helps with wheel placement. Seats were comfortable doing 10 hours off road so should be fine for long drives too. One thing I hated. The dash board. This guy need to be fired. 1985 Chevy Lumina called and they want there dash back! Someone thought this looked good and was functional? Dam! So you have huge analog speedo taking up a 1/3 of the dash with digital speedo right next to the analog one. Why do I need two. Digital is just fine. The tach is a tiny bar graph and also a digital tach. Shows you the number of RPM's. Both too small and useless while off roading. 80's graphic sucks. I looked at 1/2 the screen warning me my tires were low all day. It a 4x4 morons and we air down the tires to wheel! Hopefully there is a way to change the screens and view but I didn't go that deep. We ran hard between the technical sections so no time to play. My advice to Ford. Lose the Analog Speedo the digital is fine. Just saved you money! Make the whole screen programable so I can set it anyway I want and pick my gauge placement. An update the look and graphics- dam. See Audi!
Goat Modes-Transfer Case- Goat modes seems kind of gimmicky to me. Didn't do a whole lot if you ask me. Also the procedure using them is very picky. Go to fast-start over it didn't switch to 4wd H. ECO makes no difference. I tried Baja and Sand goat modes. Basically it sets your lockers and changes the throttle tip in and shifting patterns of the rig. I didn't like Baja mode at all. 4wd H and rear locker. But it keeps you wound out in the lower gears at redline. I found it was easiest and faster to just keep goat mode in normal and pick 2wd, 4wdH or4wdL as required and pick what lockers I want at the obstacle. For fast running I like Normal 2 wd and Traction Control off. Fun drifting and sliding.
Trail Turn Assist- Fantastic tool. Even better for the longer 4 doors. We had pulled in a tight area to view an arch. I would have done a 5 point turn to spin the rig. No need. TTA and she spun right around in area about 2 rigs wide. Very impressive. Also on the trail the rig in front of me was close to a big rock that could cut a tire or scrape a rim. He used TTA to just pivot around the rock. Very slick.
Trail Control- Basically cruise control for the trail. Move in 1/2 mile per hour segments. Technical sections you can set it and forget and let it crawl through. If it is to steep and you pick 2 MPH it might not have enough momentum to make 3 to 4 MPH seemed to be the sweet spot. It also works in reverse. We did the section down hill deep sand woops where you keep lifting tires as you descend. I went up in reverse just as smooth as can be once I got a straight backing line. Odd you have it climbing backwards and you are just steering. Hit brakes and you will stop and disengage. Hit the gas and it will accelerate as normal but still be engaged until you hit the brake to turn it off.
One Pedal Drive- Great for very tight technical areas. You push the gas to move forward and when you lift off it hits the brakes and holds you there. No sliding back or two foot driving required. Cool option that has practical applications.
Hope you enjoyed the review. Ask questions if you got them. As you can tell I really like the new Bronco. Was very impressed and can't wait for mine to get scheduled. I have Bronco fever.
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