2.3 Shaping up to be the better Engine?

[BroncocnorB]

My 2dr BL non SAS with 2.7 is due to roll off line on Tuesday next week. I’m happy with my engine choice.

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[NoleDawg]

2.3 in my 2019 Ranger. Tows a trailer just fine through the N. Georgia/NC/TN mountains and gets up and goes really well. I did a 24hr rental of a 2.7 4DR BL non-sas in the smokies on vacation a few months ago. I didn’t notice anything significant between the two as far as performance but my 2.3 is a lot noisier when you get on it, my understanding is there is some extra noise by design with the Ranger. I’ve read you can turn off the noise with Forscan but I don’t mess with all that.

I ordered a 2.7 mainly b/c I’ve noticed most folks on this forum strongly dislike the 2.3 and I didn’t want to deal with that in resale by closing off a whole segment of buyers. I’m considering switching to the 2.3 just to get it earlier at this point though.

 

[Southern Girl]

I don't understand people coming on a forum and thinking that the 14 people who have their vehicle represent the general population of vehicles. Now do F150s with 2.7 engines. Get the small engine if you want it. I am doing fine with my 2.7, so there's some anecdotal evidence for you.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I have only read the first page or two ... here's my 2 cents.

My choice of a manual pushed me into the 2.3L.
No previous experience with either motor.

I'm about 3800 miles in so far, it pushes my manual baseBase just fine. If you get deep into the boost, this 4.46 geared, 30" tire, rig will down right scoot. In the taller gears, it maybe a bit doggish down low, it loves to be above 2k rpm.

First seems plenty low to jump up to 33's or 35's. Dusty @Icon confirmed this with his self-Squatched baseBase 2.3L. , now on 35x12.5's.
Check out his videos, he is thrilled with the manual 2.3 and the baseBase.

All the hype about the power of the 2.7 over the 2.3, I was surprised by the results when TFL raced them. Not as huge of a difference as I expected.

Then one of the race Bronco drivers (Vaughn maybe? - I forget exactly) made a comment in one of the videos that he couldn't really tell the difference and how there is a strong argument for the 4 banger due to the lighter weight.

Either way, it works for me, I can't wait to put it on 33's or 35's.

 

[gcrew95]

Go big or go home. Don’t end up with buyers remorse wishing you got the bigger one!

 

[Aldoski]

Just curious what people think about both the 2.3 and the 2.7 since the Broncos release out into the wild.

I have no first hand experience with driving either engine in the Bronco but I did own the 2.3 in my Ecoboost Mustang. In short it was great in the Mustang.

So I ask this for a couple of reasons. It's seems in a lot of You tube reviews both the 2.3 and the 2.7 get similar 0 to 60 times when testing acceleration. Of course the 2.7 is a little faster but not by much. The reason being even though the 2.7 is more powerful it also weights more which negates the power advantage and makes the front end heavier. So it makes sense.

Another reason I ask is because for some still waiting for their Broncos order to be filled it seems the 2.7 is a major constraint and is the hold up. Switch to the 2.3 and boom your order will be filled faster and your Bronco will get built.

The biggest and most important reason I ask this is because of the recent issues with the 2.7s dieing. I don't know if this is because of the pandemic and Ford had to switch to a different 3rd party supplier for critical parts or what but it seems it's definitely a thing. Plenty of people on this very forum had their 2.7 engines fail. Reliability is pretty dam important when it comes to your engine.

I should note that my Bronco reservation and order is for the 2.7 as of now so I'm not cheerleadering the 2.3 or biased.

So with all this in mind is the 2.3 shaping up to be the better choice for the Bronco?

Had it in my 2017 explorer and I was not impressed at all, maybe it’s been improved this year

 

[2.3BigBend]

Mike just confirmed this on Twitter yesterday and recommended the 2.3

I believe this guy as much as I believe my dealer or The Bronco Hotline. As for the engines, I have owned both (F-150 then Ranger). They are both pretty awesome. I love the 2.7, but did not feel it was a $2k upgrade. Plus I wanted the manual. I don't know why, but the 2.7 in the F-150 tested better 0-60 with the 6 speed over the 10 speed. I don't know if it was a detune to make the 5.0 the "upgrade" they were charging, but in 2015, the 2.7 tested faster than even the 3.5 on occasion. Not that 0-60 is a driving factor for an off road suv (for me) just saying...

 

[Mr. Nice]

Just curious what people think about both the 2.3 and the 2.7 since the Broncos release out into the wild.

I have no first hand experience with driving either engine in the Bronco but I did own the 2.3 in my Ecoboost Mustang. In short it was great in the Mustang.

So I ask this for a couple of reasons. It's seems in a lot of You tube reviews both the 2.3 and the 2.7 get similar 0 to 60 times when testing acceleration. Of course the 2.7 is a little faster but not by much. The reason being even though the 2.7 is more powerful it also weights more which negates the power advantage and makes the front end heavier. So it makes sense.

Another reason I ask is because for some still waiting for their Broncos order to be filled it seems the 2.7 is a major constraint and is the hold up. Switch to the 2.3 and boom your order will be filled faster and your Bronco will get built.

The biggest and most important reason I ask this is because of the recent issues with the 2.7s dieing. I don't know if this is because of the pandemic and Ford had to switch to a different 3rd party supplier for critical parts or what but it seems it's definitely a thing. Plenty of people on this very forum had their 2.7 engines fail. Reliability is pretty dam important when it comes to your engine.

I should note that my Bronco reservation and order is for the 2.7 as of now so I'm not cheerleadering the 2.3 or biased.

So with all this in mind is the 2.3 shaping up to be the better choice for the Bronco?

Here is what I read and it confirms that the 2.3 in not the engine of choice...


Although the four-pot emits a less-than-invigorating thrum and is easier to catch off boost, particularly with the manual, it only gives up 30 horses to the V-6.


CAR and DRIVER





Both engines provide adequate response and low-end torque once geared down in four-low, but the 2.3-liter needs time for the turbo to wind up in daily driving.


HAGERTY





The rest of the transmission's gearing is excessively tall, and we had to change gears later than we normally would lest low revs magnify whatever turbo lag the 2.3-liter engine exhibits. As we charged up the steep inclines that give Texas Hill Country its name, we found we often had to downshift to fifth or fourth to maintain our mile-a-minute pace.


MOTORTREND





The clutch is somewhat vague, which combined with the 2.3's less-predictable throttle tuning made for a rather disappointing experience.


motor1





The 2.3-liter turbo-four seems to have enough grunt on paper, but it felt a bit sluggish in spots, especially when climbing a grade. I found myself downshifting more than I expected to, and it wasn’t until I hit some open highway late in the drive that I found myself using fifth and sixth gears. I wonder how the four-cylinder can handle the extra weight of the four-door – and how it works in concert with the 10-speed, regardless of door count.


The Truth About Cars





The 2.3-liter turbocharged engine definitely needs boost to have any amount of low-end torque. Starting off in first gear, I found myself lugging the engine a bit as the motor began building boost, taking a moment to accelerate out of the hole.


jalopnik





I went with the Bronco my id would want: a loaded, red, two-door Badlands trim model with a seven-speed manual transmission (only available with the smaller but still capable 2.3-liter inline-four engine). It was not the ideal choice for Austin, which was much hillier than I anticipated


GEAR PATROL

 

[Mr. Nice]

I know it has more torque. But if it weights a lot more then the 2.3 and the real world performance is similar does it matter that it has more torque on paper?

90 ft lbs of torque difference is huge...

 

[RagnarKon]

Given the current circumstances I think the 2.3L is a better option. The 2.7L is a constrained item and will slow your Bronco build, and the 2.3L will be fine for the vast majority of owners. I know people generally go with the "bigger is better" motto, but keep in mind the 2.3L has more horsepower and torque than the V8 302 that was in the Broncos back in the 1990s (and earlier).

In terms of the engine quality themselves, I think both are fairly solid. Obviously it seems like Ford has some (probably very minor) QC issue related to the the valves and the 2.7L. But if we look at the big picture, this forum is a full of Bronco enthusiasts, and most of the active members on this forum probably went with the 2.7L engine (as reflected in the order stats), so it makes sense that most of the issues we're seeing at related to the 2.7L. In addition that engine it's the same engine offered in the F-150, and Ford usually sells over 750,000 of those vehicles a year. If there was some widespread 2nd gen 2.7L engine issue, we likely would have heard about it by now, and the valve issues that are being posted certainly would not push me to pick the 2.3L instead of the 2.7L.

Personally, I'm picking the 2.3L, largely due to the manual transmission. Though honestly... if I went with an automatic transmission, I probably still would have picked the 2.3L engine. The 2.3L is a slightly more "traditional" engine design, it's simpler, gets better fuel economy, is lighter, has less plastic composite components, gives you access to more factory options (like roof rack on Badlands)... and perhaps most importantly for me... I'm already familiar with the 2.0L/2.3L family. Granted it is a direct injection motor, so I do have some concerns about the overall lifespan of the engine, but I'm walking into it ahead of time knowing that it is direct injection, and I can take the necessary steps to keep the intake clean.

I certainly wouldn't fault anyone for picking the 2.7L, but yeah... I just think the 2.3L makes more sense overall. Admittedly, most of the people on this forum are enthusiasts, so maybe it doesn't make sense for people on this forum. But it certainly makes more sense for the wider general population.

 

[EXO Bronco]

They may be close on paper stock... but once Ford releases their tunes, the 2.7L may see far more torque/hp gains.

 

[Techun]

I expect I'll enjoy driving my manual 2.3 a lot. It has more horsepower than my 5.4 V8 in my old F-150. I towed a 3 horse trailer with 3 1000 lb mules in it, in the mountains. I think it is 260 horsepower. Been driving it 20 years. Before that we drove a 1995 4runner for about 10 years. It had about 160 HP if I recall. Yes, it was slow over steep western mountain passes. But we never complained, it was a very capable 4WD and adventure/camping vehicle. My daughter drove a 2007 Tacoma for 6 years, including on fast high plains highways in the winter in Wyoming. Yes, it was gutless, and she just upgraded to a Rav4 with 269 HP. She says it has all the power she dreamed of. The Tacoma was a 9.3 sec 0-60.

I just put it in perspective. Until the past 10 years, if you had 250 HP you were doing good. Many old muscle cars and sports cars of my youth had very slow 0-60 times. We all did fine and didn't say a 77 Trans Am was "kind of a dog" or that a 300 HP Bronco was. Because we weren't raised on 300 HP Camrys and 400 HP monster trucks. The young generation drives like a bat outta hell, and the pileups and fatality's on our highways prove it's too much power for most immature drivers. I get passed all the time by F250s or Rams going 90 MPH and passing Corvettes and such. It's idiotic and deadly to be wanting that much speed. Look at all the road rage. Look at all the headlights and evil grills in your rear-view, flying up behind you every day, unless you go 15 MPH OVER the speed limit. Bullying everyone to get out of their damn way. Look at the a&&holes passing me and my family on double-yellow line country roads. All because they "need" over 300 HP and under 6 second 0-60 times. They are a menace to society, and they can smugly say everyone else is a "mall crawler" or "too old" but they're the ones killing people. 20 years ago my commute might have a highway crash once every 6 months. Today, it's daily. Every rush hour, there are roll overs, rage pileups and the like. Because everyone is going 80 MPH and trying to play NASCAR in 5-6 vehicle trains, drafting on each other. One feint by that high school driver and they all wipe out in Daytona fashion, usually with a few fatalities. EVERY WEEK. Slow down. Live with less power.

Our roads have never been safer than they are right now.

 

[Compta38]

As a person that ordered a V6 I want as many others as possible to get the 4 cylinder. Change your orders if you have to.

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