2 Door Base First Impressions and Ride Along With 360-degree Camera

[BudgetBronco]

You can always just play music from your phone also, and use maps from your phone also, kind of defeating the purpose of the built-in navigation and Sirius xm. Did you try setting up the Ford hot spot, curious if it's even worth the cost, especially since it is att exclusive as far as I know

Pretty sure the Base does not have nav, so I agree Android Auto works just as well if not better

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[BudgetBronco]

That's the first 360 video I've watched, really cool! My only gripe would be the Sparty hat (go blue lol).

HAHA well at least we can agree on the Bronco

 

[MrMollusk]

Great video and a great ride! Congrats on both. Kinda feels like you are cruising right along with you guys.

 

[P52Ranch]

Thanks for posting. My first time viewing a 360 video. Very cool. I would like to see an outside pic of it with your 33" tires too.

I don't know if others had the same issue in full screen mode (using a laptop), your subscribe banner covers the up arrow. I could easily navigate down, left, right. Navigating up was a bit of a trick in making sure your banner didn't popup and very carefully clicking just above the center.

 

[ReimundKrohn]

A buddy of mine is really in to fancy 360 and drone cameras and took some cool footage that you can enjoy if you are still waiting for your Bronco to arrive. If watching on a computer use your mouse to drag the image viewpoint around, on a mobile device you can move the phone around in space to look around.



A few thoughts on my Bronco experience, about 3 days and 300 miles so far:

One of the nice things about the Base is that the oddly empty switches for swaybar disconnect, lockers, etc. makes for a perfect place to hold sunglasses, especially if you have AUX switches and lose the built-in holder. You can see this in the first minute of the video linked above.

Very happy with Antimatter Blue. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments when driving around town, but the one I have gotten the most is on the color. I was a little worried about how dark it was, but those fears melted away the first time I saw that blue shimmering in the sun. It truly is beautiful.

Very happy with the Base interior. I might be biased, but I think the total color combination (including lack of wacky third color stitching and vent accents) in the Base is the best looking interior of the Bronco lineup. Seats are also very comfortable.

The only thing that was non-negotiable for me from the very start was the manual transmission and I love it. Shifts great, very fun to drive, and the 2.3L in no way whatsoever feels underpowered. I was super-bummed when we all first found out the manual was not available with the V6, but now I am glad I saved the money since it was not even an option for me. We'll see if this is still the case after I upgrade tires to 33"

Road noise with windows up and hardtop on is very reasonable, and better than I was expecting.

Road comfort and steering is far superior in comparison to my solid front axle ’03 Grand Cherokee Overland.

The floor liners look great, the best $160 option or accessory you can buy IMO by a longshot

I thought I would hate the auto-start, but I don’t. In fact, I haven’t once disabled it while driving around town. With the manual transmission, the engine starts as soon as you touch the clutch, so by the time you have the pedal fully depressed and the stick in gear, the engine is already started and ready to go. It hasn’t bothered me at all.

I had a pretty startling experience when rounding a curve at about 55 mph and a driver pulled out in front of me. I had to hit the brakes pretty hard to avoid them and was surprised at how much the front end dove down and to the outside of the curve. I was able to quickly recover but I have never had that ‘diving’ experience in all of my years of driving. I guess that comes along with the suspension that just eats up potholes and such. My suggestion to new owners is to test this in a safe environment so you can see what it feels like and be comfortable with it, before you need to do it for real as I did.

Disappointments and dislikes so far:

The lack of an integral garage door opener. I haven’t had to keep an opener transmitter in my car for 10+ years, and it feels like a big step backwards.

I don’t love the instrument cluster, especially the speedo gauge on the left. Maybe I haven’t optimized the digital panel setup yet, but with MPH also prominently shown on the digital panel, it is goofy and redundant.

I definitely won’t be renewing the SiriusXM after the trial period, my reception has been horrible

I’ve gotten the SYNC system to pair with my phone using Android Auto, but it randomly disconnects after 5-10 minutes of use. I haven’t spent a lot of time trying to figure this out, hopefully I can fix it.

I’ve already gotten my first ‘check engine’ message. It has come up on both day 2 and day 3 when starting the engine for the first time, a message that reads “Charging System Service Soon”. I’ve noticed that the battery charging gauge is showing 14.6V when driving around town, so the alternator is definitely working. I’m not going to spend any time diagnosing, will take it to the dealer and get it taken care of under warranty (and also so that it gets tracked for the benefit of others in the future)

Let me know if any questions and I will do my best to answer them!

Lastly a shout out to the good people at Jarret Scott Ford in Plant City Florida especially Dell Cook, they were great to work with, highly recommend them if you are in SW Florida.

NICE! With ya 100%, it was manual transmission or nothing. I haven't owned a manual in decades, (well, not exactly true - I bought a Gen1 Rav-4 in mint condition that I owned for all of 2 weeks two years ago, before my son wrapped it around a pole - no injuries until I got my hands on him). Anyway, glad to hear the 2.3L makes all the power you need.... and that the hole where the hero switches would otherwise go can be repurposed!

 

[BudgetBronco]

Thanks for posting. My first time viewing a 360 video. Very cool. I would like to see an outside pic of it with your 33" tires too.

I don't know if others had the same issue in full screen mode (using a laptop), your subscribe banner covers the up arrow. I could easily navigate down, left, right. Navigating up was a bit of a trick in making sure your banner didn't popup and very carefully clicking just above the center.

Thanks for pointing that out, I will let Andy know.
For pictures and details of my 33" upgrade subscribe to my youtube channel 'Budget Bronco' (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLw9w42dWNf-SDw62Th57Q) I had them installed today and will be posting a video in the next few days! I will also post an update here on 6G

 

[SaveTheManuals]

Same, I am babying the RPMs for now, and agree I would not say the Bronco is 'fast' but definitely adequate or better. Sport makes a little bit of difference. For the manual, is the only thing that changes the responsiveness of the gas pedal?

Yeah that what it seems like. RPMs go up quicker and its more responsive to my inputs.

 

[WildWillie]

A buddy of mine is really in to fancy 360 and drone cameras and took some cool footage that you can enjoy if you are still waiting for your Bronco to arrive. If watching on a computer use your mouse to drag the image viewpoint around, on a mobile device you can move the phone around in space to look around.



A few thoughts on my Bronco experience, about 3 days and 300 miles so far:

One of the nice things about the Base is that the oddly empty switches for swaybar disconnect, lockers, etc. makes for a perfect place to hold sunglasses, especially if you have AUX switches and lose the built-in holder. You can see this in the first minute of the video linked above.

Very happy with Antimatter Blue. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments when driving around town, but the one I have gotten the most is on the color. I was a little worried about how dark it was, but those fears melted away the first time I saw that blue shimmering in the sun. It truly is beautiful.

Very happy with the Base interior. I might be biased, but I think the total color combination (including lack of wacky third color stitching and vent accents) in the Base is the best looking interior of the Bronco lineup. Seats are also very comfortable.

The only thing that was non-negotiable for me from the very start was the manual transmission and I love it. Shifts great, very fun to drive, and the 2.3L in no way whatsoever feels underpowered. I was super-bummed when we all first found out the manual was not available with the V6, but now I am glad I saved the money since it was not even an option for me. We'll see if this is still the case after I upgrade tires to 33"

Road noise with windows up and hardtop on is very reasonable, and better than I was expecting.

Road comfort and steering is far superior in comparison to my solid front axle ’03 Grand Cherokee Overland.

The floor liners look great, the best $160 option or accessory you can buy IMO by a longshot

I thought I would hate the auto-start, but I don’t. In fact, I haven’t once disabled it while driving around town. With the manual transmission, the engine starts as soon as you touch the clutch, so by the time you have the pedal fully depressed and the stick in gear, the engine is already started and ready to go. It hasn’t bothered me at all.

I had a pretty startling experience when rounding a curve at about 55 mph and a driver pulled out in front of me. I had to hit the brakes pretty hard to avoid them and was surprised at how much the front end dove down and to the outside of the curve. I was able to quickly recover but I have never had that ‘diving’ experience in all of my years of driving. I guess that comes along with the suspension that just eats up potholes and such. My suggestion to new owners is to test this in a safe environment so you can see what it feels like and be comfortable with it, before you need to do it for real as I did.

Disappointments and dislikes so far:

The lack of an integral garage door opener. I haven’t had to keep an opener transmitter in my car for 10+ years, and it feels like a big step backwards.

I don’t love the instrument cluster, especially the speedo gauge on the left. Maybe I haven’t optimized the digital panel setup yet, but with MPH also prominently shown on the digital panel, it is goofy and redundant.

I definitely won’t be renewing the SiriusXM after the trial period, my reception has been horrible

I’ve gotten the SYNC system to pair with my phone using Android Auto, but it randomly disconnects after 5-10 minutes of use. I haven’t spent a lot of time trying to figure this out, hopefully I can fix it.

I’ve already gotten my first ‘check engine’ message. It has come up on both day 2 and day 3 when starting the engine for the first time, a message that reads “Charging System Service Soon”. I’ve noticed that the battery charging gauge is showing 14.6V when driving around town, so the alternator is definitely working. I’m not going to spend any time diagnosing, will take it to the dealer and get it taken care of under warranty (and also so that it gets tracked for the benefit of others in the future)

Let me know if any questions and I will do my best to answer them!

Lastly a shout out to the good people at Jarret Scott Ford in Plant City Florida especially Dell Cook, they were great to work with, highly recommend them if you are in SW Florida.

I have wanted to share my experience with my base 2-door, but I'm not a big fan of doing video. This thick Mississippi accent is hard for me to listen to, and I have to hear it every time I talk...I promise I'm doing you a favor. We share a lot of opinions, but we also have some that differ. Hope you don't mind me piggy-backing off you and sharing some of my insights while possibly adding a little more.

I'm just over a week in and about 350 miles of fun so far. It is a very short drive for me to get to work and I haven't really made many trips in yet.

Sunglasses holder on dash is awesome, but I didn't spring for the switches. The build in holder is working fine as place to hide the $ingles where my wife and kids won't notice...at least so far.

Originally chose AMB, but changed to velocity. AMB seemed to deep, possibly purplish in some early photos...plus velocity reminds of a slightly deeper, shinier version of Ford tractor blue. I can take the top/doors off and ride through the field with A/C blowing and music...can't do that on most old Ford tractors. Plain interior and dark seat and carpets are a big + for me. Did I mention kids earlier?

I love the 2.7/auto. I come from a family of motor heads. I love the peppiness when cruising and the torquey-ness when you put the pedal down so that I can get around or away from whatever is around. 1st day test of rolling start and a jab resulted in 17lbs of boost and a small tire chirp followed an absolute launch. Only open highway experience so far, 5.0 F150 ran up out of no where and hugged my bumper. Once I could tell their were no Patrols on the long stretch, I opened it up. 60-100 went by quickly, then I remembered it isn't a race car and slowed nicely to make my exit smoothly from highway. Also 2 turbos > 1 in my opinion.

Road noise w/ and w/o top and doors seems well managed. Prime Country and talk radio isn't most demanding of sounds.

Handling and mobility are awesome. I'm accustomed to the super crew F150 size. I feel like I can turn figure 8s in places I'm used to making 3 point turns.

Auto start/stop = big thumbs down for me. 95 degrees with 95% humidity call for constant max a/c. That auto stop time can lead to quick perspiration if you have the top/tops off. I've had no issue in the function, it just shouldn't be a function here in Mississippi and her soup filled air.

Kicked the Mrs. out of the garage....wasn't fun locating my old clicker. I do wish their was at least 1 button. Instrument cluster/panel...my jury is still out. I'm well acquainted with all the older analog gauges, digital will be an acquired taste. Sirius/XM reception is terrible also. Lot's of trees overhang the roads, cuts signal if the slightest obstruction appears. Ill keep my subscription in the wife's car and go to using my phone app when trial expires. Ive had no issue with Apple connection, and have actually grown slightly fond of Siri dialing the 3 numbers I call.

I have had the Hill Start assist system warning pop up a couple times. First one was when I removed doors/top. Yesterday it popped up also side tire pressure monitor system. Staple in the tire caused a drop in pressure, but it stabilized and was able to make it home. Put the spare on, which has all the sensors and is exactly like the 4 on the ground, so it was easy to hit the tire shop for a patch without having to rotate the spare back to its spot.

I do wish I had added the receiver hitch when I placed order. Now I've got to wait until one comes in, along with the wiring harness before I can even move my trailer around. I wish the door storage bags came standard. It's tough to find a place where to 50+ pound paint coated gates can be safely kept without fear of scratching. Bags for the 2 pieces of mod top are nice, but I would survive a scratch on them much better than on the bright shiny blue doors.

Can't wait until my steelies get the black powder coating and a slightly taller, more aggressive set of treads to complete the look.

Overall, I absolutely love it. It's basic modern features that strike memories of vintage broncos. I do wish it were slightly bigger since I'm a second gen guy, but Ford created a vehicle to compete (IMO as former Wrangler owner beat) with Jeep while paying homage to its roots.

 

[WildWillie]

Yeah that what it seems like. RPMs go up quicker and its more responsive to my inputs.

Love the ride. I've actually been to the tire shop today browsing the taller/aggressive tire choices and I'm currently making plans to take my steelies to get black powder-coated. Those are going to be the final upgrades/changes for now on my velocity blue 2 door. I shot a copy of you picture to my wife and it won her approval. I have already gotten side windows and back tinted, so I'm eagerly awaiting the black wheels. Its gonna be 100% blue/black (and I guess MIC grey too) when completed. Will upload a shot of your broncos base twin with blacked windows. Would you mind sharing what tires/sizes you have on yours?

Edit: scratch the tire and size question...found your thread with details

 

[SaveTheManuals]

Love the ride. I've actually been to the tire shop today browsing the taller/aggressive tire choices and I'm currently making plans to take my steelies to get black powder-coated. Those are going to be the final upgrades/changes for now on my velocity blue 2 door. I shot a copy of you picture to my wife and it won her approval. I have already gotten side windows and back tinted, so I'm eagerly awaiting the black wheels. Its gonna be 100% blue/black (and I guess MIC grey too) when completed. Will upload a shot of your broncos base twin with blacked windows. Would you mind sharing what tires/sizes you have on yours?

Edit: scratch the tire and size question...found your thread with details

The tint looks so good on yours! The black Steelies will complete the look.

 

[WildWillie]

Im hoping that this new formula they are using to make the "good" tops to replace the "bad" one comes out a little closer to black. Taking it tomorrow to break down wheels/tires so I can get them over to the shop. I'm hoping by early next week having the finishing touches to the look. My wife loved the look of your combo, so I salute you for helping me bring her over to the dark side!

Edit to say: Will come back here with update picture when its done. Also this picture really makes me consider the leveling kit, but I just keep reminding myself that its parked on a downward slope in the driveway.

 

[Kenamu]

I’ve already gotten my first ‘check engine’ message. It has come up on both day 2 and day 3 when starting the engine for the first time, a message that reads “Charging System Service Soon”. I’ve noticed that the battery charging gauge is showing 14.6V when driving around town, so the alternator is definitely working. I’m not going to spend any time diagnosing, will take it to the dealer and get it taken care of under warranty (and also so that it gets tracked for the benefit of others in the future)


Hey - QQ - Any update on the 'Charging System Service Soon' issue? I have been getting that warning pretty regularly on my 4 dr. 2.7l - dealer can't find the issue. Battery seems fine and alternator charging it.

Thanks for any update on that issue

 

[BudgetBronco]

I’ve already gotten my first ‘check engine’ message. It has come up on both day 2 and day 3 when starting the engine for the first time, a message that reads “Charging System Service Soon”. I’ve noticed that the battery charging gauge is showing 14.6V when driving around town, so the alternator is definitely working. I’m not going to spend any time diagnosing, will take it to the dealer and get it taken care of under warranty (and also so that it gets tracked for the benefit of others in the future)

Hey - QQ - Any update on the 'Charging System Service Soon' issue? I have been getting that warning pretty regularly on my 4 dr. 2.7l - dealer can't find the issue. Battery seems fine and alternator charging it.

Thanks for any update on that issue

Sure thing...the dealer found the problem and fixed it and I have not had the warning message since. Here is exactly what they wrote on the repair form, share it with your dealer and maybe it will help them:

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

Cool in 360, could almost feel the wind in my hair!

 

[BroncocnorB]

I am thinking of canning my BL order and going with base SAS

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