- Thread starter
- #1
I bought my '23 Black Diamond a week ago. Thought I'd share my thoughts as a new Bronco owner.
I picked it up on a Monday night so the next Tuesday was the first chance I had to feel it out. Fortunately, I had a job about an hour north of Denver so there was plenty of flat, straight highway time to play around. The next few days were in town, stop and go driving, then I had a job at the end of the week south of Nederland- mountain driving. So I have put about 500 miles on the truck and wanted to get my thoughts out there. My previous truck is a Toyota FJ with a manual tranny so I will be making a lot of comparisons between the two.
Engine- Very impressed. For a four banger, it has very good power- sometimes. The little engine has a very narrow power band. It reminds me of a two stroke 125 dirt bike. If you can keep it on the pipe, it hauls ass, but left it drop off, it falls on its face. No power to speak of under 2500 rpm, then comes on strong once the turbo gets spooled up. It signs off early as well, no point in revving it higher than 5k. Keep it in itās sweet spot and itās a hoot to drive. Stop light drag races are going to get me in trouble. Mileage so far is great but I have done a lot of highway. It will cruise comfortably all day long at 80-85 mph. My first take average (according to the computer) was 21.9 mpg. The FJ would get 17 if I drove it sanely (which I never did). No four cylinder sounds good to someone that grew up working on V8 muscle cars, but at least itās quiet. The FJ has an intake and exhaust on it, so despite being a six cylinder, it makes some good noises when pushed.
Transmission- āThis thing is a box of rocksā was my first thought as I started it up and let out the clutch for the test drive. I was a mechanic for many years and know how to troubleshoot noises. I drove circles in a church parking lot for 10 minutes, trying to figure out the sound. I later did my homework on the noise but it almost made me keep looking. Beyond the noise, it is a pretty nice gear box. The FJ is a 6 speed versus the Broncoās 7. However, I donāt look at it like that. The Toyota has a 5 speed with an overdrive. The Ford has a 4 speed with a granny low and two overdrives. The bronco has a slightly wide range and one less gear (1st is 4:71 ford vs. 4.17 FJ, 1:1 is 4th Ford, 5th Toy). The FJās 4 liter V-6 has a much wider range of useable power so it is much easier to skip gears, plus the gap between gears is narrower than the Ford. The FJ will pull a higher gear at a lower RPM than the Bronco, so there is less shifting necessary. The Bronco, with its narrow power band likes to use all the gears, but is more comfortable at higher revs and will hold a gear longer, so itās similar, just different.
I added a short throw shifter in the FJ and will get one for the Ford as soon as they fix it. I scheduled the TSB repair as soon as I got the truck, hoping to get it fixed within the warranty period. It goes under the knife on Monday.
Suspension and Handling- Better than I expected for such a heavy truck. On I-25 going north and south, I was buffeted by crosswinds but never blown around. On the twisty canyons snaking up and downtime front range, it felt planted and secure. The stock, worn General Grabbers are soft sided junk. Pumping them up to 40 helped eliminate some of the wallowing but not a lot. They will be replaced by some BFGs with properly stiff sidewalls to eliminate the current marshmallows. Probably gonna go with 285/75s on some aluminum wheels. I hate black rims. Need to sell the FJ first- them things aināt cheap.
Interior- This is an odd one for me. I like the interior generally. A lot of plastic, but unless you are spending $100k plus, thatās about all youāll get. The info screen is okay. The UI and customization is on par with a 2001 Samsung tablet. It works but itās not modern. It took me an hour to figure out how to turn off the radio with the screen. Ford Sync needs updating and Apple Car Play is garbage. Trying to run maps and the radio at the same time has proved impossible. Getting from CarPlay/Google maps to the Sirius screen requires three separate button presses. That is way too many and both could be considerably improved. The instrument cluster stinks. Give me an analog speedo and tach, along with other gauges- oil pressure, fuel level, engine temp. Keep all the other crap on the big screen.
Interior noise isnāt bad. I used to drive a ā66 CJ-5 (with a 225 V-6 and a blown-out glass pack. That thing sounded great!), so the Bronco is like a Rolls Royce in comparison. The worn out tires are louder than the wind noise from the top. I can live with it. I canāt live with the sound the stock stereo makes. Already ordered new speakers. I am by no means an audiophile but I have heard ā70s era clock radios with better sound than the trash Ford put in this vehicle. The seat is strange. For all the adjustments possible, I still am struggling to find THE position. Pretty sure the truck was previously owned by a fat guy, judging by the collapsed seat foam and the smell when the truck gets warm. I bought some apple cinnamon little trees that have helped the odor and my bony ass is making new seat dents every day. I am sure it will be a matter of time before I find Goldilocks.
Storage sucks. The center console is small and too far back. The door pockets are useless. Cup holders are small as well. Folding the rear seat down, I can carry a 4 foot ladder easily with room on all sides so it is quiet and doesnāt move around.
Exterior- The chili pepper metallic whatever stupid name looks amazing in the sunlight. It is red. Red is faster.
So overall, I am glad I pulled the trigger. The tranny will get sorted out, new tires are coming. My speakers will be here Friday. I bought a ProClip phone mount that solved the map/radio issue- I run Google maps on the phone, leave the radio and other stuff on the big screen. It will never have V-8 torque but spinning up the turbo and rowing through the gears is a blast- the most endearing feature by far.
I picked it up on a Monday night so the next Tuesday was the first chance I had to feel it out. Fortunately, I had a job about an hour north of Denver so there was plenty of flat, straight highway time to play around. The next few days were in town, stop and go driving, then I had a job at the end of the week south of Nederland- mountain driving. So I have put about 500 miles on the truck and wanted to get my thoughts out there. My previous truck is a Toyota FJ with a manual tranny so I will be making a lot of comparisons between the two.
Engine- Very impressed. For a four banger, it has very good power- sometimes. The little engine has a very narrow power band. It reminds me of a two stroke 125 dirt bike. If you can keep it on the pipe, it hauls ass, but left it drop off, it falls on its face. No power to speak of under 2500 rpm, then comes on strong once the turbo gets spooled up. It signs off early as well, no point in revving it higher than 5k. Keep it in itās sweet spot and itās a hoot to drive. Stop light drag races are going to get me in trouble. Mileage so far is great but I have done a lot of highway. It will cruise comfortably all day long at 80-85 mph. My first take average (according to the computer) was 21.9 mpg. The FJ would get 17 if I drove it sanely (which I never did). No four cylinder sounds good to someone that grew up working on V8 muscle cars, but at least itās quiet. The FJ has an intake and exhaust on it, so despite being a six cylinder, it makes some good noises when pushed.
Transmission- āThis thing is a box of rocksā was my first thought as I started it up and let out the clutch for the test drive. I was a mechanic for many years and know how to troubleshoot noises. I drove circles in a church parking lot for 10 minutes, trying to figure out the sound. I later did my homework on the noise but it almost made me keep looking. Beyond the noise, it is a pretty nice gear box. The FJ is a 6 speed versus the Broncoās 7. However, I donāt look at it like that. The Toyota has a 5 speed with an overdrive. The Ford has a 4 speed with a granny low and two overdrives. The bronco has a slightly wide range and one less gear (1st is 4:71 ford vs. 4.17 FJ, 1:1 is 4th Ford, 5th Toy). The FJās 4 liter V-6 has a much wider range of useable power so it is much easier to skip gears, plus the gap between gears is narrower than the Ford. The FJ will pull a higher gear at a lower RPM than the Bronco, so there is less shifting necessary. The Bronco, with its narrow power band likes to use all the gears, but is more comfortable at higher revs and will hold a gear longer, so itās similar, just different.
I added a short throw shifter in the FJ and will get one for the Ford as soon as they fix it. I scheduled the TSB repair as soon as I got the truck, hoping to get it fixed within the warranty period. It goes under the knife on Monday.
Suspension and Handling- Better than I expected for such a heavy truck. On I-25 going north and south, I was buffeted by crosswinds but never blown around. On the twisty canyons snaking up and downtime front range, it felt planted and secure. The stock, worn General Grabbers are soft sided junk. Pumping them up to 40 helped eliminate some of the wallowing but not a lot. They will be replaced by some BFGs with properly stiff sidewalls to eliminate the current marshmallows. Probably gonna go with 285/75s on some aluminum wheels. I hate black rims. Need to sell the FJ first- them things aināt cheap.
Interior- This is an odd one for me. I like the interior generally. A lot of plastic, but unless you are spending $100k plus, thatās about all youāll get. The info screen is okay. The UI and customization is on par with a 2001 Samsung tablet. It works but itās not modern. It took me an hour to figure out how to turn off the radio with the screen. Ford Sync needs updating and Apple Car Play is garbage. Trying to run maps and the radio at the same time has proved impossible. Getting from CarPlay/Google maps to the Sirius screen requires three separate button presses. That is way too many and both could be considerably improved. The instrument cluster stinks. Give me an analog speedo and tach, along with other gauges- oil pressure, fuel level, engine temp. Keep all the other crap on the big screen.
Interior noise isnāt bad. I used to drive a ā66 CJ-5 (with a 225 V-6 and a blown-out glass pack. That thing sounded great!), so the Bronco is like a Rolls Royce in comparison. The worn out tires are louder than the wind noise from the top. I can live with it. I canāt live with the sound the stock stereo makes. Already ordered new speakers. I am by no means an audiophile but I have heard ā70s era clock radios with better sound than the trash Ford put in this vehicle. The seat is strange. For all the adjustments possible, I still am struggling to find THE position. Pretty sure the truck was previously owned by a fat guy, judging by the collapsed seat foam and the smell when the truck gets warm. I bought some apple cinnamon little trees that have helped the odor and my bony ass is making new seat dents every day. I am sure it will be a matter of time before I find Goldilocks.
Storage sucks. The center console is small and too far back. The door pockets are useless. Cup holders are small as well. Folding the rear seat down, I can carry a 4 foot ladder easily with room on all sides so it is quiet and doesnāt move around.
Exterior- The chili pepper metallic whatever stupid name looks amazing in the sunlight. It is red. Red is faster.
So overall, I am glad I pulled the trigger. The tranny will get sorted out, new tires are coming. My speakers will be here Friday. I bought a ProClip phone mount that solved the map/radio issue- I run Google maps on the phone, leave the radio and other stuff on the big screen. It will never have V-8 torque but spinning up the turbo and rowing through the gears is a blast- the most endearing feature by far.
Sponsored
