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A bit about me.....I wanted a Jeep from the time I was in high school and fianlly bought my first in my early 30s. Since then I've owned 18 more from CJs, YJs, TJs, JKs, and 2 JLs. I really love driving them, I believe they are one of the most significant historic vehicles from the 20th century and in short I am and was a fan. When the Bronco was first announced and then appeared on the ground I was not impressed. It was too large and it had (gasp!) IFS. And as all good Jeep fans know IFS just isn't strong enough/doesn't articulate enough to be any good on a real 4wd vehicle. I did not even give one a second thought.....
However, after some of the initial hysteria wore off and the dealership pricing came back down to normal markup levels, one of my Jeep buddies and myself went to the local Ford dealership, in my Jeep, and test drove a 2 dr, Sasquatch, auto, with a 2.3. I will say that we were surprised at the comfort and performance, on road, of the Bronco. However, it did have the IFS issue and it just didn't fit what we thought a tough 4wd truck should be. But the seed was sown for me.
I am 6' 8" tall so Jeeps have always been a bit iffy for my to fit into comfortablly. Time has not be good to my body and today I suffer from back, neck, and knee issues to the point about the only thing that I am comfortable in is a full sized pickup. I just can't function in any Jeep like I used to...and I have tried. Kevin, my Jeep buddy, and I were having lunch on day and he stated that at this point in my life, I should put comfort ahead ahead of anything else when selecting a vehicle. The issue was that I was looking for something to use to spend time in the mountains and get out and enjoy the outdoors....no longer looking to bounce off of rocks and trees. Of all people, he said if a Bronco might work I should consider one or buy and older full size pickup. Some good advice and I took it....I bought a 2018 Ram 1500 and I hated it after I bought it.
Long winded story but that's what led to Monday morning 3 weeks ago when I discovered Ford was offering 0% financing on 2026 Broncos. My wife and I jumped into the Ram pickup and drove to Pasco WA and a few hours later returned home in our new 2026, 2 dr, base, Sasquatch, auto, 2.3l Bronco. So what changed and made me decide on a Broco? Comfort was the driving force that pushed me here. The Bronco is for me very comfortable for a Jeep sized vehicle. But it has been an interesting mental journey for me as every time I drive it, I mentally compare it to a Jeep.
So what does this Jeep guy think about a Bronco after 3 weeks of ownership? I believe it was the best choice I could have made at this point in my life. I have spent time on FS roads in the mountain, on trails twice so far, on gravel county roads, and on the highway. And it has performed as good or better than I could have imagined.
Highway driving: The Bronco is clearly superior to the Jeep on the highway. It is smooth, it holds the road with the 35 inch tires as good as most anything I have driven in the last few years. It has none of the dead feeling in the center of steering wheel travel that the new Jeeps have. You do not have to constatly make small corrections to keep it straight as a JL requires. It is better.
Interior comfort: In the JL, I am tall enough the my head becomes roll over protection for the roll bar. That is not good. The only JL that I could drive were soft top ones. I like soft tops, so that was not an issue but being taller than the roll over protection was. Seating position and room are in two different leagues. The JL just is too small for me and couses me pain. Jeep never had a dead pedal, and the one in the Bronco contributes to a much more comfortable driving experience. I can drive this for a couple of hours and be pain free.
Interior fit and finish: I still like the interiors in the Jeeps. I think the interior design looks better and the materials used seem to appeal to me more. But that is personal opinion and is up to each person's own taste.
Sound system: No comparison, the Bronco wins hands down. i have the base system in mine and it is better than any of the more premium factory systems I have had in my Jeeps.
Interior noise: This one is a toss up. This Bronco is noisy and it seems to be as noisy and my JL soft tops were. Jeep did a good job on the JL with the soft tops in the noise department, but the were still noisy. This Bronco seems to be as noisy as they were but that again is my impression.
Drive train: This is where I think the Bronco struggles a bit. When we first came home with the new Bronco, I described the engine and transmission to my Jeep buddy as "remarkably unrefined." My comparisons being the 3.6l and 2.0l in the Jeep with both a manual and an auto. The 3.6l in the Jeep has a long history and is at this point a very refined package with the manual or the 8 speed. The 2.0l turbo has a much shorter history but seems to work well with the 8 speed. I think one of the good decisions Jeep made was to buy the 8 speed from ZF rather than trying to develope one themselves. That 8 speed us used in millions of vehicles arouind the world and is very well sorted. The 2.3l/10 speed in the Bronco is not smooth in 1st and 2nd gear. It has a bit of a rough shift and also hesitates when lightly accellerating in the 2 lower gears. It does not exhibit this when on the throttle hard, nor does it do this in the higher gears..just 1st and 2nd. When in eco mode it does not do this however and that makes me wonder if it might be throttle mapping and the way i am accellerating rather than the truck itself. The other thing I have noticed is that the engine and transmission seem to be learning as we put miles of and this issue is much reduced over brand new now. So we'll see. It's not enought of an issue to even bring up to the dealer so my hope is it corrects itself.
Overall Size: The wheelbase is I think 4" longer than a 2 dr Jeep so that might be an issue for some but for me at this point in my life, it gives me more interior room and a better driving experience, so it's a win. However, every true Jeep owner "knows" that Broncos are wider than Jeeps and will have trouble in the woods or rocks when traversing tight trails. As a Jeep owner I knew that. However as a Bronco owner I did some research and found some interesting information. A base Bronco is about 1.5" wider than a base JL. These numbers are from my memory no they may be off a little..... But it gets really interesting when you compre like to like models such and a Rubicon to a Badlands. Overall width of the JL Rubion vs a Badlands Bronco is very close. The Bronco is .5" wider than the Rubicon. Also, when comparing the Sasquatch to the 35" tire package on the JL, the difference is about .5". So in reality, overall width is very nearyl the same. I think the Jeep looks more narrow because the of the way the body narrows over the front wheels and it has the large plastic fender extensions.
Crap that's a buch of words.... In closing, I think the Bronco might be the perfect vehicle for my wants and needs at this piont in my life. I still believe the IFS is not as robust as a straight axle for hardcore off road stuff, but for 99% of us it works really well. It is clearly superior for highway driving. This Bronco should last me until the inevitable end of my "offroading" adventures and will take me anywhere I care to go.
I apologize in advance for any spelling issues....I'm not going to proofread this!!
However, after some of the initial hysteria wore off and the dealership pricing came back down to normal markup levels, one of my Jeep buddies and myself went to the local Ford dealership, in my Jeep, and test drove a 2 dr, Sasquatch, auto, with a 2.3. I will say that we were surprised at the comfort and performance, on road, of the Bronco. However, it did have the IFS issue and it just didn't fit what we thought a tough 4wd truck should be. But the seed was sown for me.
I am 6' 8" tall so Jeeps have always been a bit iffy for my to fit into comfortablly. Time has not be good to my body and today I suffer from back, neck, and knee issues to the point about the only thing that I am comfortable in is a full sized pickup. I just can't function in any Jeep like I used to...and I have tried. Kevin, my Jeep buddy, and I were having lunch on day and he stated that at this point in my life, I should put comfort ahead ahead of anything else when selecting a vehicle. The issue was that I was looking for something to use to spend time in the mountains and get out and enjoy the outdoors....no longer looking to bounce off of rocks and trees. Of all people, he said if a Bronco might work I should consider one or buy and older full size pickup. Some good advice and I took it....I bought a 2018 Ram 1500 and I hated it after I bought it.
Long winded story but that's what led to Monday morning 3 weeks ago when I discovered Ford was offering 0% financing on 2026 Broncos. My wife and I jumped into the Ram pickup and drove to Pasco WA and a few hours later returned home in our new 2026, 2 dr, base, Sasquatch, auto, 2.3l Bronco. So what changed and made me decide on a Broco? Comfort was the driving force that pushed me here. The Bronco is for me very comfortable for a Jeep sized vehicle. But it has been an interesting mental journey for me as every time I drive it, I mentally compare it to a Jeep.
So what does this Jeep guy think about a Bronco after 3 weeks of ownership? I believe it was the best choice I could have made at this point in my life. I have spent time on FS roads in the mountain, on trails twice so far, on gravel county roads, and on the highway. And it has performed as good or better than I could have imagined.
Highway driving: The Bronco is clearly superior to the Jeep on the highway. It is smooth, it holds the road with the 35 inch tires as good as most anything I have driven in the last few years. It has none of the dead feeling in the center of steering wheel travel that the new Jeeps have. You do not have to constatly make small corrections to keep it straight as a JL requires. It is better.
Interior comfort: In the JL, I am tall enough the my head becomes roll over protection for the roll bar. That is not good. The only JL that I could drive were soft top ones. I like soft tops, so that was not an issue but being taller than the roll over protection was. Seating position and room are in two different leagues. The JL just is too small for me and couses me pain. Jeep never had a dead pedal, and the one in the Bronco contributes to a much more comfortable driving experience. I can drive this for a couple of hours and be pain free.
Interior fit and finish: I still like the interiors in the Jeeps. I think the interior design looks better and the materials used seem to appeal to me more. But that is personal opinion and is up to each person's own taste.
Sound system: No comparison, the Bronco wins hands down. i have the base system in mine and it is better than any of the more premium factory systems I have had in my Jeeps.
Interior noise: This one is a toss up. This Bronco is noisy and it seems to be as noisy and my JL soft tops were. Jeep did a good job on the JL with the soft tops in the noise department, but the were still noisy. This Bronco seems to be as noisy as they were but that again is my impression.
Drive train: This is where I think the Bronco struggles a bit. When we first came home with the new Bronco, I described the engine and transmission to my Jeep buddy as "remarkably unrefined." My comparisons being the 3.6l and 2.0l in the Jeep with both a manual and an auto. The 3.6l in the Jeep has a long history and is at this point a very refined package with the manual or the 8 speed. The 2.0l turbo has a much shorter history but seems to work well with the 8 speed. I think one of the good decisions Jeep made was to buy the 8 speed from ZF rather than trying to develope one themselves. That 8 speed us used in millions of vehicles arouind the world and is very well sorted. The 2.3l/10 speed in the Bronco is not smooth in 1st and 2nd gear. It has a bit of a rough shift and also hesitates when lightly accellerating in the 2 lower gears. It does not exhibit this when on the throttle hard, nor does it do this in the higher gears..just 1st and 2nd. When in eco mode it does not do this however and that makes me wonder if it might be throttle mapping and the way i am accellerating rather than the truck itself. The other thing I have noticed is that the engine and transmission seem to be learning as we put miles of and this issue is much reduced over brand new now. So we'll see. It's not enought of an issue to even bring up to the dealer so my hope is it corrects itself.
Overall Size: The wheelbase is I think 4" longer than a 2 dr Jeep so that might be an issue for some but for me at this point in my life, it gives me more interior room and a better driving experience, so it's a win. However, every true Jeep owner "knows" that Broncos are wider than Jeeps and will have trouble in the woods or rocks when traversing tight trails. As a Jeep owner I knew that. However as a Bronco owner I did some research and found some interesting information. A base Bronco is about 1.5" wider than a base JL. These numbers are from my memory no they may be off a little..... But it gets really interesting when you compre like to like models such and a Rubicon to a Badlands. Overall width of the JL Rubion vs a Badlands Bronco is very close. The Bronco is .5" wider than the Rubicon. Also, when comparing the Sasquatch to the 35" tire package on the JL, the difference is about .5". So in reality, overall width is very nearyl the same. I think the Jeep looks more narrow because the of the way the body narrows over the front wheels and it has the large plastic fender extensions.
Crap that's a buch of words.... In closing, I think the Bronco might be the perfect vehicle for my wants and needs at this piont in my life. I still believe the IFS is not as robust as a straight axle for hardcore off road stuff, but for 99% of us it works really well. It is clearly superior for highway driving. This Bronco should last me until the inevitable end of my "offroading" adventures and will take me anywhere I care to go.
I apologize in advance for any spelling issues....I'm not going to proofread this!!
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