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So the temp dipped below Minus 40 Degrees (the point where F and C meet) and...
The short answer is the Bronco handles it like a champ.
Long Answer, just like anything at this temperature it's not perfect.
Here is my story.
Location: Yellowknife, NWT, Canada. Buffalo Airways Hangar: AirBus, Bombardier and others use our facility to Cold Weather test their new aircraft.
Date: December 27th, 2021
Air Temperature: -41C on the ramp at CYZF
Ford if you need a cold-weather spot to test hit us up! ([email protected]). Porsche comes up to Yellowknife every year to cold weather test their prototypes
My Ride: White Base, 2.7 Sasquatch. No other options besides Factory Block Heater and Dealer installed Battery Trickle Charger.
This is not a full list of course but just the deep winter items that jumped out.
1st the Bad.
Today it hit -40F (-40C) and my Basesquatch had been sitting for 4 days while I was away for X-mas. This morning I went to remote start it with the Ford Pass app and NO GO. I thought the battery died or it was too cold to start. But after physically using the push-button starter it fired up right away with no issue. The problem I know now was that the Bronco will go into sleep mode at these fridge temps and shut down power to the modem. So at the time you need to start it the most, it doesn't work... but it started and that's the important thing 7/10. A few co-workers were not so lucky.
Another kick in the pants is the 30-minute idle time maximum. Up here 30 mins is just the bare minimum you need to warm a vehicle up. Also having only two start sessions of 15 mins before needing to manually start the Bronco is a pain. Sometimes you can't plug into power during the day and need to start to keep it from freezing. So if anyone knows how to change that on Forscan please let me know! 5/10 for at least getting 30 mins.
Next Power Steering, with the cold temps (anything colder than -20C) it takes about 5-10 mins of driving before it frees up. I bet the 35's don't help. 5/10, No big deal as almost all vehicles do this up here. but my 2011 F-250 was not as bad.
Finally the Wipers. They suck and the almost vertical windshield almost always freezes the wipers as it collects a ton of water. 3/10 the back ones are not so bad.
The Good!
Heat. It warms up quickly! The 2 door Bases small cabin and fabric seats are a plus as they don't need to be warmed up as much as leather or vinyl. 9/10
Driveability. The Bronco is a dream on the ice and snow! I had put on Econo Mode and didn't know it disengaged the 4 wheel drive and I didn't notice it and I was driving on very icing conditions. (My F-250 was almost undrivable in 2WD in the same conditions) The 35's mixed with the short wheelbase of the 2-door is a dream in winter conditions. This was something I was worried about but I was wrong 9.5/10.
Infotainment Screen. Zero Issues so far, fingers crossed. Relatively fast and responsive at -40C 10/10.
So that's really it. A very short list of things that are affected by the deep cold.
Overall the Bronco is one of the best vehicles I have driven in these cold temperatures. I will update if anything else pops up.
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