No Mid Package or above with CoPilot 360 - Does the Bronco feel safe?

[BOLD Renegade93]

Well yes I know you can turn it off, I did that immediately upon finding out how annoying it was. You made it sound like there was a temporary way to disable it using the headlight stalk.

I never said that but you can. If they turn on, just pull the stalk to cancel them and it won’t turn on again unless you do it manually or restart the car.

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[mlcinema]

The illusion of safety depends on what you find threatening I guess. I found the nannies on my wife's loaded Kia Sorento tiresome and distracting more than anything. I was constantly scanning to dash trying to figure out if the settings were correct, what widget was flashing or dinging at me, and so on. About the only semi-useful thing was the blind spot monitoring because the thing had such wide roof pillars and no blind spot mirrors. The auto dim headlights worked well but seriously wasn't necessary tech. We unloaded it about a year ago and haven't looked back since. In my '66 F100 there are zero distractions because the AM radio doesn't work, and I have a clear view 360 degrees around me by simply turning my head. It's a beautiful, almost zen experience compared to today's techno-appliances.

I do agree I’m always looking for what the car is telling me I’m doing wrong.

 

[zombie]

I never said that but you can. If they turn on, just pull the stalk to cancel them and it won’t turn on again unless you do it manually or restart the car.

That's my point, that doesn't work for me. The damned auto-high beam thing ignored whether the stalk was in low or high beam setting on my bronco.

 

[BOLD Renegade93]

That's my point, that doesn't work for me. The damned auto-high beam thing ignored whether the stalk was in low or high beam setting on my bronco.

Ah I see. That sucks!

 

[Werkedperformance]

Best piece of safety equipment available is between the driver’s ears. Don’t text. Don’t tailgate. Eyes on path. Check mirrors.

Own it and drive deliberately and you’ll be good.

I would’ve loved to get all that safety tech in my bronco, but not at the cost of a $10k jump to a Badlands that I don’t need.

So instead, I’m going to be the best operator I can.

There is a “base” badlands. No mid package. No lane departure. No big screen.

 

[zombie]

There is a “base” badlands. No mid package. No lane departure. No big screen.

Yeah that's what I own, I do wish I had the big screen tho

 

[Moto26]

Wow, I’m 58, and I must have grown up in a different part of the country than some of you guys, ‘cuz I don’t remember being surrounded by these “perfect drivers” you’re describing, who always “paid attention”. Maybe it’s because I’ve ridden motorcycles for all those years, but I certainly remember plenty of people pulling out in front of me, swerving into my lane, crashing into each other, etc. And they didn’t have any electronic driver aids or cell phones to distract them back then, so how was that possible??

/s

In any case, I don’t have a problem with most of these features. Seatbelts and airbags are proven life-savers. Antilock brakes are a blessing, no matter how good you are as a driver, especially on roads that aren’t clean and dry. Back-up cameras are an amazing invention, and if you say you are better off without them, frankly you’re full of shit. Rear bumper sensors are pretty cool. Just today we were backing out a tight parking spot, and a car came whizzing by before our camera could spot it, and we couldn’t see it directly, but our little beeper went off and we were able to keep from getting tagged. The BLIS system is pretty handy, because there’s always someone who manages to sneak up and park in your blind spot, no matter how carefully you’re paying attention.

All of the above, by the way, are included in our BD with Mid package. I'm not complaining...

 

[skhubbard93]

I'm going to answer this question a bit differently.

Safety is ultimately dependent upon your ability to see and react to potentially dangerous circumstances, and the vehicle's ability to accept and perform according to your control inputs.

I used to drive a '95 Defender 90. Like my non-squatch BL, it was tall. It also had 4wd and large tires. But there, the similarities end. My Bronco is far better handling, brakes much more quickly and effectively including having ABS, and overall inspires confidence in spite of its towering height and significant weight. Compared to the '95 D90, the Bronco is far safer and no electronic gizmos could change that fact.

I test-drove a Jeep 4xe before I bought my Bronco. It also did not handle nearly as well as the Bronco, demonstrating an alarming tendency to be unsettled in broad corners. And there is always the specter of death wobble with a SFA that the Bronco does not have. No computer-controlled safety features can do much to improve the Jeep in this regard either.

I used to drive an early-70s Bronco "Sport" (different nomenclature back then). It had an SFA, and I got to experience what I think may have been death wobble at ~75 mph on an interstate. I thought I had broken an axle or something as the entire vehicle vibrated violently on the front tires. That vehicle had better braking than the D90, but it's clear that the G6 Broncos are much safer.

I currently also drive an '01 Z8 convertible (albeit not in winter). Safety-wise, my Bronco can't compare with that vehicle's ability to maneuver around obstacles or drop an anchor, even at highway speeds and above. It also can't compete with the car's ability to accelerate out of many dangerous situations that might otherwise require hard breaking and steering. But then there's visibility. In the Bronco, being able to look down on most other traffic usually means that you can look several vehicles ahead and behind you to keep tabs on what other traffic is doing. You can see panic-braking ahead long before you need to use your foot, which means you can maintain better control during deceleration and also maintain a larger safety buffer behind you. The Z8 seating is low enough that I usually can't see around anyone... hence the benefit of being able to swerve and accelerate out of danger at times.

With the G6 Bronco, and unlike with the D90 and my old 70's Bronco, the limiting factor on safety is usually the driver. And as we've seen from some very unfortunate owners' pics, when someone does surprise you the G6 seems to do a good job of keeping you whole.

 

[JML]

Best piece of safety equipment available is between the driver’s ears. Don’t text. Don’t tailgate. Eyes on path. Check mirrors.

Own it and drive deliberately and you’ll be good.

I would’ve loved to get all that safety tech in my bronco, but not at the cost of a $10k jump to a Badlands that I don’t need.

So instead, I’m going to be the best operator I can.

Thank you, sir, for this absolutely correct advice.

 

[TK-421]

I'm not complaining...

You would be if you wanted a stick shift.

(I absolutely agree with the entirety of your remarks. But short of Badlands, Ford forces a choice between the manny tranny or the safety tech. It’s very irksome.)

 

[MJedi209]

Yes, I feel safe, yes there's stuff I miss. I understood what I was getting into with Mid package. Coming from a 2014 Dodge Durango Citadel, I was used to leather heated and ventilated seats, power seats, and creature comforts like that, but I can say as far as safety features, my BD with Mid has more options than my Durango did. This is the first vehicle I've personally owned with features like lane departure or even blind-spot monitoring. Even my screen is bigger than what I had on my prior vehicle. Overall I can't complain, but I never had a Tesla or any other self-driving car.

 

[Moto26]

You would be if you wanted a stick shift.

(I absolutely agree with the entirety of your remarks. But short of Badlands, Ford forces a choice between the manny tranny or the safety tech. It’s very irksome.)

That’s some bullshit right there! I wonder what their reasoning was for that omission…

 

[Moto26]

I understood what I was getting into with Mid package. Coming from a 2014 Dodge Durango Citadel, I was used to leather heated and ventilated seats, power seats, and creature comforts like that…

You do have heated seats, though, right?

 

[MJedi209]

You do have heated seats, though, right?

Yeah, heated but not ventilated. At the end of the day, heated seats were more important to me than other features as were wash-out floors and MGV. To each their own, but BD with Mid had everything I wanted without the bullshit I didn't really care about.

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