I am torn. Bronco vs. Daily Driving a Guzzler

[Lowcountry Bronco]

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[Wraithracing]

Going from DD a 2004 F250 PSD that generally got 14-15 MPG and as bad as 12-13 MPG with winter blend fuels to the Bronco with the 2.7 and I am averaging 20 MPG using 91 Octane. So a no brainer for me.
As for saving the environment, I am all for it, but I don't believe all the PR in regards to EV's. Yes there are benefits, but they are not the planet saving options that so many want to believe. Just my .02 on the whole deal. If DD your Bronco keeps you up at night, then make another choice. Otherwise enough the ride and don't stress too much about it.

 

[joshslighter]

My Bronco gets about the same or maybe a little better fuel economy than my R32. So it's a lateral move for me. My R32 however, only likes 91+ octane. So ultimately, its a bit more costly to run. I wouldn't worry about it too much. The Bronco is so much fun to drive, it offsets the cost.

I am in the same situation as you with my 11 WRX. Been tuned and running 93 octane for the past 8 years so know those premium gas struggles lol. My question for you though is your R32 a VW or Skyline R32?

 

[Maine Explorer]

Honestly, the best thing you can do for the environment is to restore a big old-school v8 bronco that was headed to a scrap yard. It might be 14mpg but building any new vehicle is environmentally horrible compared to just running an old inefficient one.

For EVs the mining for batteries is horrible. With hybrids we spend the energy to have 2 forms of propulsion. Sort of hard to do anything right.

Also, with shipping and flight and corporations, the actual impact of our cars is almost meaningless compared to the whole. They say it's about cars so we'll blame ourselves rather than look at the real culprits at a structural level. It's like how an ad firm in the late 40s working for packaging companies created the term little bug to get people to blame each other for trash not the companies that create it. Getting people blaming each other keeps them off your back.

Also as much as we can try to help with the issue China and India both have growing middle classes so that's 2.8 billion people who soon may be able to afford a car in places that don't require catalytic converters... yikes

End of the day, yes, 20mpg on a dd isn't great for the earth but there's so much other stuff happening in the background it doesn't really matter sadly. Hopefully taking your friends or kids out in the woods might help make them love nature and want to protect it long-term?

My other DD is a 2002 that gets 22mpg but I don't feel so bad because keeping a 2002 on the road means I haven't made anyone spend the energy to create a new car. How about this., if you daily drive it for 30 years and don't buy another car you're actually doing a great thing for the earth by not making people make another car for you for 30 years. So you get a pass but you have to commit to your bronco forever... and I think we all plan on keeping ours.

 

[Broncoder]

Obligatory

 

[TX_Bronco77]

I daily drive a 2018 Mustang 5.0 running full time on 93 octane gas, so swapping to a Bronco is reducing my "carbon footprint". Forgive me though as I know whatever changes I make pale in comparison to what the dozens (probably much higher) petro-chemical plants in my area spew into the air everyday.

No matter how much plastic I don't use/recycle, or how many trips I limit in my car, will never make up the difference. Without huge corporations making changes whatever I do is a drop in the bucket so buying a Bronco over an EV doesn't bother me one bit.

Fact of the matter is until they change nothing we do will have a great enough impact to change what has been, and is being done to our planet. But it doesn't mean I have given up just have a realistic view of what it will take to make an impactful difference.

 

[RedHotFuzz]

We're all going to be doing some soul-searching when gas hits $6+ a gallon.

 

[Beachin 74]

If everyone drove go-kart-sized-cars without back seats we could solve the population problem

I had a Chevy LUV truck in 1980. Where there's a will, there's a way.

 

[Heart2]

I don't drive much anymore. I am retired and what little work I do is from home. My lifetime average mpg for my '19 Ranger is 20.9 (22 months/19,000 miles). I expect similar results with my Bronco. However, if I was commuting for a job, I might think differently.

 

[JoeSpeed]

Honestly though, can someone explain to me the rationale behind this cult of environmentalism

everytime someone mentions it and is all cereal about it, I check to see if theyre from California.

Global cooling, global warming, climate change, cow farts, the profit Al Gore, etc. etc.. Been saying the earth is gonna die in 10yrs for the last 60 or 70 now, nothings happened, really wondering where the flying cars were, also we were promised jetpacks

 

[Roll Sound]

I am in the same situation as you with my 11 WRX. Been tuned and running 93 octane for the past 8 years so know those premium gas struggles lol. My question for you though is your R32 a VW or Skyline R32?

VW, I wish it was JDM. But it's still pretty hot.

 

[CT203]

Not trying to start a climate change debate...
So I am stoked about the Bronco. It was the first car in a long time that made me consider swapping out my Subaru. I found a lot of cars recently follow the same bland look and the Bronco checks all the boxes for me from a design standpoint. For practicality reasons I need the 4 door as I am the usual driver of people and stuff for holiday, ski, beach, etc trips. I never forgot that the Bronco being a box on wheels and thus never going to be great on gas but this extended wait time has allowed me to continually contemplate the responsibility of driving said box 45min to work each way on top of trips. I know EVs have their own environmental impacts but it does feel selfish to DD a Bronco while it largely isn't being used off road. Any one else have this internal debate? How are you wrestling with this?

Definitely battled with this. I'm a bigger guy and I just don't fit comfortably in a Tesla 3 or Y. I'm not spending 100K on an S or X. The soon to come out pickups are tempting but don't fit in my garage ... and they are not going to be cheap either. Coming from over a decade of Wrangler ownership, I know I'd greatly miss being able to go topless. I also need a capable winter vehicle. Yes, plenty of AWD and others are fine, but the jeep and I expect the Bronco are phenomenal. I like being able to go off road if needed even if it's very rare. I like not worrying about potholes , curbs, or other urban tire / suspension wreckers.
I fully expect to trade this in on an electric Bronco in about 5 years.

 

[The Memedalorian]

The people who would lecture and shame you for driving your Bronco instead of a electric nerdmobile don't pay your bills and don't give a shit about you even if you didn't drive your Bronco.

You only live once and if you like it, drive it.

 

[CT203]

Honestly though, can someone explain to me the rationale behind this cult of environmentalism

everytime someone mentions it and is all cereal about it, I check to see if theyre from California.

Global cooling, global warming, climate change, cow farts, the profit Al Gore, etc. etc.. Been saying the earth is gonna die in 10yrs for the last 60 or 70 now, nothings happened, really wondering where the flying cars were, also we were promised jetpacks

If you haven't figured things out by now and don't realize there are better ways of doing things, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[CT203]

The people who would lecture and shame you for driving your Bronco instead of a electric nerdmobile don't pay your bills and don't give a shit about you even if you didn't drive your Bronco.

You only live once and if you like it, drive it.

Most of the people around me driving 100K+ teslas are not liberals.

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