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j_marinelli

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via Autoblog
https://www.autoblog.com/2021/10/14/ford-bronco-luggage-test/

Ford Bronco {thread} {filename}

Ford Bronco {thread} {filename}

Ford Bronco {thread} {filename}

Ford Bronco {thread} {filename}


James Riswick
Thu, October 14, 2021, 6:00 AM

The Ford Bronco 4-Door has 35.6 cubic-feet of cargo space behind its raised back seat when equipped with the hardtop. It goes up ever-so-slightly to 38.3 cubic-feet with the soft-top, and should you only want two doors (good for you!), the number falls down to 22.4 cubic-feet. That's actually 10 cubes less than the Bronco Sport that I have previously luggage tested.

Now, how does the Bronco 4-Door's cargo capacity compare to its primary competitors? Well, as luck would have it, I've luggage tested all those. The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with its own hardtop has 31 cubic-feet behind the back seat (its two-door has only 13 cubes). The Land Rover Defender 110 lands at an even 34.0 (with a 15.6-cube figure for the two-door 90). Finally, the Toyota 4Runner is the king of the hill with 47.2 cubes, though that does go down a bit with the roll-out cargo floor. There is no two-door 4Runner and in a dreadful lack of foresight, Toyota stopped selling the FJ Cruiser years ago.

OK, now that the numbers are out of the way, let's see how much the Bronco can actually carry and how it compares to all those.

Here is the 4-Door's cargo area. Like the Wrangler, you swing the gate open first (into the curb) and then open up the glass hatch. It will take a very long time before I remember this order when closing it all. As it is, I put the glass down first roughly 90% of the time. Not sure why, maybe it's driving my mother's CR-V in the late '90s? That did gate first, then glass. I don't know. I'm sure I'd get it eventually.

OK, now here are all the off-road SUV cargo holds in one place, clockwise from upper left: Bronco, Wrangler, 4Runner, Defender.

I don't know about you, but it's immediately obvious looking at all those that the Wrangler is at a disadvantage that's perhaps greater than its on-paper-figures would indicate. Its diagonal structural support is further inboard than the Bronco's, meaning more of its on-paper cargo capacity is on the outside of it, and therefore less useful.

OK, let's get to the bags. As with every luggage test, I use two midsize roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife's fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D).

Um, yeah, I basically only needed half the cargo area. There was so much room remaining, I didn't even need to remove the massive collection of carrier bags included to keep the doors and various roof panels safe when you remove them. They even include a little diagram to show how you can Tetris them all in the cargo area. That's a test for another day, certainly.

OK, here is the same luggage test set of bags in all of the above SUVs. Again, clockwise from upper left: Bronco, Wrangler, 4Runner, Defender.

First, keep in mind that the leftover space is not created equal. Both the Bronco and Wrangler need to leave a decent amount of space open near their swing gate latches. Basically, nothing can fit behind that gray bag in the lower left of the Wrangler.

OK, now let's filler up.

For starters, the 38-quart cooler I normally use to fill the remainder barely scratched the surface.

Beyond that, this test does veer from apples-to-apples comparisons since I used different extra items. Oh well, you'll get the idea.

Extra stuff the Bronco: 38-quart cooler, blue duffle bag, flat-folded kid-carrier back pack, and the two front roof panels. Ideally, you'd put them in the included bag, but I just wasn't up for that. I'm not actually going somewhere.

Extra stuff in the Wrangler: Graco Pack 'N Play box, blue duffle bag. Yeah, it loses.

Extra stuff in 4Runner: 38-quart cooler, box for Graco Pack 'N Play, box for two-person inflated river raft, small backpack that's the same size as that blue duffle bag. Yeah, it wins.

Extra stuff in Defender: 38-quart cooler, blue duffle bag, skinny briefcase, probably a grocery bag or two cause there's obviously more roof left.

(Extra stuff in Bronco Sport in case you were wondering: Pack 'N Play, skinny briefcase).

So there you have it, the luggage test rankings mirror the on-paper figures, but their differing cargo area shapes, body structures and door designs do make a difference.

Ok, now that the comparison are out of the way, let's take a quick look at some other cargo-related Bronco features.
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jaruss01

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Nice. The bronco seat back height makes all the difference. This is probably one of the top 5 articles I've was waiting on (specifically from Autoblog, who runs these tests), but that was back when I was fantasizing about using the bronco as a family hauler (since it was borderline making the cut). The added delays forced my hand to step up to purchasing a proper 3 rov SUV and demote the bronco before I even took ownership, so all of this is no longer valid. But I think it helps to know that we could grab the bronco for those summer family beach trips. OBX meet OBX!
 

BroncoRick

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I put my ARB 50L fridge in the back of a dealer mannequin 4 door Bronco, and it fit way better than in my JK, where it barely fits front to back. Even better, the fridge just clears under the height of that rear swing gate on the Bronco, and so it might even be possible to get a 50L fridge on a slide tray in there, and be able to pull it out without popping up the soft top or rear glass. And Ford smartly put the 12v plug at the top of the cargo hold, instead of the bottom, where Jeep stupidly puts it. Bronco is way better for cargo than Jeep, that was very apparent when I stuck my fridge in there.

It will still be a Tetris operation, but not as bad as in the Jeep where I hold a small celebration whenever I puzzle all the family stuff in there.
 

Ride Em Bronco

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FTBronco9

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Why couldn’t they use the same items in every vehicle. Kind of makes the comparison useless. I like that you can see how much stuff you can fit in the back but comparing them is a no go. 🙁
 

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KyTruckPlant

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Why couldn’t they use the same items in every vehicle. Kind of makes the comparison useless. I like that you can see how much stuff you can fit in the back but comparing them is a no go. 🙁
It looks like they did use the same stuff in each one. Its just packed differently in each scenario. I imagine the red cooler is packed up against the back seat and not visible in the Bronco and Jeep pix
 

FTBronco9

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It looks like they did use the same stuff in each one. Its just packed differently in each scenario. I imagine the red cooler is packed up against the back seat and not visible in the Bronco and Jeep pix
In the first post, if you expand all the words that were quoted, he says he didn’t use the same stuff I think.
 

SuperDave150

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Seems to be ok if you need to stack boxes or luggage in your SUV. But I would be doing that only maybe once or twice a year. But what I am doing once a week is putting a mountain bike inside my SUV. Not ok with even the 4-door Bronco. And no I have no interest in using bike racks on the roof or bumper of the Bronco.
So… get a pickup, and maybe a topper that is a big & tall as you like?

I’m good with the fact that the Bronco isn’t any bigger than it already is. Smaller would’ve been better.
 

MaverickMan

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In the first post, if you expand all the words that were quoted, he says he didn’t use the same stuff I think.
He used the same stuff for the first 6 or so main/large things then switched to other shaped things to fit the tetris puzzle. The differences in space/shape dictated certain thing be switched for comparable volume but not exact dimensions.

I think the cargo is decent, still not even close to my FSB, why oh why wasnt the Bronco a 2dr FSB(maybe a suicide 4 dr could have been ok) and the Bronco sport be closer in shape and capability to the 2 door, but with its well equipped interior.
 

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mykoljay

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Need a 2 door luggage photo. I'm trying to figure out how many suitcases (travel on/combo/duffels) I can fit with my family of 4. Got a cargo top, but not sure if I want to bring that down to beach trips.
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