What Percentage of Owners Off-Road?!

[Murraydog11]

Love me some rocks.

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[HalfmuleFarmer]

I've had my Bronco for one week exactly. I have registered on the website but had an issue verifying my Bronco. I will try to rectify that when I have a spare moment. So yes, I am interested in learning and think it would be a cool thing to do. All about finding the time and fitting it in my schedule.

I live surrounded by a sea of high end Jeeps, Broncos, Raptors, GWagons, Land Cruisers, etc. They look the part but 99% never see the dirt. Image is everything I guess.

Everyone has there reasons for buying a Bronco. Going off road was a smaller part of it for me. To be honest, I came close to a Ranger and Passport. Any vehicle I own has to be able to handle bad weather (check), be able to haul around my son mostly comfortably (check), handle backroads/fire roads that I drive on to mountain bike (check), be pretty reliable (check), and not get abysmal MPG (check). Add in a nice deal and it's top comes off, that kinda sealed the deal.

Congrats on the new rig. I too heartily recommend the Off-Roadeo, if only because it’s pure fun. I too didn’t buy my Bronco in order to off-road, but because I’d just be off-road, in the mountains, in winter. But — I’ve discovered getting to places where other people can’t is really magical. I don’t do it to test the vehicle, but rocks and mud and stream-crossings happen. The Off-Roadeo really demo’d for me how much *incredible* work this vehicle can do, and how interesting it is to learn the driver skills. I’ve got plenty to still learn, but I’m out there, and it’s a blast. Enjoy!

 

[Nc211]

Not much for me, largely because there just aren't a lot of places to take it for that in my area. When I"m back in NC, it'll go across a few loose dirt farm fields or some sand at the beach. But here in the outskirts of DC, despite the scenery, it's mostly just an open field to enjoy the scenery before another data center takes it over, or a dirt/gravel road to the farmer's market for when we want some fresh produce. Used to be a few wet parking lot fields for son's cross country races, but those days are over via his graduation this past June.

I do enjoy the ability to cross the grassy median in the road for an impromptu U-turn to avoid a traffic jam though!

 

[VirginiaHeritage]

Ford claims that based on their “internal data”, nearly 2/3rds of owners take them off road. The percentage of owners that do serious technical stuff like rock crawling is likely much lower. I would bet Ford would know based on telematics. This claim was mentioned in at least one article:

https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us...dventures-help-owners-explore-wildest-terrain

 

[HalfmuleFarmer]

Ford claims that based on their “internal data”, nearly 2/3rds of owners take them off road. The percentage of owners that do serious technical stuff like rock crawling is likely much lower. I would bet Ford would know based on telematics. This claim was mentioned in at least one article:

https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us...dventures-help-owners-explore-wildest-terrain

That smells like marketing to me. Not sure if your gravel driveway counts!

 

[Brian_B]

The real question is how many owners take their Broncos off shore?

 

[Felix808]

Heck, mines lucky if it leaves the garage

 

[CrystalRedTintCoat]

I'd bet the percentage of Raptor owners that go offroad is a lot smaller than Bronco owners.

Has anyone seen a Braptor on a dirt road even?

anecdotally, the Braptors I see around the South Bay are driven by women. Having said that, most broncos (non Braptors) I see day to day appear is daily drivers. Heck, my 80%+ use case is driving mine to work and back. I fancy that I’ll off-road more, but I seem to be in this work rut at the moment.

 

[stampede1]

I'd bet the percentage of Raptor owners that go offroad is a lot smaller than Bronco owners.

Has anyone seen a Braptor on a dirt road even?

I park my Braptor in a dirt driveway, does that count? OK, just kidding. Mine is also my daily driver and I take it off road on a regular basis but keep the routes within my ability which is much less than what the Braptor can do. Once it is paid off, I might get a bit more aggressive. I wheel it in the California desert and have taken it to Moab twice. It will never see the inside of Micky's Hot Tub, but I have experienced a bit of the pucker factor out there in Utah on some trails.

 

[Callelk]

At the moment it depends on what keys are in my pocket. Maybe the Bronco or maybe the Escalade for the daily driver. Right now between cheat gras, fox tails, rattlesnakes and wildfires everything in the hills are off limits for my dogs. Come September 1, that will change and through the end of January, the Bronco will be 80% off pavement.

 

[HalfmuleFarmer]

My unscientific Utah test is ‘how dirty is your vehicle?’ You get dirty fast here when you get off the pavement, but 8 out of 10 Broncos I see are spotless, with tires shining. So either people are heading straight to the car wash from the trail, or that 10-15% figure tracks. I’m guessing the latter.

 

[Felix808]

My unscientific Utah test is ‘how dirty is your vehicle?’ You get dirty fast here when you get off the pavement, but 8 out of 10 Broncos I see are spotless, with tires shining. So either people are heading straight to the car wash from the trail, or that 10-15% figure tracks. I’m guessing the latter.

Along this line, one of the easiest give aways is the tires. If there is not a single nick in any of them, you know It only see's action at your local Starbucks & mall. My wife even points this out at times

 

[stampede1]

Nope. And that was one of my thoughts looking at one at the Ford dealership. Built for show, not actual use. Too wide, too heavy, too Hummer. I see ‘em driving around town, but have never seen one on the trails.

The Braptor is purpose built to be the best, store bought offroader in the US, bar none. It is not for everybody but anyone that thinks it is simply a oversized gimmick has no idea what they are talking about. It can smoke a wrangler 392 in high speed open desert running and is very close to the jeep in advanced rock crawling and then makes a very decent daily driver to boot. I currently own one and previously owned a Badlands. Both are great but the the Braptor-by virtue of engineering and upgraded equipment-is in a performance league all of its own. I made a commitment to myself to drive the Braptor as close to its potential as my skills would allow or not buy it in the first place., which I have done. That said, if somebody wants to buy a vehicle that is capable of doing things that the owner will never do, I could care less.

 

[stampede1]

My unscientific Utah test is ‘how dirty is your vehicle?’ You get dirty fast here when you get off the pavement, but 8 out of 10 Broncos I see are spotless, with tires shining. So either people are heading straight to the car wash from the trail, or that 10-15% figure tracks. I’m guessing the latter.

I will agree with the Utah test. on my first trip to Moab, the red dirt was basically colored talcum powder and got into every nook and crevice of the bronco. The second time was even worse because there was a crap load of bugs hitting the bronco on the trip to and from Moab. I actually wondered if the mess could actually be completely cleaned once I returned, as it seemed that the insects were basically pasted to the windshield and grill. A good washing took care of it though.

 

[Climber]

@stampede1 everything you say I would agree with. I would add that many people who claim the Braptor is too wide have never even driven one off road. Stock it is a total package of rock crawl, high speed running and on road comfort that is almost unbelievable. I had a 2dr 2.7L basesquach all armored up with a FPT. It wasn’t even in the same class of truck.

People who own a Braptor and don’t get to experience it off road are REALLY missing out.

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