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In my humble opinion anyways.
(dealer got their demo unit in...I'm driving in the pic)
The good news is ... I test DROVE ONE TODAY AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!
I had two moments, one was leaving the dealer and realizing
... A new Bronco has not pulled out of this lot since 1996/97.
and
... peering out over the hood and how much it reminded me of my 69 with the raised edges and all, which has been torn down for a frame off for about 5 years now.
(Note to Ford designers ... you made my eyes leak a little....absolutely fantastic job!!!)
OuterBanks , 2.3 , leather, high pkg, mod bumper, softy, power seats, 12" screen. Carbonized Grey (looks great in person- my opinion obviously- I'm AMB though)
I only drove it a few miles. I noticed the tranny ran out really well for a VERY new "learning" automatic. I didn't flog it but I made a few moderate accelration runs and the 2.3 , in my opinion, is up to the task. Perhaps not a powerhouse in a 4500 lb rig, but it was pretty peppy and I will be satisfied with it for my daily driver, ESPECIALLY with the manual, so long as the manual still raises the level of engagement with the vehicle like they did in years past.
Way to much tech for me to figure out in 10 minutes. Wife was hitting buttons and twisting knobs left and right though.
Found the radio, sounded OK for the 10 seconds we had it on.
Window buttons in the center is going to take some getting used to ....old dog/new trick, lol.
NOT a fan of the gauge package....if there were one spot in the interior to go retro on this rig it would have been the gauges. I know many others have voiced this same thought. LCD's and Broncos don't mix. Save that shit for Knight Rider.
Soft Top ... to me , it seemed noisy, which runs counter to so many reviews I have read. Wife and I both agreed that it sounded like the back windows were down about an inch, each. I kept checking the buttons to make sure they were up al the way. (edit: I did not pay attention to what speed the noise started picking up....more below)
Headroom.... at 5-9, I had the seat raised and still had A LOT of room over my head. When I first got in it to drive, I lowered the seat as is my custom in the Outback, I like being tucked in in that thing. It felt absolutely foreign to me in the Bronco. I raised the seat and was greeted with a great, high riding panoramic, commanding view of the road/hood/etc.
Interior room, subjective/comparative.... I love the way my Outback feels, the size (considered mid-size) is just right for what I need it to do.
The Bronco seemed to be a bit roomier in width, which was a very nice surprise and maybe a bit shorter in length, but the Outback/Legacy is crazy long. A 6-4 dude has a shitton of room in the backseat of an OB even with the front all the way back....so saying the Bronco MIGHT feel a bit shorter is really a fart in a hurricane, but it's the only metric I have to compare.
Bottom line... interior space is fantastic for us 5-9ers.
@NurseA.J will probably get lost in her 2door somewhere.
EDIT to add:
Almost all of my test drive was at , oh... 50 to 65 mph. It's a rural area and I didn't drive through town, went straight to the hi-way. Traveled back on a county road for about 2 miles before turningback onto the hi-way.
Which reminds me, the ride on the not so smooth county road was EXCELLENT. Compliant but still communicative and stable ... very stable. No bouncing or jarring or swaying. Keep in mind, the rural roads around here will have dips and humps in them that tend to pitch a vehicle around at speed.
I could tell right away I prefer the ride/handling over the Outback which is overly soft, allows too much body roll and requires a fair amount of counter steering from the humps and bumps of a rural road.
Every time I see one of these, I'm amazed at how big even the 32's are .... I still want 33's on my baseBase though
I believe the Base 30's are the same size as on my Outback...just, no.
In this little town where we were, People were lining up to see this Bronco while we were there going through it pre and post-drive. We're all going to be rockstars for awhile when we get ours, lol. I hope you like attention!
My blend date is July 14th ... I'm so pumped right now, I'm going to be a fuckin' mess by the time it gets here, LOL!
Seats look blue-ish in this pic, they were not, they're dark grey. I was fine with the look of the interior on this one.
Mine:
(dealer got their demo unit in...I'm driving in the pic)
The good news is ... I test DROVE ONE TODAY AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!
I had two moments, one was leaving the dealer and realizing
... A new Bronco has not pulled out of this lot since 1996/97.
and
... peering out over the hood and how much it reminded me of my 69 with the raised edges and all, which has been torn down for a frame off for about 5 years now.
(Note to Ford designers ... you made my eyes leak a little....absolutely fantastic job!!!)
OuterBanks , 2.3 , leather, high pkg, mod bumper, softy, power seats, 12" screen. Carbonized Grey (looks great in person- my opinion obviously- I'm AMB though)
I only drove it a few miles. I noticed the tranny ran out really well for a VERY new "learning" automatic. I didn't flog it but I made a few moderate accelration runs and the 2.3 , in my opinion, is up to the task. Perhaps not a powerhouse in a 4500 lb rig, but it was pretty peppy and I will be satisfied with it for my daily driver, ESPECIALLY with the manual, so long as the manual still raises the level of engagement with the vehicle like they did in years past.
Way to much tech for me to figure out in 10 minutes. Wife was hitting buttons and twisting knobs left and right though.
Found the radio, sounded OK for the 10 seconds we had it on.
Window buttons in the center is going to take some getting used to ....old dog/new trick, lol.
NOT a fan of the gauge package....if there were one spot in the interior to go retro on this rig it would have been the gauges. I know many others have voiced this same thought. LCD's and Broncos don't mix. Save that shit for Knight Rider.
Soft Top ... to me , it seemed noisy, which runs counter to so many reviews I have read. Wife and I both agreed that it sounded like the back windows were down about an inch, each. I kept checking the buttons to make sure they were up al the way. (edit: I did not pay attention to what speed the noise started picking up....more below)
Headroom.... at 5-9, I had the seat raised and still had A LOT of room over my head. When I first got in it to drive, I lowered the seat as is my custom in the Outback, I like being tucked in in that thing. It felt absolutely foreign to me in the Bronco. I raised the seat and was greeted with a great, high riding panoramic, commanding view of the road/hood/etc.
Interior room, subjective/comparative.... I love the way my Outback feels, the size (considered mid-size) is just right for what I need it to do.
The Bronco seemed to be a bit roomier in width, which was a very nice surprise and maybe a bit shorter in length, but the Outback/Legacy is crazy long. A 6-4 dude has a shitton of room in the backseat of an OB even with the front all the way back....so saying the Bronco MIGHT feel a bit shorter is really a fart in a hurricane, but it's the only metric I have to compare.
Bottom line... interior space is fantastic for us 5-9ers.
@NurseA.J will probably get lost in her 2door somewhere.
EDIT to add:
Almost all of my test drive was at , oh... 50 to 65 mph. It's a rural area and I didn't drive through town, went straight to the hi-way. Traveled back on a county road for about 2 miles before turningback onto the hi-way.
Which reminds me, the ride on the not so smooth county road was EXCELLENT. Compliant but still communicative and stable ... very stable. No bouncing or jarring or swaying. Keep in mind, the rural roads around here will have dips and humps in them that tend to pitch a vehicle around at speed.
I could tell right away I prefer the ride/handling over the Outback which is overly soft, allows too much body roll and requires a fair amount of counter steering from the humps and bumps of a rural road.
Every time I see one of these, I'm amazed at how big even the 32's are .... I still want 33's on my baseBase though
I believe the Base 30's are the same size as on my Outback...just, no.In this little town where we were, People were lining up to see this Bronco while we were there going through it pre and post-drive. We're all going to be rockstars for awhile when we get ours, lol. I hope you like attention!
My blend date is July 14th ... I'm so pumped right now, I'm going to be a fuckin' mess by the time it gets here, LOL!
Seats look blue-ish in this pic, they were not, they're dark grey. I was fine with the look of the interior on this one.
Mine:
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Thanks for the in depth review, sounds like you have the right personality for the Bronco.
