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Yeah, others have posted reports on their new Broncos, but I wrote this for a couple of other forums and felt that some of you might be interested in my impressions.
Now that I have driven 1000 miles in the new Bronco, here are my feelings about it. I've grouped most of it under headings so that you can easily skip over stuff that you might not be interested in. Or if you don't like long reads, feel free to skip the whole thing.
My Bronco is a 2-door Base Sasquatch with minimal additional options. Sticker price was $38,310 and out the door price was $41,045. It has a 10-speed automatic - because that was the only choice for that particular model - and a 2.3 liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. In the 1000 miles that I've put on it, I have driven in multiple situations that needed serious 4-wheel drive capabilities, and I've already broken something.
Overall, I'm happy with it. The main reason I bought it was so that I could take my wife to places where I like to go on my motorcycles, and I'm sure it will work well for that. Getting her in and out of it is a minor issue though, requiring a small step stool to make it easier for her, although she has managed to get in without it a few times. This thing is tall!
I've driven a Bronco with a 2.3 7-speed manual and even though I prefer to shift my own gears, it think the Bronco is better with the automatic. But with 10 gears, it seems like it's always shifting as you get up to speed. With the low 4.70 axle ratio of the Sasquatch, it's in 10th gear by about 50 mph. I feel that it has more than enough power and have no regrets about not getting the 2.7 six cylinder turbo motor.
It does fine on the freeway and even manages to stay in 10th gear up some steeper hills that would have my Escape shifting down a gear. It's a little bit stiffer then my other two cars, but is still reasonably smooth riding. Other than getting way worse mileage than my other cars, it looks like it will be fine for longer distances.
There were a few unexpected surprises with it:
Life With A 2-Door:
I chose the 2-door because I believe that Broncos, Jeeps, and trucks should not have four doors. Plus it's shorter, so that helps when going over stuff that sticks up or when the tires are all in holes or something. However, even though it has a back seat, it might almost be better without one and just make the whole back part a cargo area.
When I initially tried folding down the rear seats, they didn't seem to go down very far. Then I looked at it more closely and realized that you have to move the bottom cushions forward first, then they fold down flatter. They're still at an angle of about 15 degrees, but there is at least a bit more room to put stuff back there if you don't have more than two people in it. Nobody has ridden in my back seat so far.
When Ford was hauling pre-production Broncos around the country so that those of us planning to buy one could see them up close, I climbed into the back seat of a 2-door and the seat seemed just fine. However, the front seat was all the way forward out of the way so I didn't notice that there is a ledge that sticks out about 6 inches into the area where your feet should go and if there is a reasonably tall driver, foot room can be very tight. Comparing it to my Mustang, the Mustang seat isn't great, but at least there is room for your feet. The Bronco back seat is a decent size, if whoever is in the front seat has it forward enough.
There is room in the back for a few things, but there is not a large cargo area. One thing I found annoying, but easily fixed, is that the rear head restraints block more than half of the rear view when they're up. But they can be folded down behind the seat leaving a clear view, as long as you don't need to put anything big in the very back.
Instruments:
There are two displays in front of the driver, one with speed and other important things like that and a center one which I guess is the "infotainment" center. That's where you can choose your music, check the owner's manual, and stuff like that. There is a speedometer with a dial as well as a digital speed readout, similar to what is in my Escape. I like that. The speedometer consistently reads one mile per hour high, which I can live with. I find it strange that it's not off by a percentage like on my KTM motorcycle.
The "tachometer" is a total joke, though. Rather that putting in something useful with a dial that shows engine speed, it's a vertical bar gauge plus a couple of digits. If the engine is at 1500 rpms, it shows "1.5". Having an automatic, I would almost prefer that they didn't bother trying to show me the engine speed.
Ignoring the joke of a tachometer, there are a bunch of other things you can display that are very useful. You can select up to seven of 15 screens to display as part of "My View". I usually leave it on the fuel economy mode, but there are two trip meters, a Turbo Boost gauge (I've seen 15 psi), battery voltage, a screen showing tire pressure (that is checked every minute or so), and a great screen for off road. The off road screen shows how you have it configured (e.g., 4H, locked rear), what the lean angles are (both pitch and roll), and, if you've dropped the tire pressure, what those are too. The off road screen is what I want to see off road.
G.O.A.T. Mode And 4x4 Settings:
Ford kind of clumsily came up with GOAT out of "Goes Over Any-type of Terrain". I guess GOATOT isn't quite as good. There are about eight total modes, but NONE of the models get all of them. I don't understand that, since I think it's just software. I generally use Normal and switch to Slippery for mud and snow. I've fiddled with Eco mode and that one might be worth another one mile per gallon, but I can't be sure.
In the middle of the G.O.A.T. dial is a button thingy that lets you directly select between 2H, 4H, 4L, and 4A. You can switch between 2H and 4A at any time, but you're supposed to stop or at least be going really slow before selecting 4L or 4H. There are separate buttons on the top of the instrument panel to select front locker, rear locker, trail turn assist, or disable traction control. Trail turn assist only works in 4L or 4H, and front locker only works in 4L. However, you can hit the rear locker at any time and get it, regardless of the mode you're in.
When going through a sketchy snow drift not too long ago, I wanted front AND rear lockers enabled, but couldn't get the front one to engage. I looked it up later and the front can only be enabled in 4L. Kind of makes sense. Didn't really need the front one locked anyway to get through it.
Heater/AC Controls:
I finally have something I've been wanting in a car for a long, long time. For the heater controls, you can select any combination of windshield defrost, air coming out at shoulder height, or down at your feet - as long as you don't try "none of the above". So you can do all three if you want. I've wanted the two upper ones without going down to the feet and now I finally have that option.
Fuel Mileage:
The window sticker estimates 18 mpg city and 18 highway. Keeping it under 60 mph and not stopping can get over 23. Driving at 25 mph for a long distance has gotten 22. Generally taking it easy, including a bunch of slow off road stuff gets over 20. I find it strange that I can feel good about getting 23 in the Bronco but feel terrible about getting 25 in my Escape. That one gets about 35 if driven in a manner that would get 22+ from the Bronco.
For one full tank of gas, it showed me getting 19.5 mpg, but my calculation had me at 19.0 and if anything, my number might be high. The owner's manual indicates an unspecified "empty reserve" when the fuel gauge indicates empty. Fuel tank capacity is listed at 17.4 gallons and I recently put in 16.3 when it said 5 miles to empty, so apparently the empty reserve is around one gallon. That would imply that you could go another 20 miles or so when it says empty, but the electric fuel pump might need some fuel around it to cool it, so I don't expect to try that.
Wipers:
Even the Base model has a windshield washer for the back window. But the controls are all on the turn signal stalk instead of on a separate one on the right side as with my other Fords. Once you get used to how to work both sets of wipers, they work okay. The rear wiper blade has the same feature that annoys me on my Escape, you can only lift it about an inch, so it's really tough to clean the rear window. It's tough anyway, because the top hinges stick down almost two inches, and the washer nozzle is also down about an inch, and the spare tire and center brake light also get in the way. Using a squeegee on the rear window is just plain awkward. Oh well.
Cleaning off bugs at the gas station is more difficult than on anything else I've owned because at 6' 1" I'm still not tall enough to reach the center of the windshield. Did I mention how tall this thing is?
Numeric Keypad:
I ordered the optional numeric keypad because I like using it with my Escape. The numeric keypad is a great way to be able to leave the key in the vehicle and still be able to get in when it's locked. You can't lock your key in the car by hitting the door lock button. It locks, but as soon as you shut the door, it unlocks and the horn honks twice. However, you CAN lock the key in there with the keypad. So I'm planning to try just leaving my key in it, in the center key slot and see how that works.
One issue that I noticed about the numeric keypad is the following quote in the one-page instruction sheet:
So, once the battery in it is dead, the whole keypad is dead. Ugh!
Wind Noise:
In normal driving the wind noise isn't a big concern, although it's louder than the Escape. However, with a 25 mph wind coming from the side in front it's loud. At least as noisy as my Mustang Convertible (top up). This is on the "Molded In Top (MIC)" setup, which is made of some kind of plastic or fiberglass.
Parking Brake:
I let my son-in-law test drive it and as I was about to explain how to release the parking brake he reached down and tore it right out of there. Apparently at the Bronco Off-Rodeo events they have a similar problem. The next time I let anybody drive it the first thing I will say to them is "DON'T DESTROY MY PARKING BRAKE!!". Then I'll calmly explain how to gently push the button down there to release it. I was able to put the broken one back together again so that it can be reused - after paying the dealer a significant amount to put a new on in there.
Manuals:
I've used the owner's manual more for this car than probably all other cars I've owned put together. I read it once before it was built and one more time when I first got it. A good technical writer could probably cut the 552 pages down to about 200 and have a much better manual. I'm guessing the legal guys are mostly responsible for about 1/3 of it being warning messages. And a lot of stuff gets repeated over and over.
There were six small "manuals" in the glove box when I got it. Two of them were actually useful. I haven't tossed any of them out yet.
Jacking A Bronco:
I got curious if the jack that comes with the Bronco was actually capable of lifting each of the four tires off of the ground far enough to change a flat. I looked for the information in the "manual" that you can see on the screen in the console and couldn't find the details. Then I looked for it online and didn't see any photos, but there was an explanation. Finally, I looked through the PDF Bronco manual on my computer and everything that I needed was under "Changing a Road Wheel" beginning on page 387. The jack looks pretty much the same as the one Ford seems to use in all of their vehicles, at least very similar to what I have with my other two Fords. But for changing front wheels it has a 3 1/2 inch extension that gets attached to the top of the jack to make it tall enough to lift the frame up high enough to get the front wheel off of the ground. At the rear you just stick the jack under the axle and it can easily lift high enough. There are multiple extension to the crank so that you don't have to crawl under there with it to jack it up. I wanted to find all of this out before actually needing to know it out in the middle of nowhere.
Width, Fender Flares, Mud, Etc.
Supposedly the Sasquatch is two inches wider than the plain Base model. Or maybe it's two inches wider on each side, I can't remember. Definitely wider than most Jeeps.
I've had it in the mud multiple times and it is absolutely a mud magnet. If you're in the thick stuff it throws up chunks and packs them under the fenders and fender flares as well as on the front side of the rear fender flares. I've learned to scrape it off before it dries or it can be really tough to remove. There have been two times when I scraped at least five pounds of mud off before hitting the car wash. I almost feel bad for the piles of mud I've left in the do it yourself car washes that I've visited. I had to use those when it was below freezing. Now that it's warmed up I can hose it off at the end of my driveway. Then I use a square shovel to scoop up as much as I can, leaving less mud to flow down the gutter past my neighbors.
Once the Bronco gets muddy, it's hard to get in and out of it without becoming a bit muddy too. The door handles collect mud so that the door can't be opened without getting mud on your hand. And mud collects right under the doors so that if you slide out you're likely to get the back of your leg in that mud on the way down to the ground. I hate how mudflaps look, but I might have to invest in some, especially for the front wheels. Those would keep a lot of the mud off of the sides, even if they wouldn't help inside the fenders at all.
Conclusion:
Would I do it again? Yes! But the long, long wait was tough. I wanted an "off road beast", and I now have one. I don't plan to try anything past a difficulty rating of 4, which it should easily handle. Maybe a 5 if I have a good reason for it. With the front and rear lockers and the high ground clearance, I don't expect to ever get stuck. But I have a tow strap anyway, just in case. Maybe I can pull somebody else out someday.
Now that I have driven 1000 miles in the new Bronco, here are my feelings about it. I've grouped most of it under headings so that you can easily skip over stuff that you might not be interested in. Or if you don't like long reads, feel free to skip the whole thing.
My Bronco is a 2-door Base Sasquatch with minimal additional options. Sticker price was $38,310 and out the door price was $41,045. It has a 10-speed automatic - because that was the only choice for that particular model - and a 2.3 liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. In the 1000 miles that I've put on it, I have driven in multiple situations that needed serious 4-wheel drive capabilities, and I've already broken something.
Overall, I'm happy with it. The main reason I bought it was so that I could take my wife to places where I like to go on my motorcycles, and I'm sure it will work well for that. Getting her in and out of it is a minor issue though, requiring a small step stool to make it easier for her, although she has managed to get in without it a few times. This thing is tall!
I've driven a Bronco with a 2.3 7-speed manual and even though I prefer to shift my own gears, it think the Bronco is better with the automatic. But with 10 gears, it seems like it's always shifting as you get up to speed. With the low 4.70 axle ratio of the Sasquatch, it's in 10th gear by about 50 mph. I feel that it has more than enough power and have no regrets about not getting the 2.7 six cylinder turbo motor.
It does fine on the freeway and even manages to stay in 10th gear up some steeper hills that would have my Escape shifting down a gear. It's a little bit stiffer then my other two cars, but is still reasonably smooth riding. Other than getting way worse mileage than my other cars, it looks like it will be fine for longer distances.
There were a few unexpected surprises with it:
- The Sasquatch, even the Base model, comes with trail turn assist. I thought that only came with the higher priced packages. I've used it once to just try it out and once when I really needed it. It cuts down the turning diameter on dirt by six to eight feet and allowed me to make a U-turn where I would have had to make a 3-point turn without it.
- On the Base model, you can't unlock the door by just grabbing the handle. You have to buy one of the more expensive models for that. (Keyless ignition on all new Fords these days.)
- The optional floor liners that I ordered are rubber. I thought they were just floor mats. It also came with some carpet floor mats that are still in a bag. The rubber ones seem to be constantly covered in mud, so I'm glad I got them. They do a great job of keeping the mud out of the carpet underneath them.
- The push button parking brake had me confused for the first month. More on that later.
- For some reason, it is taller than I expected. It's a BIG step up to get into it. I already mentioned that I keep a small folding step stool for my wife.
- If you sign up for Ford Pass on your iPhone - and the Ford sales guy really pushed it - you can use your iPhone to lock, unlock and remotely start the vehicle. Even a Base model. The more expensive models have a remote start as part of the key fob, but not the Base.
Life With A 2-Door:
I chose the 2-door because I believe that Broncos, Jeeps, and trucks should not have four doors. Plus it's shorter, so that helps when going over stuff that sticks up or when the tires are all in holes or something. However, even though it has a back seat, it might almost be better without one and just make the whole back part a cargo area.
When I initially tried folding down the rear seats, they didn't seem to go down very far. Then I looked at it more closely and realized that you have to move the bottom cushions forward first, then they fold down flatter. They're still at an angle of about 15 degrees, but there is at least a bit more room to put stuff back there if you don't have more than two people in it. Nobody has ridden in my back seat so far.
When Ford was hauling pre-production Broncos around the country so that those of us planning to buy one could see them up close, I climbed into the back seat of a 2-door and the seat seemed just fine. However, the front seat was all the way forward out of the way so I didn't notice that there is a ledge that sticks out about 6 inches into the area where your feet should go and if there is a reasonably tall driver, foot room can be very tight. Comparing it to my Mustang, the Mustang seat isn't great, but at least there is room for your feet. The Bronco back seat is a decent size, if whoever is in the front seat has it forward enough.
There is room in the back for a few things, but there is not a large cargo area. One thing I found annoying, but easily fixed, is that the rear head restraints block more than half of the rear view when they're up. But they can be folded down behind the seat leaving a clear view, as long as you don't need to put anything big in the very back.
Instruments:
There are two displays in front of the driver, one with speed and other important things like that and a center one which I guess is the "infotainment" center. That's where you can choose your music, check the owner's manual, and stuff like that. There is a speedometer with a dial as well as a digital speed readout, similar to what is in my Escape. I like that. The speedometer consistently reads one mile per hour high, which I can live with. I find it strange that it's not off by a percentage like on my KTM motorcycle.
The "tachometer" is a total joke, though. Rather that putting in something useful with a dial that shows engine speed, it's a vertical bar gauge plus a couple of digits. If the engine is at 1500 rpms, it shows "1.5". Having an automatic, I would almost prefer that they didn't bother trying to show me the engine speed.
Ignoring the joke of a tachometer, there are a bunch of other things you can display that are very useful. You can select up to seven of 15 screens to display as part of "My View". I usually leave it on the fuel economy mode, but there are two trip meters, a Turbo Boost gauge (I've seen 15 psi), battery voltage, a screen showing tire pressure (that is checked every minute or so), and a great screen for off road. The off road screen shows how you have it configured (e.g., 4H, locked rear), what the lean angles are (both pitch and roll), and, if you've dropped the tire pressure, what those are too. The off road screen is what I want to see off road.
G.O.A.T. Mode And 4x4 Settings:
Ford kind of clumsily came up with GOAT out of "Goes Over Any-type of Terrain". I guess GOATOT isn't quite as good. There are about eight total modes, but NONE of the models get all of them. I don't understand that, since I think it's just software. I generally use Normal and switch to Slippery for mud and snow. I've fiddled with Eco mode and that one might be worth another one mile per gallon, but I can't be sure.
In the middle of the G.O.A.T. dial is a button thingy that lets you directly select between 2H, 4H, 4L, and 4A. You can switch between 2H and 4A at any time, but you're supposed to stop or at least be going really slow before selecting 4L or 4H. There are separate buttons on the top of the instrument panel to select front locker, rear locker, trail turn assist, or disable traction control. Trail turn assist only works in 4L or 4H, and front locker only works in 4L. However, you can hit the rear locker at any time and get it, regardless of the mode you're in.
When going through a sketchy snow drift not too long ago, I wanted front AND rear lockers enabled, but couldn't get the front one to engage. I looked it up later and the front can only be enabled in 4L. Kind of makes sense. Didn't really need the front one locked anyway to get through it.
Heater/AC Controls:
I finally have something I've been wanting in a car for a long, long time. For the heater controls, you can select any combination of windshield defrost, air coming out at shoulder height, or down at your feet - as long as you don't try "none of the above". So you can do all three if you want. I've wanted the two upper ones without going down to the feet and now I finally have that option.
Fuel Mileage:
The window sticker estimates 18 mpg city and 18 highway. Keeping it under 60 mph and not stopping can get over 23. Driving at 25 mph for a long distance has gotten 22. Generally taking it easy, including a bunch of slow off road stuff gets over 20. I find it strange that I can feel good about getting 23 in the Bronco but feel terrible about getting 25 in my Escape. That one gets about 35 if driven in a manner that would get 22+ from the Bronco.
For one full tank of gas, it showed me getting 19.5 mpg, but my calculation had me at 19.0 and if anything, my number might be high. The owner's manual indicates an unspecified "empty reserve" when the fuel gauge indicates empty. Fuel tank capacity is listed at 17.4 gallons and I recently put in 16.3 when it said 5 miles to empty, so apparently the empty reserve is around one gallon. That would imply that you could go another 20 miles or so when it says empty, but the electric fuel pump might need some fuel around it to cool it, so I don't expect to try that.
Wipers:
Even the Base model has a windshield washer for the back window. But the controls are all on the turn signal stalk instead of on a separate one on the right side as with my other Fords. Once you get used to how to work both sets of wipers, they work okay. The rear wiper blade has the same feature that annoys me on my Escape, you can only lift it about an inch, so it's really tough to clean the rear window. It's tough anyway, because the top hinges stick down almost two inches, and the washer nozzle is also down about an inch, and the spare tire and center brake light also get in the way. Using a squeegee on the rear window is just plain awkward. Oh well.
Cleaning off bugs at the gas station is more difficult than on anything else I've owned because at 6' 1" I'm still not tall enough to reach the center of the windshield. Did I mention how tall this thing is?
Numeric Keypad:
I ordered the optional numeric keypad because I like using it with my Escape. The numeric keypad is a great way to be able to leave the key in the vehicle and still be able to get in when it's locked. You can't lock your key in the car by hitting the door lock button. It locks, but as soon as you shut the door, it unlocks and the horn honks twice. However, you CAN lock the key in there with the keypad. So I'm planning to try just leaving my key in it, in the center key slot and see how that works.
One issue that I noticed about the numeric keypad is the following quote in the one-page instruction sheet:
Low Power Warning
If you unlock the door with the keypad and the locks cycle one additional time, it is time to replace the unit. The battery is not replaceable.
So, once the battery in it is dead, the whole keypad is dead. Ugh!
Wind Noise:
In normal driving the wind noise isn't a big concern, although it's louder than the Escape. However, with a 25 mph wind coming from the side in front it's loud. At least as noisy as my Mustang Convertible (top up). This is on the "Molded In Top (MIC)" setup, which is made of some kind of plastic or fiberglass.
Parking Brake:
I let my son-in-law test drive it and as I was about to explain how to release the parking brake he reached down and tore it right out of there. Apparently at the Bronco Off-Rodeo events they have a similar problem. The next time I let anybody drive it the first thing I will say to them is "DON'T DESTROY MY PARKING BRAKE!!". Then I'll calmly explain how to gently push the button down there to release it. I was able to put the broken one back together again so that it can be reused - after paying the dealer a significant amount to put a new on in there.
Manuals:
I've used the owner's manual more for this car than probably all other cars I've owned put together. I read it once before it was built and one more time when I first got it. A good technical writer could probably cut the 552 pages down to about 200 and have a much better manual. I'm guessing the legal guys are mostly responsible for about 1/3 of it being warning messages. And a lot of stuff gets repeated over and over.
There were six small "manuals" in the glove box when I got it. Two of them were actually useful. I haven't tossed any of them out yet.
Jacking A Bronco:
I got curious if the jack that comes with the Bronco was actually capable of lifting each of the four tires off of the ground far enough to change a flat. I looked for the information in the "manual" that you can see on the screen in the console and couldn't find the details. Then I looked for it online and didn't see any photos, but there was an explanation. Finally, I looked through the PDF Bronco manual on my computer and everything that I needed was under "Changing a Road Wheel" beginning on page 387. The jack looks pretty much the same as the one Ford seems to use in all of their vehicles, at least very similar to what I have with my other two Fords. But for changing front wheels it has a 3 1/2 inch extension that gets attached to the top of the jack to make it tall enough to lift the frame up high enough to get the front wheel off of the ground. At the rear you just stick the jack under the axle and it can easily lift high enough. There are multiple extension to the crank so that you don't have to crawl under there with it to jack it up. I wanted to find all of this out before actually needing to know it out in the middle of nowhere.
Width, Fender Flares, Mud, Etc.
Supposedly the Sasquatch is two inches wider than the plain Base model. Or maybe it's two inches wider on each side, I can't remember. Definitely wider than most Jeeps.
I've had it in the mud multiple times and it is absolutely a mud magnet. If you're in the thick stuff it throws up chunks and packs them under the fenders and fender flares as well as on the front side of the rear fender flares. I've learned to scrape it off before it dries or it can be really tough to remove. There have been two times when I scraped at least five pounds of mud off before hitting the car wash. I almost feel bad for the piles of mud I've left in the do it yourself car washes that I've visited. I had to use those when it was below freezing. Now that it's warmed up I can hose it off at the end of my driveway. Then I use a square shovel to scoop up as much as I can, leaving less mud to flow down the gutter past my neighbors.
Once the Bronco gets muddy, it's hard to get in and out of it without becoming a bit muddy too. The door handles collect mud so that the door can't be opened without getting mud on your hand. And mud collects right under the doors so that if you slide out you're likely to get the back of your leg in that mud on the way down to the ground. I hate how mudflaps look, but I might have to invest in some, especially for the front wheels. Those would keep a lot of the mud off of the sides, even if they wouldn't help inside the fenders at all.
Conclusion:
Would I do it again? Yes! But the long, long wait was tough. I wanted an "off road beast", and I now have one. I don't plan to try anything past a difficulty rating of 4, which it should easily handle. Maybe a 5 if I have a good reason for it. With the front and rear lockers and the high ground clearance, I don't expect to ever get stuck. But I have a tow strap anyway, just in case. Maybe I can pull somebody else out someday.
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