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tyrobronco

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As a ‘95 Def90 NAS owner (‘til death do us part) with a Badlands on order, I was thrilled at the advance marketing for the Bronco - took the pressure off of my wife’s insistence that we should get a new Defender...no, no, no!
To me the new Defender is visually indistinguishable from a Honda Element LOL (a great vehicle in its own right).

0603240d-9c67-46e0-8461-4a0b7a6ff9b4-jpeg.jpg



fb532094-adcf-491e-89e6-894a2ef90a79-jpeg.jpg
At least the element has a white roof, right?
 

ElJeffe

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The new Defender is really more of a successor to the LR4/Discovery.

The new Bronco is a better successor to the the older Defenders in both style and capabilities.
I drive a 2018 LR Discovery turbodiesel, and couldn't agree more with the above. I love the rugged older Defenders. They are art forms to my eye.

When I first saw the 2021 Bronco on build & price, the side profile screamed not only "vintage Bronco" to me, but also "vintage Defender." There are lines that looked common to my eye, in a good way.

Below, I line up the original Defender 110 (middle), new Defender 110 (left), and new Bronco (right). The Bronco looks much more like a design successor to the Defender. I can't wait to get mine.

Ford Bronco 2-Door Bronco vs 2-Door Defender Comparison Review Video by Edmunds Screen Shot 2021-10-16 at 8.51.15 AM
 

soupcook

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GreyBronco

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Pompous comes to mind here.
 

WuNgUn

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Wow, Joel McHale has fallen far, fast.
Anyway, saw a 4 door in person and I was impressed. Its not a classic Defender, but I like it.
Yeah, they have SERIOUS presence in person.
 

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Land Rovers are Fords. Ford owned them until 2008. The one LR model looks just like the Explorer.
 

skhubbard93

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Anybody have cliff's notes? not watching for 1/2 hour...
Just watch the last 1:08. All you really need from this one, as the rest is covered in better videos or a trip to off roadeo with a more capable vehicle than the one critiqued herein. Even the mall crawler was found to be more of a successor to the original Defender than…well…the new Defender.
Briefly, paraphrased, "The Bronco is the new Defender."

But I disagree. The '95 Defender 90 was slow, tall, and massive. The Bronco is a bit smaller, quite a bit faster, more comfortable, and also very capable. It carves away some of the rougher edges of the D90 while retaining the cachet, the uniqueness, off-road performance and the "What just drove by us?" factor.

And it won't cost $5k per year to keep it running.
 

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frankk

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As a ‘95 Def90 NAS owner (‘til death do us part) with a Badlands on order, I was thrilled at the advance marketing for the Bronco - took the pressure off of my wife’s insistence that we should get a new Defender...no, no, no!
In the same boat. Owned a 97 Defender for years. Waited anxiously for the D90 return. When it came back as a body mod to the low end Range Rover, I was thoroughly disappointed. Bronco saved the day, offering what I see as a real D90 replacement...a kinda modernized Defender.

Briefly, paraphrased, "The Bronco is the new Defender."

But I disagree. The '95 Defender 90 was slow, tall, and massive. The Bronco is a bit smaller, quite a bit faster, more comfortable, and also very capable. It carves away some of the rougher edges of the D90 while retaining the cachet, the uniqueness, off-road performance and the "What just drove by us?" factor.

And it won't cost $5k per year to keep it running.
Check stats, the Bronco is larger than the 1990s Defender by quite a bit. And, while a 90s Defender wasn't inexpensive to run, it's was about half of the $5K annual estimate.
 

skhubbard93

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In the same boat. Owned a 97 Defender for years. Waited anxiously for the D90 return. When it came back as a body mod to the low end Range Rover, I was thoroughly disappointed. Bronco saved the day, offering what I see as a real D90 replacement...a kinda modernized Defender.



Check stats, the Bronco is larger than the 1990s Defender by quite a bit. And, while a 90s Defender wasn't inexpensive to run, it's was about half of the $5K annual estimate.
Just going by my own experience with it. Okay $5k is a bit high... maybe 4.6k. And that's not including the fuel consumption I measured at 10 mpg.
When I test-drove a BB trim, I wasn't seated as high as I was in the D90. Regardless of whether it was bigger, the D90 darn-well seemed bigger. The center console was wider, the soft-top roof was higher (when it was on), and it was much more like driving a truck. If FMC happened to work some magic and make a larger vehicle feel smaller, well, power to them.
 

b1lf

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Sorry if this has been posted. I couldn’t find it.


TheSmokingTire also test drove both of these exact vehicles:











I test drove a Defender 90 P400 last weekend....... it was far nicer on the road, unquestionably (and I had a Bronco 4dr Badlands for 2 days). People on this forum are just blindly stupid if they don't acknowledge the Defender as an excellent vehicle, on and off road. Spec it with the 18" wheels and you can fit plenty of tire on it....

They just get too expensive too quickly, are more expensive to insure (nearly double the cost for a 35/male with zero ticket/accident record), and obviously the repair costs will be much higher long term.

I just can't swing the (P400) Defender. Maybe one day.
 

DrewBronc21

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Defenders are supposed to topless manuals. At least Ford got that right with the Bronco
 
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frankk

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Just going by my own experience with it. Okay $5k is a bit high... maybe 4.6k. And that's not including the fuel consumption I measured at 10 mpg.
When I test-drove a BB trim, I wasn't seated as high as I was in the D90. Regardless of whether it was bigger, the D90 darn-well seemed bigger. The center console was wider, the soft-top roof was higher (when it was on), and it was much more like driving a truck. If FMC happened to work some magic and make a larger vehicle feel smaller, well, power to them.
The new Bronco is a few inches wider than the D90 (which is a few inches wide than a Wrangler). Bronco is more than a few inches longer. The D90 is a few inches taller. The D90 driver's seat is like a dining room chair. It sits upright. That, combined with the solid front axle, made for a truck like ride (think cement mixer). And, yes, it's small V8 went through lots of gas.
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