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Ive never seen a vette off road
Has nothing to do with it. The % of people truly off-roading this will be 10% just like most people don’t track corvettes. I guess I’ll draw a picture to explain next time :)
 

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Has nothing to do with it. The % of people truly off-roading this will be 10% just like most people don’t track corvettes. I guess I’ll draw a picture to explain next time :)
Please do. A picture is worth a thousand words. TY
 

annieVonBebop

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I just passed 3000 miles on my Big Bend, which is a very basic rig with four cylinder engine and soft top. The good…..excellent road manners, drives incredibly smooth even at 90 plus mph, far superior to my 2016 Wrangler Rubicon, really no comparison. Even without lift or aggressive tires it handled off road in the Colorado mountains extremely well, even through some pretty rough and rocky trails.

The bad….only 18.3 mpg so far, although to be fair much of it is off road or at higher speeds than most (already got first speeding ticket as well) will drive. I am installing tube steps next week, my wife struggles to get in, the grab handles don’t seem to help, she is just five feet even.

The ugly…the soft top is a pain at best. When stowed all of the way, you lose entire visibility through rear mirror. Removed completely it would solve the problem, but then you wouldn’t have the top available. There is a ton of road noise as well as warm air circulating around the cabin. The three removable panels are a real pain to get back in place properly, easily as bad as the Wrangler soft top, which is a similar nightmare as well.

That’s about it, I have a second order confirmation from January, I plan to use it to buy the one I really wanted, which will be a hardtop six cylinder Sasquatch stick. I fully expect to wait until fall of 22 before I get it, and I also fully expect that I will find a buyer for my current Bronco (even with 30 k miles) at the $39 k price I paid.

I am doing the Off Roadeo in Austin next weekend, which should help me figure exactly how to configure my next order. I feel for all of you waiting for delivery, but trust me that you won’t be disappointed!

02275F8F-199E-4ED3-8DCB-352270373040.jpeg
Fellow Coloradan here, so happy to hear folks around here are getting theirs!

Out of curiosity which trails have you taken this up so far or where have you gone off roading? I just did Yankee Hill in my stock Xterra and it was just a wee bit tricky. Since the ground clearance for a non Squatch is comparable, really wondering how yours did?
 

Mr. Hankey

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Here is a Link and image below showing example fuel efficiency vs speed for various vehicles. I have been giving the Bronco mileage a lot of thought, as I take long trips and often go 75mph or a bit more, and I fear the mileage drop off will be more severe given the brick shape. My half ton truck is too big and 20 years old so I’m looking forward to a new 2 door MT to help me get to my fly fishing spots off unimproved roads and just for a fun new ride. Will I have the willpower to take it easy and drive 65, for hundreds of miles, even when under the speed limit, to save almost 30%? Not sure, but while I want some power in my back pocket, I drive my wife’s RAV4 in eco mode and delight in the resulting fuel economy. Before I change my entire roadtrip approach, I just plan to test mpg of my aerodynamic brick of happiness on long drives at a couple speeds after the break-in period and go from there.

Ford Bronco 3000 miles in…good, bad and the ugly 855882D5-F9BD-4532-8171-1F7EEDAE8922


Ford Bronco 3000 miles in…good, bad and the ugly 7F69ED3A-DDDC-4A79-ADC2-F469736A77CA
 
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87Bronco

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I just passed 3000 miles on my Big Bend, which is a very basic rig with four cylinder engine and soft top. The good…..excellent road manners, drives incredibly smooth even at 90 plus mph, far superior to my 2016 Wrangler Rubicon, really no comparison. Even without lift or aggressive tires it handled off road in the Colorado mountains extremely well, even through some pretty rough and rocky trails.

The bad….only 18.3 mpg so far, although to be fair much of it is off road or at higher speeds than most (already got first speeding ticket as well) will drive. I am installing tube steps next week, my wife struggles to get in, the grab handles don’t seem to help, she is just five feet even.

The ugly…the soft top is a pain at best. When stowed all of the way, you lose entire visibility through rear mirror. Removed completely it would solve the problem, but then you wouldn’t have the top available. There is a ton of road noise as well as warm air circulating around the cabin. The three removable panels are a real pain to get back in place properly, easily as bad as the Wrangler soft top, which is a similar nightmare as well.

That’s about it, I have a second order confirmation from January, I plan to use it to buy the one I really wanted, which will be a hardtop six cylinder Sasquatch stick. I fully expect to wait until fall of 22 before I get it, and I also fully expect that I will find a buyer for my current Bronco (even with 30 k miles) at the $39 k price I paid.

I am doing the Off Roadeo in Austin next weekend, which should help me figure exactly how to configure my next order. I feel for all of you waiting for delivery, but trust me that you won’t be disappointed!

Ford Bronco 3000 miles in…good, bad and the ugly 7F69ED3A-DDDC-4A79-ADC2-F469736A77CA
Thank you so much for sharing that.
 

Itchysquatch

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Hilarious with people posting MPG when they drive 80 and 90MpH 🤷
It probably doesn't matter much to Americans who pay what, $2.75 a gallon and think thats a lot, but you'll need FOUR times more power every time you double your speed...
Doesn't matter if it's 25/50MPH or 100/200MPH.... 4X as much.
This is where diesel excels. My all wheel drive mb e250 gets 40mpg at 80mph… great for long commutes (which is why I purchased it used). They are $$$ to maintain though.
 

Itchysquatch

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Here is a Link and image below showing example fuel efficiency vs speed for various vehicles. I have been giving the Bronco mileage a lot of thought, as I take long trips and often go 75mph or a bit more, and I fear the mileage drop off will be more severe given the brick shape. My half ton truck is too big and 20 years old so I’m looking forward to a new 2 door MT to help me get to my fly fishing spots off unimproved roads and just for a fun new ride. Will I have the willpower to take it easy and drive 65, for hundreds of miles, even when under the speed limit, to save almost 30%? Not sure, but while I want some power in my back pocket, I drive my wife’s RAV4 in eco mode and delight in the resulting fuel economy. Before I change my entire roadtrip approach, I just plan to test mpg of my aerodynamic brick of happiness on long drives at a couple speeds after the break-in period and go from there.

Ford Bronco 3000 miles in…good, bad and the ugly 7F69ED3A-DDDC-4A79-ADC2-F469736A77CA


Ford Bronco 3000 miles in…good, bad and the ugly 7F69ED3A-DDDC-4A79-ADC2-F469736A77CA

Really wish there were more diesel options out there for us… VW scandal really put a dent in that. The torque and fuel efficiency is just amazing.
 

cmb

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Nice review! The soft top was really a fumble on Fords part. Those savgy windows are really ugly. Also interesting you think the Wrangler has a bad soft top. I have a soft top on my JL and think it’s one of the best on the market. It definitely has more road noise then a hard top, but the windows are really easy to put on and take off. Right now I’m finishing up a 3,000 mile road trip and it’s handled it really well. The warm air thing is just a reality of having a black piece of fabric over your head. Visibility is just an unfortunate reality with the soft tops, but I’ve found that if I have a large velcro strap, I can get the fabric bundled up a but better and reduce flapping. Helps with visibility too, so you may want to try that. I prefer the look of the fastback top on the Bronco, but I have only seen them sporadically.
I agree with the JL soft top being pretty easy to use. owned many Jeeps over the years and this softtop is by far the best one. I picked up a cover for mine, really helps with visibility.

Ford Bronco 3000 miles in…good, bad and the ugly 20180827_185539_resized
 

Roamania

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Western Freeways are normally posted at 75. Texas has some posed at 80, and doing anything under 5 over is a good way to get run off the road.
In addition to those long and glorious 80mph stretches out in West Texas there is also an 85mph toll highway just east of Austin. (SH130)
 

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I audibly laughed at this. $2.75 a gallon? I think I got gas at $4.75 yesterday. I'm just lucky I only buy 3 gallons to fill up. If my Bronco ever gets here, I'm in for a world of pain.
Where are you at? Central TX here, paying 2.50 or 2.80 depending on what part of the state and what station I pass.
 

BroncoTX

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In addition to those long and glorious 80mph stretches out in West Texas there is also an 85mph toll highway just east of Austin. (SH130)
And, frankly, speeding. I went to Corpus from SATX this weekend, and was going 90 for a good stretch of it (and the others around me weren't going much slower, with a few exceptions).

The roads out here are wide and straight, with lots of visibility. If you can get away with it, it's nicer to get to Corpus in two hours instead of three.
 

Efthreeoh

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That's a good point with some long term consequences.

For example, my Bronco is fairly loaded (BL, Squatch), yet I'm watching a ton of cheaper strip builds be sold to Tom and Dick down the street while I just eat it. Long term may be that this is my first, last, and only Ford product ever. Maybe one day I'll defect to Jeep since the customer experience I've had frankly sucks, and I'm coming from the luxury ranks of BMW where they bend over backwards for whatever I've asked for through multiple purchases. I don't expect that from Ford, but this is just ridiculous to be honest.

Add to that, I'm a wheeler and enthusiast, not for Ford, but for vehicles and off roading. Other thing is that Ford has just opened the door for many more to get back into this market, as no one could screw this up more than Ford with the exception of the shit show known as the pansy assed new Defender. Nissan and whoever else won't make that same mistake.

Off roading isn't going to stay popular for long, but camping will and the hierarchy of needs to camp in comfort "and" style will make the market for vehicles that are rugged continue to grow.

Ford is walking itself into a dangerous position with no prior example to learn from being in such a position, then pissing it all away through incompetence and indifference towards it's most valuable and profitable customers.
I'm a BMW owner since 1987 when we bought our new E30. I have 4 BMWs in my fleet at the moment. Every BMW dealership I've been to for service, which is rare because I DIY, has tried to screw me worse than any Ford dealership I've had experience with. I've owned 4 different Fords over the years.

BMW is no customer-friendly outfit either. BMWs rank about the same in reliability as Fords do. E46 cracked rear subframes, cracked front strut towers on the Z8. E90 M3 SMG. Build quality of early Spartanburg E36 and Z3. X3 sunroof cassettes. I could go on...

Lol.
 

survivormanca

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Nice review! The soft top was really a fumble on Fords part. Those savgy windows are really ugly. Also interesting you think the Wrangler has a bad soft top. I have a soft top on my JL and think it’s one of the best on the market. It definitely has more road noise then a hard top, but the windows are really easy to put on and take off. Right now I’m finishing up a 3,000 mile road trip and it’s handled it really well. The warm air thing is just a reality of having a black piece of fabric over your head. Visibility is just an unfortunate reality with the soft tops, but I’ve found that if I have a large velcro strap, I can get the fabric bundled up a but better and reduce flapping. Helps with visibility too, so you may want to try that. I prefer the look of the fastback top on the Bronco, but I have only seen them sporadically.
Well, I am happy the top is a little saggy. Otherwise it would be even more of a PIA to put the panels back on.
 

rmc523

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This is why I think Ford should have offered rear camera mirror for the rear view mirror. Then, regardless of what is in the back seat, cargo area or with the soft top down, you still have full unobstructed view
I agree, that would've been nice. Could've been mounted on the rearview camera mount or something.

Nobody is buying it for fuel economy. That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice to have it get better fuel economy. Word is that hybrid 2.3T power train will get around 340hp/500 LB-ft AND get good fuel economy. I mean… doesn’t that sound tempting, or are we all sticking with the “I didn’t buy it for fuel economy” story?
I was eyeing a hybrid pre-launch. I'm figuring we won't see it until '23 or '24 though alongside/after the next-gen Ranger's launch.
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