7,000 Miles and Loving Our Bronco

[sledboy]

We have had our Bronco for about 2.5 months and have put 7,000 miles on it. It has been phenominal, on and off the road! We took it on the Hog's Back Jeep trail yesterday. This was the most extreme trail that we have taken the Bronco on so far. Not crazy extreme but it keeps you on your toes for sure. It's tight between the trees and would have probably gotten some pen-striping had we not installed PPF.

Some things to note. Major pros and cons remain about the same as they did from the beginning.

Pros

• Power and torque of the 2.7 is great!
• On-road handling.
• Off-road ability.
• Large screen and technology.
• Fuel economy has been surprising. At 7,000 miles, we are getting 20.6 mpg. This includes a little bit of towing and quite a bit of off-roading. Of course 20.6 mpg isn't great but it is better than we were expecting.

Cons

• We camp/sleep in the back and the 3" step is very frustrating.
• No heating/AC vents in the back.
• No cup holders in the back.
• Wind noise from the MIC top over 65 MPH. Hopefully MIC 2.0 will help.

Overall, we are loving it! As you can see, the cons are little things. There is nothing major that we don't like about our Bronco.

There have been no glitches or unexpected problems. One thing we did experience was a completely black screen one time after we started it. My wife Googled the problem and found out that it just needed to be re-booted by holding down the radio power and the fast-forward scan buttons for about 5 seconds. Worked great!

Hopefully you all will be getting yours soon and begin your Bronco adventures

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[Lab00Rat]

I'm sure I'll see a few 100k+ reports before I can even lay hands on mine.

I'll read every one of them too...

 

[Oneand0]

Thank you for the update! Mine should be arriving this week. It’s going to be my local around town and weekend vehicle. So it shouldn’t get that many miles on it, until next spring and summer.

 

[jd-ford-hd]

Cons

• 
  
• No cup holders in the back.

Does your back seat not have the fold down arm rest with cup holders?

 

[sledboy]

Does your back seat not have the fold down arm rest with cup holders?

No. The marine grade vinyl does not. Only the leather has the fold down arm rests with cup holders.

 

[jd-ford-hd]

No. The marine grade vinyl does not. Only the leather has the fold down arm rests with cup holders.

Thank you.! That’s crazy ain’t it.!? I’ve put a deposit on a mannequin that was spec'd exactly to my liking, but I’ve been telling myself that the $2300 for leather could have been left off.! Now I’m glad it’s there.!

 

[bytheway]

Did the mileage improve after the break-in period? I have yet to crack 17. I wouldn't think sasquatch would knock off 4mpg.

 

[stm378]

No. The marine grade vinyl does not. Only the leather has the fold down arm rests with cup holders.

The fact that this would even be necessary on a $50 some thousand dollar truck is ridiculous, but I was thinking about one of these for the rear seats…
Pilot Automotive Pilot 124809 Universal Truck Seat/Bench Contractor Center Console Business Organizer and Storage with Adjustable Cup Holders, Clip Board, and Padded Top Lid for Armrest, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007KXJG6...abc_JAR394HAJS3GZF4Z70B1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Joey.calc]

Did the mileage improve after the break-in period? I have yet to crack 17. I wouldn't think sasquatch would knock off 4mpg.

Not sure what OP will post about mileage after break-in period, but if you are surprised that SAS knocks off 3-4 MPG then you should read into the physics of unsprung mass, rotational mass, tire weights, and rolling resistances. Sasquatch package will make the vehicle much less efficient with these things considered. It also makes the driving dynamics very floppy with body roll and "floating". Don't get me wrong, it is no wrangler with the awful steering, but after driving a Badlands (non-sasquatch) and Wiltrak (sasquatch of course), the difference was night and day - non-sasquatch was much better to drive on the road. Just judging by the way they felt during the drive, I would not be surprised if SAS is responsible for a lot of that loss of mileage. Of course, other specs (like hard top vs soft top) and total weight should also be considered.

 

[GoTigersGoBronco]

The fact that you've averaged 20.7mpg is fairly impressive. That's about 12% better than I'd expect.

 

[Rahkmalla]

I do not understand everyone's (including my wife's) obsession with cupholders. In my K900 I always kept the wood trim lid over the cupholders closed. In my wife's Rav she always has a bottle of water (same one untouched for over a month now) and hand sanitizer (again untouched).

You all know the Europeans make fun of us because of our love of cupholders right?

 

[ChrisD]

I'm at about 4,000 miles right now. Mine's a Badlands "non-Squatch" that I've put up on 315/70/17 Duratracs with a leveling kit. That gives me the 4.46 gear ratio, but 35s.

My overall average is 18.6 but that includes some long 12 hour days in 4L. Highway, well, my last mileage was 20.7 according to Fuelly. Essentially, if I do a lot of "in town" driving, I'll drop below 20, but if it's all highway, I'll be above 20.

Our house is on the side of a mountain and if I'm doing a lot of short trips, I wind up doing a lot of climbing back and forth - the climb kills the mileage.

Also, the Bronco has all the aerodynamics of a brick, so if there's any headwind at all, you will know it.

 

[bytheway]

Not sure what OP will post about mileage after break-in period, but if you are surprised that SAS knocks off 3-4 MPG then you should read into the physics of unsprung mass, rotational mass, tire weights, and rolling resistances. Sasquatch package will make the vehicle much less efficient with these things considered. It also makes the driving dynamics very floppy with body roll and "floating". Don't get me wrong, it is no wrangler with the awful steering, but after driving a Badlands (non-sasquatch) and Wiltrak (sasquatch of course), the difference was night and day - non-sasquatch was much better to drive on the road. Just judging by the way they felt during the drive, I would not be surprised if SAS is responsible for a lot of that loss of mileage. Of course, other specs (like hard top vs soft top) and total weight should also be considered.

I'm not disappointed with the road manners or fuel economy, just surprised at the difference in two similar vehicles. The K02s are only 1lb lighter than the Goodyears. They are both rated at 17 combined. Non-sas is rated 1mpg better on the highway. I was just curious if his went up after the break in period since he has 6k more miles or if it has been that good since the start.

 

[MayhemMike]

Not sure what OP will post about mileage after break-in period, but if you are surprised that SAS knocks off 3-4 MPG then you should read into the physics of unsprung mass, rotational mass, tire weights, and rolling resistances. Sasquatch package will make the vehicle much less efficient with these things considered. It also makes the driving dynamics very floppy with body roll and "floating". Don't get me wrong, it is no wrangler with the awful steering, but after driving a Badlands (non-sasquatch) and Wiltrak (sasquatch of course), the difference was night and day - non-sasquatch was much better to drive on the road. Just judging by the way they felt during the drive, I would not be surprised if SAS is responsible for a lot of that loss of mileage. Of course, other specs (like hard top vs soft top) and total weight should also be considered.

When you state the non SAS BL road better on the road, are you referring to handling, or the smoothness of the ride? I have been told the SAS has the smoother road ride. I have not heard any first hand opinions concerning handling. I originally wanted non SAS BL two door, but my colleague who tested every model with and without SAS claimed SAS was smoother on daily roads. Thanks for your opinion.

 

[indio22]

We have had our Bronco for about 2.5 months and have put 7,000 miles on it. It has been phenominal, on and off the road! We took it on the Hog's Back Jeep trail yesterday. This was the most extreme trail that we have taken the Bronco on so far. Not crazy extreme but it keeps you on your toes for sure. It's tight between the trees and would have probably gotten some pen-striping had we not installed PPF.

Some things to note. Major pros and cons remain about the same as they did from the beginning.

Pros

• Power and torque of the 2.7 is great!
• On-road handling.
• Off-road ability.
• Large screen and technology.
• Fuel economy has been surprising. At 7,000 miles, we are getting 20.6 mpg. This includes a little bit of towing and quite a bit of off-roading. Of course 20.6 mpg isn't great but it is better than we were expecting.

Cons

• We camp/sleep in the back and the 3" step is very frustrating.
• No heating/AC vents in the back.
• No cup holders in the back.
• Wind noise from the MIC top over 65 MPH. Hopefully MIC 2.0 will help.

Overall, we are loving it! As you can see, the cons are little things. There is nothing major that we don't like about the Bronco.

There have been no glitches or unexpected problems. One thing we did experience was a completely black screen one time after we started it. My wife Googled the problem and found out that it just needed to be re-booted by holding down the rodio power and the fast-forward scan buttons for about 5 seconds. Worked great!

Hopefully you all will be getting yours soon and begin your Bronco adventures

Thanks for not just driving on pavement! Got to admit, early adopter pavement-only drivers kind of tick me off, they could be driving anything to the grocery store, lol. Seeing your post with off-road photos makes me happy!

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