A Wrangler Owner/Enthusiast/Builder honest review of the 2021 Bronco -- long...

[ezapar]

Thanks for the write up.

I'll be moving from a Rubicon to a Badlands. Like you, I'm aware that my Jeep is pretty superior to the Bronco at rock crawling. But that 7 mile ride on the gravel road to get to the trail head is rough on the spine. The ride back to the road too, as well as the 1.5 hours ride home on the highway.

I expect to give up some off road abilities, but expect to gain some too. (high speeds you talked about) But after driving a couple of Broncos, I know I'm going to enjoy those long drives a lot more.

I'm willing to go out and wheel with whoever. I'd rather go out with a knowledgable person than a newb, Jeep or not.

Look!! Subarus. lol (we let them follow us down the trails, lockers needed to go up)

Sponsored

 

[Doetsch Off-Road]

While he has a lot of experience, he is certainly more brash in his comms with members here than other sponsors of the forum…

I dont sugar coat things. Most prefer it that way.
I also stay in my lane. Im good at what I do, and know a decent amount about this game. Experience, not ego.

 

[Zero_chance]

Theres no cliff-notes for this. Read it or pass.

For the last 10 years I have been a Jeep enthusiast. Starting with 2 Grand Cherokees (wk2 platform) Which I heavily modified, at least as far as was reasonable at the time. www.wk2project.com.
After that, I jumped in to JL Wranglers both as a hobby and then as a builder.
www.jlrubitron.com The 1st Wrangler Build.
www.thecustomjeepbuilder.com The Passion
www.doetschoffroad.com The Shop

I am currently building my own Bronco Badlands for SEMA 2021. I will also be building for the show a 1st edition SAS, a Wildtrak SAS and another Badlands.

My Badlands (non SAS) arrived Friday so here is the initial impression of the vehicle itself, followed by a more direct comparison to Wranglers.

Initial impression Day 1-
Looks: Looks cool. I appreciate that while they were certainly using the Wrangler as their model, there are a ton of important physical differences that give it its own personality strictly from a visual perspective. Interior is definitely nice to look at and be surrounded by while driving. Seat design and bolster are comfortable and attractive. Gauge cluster is a bit weak with top off and bright outside. Not a huge fan.
Materials: Seating, Skip the vinyl. Not impressed and gets VERY hot. Plastics in most places are very cheap (too cheap) too thin. "Oh shit" handles are too loose and flimsy to be a reassuring handle. Rear cargo plastics are very thin and off. There will be a lot of things that will come loose and make noise/rattle over the 1st few years of ownership, especially if used. Semi-normal in this segment, but if they wanted to excel they could have spent more time here.
Engine/Trans: I chose the 10spd/2.7 setup so I cannot speak to the other. While there is certainly some significant lag off the line the rest of the powertrain is quite nice. I cant imagine it with less power, (2.3) but like I said, I dont really know. It has, for its size, great around town power, passing power and fantastic gearing all around. It also really knows its place when offroading in different slow and fast situations but ill dive back in to that later.
Soft Top: I like it. I dont care for the look of the rear flap but thats my only major gripe. Taking the windows out (and back in) is straight forward. The positions of opening it are nice, and the "click" to secure it when its all the way back is nice, although it still makes some noises. Removing it completely is easy, as long as you are two tall-ish, strong-ish guys. My 5'9 16yr old kid gave it his best but scraped my roll bar on the way up and out. A bit noisier than expected.
Audio: I did not opt for the upgraded audio. BIG MISTAKE. Its really horrible. Really.

Day 1.5 real world driving
Put about 120 miles on it in the 1st day, mix of city and highway. I loved it all. Drives fantastic. It does drive BIG. If you are coming from a Jeep, a small SUV...this will feel big and wide. Bigger and wider than it really is. 1st time through tight parking lots etc youll be a bit more careful as you learn it. It felt as wide as my full size trucks. In traffic (even though it seems like it takes up the whole lane), its actually quite nimble. it glides around the road effortlessly. It likes faster. Everything with this platform seems to reward a bit of speed and momentum. Slow speed turns are a lil more awkward and require more steering effort than most in this segment. 10 spd! 10 spd! 10 spd!!!! Absolutely fantastic transmission and programmed perfectly IMO.

Day 2 off-roading. Basic Trails. (With 12 Wranglers)
So today I took it on a couple of trails mostly rated in the 3-4.5 out of 10. I spent 7 hours wheeling around Arizona at Butcher Jones, the Rolls OHV, and Bulldog Canyon. This is mostly basic trails with loose dirt, rock, river rock, banked turns, a few hill climbs, a couple of waterfall decents and some really fun high speed sandy washes.
The Bronco really shines in this category. Again, Ill make comparisons later but just straight impressions here. The 4wd modes/GOAT is all fairly intuitive. Its nice that if you shut the Bronco off on a break, it will ask if you'd like to resume that same mode at startup. Yes, thank you I do! I spent a majority of the day in 2wd, but used 4hi/baja as well as 4low/rock crawl as well.
The Bronco soaks up everything. The IFS and Bilsteins were clearly in their element.
On the trail at and avg of 13mph things were simple, comfortable and enjoyable.
The Hill climbs I mostly used baja and momentum and it conquered them all without breaking a sweat. One hill climb had very loose rock at the top 1/4 of the hill as well as a very high angle. It did require 4lo and both lockers but once engaged it pulled up it like it was nothing. It did take a bit longer to engage than I cared for though.
The washes. Oh my. It is very hard to unsettle this Bronco! Baja engaged and foot to the floor. The electronic nannies allowed a perfect amount of "fun-having" while keeping it all well balanced. Ruts/woops were very much welcome and soaked up by the suspension much better than expected. I have a Ram TRX as well so this is high praise. The Bronco had poise throughout all of the paces I put it through. I very much want to run a wildtrak through this same section.

OK, so how does it compare to a Wrangler?!?!
Dammit...I really wish this wasnt a question, because it SHOULDNT be. Yet here we are.

-It is NOT a Wrangler. Stop the comparisons, stop the wiener measurements, stop the hate. They are different and thats a good thing! The Bronco 100% has better daily driver manners, there is no question. The Bronco definitely enjoys high speed anything more than the Wrangler. The Wrangler 100% excels in Rock Crawling. Everything else comes down to a matter of opinion. They arent the same nor were they meant to be.

-GO OUT WITH WRANGLER GROUPS! If you do not come from an offroad background, the Wrangler guys will teach you alot even though they are vastly different. Other IFS rigs (tacomas and the like) honestly do not hold a candle to the Bronco and in most cases you can run similar lines to the Wranglers. Plus theres lots of them doing lots of things. Be friendly, we do not bite. Whatever trash talking you hear at 730am at the trailhead will be gone by 9.

-The Bronco both fills a gap, and takes away some of Jeeps thunder. A large majority of Wrangler owners have Sports and Saharas. They are still very capable off-road, sans lockers and low range. They have great articulation (especially once modified) that allow them to do so fairly difficult things easily. Rubicons are a different creature and at the end of the day whatever level Sasquatch you get stock vs stock or modified vs modified will never be able to rock crawl (7 and up trails) like a Rubicon. Please do not think it will. It cannot. It isnt supposed to (yet).

-The Bronco is a better place to spend time in. It looks good, it feels good. If you are commuting a lot, or love road trips...it wins.

-The Wrangler fit & finish is better all around, and thats not saying much for either of em!

-Bronco wins the transmission war and I really love the JL 8speed.

-2.7 is > 2.0 or 3.6
-2.7 is < 3.0d or 6.4

-The power of the 2.7 and its very smart 10spd is phenomenal offroad both in slow and high speed offroading. The additional tuning changes with the GOAT modes make it enjoyable in all situations. There was really no where I was expecting or needing more power or being in the proper gear.

-Bronco braking is better.

IMO
In my opinion, most Wrangler sport/sahara owners that test drive a Bronco (if they like the looks of it) will strongly consider moving to a Bronco. Rightfully so. Rubicon owners like myself (ones that use them to the extreme) will stay put. But I sure like having the Bronco in the stable!!

Now comes the fun part! I cannot wait to begin building these 4 Broncos. Each will have a different use/purpose/look. I promise to keep the forum up to date on them with much shorter posts.

Nice that you’re in AZ too. Are you going to stock / sell any Bronco stuff in the future? Would rather buy local if it’s an option. I’m withholding my order until the 23 MY though, don’t want to order options I don’t want when I can wait for what I really want.

 

[Doetsch Off-Road]

Hey OP, welcome aboard. I’ll state first that I’m not a customer, and likely never will be... but... can I ask what you plan to do differently than most every other off-road outfitter/builder? You stated that Bronco can’t rock crawl as good as a Rubicon, so my question is, do you have a design to cure some of that? I don’t mean by doing an axle swap... more along the lines of longer A-arms or something of that nature. Seems most everyone will be making the same boring triangulated looking bumpers... and probably those silly angry eyes looking stuff, so how are you gonna stand out and carry the Bronco to the next level, for the customer? How are you gonna win over customers that don’t care to play dress-up with their rigs, but instead want to boost its capabilities. I don’t mean to seem condescending either... just looking for real answers to what you say are the Broncos shortcomings.

Well, we are not a manufacturer of parts (except steering for JK/JL/JTs). But we do work very closely with many manufacturers of aftermarket parts during the R&D Process. As a matter of fact my Bronco is about to head to Texas for that purpose. We also test all the products we carry in house on our own vehicles.

I can tell you that there are a TON of performance enhancing products already well in the works and the Broncos capabilities will shine very very soon.

There will be many coilover setups coming, adjustable reservoir shocks, air bumps, etc. We spend quite a bit of time on Shock tuning and geometry correction here.

 

[Duke.Roughneck]

My fault, I started the engine argument, sorry to de-rail your thread OP....

Literally every thread in this forum devolves into a group of people arguing some inane, mostly unrelated topic. Not your fault

 

[Doetsch Off-Road]

Bestop's Bronco tops, at least the ones available so far, will not be sold through anyone other than Ford.

Ill have a variety of their tops on my rigs shortly, and we are also a retailer for them. Coming soon!

 

[Doetsch Off-Road]

has katskinz released details on the available seat cover options yet? or was it privy just to the builders?

got to plan for my MOD top build which has been delayed to MY23

Should be online for ordering this week!

 

[PhilK]

Theres no cliff-notes for this. Read it or pass.

For the last 10 years I have been a Jeep enthusiast. Starting with 2 Grand Cherokees (wk2 platform) Which I heavily modified, at least as far as was reasonable at the time. www.wk2project.com.
After that, I jumped in to JL Wranglers both as a hobby and then as a builder.
www.jlrubitron.com The 1st Wrangler Build.
www.thecustomjeepbuilder.com The Passion
www.doetschoffroad.com The Shop

I am currently building my own Bronco Badlands for SEMA 2021. I will also be building for the show a 1st edition SAS, a Wildtrak SAS and another Badlands.

My Badlands (non SAS) arrived Friday so here is the initial impression of the vehicle itself, followed by a more direct comparison to Wranglers.

Initial impression Day 1-
Looks: Looks cool. I appreciate that while they were certainly using the Wrangler as their model, there are a ton of important physical differences that give it its own personality strictly from a visual perspective. Interior is definitely nice to look at and be surrounded by while driving. Seat design and bolster are comfortable and attractive. Gauge cluster is a bit weak with top off and bright outside. Not a huge fan.
Materials: Seating, Skip the vinyl. Not impressed and gets VERY hot. Plastics in most places are very cheap (too cheap) too thin. "Oh shit" handles are too loose and flimsy to be a reassuring handle. Rear cargo plastics are very thin and off. There will be a lot of things that will come loose and make noise/rattle over the 1st few years of ownership, especially if used. Semi-normal in this segment, but if they wanted to excel they could have spent more time here.
Engine/Trans: I chose the 10spd/2.7 setup so I cannot speak to the other. While there is certainly some significant lag off the line the rest of the powertrain is quite nice. I cant imagine it with less power, (2.3) but like I said, I dont really know. It has, for its size, great around town power, passing power and fantastic gearing all around. It also really knows its place when offroading in different slow and fast situations but ill dive back in to that later.
Soft Top: I like it. I dont care for the look of the rear flap but thats my only major gripe. Taking the windows out (and back in) is straight forward. The positions of opening it are nice, and the "click" to secure it when its all the way back is nice, although it still makes some noises. Removing it completely is easy, as long as you are two tall-ish, strong-ish guys. My 5'9 16yr old kid gave it his best but scraped my roll bar on the way up and out. A bit noisier than expected.
Audio: I did not opt for the upgraded audio. BIG MISTAKE. Its really horrible. Really.

Day 1.5 real world driving
Put about 120 miles on it in the 1st day, mix of city and highway. I loved it all. Drives fantastic. It does drive BIG. If you are coming from a Jeep, a small SUV...this will feel big and wide. Bigger and wider than it really is. 1st time through tight parking lots etc youll be a bit more careful as you learn it. It felt as wide as my full size trucks. In traffic (even though it seems like it takes up the whole lane), its actually quite nimble. it glides around the road effortlessly. It likes faster. Everything with this platform seems to reward a bit of speed and momentum. Slow speed turns are a lil more awkward and require more steering effort than most in this segment. 10 spd! 10 spd! 10 spd!!!! Absolutely fantastic transmission and programmed perfectly IMO.

Day 2 off-roading. Basic Trails. (With 12 Wranglers)
So today I took it on a couple of trails mostly rated in the 3-4.5 out of 10. I spent 7 hours wheeling around Arizona at Butcher Jones, the Rolls OHV, and Bulldog Canyon. This is mostly basic trails with loose dirt, rock, river rock, banked turns, a few hill climbs, a couple of waterfall decents and some really fun high speed sandy washes.
The Bronco really shines in this category. Again, Ill make comparisons later but just straight impressions here. The 4wd modes/GOAT is all fairly intuitive. Its nice that if you shut the Bronco off on a break, it will ask if you'd like to resume that same mode at startup. Yes, thank you I do! I spent a majority of the day in 2wd, but used 4hi/baja as well as 4low/rock crawl as well.
The Bronco soaks up everything. The IFS and Bilsteins were clearly in their element.
On the trail at and avg of 13mph things were simple, comfortable and enjoyable.
The Hill climbs I mostly used baja and momentum and it conquered them all without breaking a sweat. One hill climb had very loose rock at the top 1/4 of the hill as well as a very high angle. It did require 4lo and both lockers but once engaged it pulled up it like it was nothing. It did take a bit longer to engage than I cared for though.
The washes. Oh my. It is very hard to unsettle this Bronco! Baja engaged and foot to the floor. The electronic nannies allowed a perfect amount of "fun-having" while keeping it all well balanced. Ruts/woops were very much welcome and soaked up by the suspension much better than expected. I have a Ram TRX as well so this is high praise. The Bronco had poise throughout all of the paces I put it through. I very much want to run a wildtrak through this same section.

OK, so how does it compare to a Wrangler?!?!
Dammit...I really wish this wasnt a question, because it SHOULDNT be. Yet here we are.

-It is NOT a Wrangler. Stop the comparisons, stop the wiener measurements, stop the hate. They are different and thats a good thing! The Bronco 100% has better daily driver manners, there is no question. The Bronco definitely enjoys high speed anything more than the Wrangler. The Wrangler 100% excels in Rock Crawling. Everything else comes down to a matter of opinion. They arent the same nor were they meant to be.

-GO OUT WITH WRANGLER GROUPS! If you do not come from an offroad background, the Wrangler guys will teach you alot even though they are vastly different. Other IFS rigs (tacomas and the like) honestly do not hold a candle to the Bronco and in most cases you can run similar lines to the Wranglers. Plus theres lots of them doing lots of things. Be friendly, we do not bite. Whatever trash talking you hear at 730am at the trailhead will be gone by 9.

-The Bronco both fills a gap, and takes away some of Jeeps thunder. A large majority of Wrangler owners have Sports and Saharas. They are still very capable off-road, sans lockers and low range. They have great articulation (especially once modified) that allow them to do so fairly difficult things easily. Rubicons are a different creature and at the end of the day whatever level Sasquatch you get stock vs stock or modified vs modified will never be able to rock crawl (7 and up trails) like a Rubicon. Please do not think it will. It cannot. It isnt supposed to (yet).

-The Bronco is a better place to spend time in. It looks good, it feels good. If you are commuting a lot, or love road trips...it wins.

-The Wrangler fit & finish is better all around, and thats not saying much for either of em!

-Bronco wins the transmission war and I really love the JL 8speed.

-2.7 is > 2.0 or 3.6
-2.7 is < 3.0d or 6.4

-The power of the 2.7 and its very smart 10spd is phenomenal offroad both in slow and high speed offroading. The additional tuning changes with the GOAT modes make it enjoyable in all situations. There was really no where I was expecting or needing more power or being in the proper gear.

-Bronco braking is better.

IMO
In my opinion, most Wrangler sport/sahara owners that test drive a Bronco (if they like the looks of it) will strongly consider moving to a Bronco. Rightfully so. Rubicon owners like myself (ones that use them to the extreme) will stay put. But I sure like having the Bronco in the stable!!

Now comes the fun part! I cannot wait to begin building these 4 Broncos. Each will have a different use/purpose/look. I promise to keep the forum up to date on them with much shorter posts.

G

 

[PhilK]

Theres no cliff-notes for this. Read it or pass.

For the last 10 years I have been a Jeep enthusiast. Starting with 2 Grand Cherokees (wk2 platform) Which I heavily modified, at least as far as was reasonable at the time. www.wk2project.com.
After that, I jumped in to JL Wranglers both as a hobby and then as a builder.
www.jlrubitron.com The 1st Wrangler Build.
www.thecustomjeepbuilder.com The Passion
www.doetschoffroad.com The Shop

I am currently building my own Bronco Badlands for SEMA 2021. I will also be building for the show a 1st edition SAS, a Wildtrak SAS and another Badlands.

My Badlands (non SAS) arrived Friday so here is the initial impression of the vehicle itself, followed by a more direct comparison to Wranglers.

Initial impression Day 1-
Looks: Looks cool. I appreciate that while they were certainly using the Wrangler as their model, there are a ton of important physical differences that give it its own personality strictly from a visual perspective. Interior is definitely nice to look at and be surrounded by while driving. Seat design and bolster are comfortable and attractive. Gauge cluster is a bit weak with top off and bright outside. Not a huge fan.
Materials: Seating, Skip the vinyl. Not impressed and gets VERY hot. Plastics in most places are very cheap (too cheap) too thin. "Oh shit" handles are too loose and flimsy to be a reassuring handle. Rear cargo plastics are very thin and off. There will be a lot of things that will come loose and make noise/rattle over the 1st few years of ownership, especially if used. Semi-normal in this segment, but if they wanted to excel they could have spent more time here.
Engine/Trans: I chose the 10spd/2.7 setup so I cannot speak to the other. While there is certainly some significant lag off the line the rest of the powertrain is quite nice. I cant imagine it with less power, (2.3) but like I said, I dont really know. It has, for its size, great around town power, passing power and fantastic gearing all around. It also really knows its place when offroading in different slow and fast situations but ill dive back in to that later.
Soft Top: I like it. I dont care for the look of the rear flap but thats my only major gripe. Taking the windows out (and back in) is straight forward. The positions of opening it are nice, and the "click" to secure it when its all the way back is nice, although it still makes some noises. Removing it completely is easy, as long as you are two tall-ish, strong-ish guys. My 5'9 16yr old kid gave it his best but scraped my roll bar on the way up and out. A bit noisier than expected.
Audio: I did not opt for the upgraded audio. BIG MISTAKE. Its really horrible. Really.

Day 1.5 real world driving
Put about 120 miles on it in the 1st day, mix of city and highway. I loved it all. Drives fantastic. It does drive BIG. If you are coming from a Jeep, a small SUV...this will feel big and wide. Bigger and wider than it really is. 1st time through tight parking lots etc youll be a bit more careful as you learn it. It felt as wide as my full size trucks. In traffic (even though it seems like it takes up the whole lane), its actually quite nimble. it glides around the road effortlessly. It likes faster. Everything with this platform seems to reward a bit of speed and momentum. Slow speed turns are a lil more awkward and require more steering effort than most in this segment. 10 spd! 10 spd! 10 spd!!!! Absolutely fantastic transmission and programmed perfectly IMO.

Day 2 off-roading. Basic Trails. (With 12 Wranglers)
So today I took it on a couple of trails mostly rated in the 3-4.5 out of 10. I spent 7 hours wheeling around Arizona at Butcher Jones, the Rolls OHV, and Bulldog Canyon. This is mostly basic trails with loose dirt, rock, river rock, banked turns, a few hill climbs, a couple of waterfall decents and some really fun high speed sandy washes.
The Bronco really shines in this category. Again, Ill make comparisons later but just straight impressions here. The 4wd modes/GOAT is all fairly intuitive. Its nice that if you shut the Bronco off on a break, it will ask if you'd like to resume that same mode at startup. Yes, thank you I do! I spent a majority of the day in 2wd, but used 4hi/baja as well as 4low/rock crawl as well.
The Bronco soaks up everything. The IFS and Bilsteins were clearly in their element.
On the trail at and avg of 13mph things were simple, comfortable and enjoyable.
The Hill climbs I mostly used baja and momentum and it conquered them all without breaking a sweat. One hill climb had very loose rock at the top 1/4 of the hill as well as a very high angle. It did require 4lo and both lockers but once engaged it pulled up it like it was nothing. It did take a bit longer to engage than I cared for though.
The washes. Oh my. It is very hard to unsettle this Bronco! Baja engaged and foot to the floor. The electronic nannies allowed a perfect amount of "fun-having" while keeping it all well balanced. Ruts/woops were very much welcome and soaked up by the suspension much better than expected. I have a Ram TRX as well so this is high praise. The Bronco had poise throughout all of the paces I put it through. I very much want to run a wildtrak through this same section.

OK, so how does it compare to a Wrangler?!?!
Dammit...I really wish this wasnt a question, because it SHOULDNT be. Yet here we are.

-It is NOT a Wrangler. Stop the comparisons, stop the wiener measurements, stop the hate. They are different and thats a good thing! The Bronco 100% has better daily driver manners, there is no question. The Bronco definitely enjoys high speed anything more than the Wrangler. The Wrangler 100% excels in Rock Crawling. Everything else comes down to a matter of opinion. They arent the same nor were they meant to be.

-GO OUT WITH WRANGLER GROUPS! If you do not come from an offroad background, the Wrangler guys will teach you alot even though they are vastly different. Other IFS rigs (tacomas and the like) honestly do not hold a candle to the Bronco and in most cases you can run similar lines to the Wranglers. Plus theres lots of them doing lots of things. Be friendly, we do not bite. Whatever trash talking you hear at 730am at the trailhead will be gone by 9.

-The Bronco both fills a gap, and takes away some of Jeeps thunder. A large majority of Wrangler owners have Sports and Saharas. They are still very capable off-road, sans lockers and low range. They have great articulation (especially once modified) that allow them to do so fairly difficult things easily. Rubicons are a different creature and at the end of the day whatever level Sasquatch you get stock vs stock or modified vs modified will never be able to rock crawl (7 and up trails) like a Rubicon. Please do not think it will. It cannot. It isnt supposed to (yet).

-The Bronco is a better place to spend time in. It looks good, it feels good. If you are commuting a lot, or love road trips...it wins.

-The Wrangler fit & finish is better all around, and thats not saying much for either of em!

-Bronco wins the transmission war and I really love the JL 8speed.

-2.7 is > 2.0 or 3.6
-2.7 is < 3.0d or 6.4

-The power of the 2.7 and its very smart 10spd is phenomenal offroad both in slow and high speed offroading. The additional tuning changes with the GOAT modes make it enjoyable in all situations. There was really no where I was expecting or needing more power or being in the proper gear.

-Bronco braking is better.

IMO
In my opinion, most Wrangler sport/sahara owners that test drive a Bronco (if they like the looks of it) will strongly consider moving to a Bronco. Rightfully so. Rubicon owners like myself (ones that use them to the extreme) will stay put. But I sure like having the Bronco in the stable!!

Now comes the fun part! I cannot wait to begin building these 4 Broncos. Each will have a different use/purpose/look. I promise to keep the forum up to date on them with much shorter posts.

Great write up! Thank you. We’re coming from two JKUs and really looking forward to the change for daily driving. Easy off-road stuff for us down here in GA should be great for our non-sas Badlands.

 

[Broncus Amongus]

What size are those KO2?

 

[Doetsch Off-Road]

To the OP - I'm in Mesa, and have not off-roaded in AZ for about 10 years. Are there any good clubs to join for off-roading and if they are mainly Jeep centric will they be friendly to Broncos? The club I was in years ago was for Land Rovers (only). And, will your shop be supporting Broncos mods in the future?

State48 Jeepers on Facebook! Best of the best https://www.facebook.com/groups/554269661934389

 

[Doetsch Off-Road]

Nice that you’re in AZ too. Are you going to stock / sell any Bronco stuff in the future? Would rather buy local if it’s an option. I’m withholding my order until the 23 MY though, don’t want to order options I don’t want when I can wait for what I really want.

We have a line of nearly 100 parts all ready to get added to our website and inventory as it becomes available! We know the Bronco is a gamechanger and its right in our lane. I promise you, we will be the go to spot in the Southwest for these. Stay tuned!

 

[L8apex]

I'm willing to go out and wheel with whoever. I'd rather go out with a knowledgable person than a newb, Jeep or not.

Newbs need people to wheel with too - everyone's gotta start somewhere!

I'd rather wheel/track day with someone who drives with their head, not their ego. Knowing the vehicles limits, and more importantly your own limits is paramount.

 

[TurnerNHooch]

Theres no cliff-notes for this. Read it or pass.

For the last 10 years I have been a Jeep enthusiast. Starting with 2 Grand Cherokees (wk2 platform) Which I heavily modified, at least as far as was reasonable at the time. www.wk2project.com.
After that, I jumped in to JL Wranglers both as a hobby and then as a builder.
www.jlrubitron.com The 1st Wrangler Build.
www.thecustomjeepbuilder.com The Passion
www.doetschoffroad.com The Shop

I am currently building my own Bronco Badlands for SEMA 2021. I will also be building for the show a 1st edition SAS, a Wildtrak SAS and another Badlands.

My Badlands (non SAS) arrived Friday so here is the initial impression of the vehicle itself, followed by a more direct comparison to Wranglers.

Initial impression Day 1-
Looks: Looks cool. I appreciate that while they were certainly using the Wrangler as their model, there are a ton of important physical differences that give it its own personality strictly from a visual perspective. Interior is definitely nice to look at and be surrounded by while driving. Seat design and bolster are comfortable and attractive. Gauge cluster is a bit weak with top off and bright outside. Not a huge fan.
Materials: Seating, Skip the vinyl. Not impressed and gets VERY hot. Plastics in most places are very cheap (too cheap) too thin. "Oh shit" handles are too loose and flimsy to be a reassuring handle. Rear cargo plastics are very thin and off. There will be a lot of things that will come loose and make noise/rattle over the 1st few years of ownership, especially if used. Semi-normal in this segment, but if they wanted to excel they could have spent more time here.
Engine/Trans: I chose the 10spd/2.7 setup so I cannot speak to the other. While there is certainly some significant lag off the line the rest of the powertrain is quite nice. I cant imagine it with less power, (2.3) but like I said, I dont really know. It has, for its size, great around town power, passing power and fantastic gearing all around. It also really knows its place when offroading in different slow and fast situations but ill dive back in to that later.
Soft Top: I like it. I dont care for the look of the rear flap but thats my only major gripe. Taking the windows out (and back in) is straight forward. The positions of opening it are nice, and the "click" to secure it when its all the way back is nice, although it still makes some noises. Removing it completely is easy, as long as you are two tall-ish, strong-ish guys. My 5'9 16yr old kid gave it his best but scraped my roll bar on the way up and out. A bit noisier than expected.
Audio: I did not opt for the upgraded audio. BIG MISTAKE. Its really horrible. Really.

Day 1.5 real world driving
Put about 120 miles on it in the 1st day, mix of city and highway. I loved it all. Drives fantastic. It does drive BIG. If you are coming from a Jeep, a small SUV...this will feel big and wide. Bigger and wider than it really is. 1st time through tight parking lots etc youll be a bit more careful as you learn it. It felt as wide as my full size trucks. In traffic (even though it seems like it takes up the whole lane), its actually quite nimble. it glides around the road effortlessly. It likes faster. Everything with this platform seems to reward a bit of speed and momentum. Slow speed turns are a lil more awkward and require more steering effort than most in this segment. 10 spd! 10 spd! 10 spd!!!! Absolutely fantastic transmission and programmed perfectly IMO.

Day 2 off-roading. Basic Trails. (With 12 Wranglers)
So today I took it on a couple of trails mostly rated in the 3-4.5 out of 10. I spent 7 hours wheeling around Arizona at Butcher Jones, the Rolls OHV, and Bulldog Canyon. This is mostly basic trails with loose dirt, rock, river rock, banked turns, a few hill climbs, a couple of waterfall decents and some really fun high speed sandy washes.
The Bronco really shines in this category. Again, Ill make comparisons later but just straight impressions here. The 4wd modes/GOAT is all fairly intuitive. Its nice that if you shut the Bronco off on a break, it will ask if you'd like to resume that same mode at startup. Yes, thank you I do! I spent a majority of the day in 2wd, but used 4hi/baja as well as 4low/rock crawl as well.
The Bronco soaks up everything. The IFS and Bilsteins were clearly in their element.
On the trail at and avg of 13mph things were simple, comfortable and enjoyable.
The Hill climbs I mostly used baja and momentum and it conquered them all without breaking a sweat. One hill climb had very loose rock at the top 1/4 of the hill as well as a very high angle. It did require 4lo and both lockers but once engaged it pulled up it like it was nothing. It did take a bit longer to engage than I cared for though.
The washes. Oh my. It is very hard to unsettle this Bronco! Baja engaged and foot to the floor. The electronic nannies allowed a perfect amount of "fun-having" while keeping it all well balanced. Ruts/woops were very much welcome and soaked up by the suspension much better than expected. I have a Ram TRX as well so this is high praise. The Bronco had poise throughout all of the paces I put it through. I very much want to run a wildtrak through this same section.

OK, so how does it compare to a Wrangler?!?!
Dammit...I really wish this wasnt a question, because it SHOULDNT be. Yet here we are.

-It is NOT a Wrangler. Stop the comparisons, stop the wiener measurements, stop the hate. They are different and thats a good thing! The Bronco 100% has better daily driver manners, there is no question. The Bronco definitely enjoys high speed anything more than the Wrangler. The Wrangler 100% excels in Rock Crawling. Everything else comes down to a matter of opinion. They arent the same nor were they meant to be.

-GO OUT WITH WRANGLER GROUPS! If you do not come from an offroad background, the Wrangler guys will teach you alot even though they are vastly different. Other IFS rigs (tacomas and the like) honestly do not hold a candle to the Bronco and in most cases you can run similar lines to the Wranglers. Plus theres lots of them doing lots of things. Be friendly, we do not bite. Whatever trash talking you hear at 730am at the trailhead will be gone by 9.

-The Bronco both fills a gap, and takes away some of Jeeps thunder. A large majority of Wrangler owners have Sports and Saharas. They are still very capable off-road, sans lockers and low range. They have great articulation (especially once modified) that allow them to do so fairly difficult things easily. Rubicons are a different creature and at the end of the day whatever level Sasquatch you get stock vs stock or modified vs modified will never be able to rock crawl (7 and up trails) like a Rubicon. Please do not think it will. It cannot. It isnt supposed to (yet).

-The Bronco is a better place to spend time in. It looks good, it feels good. If you are commuting a lot, or love road trips...it wins.

-The Wrangler fit & finish is better all around, and thats not saying much for either of em!

-Bronco wins the transmission war and I really love the JL 8speed.

-2.7 is > 2.0 or 3.6
-2.7 is < 3.0d or 6.4

-The power of the 2.7 and its very smart 10spd is phenomenal offroad both in slow and high speed offroading. The additional tuning changes with the GOAT modes make it enjoyable in all situations. There was really no where I was expecting or needing more power or being in the proper gear.

-Bronco braking is better.

IMO
In my opinion, most Wrangler sport/sahara owners that test drive a Bronco (if they like the looks of it) will strongly consider moving to a Bronco. Rightfully so. Rubicon owners like myself (ones that use them to the extreme) will stay put. But I sure like having the Bronco in the stable!!

Now comes the fun part! I cannot wait to begin building these 4 Broncos. Each will have a different use/purpose/look. I promise to keep the forum up to date on them with much shorter posts.

Thank you!!! I appreciate the time you took to go through all of that! I am coming out of a JKU Sport and from the sounds of your review, all of my complaints about that rig will not be an issue when I get my little mule!!!!

 

[Laminar]

A lot of cope here for someone that was wrong in so many ways. You might want to re-read the document you linked to earlier. You’re judging engine weight by entire vehicle weight when you can full well see the larger engine options use beefier components which account for that added weight.

It's like you almost get it.

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