Bronco event, Cactus BD steelies, co-ed arm/door fit test, all weather mats, washout rear vents

[Psybako]

Caught the Broncos in person this morning! Cactus Grey BD and Shadow Black OBX that have been running the Tour of California the last week or two.
Not a ton to add that hasn't been already said or shown elsewhere. They're absolutely gorgeous in person. I'll include a few pics that may show a couple things that I haven't seen exhaustively documented already. Notably, the mats, rear vent with washout floor/mats in place, Cactus Grey with steelies, arm hang test for me, elbow rest for her.

Main takeaways: MGV feels really, really good. The "squish test" pic maybe shows the texture/feel a bit differently than some other pics on here. The all weather mats for the washout interior are nice. I would say very comparable to the Weather Tech mats I have in the Odyssey. I do like the one piece mat in the rear with the logo in the center, looks great. The 12 inch screen and the response it provoked from my wife when she saw it justifyied every single penny we decided to sacrifice to upgrade the reservation from BD to ordering BL. I'm very happy with that decision at this point.

The manual felt really good, although messing around with the car off is obviously different than driving the thing in anger. That said, the clutch travel was good, the gear throws were shorter than I expected, and the gear spacing was tight and accurate. I liked the collar lockout for reverse and crawl much better than the transmission on my SVT Focus (same shift pattern without the crawler gear) because it makes the shifts to first and second very confident and solid. In the SVTF going to first the left side of the gate was rubbery since there was just a friction gate rather than a physical block from going all the way to the left to line up reverse. If I'm honest, the throw between gears felt very similar, if not perhaps even shorter than the SVTF with a Ford Performance shift lever.

For reference, I'm 6 foot even with a 31 inch inseam, so I'm built longer in the torso and arms. My wife is 5' 6" and built the other way. It's super convenient because we generally just leave the drivers seat in the same place and only have to adjust mirrors.

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[dgorsett]

Love the arm hang and arm rest test. Very important to me. I didn't test this in my Explorer. (impossible by the way) and have hated it ever since! I sat in one in Moab and forgot to even close the door.

 

[DebbieEF]

Caught the Broncos in person this morning! Cactus Grey BD and Shadow Black OBX that have been running the Tour of California the last week or two.
Not a ton to add that hasn't been already said or shown elsewhere. They're absolutely gorgeous in person. I'll include a few pics that may show a couple things that I haven't seen exhaustively documented already. Notably, the mats, rear vent with washout floor/mats in place, Cactus Grey with steelies, arm hang test for me, elbow rest for her.

Main takeaways: MGV feels really, really good. The "squish test" pic maybe shows the texture/feel a bit differently than some other pics on here. The all weather mats for the washout interior are nice. I would say very comparable to the Weather Tech mats I have in the Odyssey. I do like the one piece mat in the rear with the logo in the center, looks great. The 12 inch screen and the response it provoked from my wife when she saw it justifyied every single penny we decided to sacrifice to upgrade the reservation from BD to ordering BL. I'm very happy with that decision at this point.

The manual felt really good, although messing around with the car off is obviously different than driving the thing in anger. That said, the clutch travel was good, the gear throws were shorter than I expected, and the gear spacing was tight and accurate. I liked the collar lockout for reverse and crawl much better than the transmission on my SVT Focus (same shift pattern without the crawler gear) because it makes the shifts to first and second very confident and solid. In the SVTF going to first the left side of the gate was rubbery since there was just a friction gate rather than a physical block from going all the way to the left to line up reverse. If I'm honest, the throw between gears felt very similar, if not perhaps even shorter than the SVTF with a Ford Performance shift lever.

For reference, I'm 6 foot even with a 31 inch inseam, so I'm built longer in the torso and arms. My wife is 5' 6" and built the other way. It's super convenient because we generally just leave the drivers seat in the same place and only have to adjust mirrors.

Cool that they let you sit in the Black Diamond and try the manual shifter and clutch. I hope I get to do that when the vehicles arrive in the Sacramento area! Thank you for all of photos!

 

[Tricky Dick]

The manual felt really good, although messing around with the car off is obviously different than driving the thing in anger. That said, the clutch travel was good, the gear throws were shorter than I expected, and the gear spacing was tight and accurate. I liked the collar lockout for reverse and crawl much better than the transmission on my SVT Focus (same shift pattern without the crawler gear) because it makes the shifts to first and second very confident and solid. In the SVTF going to first the left side of the gate was rubbery since there was just a friction gate rather than a physical block from going all the way to the left to line up reverse. If I'm honest, the throw between gears felt very similar, if not perhaps even shorter than the SVTF with a Ford Performance shift lever.

Thanks! I have owned a SVTF and liked the way it shifted but that non-lockout reverse always bothered me. I'm hoping a manual makes it to my event.

 

[Psybako]

Cool that they let you sit in the Black Diamond and try the manual shifter and clutch. I hope I get to do that when the vehicles arrive in the Sacramento area! Thank you for all of photos!

Yeah, they didn't say anything about it at all. The vehicle was completely off so there wasn't anything useful to say about clutch engagement and feel, but the feedback I got through the shifter was quite pleasant. Direct and accurate without being notchy.

 

[Psybako]

Thanks! I have owned a SVTF and liked the way it shifted but that non-lockout reverse always bothered me. I'm hoping a manual makes it to my event.

I miss that car. In its final form it was running turbo with 230+ whp through a Fidanza flywheel and Clutch Masters kevlar faced clutch. Very good fun!

 

[BrentC]

The throws look long on the MT in the videos I’ve seen so I‘m glad to hear your comparison to the SVTF.

To my 2013 Focus ST I added a Steeda short shifter on the console and Breeda short shift arm to the motor to get super-short throws. Loved it, could shift with a turning of my wrist. I’ll have to drive my BL for a bit before deciding if I want to shorten the throw. Of course, it will take the A/M guys a while to design and test gear for the Bronco so no hurry. Gotta get the Bronco first!

 

[Psybako]

The throws look long on the MT in the videos I’ve seen so I‘m glad to hear your comparison to the SVTF.

To my 2013 Focus ST I added a Steeda short shifter on the console and Breeda short shift arm to the motor to get super-short throws. Loved it, could shift with a turning of my wrist. I’ll have to drive my BL for a bit before deciding if I want to shorten the throw. Of course, it will take the A/M guys a while to design and test gear for the Bronco so no hurry. Gotta get the Bronco first!

It should be said that the last time I drove the SVTF was in 2010...

 

[Hey19]

Thanks for the write up! I guess I didn’t realize the rear mats were one piece so that’s cool. Guess I should pay closer attention.

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