Bronco R in action, BAJA 1000

[aplm7]

I want it to be clear, I'm very disappointed that the R didn't finish, but there are a couple of data points to temper the disappointment.

- The Bronco R was reportedly developed in just six months, from sketch to reveal. That's not a lot of time for testing and redesigning things.
- Desert racing on a long course is difficult and invites many opportunities for things to go wrong - of the 204 competitors entered this year, only 132 finished the race, with the DNFs including many full trophy trucks. Nobody is saying that they aren't capable of completing it, just that they didn't do it this time.
- Let's not forget the first thing that went wrong was them getting hit by a trophy truck.

Now, it comes down to their showing in the next outing. They have a year to make improvements and give it another go, and they need to make it count. Otherwise this is the Nissan Deltawing all over again, cool concept but they kept getting punted off the track by other cars during races...

Do you think it was intentional that other cars knock them around?

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[Uncle Gump]

LOL... I hope this doesn't turn into a conspiracy.

I think it was just racing...

 

[Jalisurr]

Yeah, I definitely don't think there was any foul play involved. Accidents happen in racing.

 

[BroncoMike]

Elsewhere on the Internet I saw a thing that said that the driver of the trophy truck that took out Bronco was wearing a hat that said "Make America Blazer Again".

I can't find it now. (Epstein Didn't Kill Himself)

 

[TeocaliMG]

I have said it before and I do not need to say it again, I am VERY disappointed in the DNF, and not in the least because of the front end design, heck I would cut it more slack for that particular race if it had SFA. Anyway, there are a lot of otherwise intelligent folk here claiming the Baja 1000 is "not that hard" or a (insert lame vehicle) could do it with only (insert minimal upgrade). You know exactly what you are doing, and shame on you. I could winch a dam 8 ton brick of lard all over any rock crawlers hell hole if time is not of the essence, or even some semblance of joy for the sport. Regardless of how laughable it is that a sedan could even physically do the Baja 1000, you miss the point, you want to do it fast. The Bronco R could have done the Baja 1000 if they crept along at a crawlers pace, maybe a bit faster for the sake of time, but hey they could go faster than that in reverse. The point is they tried to go hard, and they paid for it. Sure they could have finished if they never pushed it from the start but that would have been even more disappointing to any true enthusiasts.

I for one am glad they pushed it hard, and I am very proud of what THAT represents. I am disappointed it couldn't take it. I obviously was not there, so I don't know how much can be attributed to the early crash, but I bet it wasn't exactly zero either. Regardless, that's not an excuse and I haven't heard them officially say it was either.

For my next trick i'll need a camry, skidplates, a winch and some extra cable

 

[Dirty Bronco]

Isn’t the BroncoBronco set to be released in early 2021? Therefore won’t Ford have another crack at the Baja 1000? This could settle some uneasiness with some fans.

 

[Nanook]

Rumors suggest, the Bronco R has more in common with the Ranger Raptor. With that said, the Bronco needs another event to showcase its intentions. If Ford makes a big announcement that the Bronco R is going to run another Baja style event I think the image of the Bronco turns towards yet another purpose built desert racer offered by Ford.
I think if Ford wants to create a media stir they show something at Easter Jeep Safari.
If they fail at both then we know we’re getting a retro styled Everest.

 

[rkj__]

Anyway, there are a lot of otherwise intelligent folk here claiming the Baja 1000 is "not that hard" or a (insert lame vehicle) could do it with only (insert minimal upgrade). You know exactly what you are doing, and shame on you.

The internet can be a frustrating place sometimes eh?

 

[rkj__]

I think if Ford wants to create a media stir they show something at Easter Jeep Safari.

Would that not be a little rude, trying to create buzz for Ford at a Jeep / Mopar sponsored event? I suppose Ford could chip in some sponsorship money too, but I can't see Ford sponsoring an event that literally has Jeep in the name.

I've never been to EJS, so maybe my thoughts are a little off track, I dunno.

 

[Nanook]

Would that not be a little rude, trying to create buzz for Ford at a Jeep / Mopar sponsored event? I suppose Ford could chip in some sponsorship money too, but I can't see Ford sponsoring an event that literally has Jeep in the name.

I've never been to EJS, so maybe my thoughts are a little off track, I dunno.

A little off track. I am no way implying they sponsor anything.
Just show-up even if it’s nothing more than a photo-op.
The rumored unveiling date coincides with that time of the year and it would cause a media frenzy....IF that is the Bronco’s intention.

 

[BroncoMike]

For my next trick i'll need a camry, skidplates, a winch and some extra cable

You rent the Camry, I'll bring the winch, cable, beer, and a trailer!

 

[Nanook]

You rent the Camry, I'll bring the winch, cable, beer, and a trailer!

Just rent the Sorrento! You’ll just need some beer! LOL

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

... Regardless of how laughable it is that a sedan could even physically do the Baja 1000, you miss the point, you want to do it fast. ...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I said that a bunch of times too, so no, the point wasn't missed.

... This kind of event is meant by the advertising team to exploit peoples misunderstanding of what the challenge is to sell an image of universal capability. The Baja 1000 track isn't objectively that difficult to traverse, its the pace and time limit creating the challenge -- the same can be said of most desert racing, and racing in general.

There are a lot of other people trying to gloss over the huge disparity between "off road capability" and "does well in a race". It seems like Ford would like to do that too. The parallel between how Jeep exploits this to sell Cherokees and what Ford appears to be doing should not be ignored because it is unpleasant or disappointing.

 

[Jalisurr]

There are a lot of other people trying to gloss over the huge disparity between "off road capability" and "does well in a race". It seems like Ford would like to do that too. The parallel between how Jeep exploits this to sell Cherokees and what Ford appears to be doing should not be ignored because it is unpleasant or disappointing.

Yes. Jeep shows their vehicles doing Moab and the Rubicon trail, Ford shows theirs doing Baja. Both are done for marketing purposes, otherwise what would be the point. "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" and all that. It still serves to give us an idea of the sort of capability we can expect. There's no doubt that a vehicle that can complete the Baja in time has off road capability, as does one that completes the Rubicon, even if you shouldn't be able to expect to do it yourself stock.

I certainly hope nobody is actually assuming any performance vehicle can do everything shown in its marketing repeatably and reliably in stock form...*looks at complaints about bent Raptor frames from people taking them off huge jumps*...though maybe I have too much faith in humanity...

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

When we knew nothing whatsoever about the Bronco, or how Ford would try to portray it, it made sense that people would use their imagination to fill in the blanks. There are fewer blanks now, but people are struggling with the cognitive dissonance of what they imagine Bronco to be and what it is becoming.

Jeep does something similar with Wrangler, but I suspect in reverse. It has been about capability and performance first, and as a secondary trait is portrayed as being a comfortable family vehicle. You can see this regularly in reviews of the Wrangler, where the results of X vs Y are made, and the Wrangler is objectively far more capable off road, but half the time reviewers will pick the other vehicle as the "winner" because it makes a better daily driver (even if it is an "off road" vehicle review).

I suspect Bronco will be a comfortable family vehicle first (like any other nameless SUV), and portrayed as having similar off road performance and capability secondarily. This strategy might "beat Jeep" to be king of the hill in poser dollars sales figures, which has always been one of the more probable strategies Ford would employ. Sorry if the factual observations about the objective difficulty of traversing some lumpy roads in Baja burst that bubble for you. Hopefully when you end up making a decision about purchasing a $40+k vehicle you will see it for what it is rather than what it could have been.

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