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johndeerefarmer

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Full article: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a37103139/2021-ford-bronco-first-edition-v6-by-the-numbers/




















Tested: 2021 Ford Bronco First Edition Goes Big, Sticks the Landing

The triumphant return of the Ford Bronco has the country agape. The awe is well deserved.

From the September 2021 issue of Car and Driver.

So much of life streams by unnoticed. And then there are moments when your entire being flinches to attention, your senses hyperstimulated until the world goes stop-motion. We had one of those experiences during the brief yet agonizingly long time that started with the tread blocks of our Ford Bronco's 35-inch-tall Goodyear Wrangler Territory MT tires releasing their grip on the sand in Michigan's Silver Lake State Park off-road playland. From that instant until the dual-reservoir Bilstein dampers bottomed out after 8.7 inches of travel, our overwhelmed neurons frantically calculated the odds that we had overcooked it. The Bronco wasn't concerned. It landed impressively, incredibly, and almost impossibly softly, shrugging off this provocation as if it were a steel and aluminum cape.

With more than 125,000 orders waiting to be delivered, the new Bronco clearly has this country captivated. Two-door models, back after a quarter-century hiatus, come only with a hard top. The first-ever four-door variants have a standard soft top, but buyers can spec a rigid roof. Either way, the top, the doors, the fender flares, and even the fenders are easily removable. Propulsion comes from one of two familiar Ford engines: a 300-hp turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four or a 330-hp twin-turbo 2.7-liter V-6. Both are paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission, but the four-cylinder can also be had with a new seven-speed Getrag manual.

In addition to the base model, Ford offers five trim levels with outdoorsy names (Big Bend, Black Diamond, Outer Banks, Badlands, and Wildtrak) plus a loaded First Edition, which we tested. Entry pricing spans from $29,995 to $62,605, and as that range climbs, feature content and off-road capability generally increase. But we appreciate that even the lowliest Bronco can be had with the hardcore Sasquatch package (included in some trims, $2495 or $4995 in others), which adds locking front and rear differentials, a shorter final-drive ratio, and the big 35-inch all-terrain rubber.

In a subtle jab at its cross-town rival, Ford had Goodyear scrub the name Wrangler from the outer sidewall of those tires. The off-road rubber starts singing at about 30 mph. Between 65 and 70 mph, wind noise overpowers tire roar. Even with the extra sound-deadening material on our First Edition's hard top, at 70 mph, the Bronco summons 73 decibels of interior racket, which is no quieter than a V-6-powered Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. The Bronco's frameless windows shrink the size of the doors, allowing them to be stowed onboard in the cargo area. But everything is a compromise, and at speed, you hear a lot of wind noise at the seals. Also, when someone tugs a door handle, the indexing glass doesn't drop quickly enough and often snags on the weatherstripping.

In pretty much every other way, though, the Bronco is far more refined than the Wrangler. Even on our car's squirmy off-road-oriented tires, the Ford is miles ahead when it comes to steering precision, thanks largely to its more sophisticated independent front suspension and rack-and-pinion setup. We say this having done one of the most inappropriate things you could do with a Bronco outfitted with all the available off-road gear: We threw it down a twisty road at max attack speed, where we're certain we were carrying velocities that would have put a Wrangler in a ditch.

We're talking relative refinement here, of course. Big stabs at the brakes bring dramatic dives from the Sasquatch's soft Bilsteins, making it seem like the grille wants to smooch the pavement during the long, 197-foot stops from 70 mph. Body roll when cornering is less dramatic, but 0.71 g of lateral grip on the skidpad is only slightly better than what we managed in the last Rubicon we tested. Telltale body-on-frame structural dithers come through the steering wheel, yet they're more muted than the Jeep's. This first application of Ford's next-generation mid-size-truck platform makes for remarkable polish, even with this off-road bent. The Bronco can't, however, match the on-road moves of the unibody Land Rover Defender.

VERDICT: Buckle up, Jeep.
The Sasquatch package takes a toll on straight-line swiftness. The shorter axle puts the Bronco in fourth gear by the time it hits 60 mph. We made our quickest sprint using a second-gear start to eliminate one of the those time-sucking shifts. Our 6.3-second run eclipses the 60-mph times of Wranglers with either a V-6 or a turbo four even though the Bronco carries hundreds more pounds of weight. The Wrangler's naturally aspirated six has better vocals, though. We wish the Bronco had more audible fury than a muffled grumble with a strong airflow backing track.

There's almost never a universal consensus on styling, but the Bronco is about as close as vehicles come to a unanimous hit. Ford pays homage to the original Bronco of the mid-1960s, yet the new truck doesn't come off at all dated. While the two-door packs incredible visual wallop, the four-door mutes those spot-on proportions with its additional 15.7 inches of wheelbase and overall length. And this flamboyant box simply doesn't look right unless it's wearing one of the more aggressive tire packages.

Full article: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a37103139/2021-ford-bronco-first-edition-v6-by-the-numbers/


Tested performance numbers:

Ford Bronco Car and Driver Review: 2021 Bronco Goes Big, Sticks the Landing (w/ tested acceleration & MPG figures) Screen Shot 2021-07-28 at 10.09.30 AM



Continued at: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a37103139/2021-ford-bronco-first-edition-v6-by-the-numbers/

2021-ford-bronco-first-edition-141-1626970065.jpg
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bytheway

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I was in awe of that jump video as soon as you open the article.
 

Desert_6G

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Why does car and drive never post video reviews. That's where the content is.
 

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MDbeachguy

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So basically , the bronco (2 door) is MUCH higher performance , Safer due to better braking.

However the jeep is MUCH better with gas and lighter and smaller for trails.

Seems like a decent product difference. the war has begun
Ford Bronco Car and Driver Review: 2021 Bronco Goes Big, Sticks the Landing (w/ tested acceleration & MPG figures) bronco-rt-competitors-1627309925
 

MDbeachguy

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Also as somebody who has driven a 2 door

I can say with respect that it does not take 10 seconds to reach highway speeds , the review here says its closer to 6 which is what i experienced

maybe the armored 4 door is super slow since that is the one being tested in videos and drag races. But i believe that was at high altitude as well
 

ZackDanger

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Also as somebody who has driven a 2 door

I can say with respect that it does not take 10 seconds to reach highway speeds , the review here says its closer to 6 which is what i experienced

maybe the armored 4 door is super slow since that is the one being tested in videos and drag races. But i believe that was at high altitude as well
0-60 is a nice way to compare apples-to-apples... so there's that.

In practical usage though, very few of us will ever need to go 0-60... in reality you'll be going 0-30 from a stop light, and then 30-65 as you accelerate on the highway onramp... and I think these arenas are probably where the ecoboosts in the Bronco come out feeling perfectly cromulent to the people who have been driving them.
 

604Bronco

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So basically , the bronco (2 door) is MUCH higher performance , Safer due to better braking.

However the jeep is MUCH better with gas and lighter and smaller for trails.

Seems like a decent product difference. the war has begun
Ford Bronco Car and Driver Review: 2021 Bronco Goes Big, Sticks the Landing (w/ tested acceleration & MPG figures) bronco-rt-competitors-1627309925
Ford Bronco Car and Driver Review: 2021 Bronco Goes Big, Sticks the Landing (w/ tested acceleration & MPG figures) 1A8446B2-16E7-4A4C-AA24-D100FDB9FAEB
 
 


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