Crawler Gear Speed Video and Granger Mannequins Test Drives

[KEM IA]

On Saturday drove the same demo Broncos. The OP did a nice write up so I will keep it short.

- Soft top noise was horrible with the wind noise and flapping. The wife said hell no!
-Hard top was a major improvement but still some wind noise from behind the driver and front passenger. Will the MOD top be any better or just deal with it?

-Manuel was a blast and it has plenty pickup and go! Coming from v6 Toyota Tacoma 6 speed and the Bronco felt quicker.

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[kodiakisland]

Yeah, spacers rarely make things better. The only plus a spacer lift has going for it is price.

As far as the feel of the Falkens, are they the Chinese or Thai version?

 

[Razorbak86]

@vrewald14

Vince, from a tall man’s perspective, did you notice the dash extension above the 12” screen blocking important information at the top of the display from the driver’s view?

 

[vrewald14]

- Soft top noise was horrible with the wind noise and flapping. The wife said hell no!

Glad you had the same observation! Also my wife sad the same thing

@vrewald14

Vince, from a tall man’s perspective, did you notice the dash extension above the 12” screen blocking important information at the top of the display from the driver’s view?

I think I understand what you are asking, but but NO - everything was clearly visible - dash did not hinder my line of sight for anything.

I don't think it would be possible for this to be an issue actually because the dash really isn't that close.

 

[Bronco_Mando]

Hi all,

It finally happened! My wife and I finally got to sit in and drive the new Broncos. What an awesome experience. We live near and ordered through Granger so we went to their dealership to drive their mannequins.

Their two mannequins combined really cover the bits and pieces of the majority of features and configurations for the broad Bronco lineup. We are a 4-door CO Badlands LUX 2.3 MT order, so we got to see our body, engine, and transmission in their 4-door Big Bend, and the hardtop, sound system and tech in the 2-door Wildtrak (and perhaps a decent approximation of the suspension / ride quality).

Although I have seen a couple crawler gear videos, I was never quite certain if they were conducted in 4Lo vs. 4Hi. So we made our own video. Crawler gear in 4Lo is VERY impressive! The speedometer read 1mph in 4Lo and 3mph in 4Hi, although I am unsure if @Zach@Granger recalibrated the speedometer yet or not after jumping up to 35s from the stock BB tires.



Here are our observations and thoughts on the 2 mannequins Granger has:

Black 4-door BB 2.3 MT with Leveling Lift - 35 x 12.50" R18 Falken Wildpeak M/Ts
The Good

• Looks badass
• Probably a really good value for light / non-performance oriented offroaders
• Manual transmission and clutch feel really good! Tight. Basically zero slop - compared to our 2004 Manual Camry which has ALL kinds of slop
• Tracked perfectly straight down the road. Steering amazingly responsive for such an aggressive and large tire
• A/C is powerful and plentiful front and rear (it was 95 deg here yesterday too)
• Cabin room is AMAZING. No comparison to the Wrangler. Foot / leg space is incredible. Not just length wise but width wise. I am 6'6" and 220lb and still had about 4" of seat adjustment left when I found my comfortable driving location.
• 2nd row leg room is impressive! With my 6'6" body and long ass legs even my 6'2" wife could sit behind me WITHOUT her knees touching. Our daughter was in a rear-facing car seat and had plenty of room on the passenger side.
• The engine bay IS NOT really intimidating. I understand that in pictures it looks like there's only hosing and wiring going everywhere, but that's not the case in real-life. The little 4-banger is EASILY visible under the top layer of hoses and wiring. It actually looks like belt changes, alternator replacement, etc will be quite easy. I actually really liked how it was laid out, seems like there's lots of space everywhere which will be great for mods. Of course it's a tiny little engine - and this is coming from a guy who maintains his own Powerstroke 6.0L so...

The Bad / Not Great

• Biggest gripe - I think the level / lift and very aggressive tires are really doing this vehicle a disservice for those who were hoping to experience the now expected "amazing" suspension and ride quality of the Bronco. The tires are so aggressive that you feel every lug at low speed / turning in parking lots etc and they are a little less "connected" to the road. If you know you know. The level / lift takes the already lower grade Big Bend suspension and does not make it better. My wife and I both thought the on-road ride smoothness over rough highway was equivalent to her parents' Rubicon. Not what we were hoping for but we knew that's probably what we were going to expect with the rig modified the way it was. Note that these comments are not addressing the steering quality here - steering is head and shoulders above the Wrangler even with these "appearance mods".
• Power was "adequate". Nothing more. Wish I could've spent more time learning how to keep the engine in the power band.
• If you live on gravel roads and are averse to letting dust into your vehicle, the soft top is not for you. Not only do you notice dust on the top more, but also I think it probably doesn't seal as well in the tailgate area, meaning the tailgate and sealing borders will get more dusty.
• The soft was VERY loud compared to the hard top with sound deadening headliner. Not even close.
• The 8" screen is very underwhelming
• The stereo does not sound good. I didn't even bother turning it up because quality was bad even at low relatively quiet levels
• I recently saw the new thread on whistling sound on the Big Bend. THIS THING ABSOLUTELY WHISTLED! To us it sounded more like it was coming from the driver's mirror area, but could be wrong and maybe it was actually the grille/hood. All I know is that it was really dang noticeable - and to spoil the punchline - the Wildtrak had ZERO whistle.

Race Red 2-door WT 2.7 AT - Bone Stock
The Good

• This thing is where it's AT!!!!! If we didn't have such a large family - I would be 2-door all the way.
• I cannot overstate how damn awesome the suspension is tuned on this thing. It was NOT EVEN CLOSE in comparison to the modified BB we had. You could easily throw it around, it was playful, significantly more smooth in rough road/highway, connected to the road, predictable etc. etc. THIS is what we were expecting from the highly touted handling of the new Bronco - NOT EVEN CLOSE to the Wrangler Rubicon
• The 12" screen BLEW US AWAY. Period. I would be unhappy now if I had settled for the 8".
• **We are not audiophiles. Our newest vehicle is an '04 Camry ** The B&O system was REALLY GREAT. I loved cranking that thing up and it was extremely satisfying and blew away the systems in our current vehicles. I really don't know what people are complaining about with this system being "junk". They're crazy. Or we're just uneducated Also - I do suspect there is a huge impact of the shorter cabin of the 2-door with nice MIC top and sound deadening
• The cabin noise WAS WAY BETTER than the softop - as expected. Not hardly any wind noise.
• ZERO whistling
• MIC Top finish quality - excellent. Didn't look at it with a microscope, but have faith, it is really a nice top when executed correctly. Maybe I picked up on some of the "snake skin" appearance just slightly, but honestly it looks like it was expected to be there and it wouldn't have bothered me in the least if it were mine.
• 2.7 Power - Awesome. Felt very racy and I wanted to romp on it non-stop
• AT - If we didn't like manuals so much and weren't looking to save several thousand on our Badlands build, I would go with the AT. It seems like that would be really nice to me.
• I rode in the back with my daughter. After you get back there, it is SUPER comfortable. At 6'6" I could've ridden back there all day and been fine.
• A/C was adequate in back seat when turned up appropriately.

The Not-so-awesome

• When sitting in the back, I noticed a little wind noise at the seam / junction of the top panels where they meet up between the front and the back on the driver side kind of right behind the driver's head. What was interesting, was that I never heard anything while I was driving, but when I went to the back while my wife drove, I did notice it. So really it's not a big deal.
• When stroking your hand on the sound deadening headliner, it did release a lot of "fuzz" or dust particles. Like it wasn't clean or or like it was losing material. Feels nice, looks nice, but man I didn't like seeing the dust come out of it like that.

Conclusion

• If you are like us and are going for the best possible ride quality - DO NOT go throwing leveling lifts on lower grade suspensions. Stick with Badlands / Sasquatch suspension packages and leave them stock until you're absolutely convinced you want to change. The engineers REALLY NAILED IT with the Sasquatch package, and I'm guessing the Badlands package too. YOU WILL EFF IT UP IF YOU CHANGE IT. I would be really patient before changing your suspension / tire setup.
• If you value the creature comforts like the tech, interior sound levels, engine performance - you get what you pay for
• Lower trim levels with a Sasquatch package ARE GOING TO BE A STEAL. You will not find a better riding off-road rig at the price point than a Basesquatch

PS - What a great place to work with, and what a great memorial to the late Albert Schmitz. Granger you're a class act:

Awesome post!!!
I have a quick question for you:
Did you happened to check the window sticker and see the country of origin of the transmission and the 2.3L?
Thank you!!

 

[Razorbak86]

Glad you had the same observation! Also my wife sad the same thing

I think I understand what you are asking, but but NO - everything was clearly visible - dash did not hinder my line of sight for anything.

I don't think it would be possible for this to be an issue actually because the dash really isn't that close.

Thanks for your perspective. This is what I was talking about…

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...e-disappointing-discoveries.19677/post-705494

 

[vrewald14]

Awesome post!!!
I have a quick question for you:
Did you happened to check the window sticker and see the country of origin of the transmission and the 2.3L?
Thank you!!

Sorry no I did not.

Thanks for your perspective. This is what I was talking about…

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...e-disappointing-discoveries.19677/post-705494

Hmm yeah definitely did not experience that. If that was an issues I was completely unaware. Something tells me that guy may have been sitting way too close to the dash for that to happen. The photo he has showing his vantage point is nowhere near what I remember experiencing in the Wildtrak.

All the angles and everything felt good to me. I actually love the dash layout and screen integration - the only thing I dislike is the damn "Bar Chart" tachometer.

 

[Demoncleaner]

Sorry no I did not.


Hmm yeah definitely did not experience that. If that was an issues I was completely unaware. Something tells me that guy may have been sitting way too close to the dash for that to happen. The photo he has showing his vantage point is nowhere near what I remember experiencing in the Wildtrak.

All the angles and everything felt good to me. I actually love the dash layout and screen integration - the only thing I dislike is the damn "Bar Chart" tachometer.

It would be better if they had a digital speedometer with an analog tachometer.
WTF were they thinking?

 

[Ksjrb03]

Sorry no I did not.


Hmm yeah definitely did not experience that. If that was an issues I was completely unaware. Something tells me that guy may have been sitting way too close to the dash for that to happen. The photo he has showing his vantage point is nowhere near what I remember experiencing in the Wildtrak.

All the angles and everything felt good to me. I actually love the dash layout and screen integration - the only thing I dislike is the damn "Bar Chart" tachometer.

I'm only 6', and it is defiantly an issue in my seating position. I don't sit upright, more the Texas lean. I've seen it mentioned in several reviews as well, @Nickp comes to mind, mentioned in written review and video.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...ssions-review-of-the-2021-bronco-video.18387/

Its extremely annoying, if it was an issue for you, you would not of missed it. I think your extra 6" has you sitting back and low enough.

 

[vrewald14]

I'm only 6', and it is defiantly an issue in my seating position. I don't sit upright, more the Texas lean. I've seen it mentioned in several reviews as well, @Nickp comes to mind, mentioned in written review and video.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/nickp’s-first-drive-impressions-review-of-the-2021-bronco-video.18387/

Its extremely annoying, if it was an issue for you, you would not of missed it. I think your extra 6" has you sitting back and low enough.

Thanks for bringing some additional perspective! I'll have to make sure to take note next time I sit in one.

 

[Nickp]

I'm only 6', and it is defiantly an issue in my seating position. I don't sit upright, more the Texas lean. I've seen it mentioned in several reviews as well, @Nickp comes to mind, mentioned in written review and video.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/nickp’s-first-drive-impressions-review-of-the-2021-bronco-video.18387/

Its extremely annoying, if it was an issue for you, you would not of missed it. I think your extra 6" has you sitting back and low enough.

Interesting to see you’re only the second person to really mention this as well! I don’t feel like my seating height was really all that out of the norm.

 

[Pancho Kornwallace]

Now I want to see a comparison next to a base 7 speed in 4 lo with the stock tires lol

I have a base 7 speed. I drove the crawler gear in 2H, 4H, and 4L.
3MPH with nothing pressed (no brake, no clutch, no accelerator) in 2H (flat with potholes and also up a hill) or 4H (Flat on dirt)
1MPH with 4L (Flat on dirt)


Video:

 

[Rick Astley]

@vrewald14

Vince, from a tall man’s perspective, did you notice the dash extension above the 12” screen blocking important information at the top of the display from the driver’s view?

I'm only 6'1" but had zero issues with the dash impacting my view. Plenty of bright orange hood was in view.

The larger issue was how much stuff is around the center rearview mirror. You can force the mirror up towards the roof quite a ways (it also improves field of view over the spare tire), but there's a LOT going on up there that caused me to duck down to see under it at lights just to make sure that if I was going to drive over a pedestrian or cyclist, that I intended to in the first place.

Awesome post!!!
I have a quick question for you:
Did you happened to check the window sticker and see the country of origin of the transmission and the 2.3L?
Thank you!!

Please remember that like CAFE, "country of origin" is also a dirty little secret of manufacturing and not nearly as indicative of the actual origins of the part. More info on this was posted during the Ranger launch.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/engine-made-in-mexico.1526/

It would be better if they had a digital speedometer with an analog tachometer.
WTF were they thinking?

My only guess on this is that since 85-95% of all Broncos are going to be sold to people who can't drive a manual transmission, that 85-95% of customers don't need the tachometer or even understand what it is telling you.

That being said, it would not have been all that hard to have a unique screen on the digital layout for manual equipped vehicles instead of duplicating the speedometer (why the F you need two speedos running in parallel adjacent to each other is the question only an engineer could answer) and keeping the mini tach.

Tach should absolutely be an option for the full-display on the digital side.

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