Do we NEED goat modes?

[kylearmani]

I’m very excited for the goat modes on the bronco. As we know not every bronco has the same amount of goat modes. My question is that even if a bronco doesn’t have “mud ruts” can a few buttons (like 4h, crawler gear etc.) be pressed and it’s basically the same thing? (I hope I explained this right hopefully y’all get it)

Sponsored

 

[The Bronze]

I think you will find that the most important parts of the goat modes is their ability to alter the steering response and more importantly, the traction control/ABS. More aggressive shifting and throttle response (or less agressive) is also nice, but getting the nannies turned off is most important off-road. I feel that even the base settings will be enough in most cases.

 

[rgwinn]

This was in a recent post; you can get most of the features out of a couple of the modes.

 

[Erock]

I think it’s fun just to say goat modes... and I need fun... so, yeah, I need goat modes.

 

[kylearmani]

This was in a recent post; you can get most of the features out of a couple of the modes.

Ok this is a good example of what i’m getting at. Since sport and baja are almost identical. Could I put my car in sport mode then put it in 4H and boom I have baja (assuming my trim doesn’t come with a baja goat mode)

 

[Lilj4425]

Well...

 

[rgwinn]

Ok this is a good example of what i’m getting at. Since sport and baja are almost identical. Could I put my car in sport mode then put it in 4H and boom I have baja (assuming my trim doesn’t come with a baja goat mode)

Yep, I plan on using Baja mode as Sport mode in my FE

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

...even if a bronco doesn’t have “mud ruts” can a few buttons (like 4h, crawler gear etc.) be pressed and it’s basically the same thing? ...

Yes. The goat modes are primarily a way of pushing one button instead of multiple. A skilled driver should be able to duplicate all of its effects.

 

[Overland4912]

Traction Control is NOT turned off in sport mode AFAIK. That chart is misleading, however it does deactivate auto stop/start which is missing from chart

 

[BackcountryBirds]

I think they are useful and a nice addition but not going to be earth shattering. The biggest thing they do is give a novice some confidence and an easy reference based on terrain of what lockers to use.

I don't believe that mud and ruts mode would get you any further in the mud than regular mode with lockers engaged as an example.

There is usefulness in how they shiftk, kindof like an advanced tow/haul or overdrive mode that adjusts shift points and RPMs based on driving activity.

I think they will be most fun and "improve performance" the most at higher speeds, but again I don't think you are magically getting over rocks in rock mode that you wouldn't with lockers engaged and sway bar disconnected without goat mode.

It's definitely a bit of a marketing tool, that has some usefulness but not a significant game changer off road in my opinion.

The trail turn assist is the biggest off road innovation that the bronco brings in my opinion. Can't wait to test them out in the real world!

 

[Efthreeoh]

Ok this is a good example of what i’m getting at. Since sport and baja are almost identical. Could I put my car in sport mode then put it in 4H and boom I have baja (assuming my trim doesn’t come with a baja goat mode)

Yup. It's one other reason to pick the BD. Setting for Baja is as easy as "Sport" + "4H". Now, I just need to move to SoCal so I can use it...

 

[HBTFD]

What does “open” and “closed” exhaust change? Wastegate?

 

[ZackDanger]

This was in a recent post; you can get most of the features out of a couple of the modes.

Ok this is a good example of what i’m getting at. Since sport and baja are almost identical. Could I put my car in sport mode then put it in 4H and boom I have baja (assuming my trim doesn’t come with a baja goat mode)

What does “open” and “closed” exhaust change? Wastegate?

That chart was a very early guess by a forum member to what they expected Goat modes to alter based on other Ford vehicles. (Hence the exhaust toggle, which the Bronco doesn’t have.)

We should be careful not to take this with any sort of authority.

To answer the OPs question, Goat modes seem to do two different categories of things:

1. Auto select user modifiable things, such as locker, sway bar, 4WD mode, etc.

2. Change mapping and thresholds for things like throttle response, shifting, TSC, etc.

In the case of #1, if your Bronco doesn’t have a specific goat mode, you’ll be able to mimic it by just select the same combination yourself. It appears you can still select all these options yourself at any time in any mode... any changes that automatically happen when selecting a new goat mode are just a convenience thing.

In the case of #2, you won’t be able to change any of that yourself without the goat mode (or a programmer), but for all we know all Broncos have the same options just with different names. I.e. if my Bronco has Baja but not sport, maybe I can select Baja and then by putting it back into 2H, you’re achieving the exact same thing as sport.

In this way, maybe every Bronco has every goat mode combination possible, but they just decided to list a subset for packaging and figured we could always just toggle the #1 options as we see fit.

 

[RiverRat001]

I’ve never been one to use drive modes but in more modern cars they can make a significant impact on handling and throttle response. The Bronco has lockers at it’s disposal so they threw everything in to the mixer. What came out the other side was a tool that’s both useful AND a gimmick.

 

[Thed]

Baja will have different ABS parameters, allowing more lock-up than the modes that are actually meant to be driven on the street.

Sponsored