Early thoughts from a JLU owner after 300 miles back from Granger

[RivianNowPlz]

Full comments and review to come, but while these thoughts are fresh in my mind I thought I'd discuss the Ford Bronco First Edition as someone who has had a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JLU for nearly 4 years.

1. Headrest is top tier and very well cushioned. In comparison to the Jeep, my Tesla, my Ascent.. this Bronco has the best headrest, and for me this is a big deal.

2. The Bronco immediately feels like a "truck" vs the Jeep which has a totally different driving feel. The seating position is far more king of the road, and the legroom from a 6' 240lbs guy who likes to spread out is noticeably more comfortable than the Wrangler which your right knee in the JLU will touch hard plastic on long trips to the point of pain.

3. The left arm driver side rest points are virtually identical to the Jeep which for the Bronco became my first "gripe". In the Jeep, there are no airbags on the side like the Bronco so there is a good inch between the window and frame. Because of the low point of the door arm rest in both the Jeep and Bronco I tend to place my arm and elbow on the window sill and in the Jeep rest a finger between the window and frame for comfort. This isn't possible in the Bronco because of the airbags meaning I switched between both rest points on our long 300 mile trip so it became noticeable and awkward.

4. As we all know, the IFS is game changing coming from the Jeep. You hit hard bumps without your hands on the wheel and you could be in the ditch.. in the Bronco it's confidence all around, no worries what so ever about hitting the ditch in the Bronco.

5. The Bronco is noticeably wider and it feels longer from the inside. We brought our 3 boys down with us, ages 7;5; & 3. Ones in a cars eat, two in boosters. You have to force the doors shut with our seats to get 3 across in the Wrangler. Not so in the Bronco. 3 across works just fine. Seatbelt extenders will be necessary, but I need them in our Tesla/Jeep as well, more shoulder room kept the kids in check during the 4 hour drive back home.

6. Contrary to what Motortrend says.. the Bronco feels far more premium than our JLU. I enjoy our Jeep, but the Bronco looks nicer.

7. I will update on my impression of thigh support. I felt as if it may have been lacking, but your mileage will vary here based on body type.. I have long legs so could be a tougher sell for me.

8. The Jeeps visors are tiny. The Broncos are gigantic. I'm not sure why.. im not sure why people haven't really talked about this. Would like to know what vehicle has larger visors, these are crazy.

9. I'll need to do some research but the wireless charge pad was in and out and Android auto completely went away about 3 hours into the trip until I shut the car off and turned it back on. First bugs.

10. Sound is very loud. Similar to the Jeep, but I may go as far to say it's harder to deal with in the Bronco with kids because the seats in the back appear to sit further back. I'll measure and maybe its in my head, but I felt like at 75mph it was a requirement to shout to talk to the kids where in the Jeep I need to talk louder, but not necessarily shout.

Overall.. early thoughts and late night topic posting. Pics and yet another review incoming but I'm thrilled about the size and driving characteristics. The Bronco is an amazing road trip truck, gets a ton of attention, feels large on the inside and gets 14mpg. It's awesome, the jeeps awesome.. im thinking the Bronco is better.

More to come.

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[babraunagel]

Thanks for the interesting write-up and detailed perspectives!

 

[EndlessAdvnture]

Full comments and review to come, but while these thoughts are fresh in my mind I thought I'd discuss the Ford Bronco First Edition as someone who has had a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JLU for nearly 4 years.

1. Headrest is top tier and very well cushioned. In comparison to the Jeep, my Tesla, my Ascent.. this Bronco has the best headrest, and for me this is a big deal.

2. The Bronco immediately feels like a "truck" vs the Jeep which has a totally different driving feel. The seating position is far more king of the road, and the legroom from a 6' 240lbs guy who likes to spread out is noticeably more comfortable than the Wrangler which your right knee in the JLU will touch hard plastic on long trips to the point of pain.

3. The left arm driver side rest points are virtually identical to the Jeep which for the Bronco became my first "gripe". In the Jeep, there are no airbags on the side like the Bronco so there is a good inch between the window and frame. Because of the low point of the door arm rest in both the Jeep and Bronco I tend to place my arm and elbow on the window sill and in the Jeep rest a finger between the window and frame for comfort. This isn't possible in the Bronco because of the airbags meaning I switched between both rest points on our long 300 mile trip so it became noticeable and awkward.

4. As we all know, the IFS is game changing coming from the Jeep. You hit hard bumps without your hands on the wheel and you could be in the ditch.. in the Bronco it's confidence all around, no worries what so ever about hitting the ditch in the Bronco.

5. The Bronco is noticeably wider and it feels longer from the inside. We brought our 3 boys down with us, ages 7;5; & 3. Ones in a cars eat, two in boosters. You have to force the doors shut with our seats to get 3 across in the Wrangler. Not so in the Bronco. 3 across works just fine. Seatbelt extenders will be necessary, but I need them in our Tesla/Jeep as well, more shoulder room kept the kids in check during the 4 hour drive back home.

6. Contrary to what Motortrend says.. the Bronco feels far more premium than our JLU. I enjoy our Jeep, but the Bronco looks nicer.

7. I will update on my impression of thigh support. I felt as if it may have been lacking, but your mileage will vary here based on body type.. I have long legs so could be a tougher sell for me.

8. The Jeeps visors are tiny. The Broncos are gigantic. I'm not sure why.. im not sure why people haven't really talked about this. Would like to know what vehicle has larger visors, these are crazy.

9. I'll need to do some research but the wireless charge pad was in and out and Android auto completely went away about 3 hours into the trip until I shut the car off and turned it back on. First bugs.

10. Sound is very loud. Similar to the Jeep, but I may go as far to say it's harder to deal with in the Bronco with kids because the seats in the back appear to sit further back. I'll measure and maybe its in my head, but I felt like at 75mph it was a requirement to shout to talk to the kids where in the Jeep I need to talk louder, but not necessarily shout.

Overall.. early thoughts and late night topic posting. Pics and yet another review incoming but I'm thrilled about the size and driving characteristics. The Bronco is an amazing road trip truck, gets a ton of attention, feels large on the inside and gets 14mpg. It's awesome, the jeeps awesome.. im thinking the Bronco is better.

More to come.

Great start, interested
to hear more.

 

[stampede1]

Thanks for the informative write up, it is interesting to learn about the contrast between broncos and jeeps. Your mpg sounds painful though. I think that is the lowest I have read about so far. Maybe with additional break-in, it will improve.

 

[Bronco4lyfe85]

Contrary to what Motortrend says.. the Bronco feels far more premium than our JLU. I enjoy our Jeep, but the Bronco looks nicer.

I agree with pretty much everything you said from the times I’ve driven a Bronco. Except for this, what is this in reference to?

 

[balucipher]

I have similar commentary after comparing it to my 4xe Rubicon after driving it home from Granger 1500 miles

The arm rest is the most annoying. Still trying to find a seating position where it's comfortable. I ended up resting my arm up top a lot but it ended up being uncomfortable for my elbow. I agree the Bronco feels more premium but I thought it was quieter than my Jeep

 

[Last Ride Bronco]

Full comments and review to come, but while these thoughts are fresh in my mind I thought I'd discuss the Ford Bronco First Edition as someone who has had a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JLU for nearly 4 years.

1. Headrest is top tier and very well cushioned. In comparison to the Jeep, my Tesla, my Ascent.. this Bronco has the best headrest, and for me this is a big deal.

2. The Bronco immediately feels like a "truck" vs the Jeep which has a totally different driving feel. The seating position is far more king of the road, and the legroom from a 6' 240lbs guy who likes to spread out is noticeably more comfortable than the Wrangler which your right knee in the JLU will touch hard plastic on long trips to the point of pain.

3. The left arm driver side rest points are virtually identical to the Jeep which for the Bronco became my first "gripe". In the Jeep, there are no airbags on the side like the Bronco so there is a good inch between the window and frame. Because of the low point of the door arm rest in both the Jeep and Bronco I tend to place my arm and elbow on the window sill and in the Jeep rest a finger between the window and frame for comfort. This isn't possible in the Bronco because of the airbags meaning I switched between both rest points on our long 300 mile trip so it became noticeable and awkward.

4. As we all know, the IFS is game changing coming from the Jeep. You hit hard bumps without your hands on the wheel and you could be in the ditch.. in the Bronco it's confidence all around, no worries what so ever about hitting the ditch in the Bronco.

5. The Bronco is noticeably wider and it feels longer from the inside. We brought our 3 boys down with us, ages 7;5; & 3. Ones in a cars eat, two in boosters. You have to force the doors shut with our seats to get 3 across in the Wrangler. Not so in the Bronco. 3 across works just fine. Seatbelt extenders will be necessary, but I need them in our Tesla/Jeep as well, more shoulder room kept the kids in check during the 4 hour drive back home.

6. Contrary to what Motortrend says.. the Bronco feels far more premium than our JLU. I enjoy our Jeep, but the Bronco looks nicer.

7. I will update on my impression of thigh support. I felt as if it may have been lacking, but your mileage will vary here based on body type.. I have long legs so could be a tougher sell for me.

8. The Jeeps visors are tiny. The Broncos are gigantic. I'm not sure why.. im not sure why people haven't really talked about this. Would like to know what vehicle has larger visors, these are crazy.

9. I'll need to do some research but the wireless charge pad was in and out and Android auto completely went away about 3 hours into the trip until I shut the car off and turned it back on. First bugs.

10. Sound is very loud. Similar to the Jeep, but I may go as far to say it's harder to deal with in the Bronco with kids because the seats in the back appear to sit further back. I'll measure and maybe its in my head, but I felt like at 75mph it was a requirement to shout to talk to the kids where in the Jeep I need to talk louder, but not necessarily shout.

Overall.. early thoughts and late night topic posting. Pics and yet another review incoming but I'm thrilled about the size and driving characteristics. The Bronco is an amazing road trip truck, gets a ton of attention, feels large on the inside and gets 14mpg. It's awesome, the jeeps awesome.. im thinking the Bronco is better.

More to come.

Good answer!

 

[Ksjrb03]

Every vehicle I have ever owned has a larger visor than the Bronco. Which is to be expected as Bronco is the smallest vehicle we have ever owned.

I can’t say my FE Bronco feels more premium than a loaded Rubicon. Some of the materials are extremely cheap and thin. Go press on the panel where your sub is and tell me that is premium.

save yourself the research time. The wireless pad is garbage and doesn’t work most of the time.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who can’t figure out where to put his elbow. I’ve never thought about my elbows in any other vehicle.

Agree the sound is loud. Hardtop should not be this loud. Windy day is really bad.

yes this drives on the highway like a dream compared to a wrangler. Straight as an arrow. In fact the stupid nanny tells me to keep my hands on the wheel, not my fault it drives so perfect, don’t make me wiggle the steering wheel for no reason

 

[RivianNowPlz]

Every vehicle I have ever owned has a larger visor than the Bronco. Which is to be expected as Bronco is the smallest vehicle we have ever owned.

I can’t say my FE Bronco feels more premium than a loaded Rubicon. Some of the materials are extremely cheap and thin. Go press on the panel where your sub is and tell me that is premium.

I'll respond quick to these comments. First on the visors, what vehicles? Have you measured actual overall dimensions? These visors are larger than my old Raptors visor. Larger than our old Range Rovers visors.. my dad's Defender as well. Which vehicles? Just curious. I was going to go do some measuring with my buddies new Surburban later today.

To your second comment. It's about what you touch that matters. First I'll start with the looks and if you look at both interiors, this will be slightly subjective but my FE interior just looks nicer than the JLU. Over to feel, here are items that going back to back I'd say make the Bronco feel more premium.

1. Volume knob
2. Dual climate knobs + screen on knobs
3. Seats are more cushioned
4. Headrest is pillow top cushioned
5. Hard plastics are better textured to look premium. The hard plastics on my JLU near the places you don't normally touch look textured straight out of a 1991 Dodge Shadow. It's bad and they scratch VERY easily. My JLU plastics didn't look new after 3 weeks. Could this be the case in the Bronco? It's possible but I've only had it 18 hours
6. The center console armrest is better cushioned and better textured. Again this is applicable to FE, I have not sat in any other trims so please keep this in mind.
7. Basic controls such as fan speed received premium knobs in the Bronco which are plastic in the JLU.
8. Most other basic buttons feel the same between both JLU and Bronco however the painted surface of the plastic buttons in the JLU have a tendency to wear. In my history with Fords, I haven't had this.
9. The User Interface if we are comparing apples to apples on Sync4 is significantly better than Uconnect and the larger screen gives a greater sense of premium feel. I know there is a new version of Uconnect coming out, but I have not used it so I can't comment.
10. In most spots with hard plastics(including near my alpine sub in back of the jeep) the feel between both vehicles is similar.
11. The lack of utilitarian manual ebrake and manual transfer case makes the Bronco feel more modern with a premium feel on the goat mode selector compared to giving my 4wd transfer case the business to put into gear. This isn't a comment on the subjective nature of which is better between electronic controlled ebrake and manual ebrake only to say that one clearly looks cleaner.

**edit for bonus 12 point**
12. The rubberized points in the jlu also scratch and wear horribly bad. My cup holders look disgusting and everything is a different color from the other rubber parts. I stopped caring to clean these a while back, and the scratches you'll just have to deal with.

These are my 12 points of reference on why I like the Bronco and feel like it's a more premium interior in comparison to the JLU. Are either a G Wagon? Absolutely not. Both have their compromises, but I enjoy the Broncos compromises which do not detract from my own personal comfort.

 

[hemiblas]

Full comments and review to come, but while these thoughts are fresh in my mind I thought I'd discuss the Ford Bronco First Edition as someone who has had a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JLU for nearly 4 years.

1. Headrest is top tier and very well cushioned. In comparison to the Jeep, my Tesla, my Ascent.. this Bronco has the best headrest, and for me this is a big deal.

2. The Bronco immediately feels like a "truck" vs the Jeep which has a totally different driving feel. The seating position is far more king of the road, and the legroom from a 6' 240lbs guy who likes to spread out is noticeably more comfortable than the Wrangler which your right knee in the JLU will touch hard plastic on long trips to the point of pain.

3. The left arm driver side rest points are virtually identical to the Jeep which for the Bronco became my first "gripe". In the Jeep, there are no airbags on the side like the Bronco so there is a good inch between the window and frame. Because of the low point of the door arm rest in both the Jeep and Bronco I tend to place my arm and elbow on the window sill and in the Jeep rest a finger between the window and frame for comfort. This isn't possible in the Bronco because of the airbags meaning I switched between both rest points on our long 300 mile trip so it became noticeable and awkward.

4. As we all know, the IFS is game changing coming from the Jeep. You hit hard bumps without your hands on the wheel and you could be in the ditch.. in the Bronco it's confidence all around, no worries what so ever about hitting the ditch in the Bronco.

5. The Bronco is noticeably wider and it feels longer from the inside. We brought our 3 boys down with us, ages 7;5; & 3. Ones in a cars eat, two in boosters. You have to force the doors shut with our seats to get 3 across in the Wrangler. Not so in the Bronco. 3 across works just fine. Seatbelt extenders will be necessary, but I need them in our Tesla/Jeep as well, more shoulder room kept the kids in check during the 4 hour drive back home.

6. Contrary to what Motortrend says.. the Bronco feels far more premium than our JLU. I enjoy our Jeep, but the Bronco looks nicer.

7. I will update on my impression of thigh support. I felt as if it may have been lacking, but your mileage will vary here based on body type.. I have long legs so could be a tougher sell for me.

8. The Jeeps visors are tiny. The Broncos are gigantic. I'm not sure why.. im not sure why people haven't really talked about this. Would like to know what vehicle has larger visors, these are crazy.

9. I'll need to do some research but the wireless charge pad was in and out and Android auto completely went away about 3 hours into the trip until I shut the car off and turned it back on. First bugs.

10. Sound is very loud. Similar to the Jeep, but I may go as far to say it's harder to deal with in the Bronco with kids because the seats in the back appear to sit further back. I'll measure and maybe its in my head, but I felt like at 75mph it was a requirement to shout to talk to the kids where in the Jeep I need to talk louder, but not necessarily shout.

Overall.. early thoughts and late night topic posting. Pics and yet another review incoming but I'm thrilled about the size and driving characteristics. The Bronco is an amazing road trip truck, gets a ton of attention, feels large on the inside and gets 14mpg. It's awesome, the jeeps awesome.. im thinking the Bronco is better.

More to come.

Thanks for posting. My original plan was to trade in both my jeeps for Broncos since we dont do enough hard core wheeling, but until Ford fixes the allocation issue and lets me order the Broncos from the dealer that I want (which is also Granger), it is a no go.

 

[stampede1]

Every vehicle I have ever owned has a larger visor than the Bronco. Which is to be expected as Bronco is the smallest vehicle we have ever owned.

I can’t say my FE Bronco feels more premium than a loaded Rubicon. Some of the materials are extremely cheap and thin. Go press on the panel where your sub is and tell me that is premium.

save yourself the research time. The wireless pad is garbage and doesn’t work most of the time.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who can’t figure out where to put his elbow. I’ve never thought about my elbows in any other vehicle.

Agree the sound is loud. Hardtop should not be this loud. Windy day is really bad.

yes this drives on the highway like a dream compared to a wrangler. Straight as an arrow. In fact the stupid nanny tells me to keep my hands on the wheel, not my fault it drives so perfect, don’t make me wiggle the steering wheel for no reason

That "keep both hands on the steering wheel" nanny is going to drive me crazy! What is next? "You need to smile more often"...."you need to more positive in your attitude today"..."you need to mow the lawn more often"...

 

[balucipher]

The gauge cluster is vastly superior on the JL. I don't know what Ford was thinking designing this.

I don't really like the electronic parking brake but I'm getting used to it.

The 4xe was already pretty easy on the highway, I think the bronco is still better but the difference is less compared to a regular gas Wrangler which is busy.

Bronco gets way more attention than my neon green 4xe

No cross bar makes the open air feel much more open.

Doors feel more solid. Interior feels more premium although some of the plastics aren't of the highest quality.

I have the 8" screen in my bronco and I like that Carplay takes up the whole screen. I don't want to see factory menu buttons 99% of the time and the result is a larger overall navigation display than the 8.4" in the Wrangler.

I like the 7spd manual a lot. Very easy to drive. Eco mode seems to do nothing, sport mode feels peppier but I haven't used it much.

 

[rugbysecondrow]

Good write up.

I have a 2 Dr MT, but I drove a 4dr automatic at an Off-Rodeo.

In my 2dr, the armrest issue is a non-issue. The side pillar relative to the driver is positioned better. Also, with the MT, I have my left arm on the wheel and right on the middle rest, which is very comfy IMO. The cockpit makes more sense.

On the 4dr, it feels more cramped. I am 6'2", 230, with wide shoulders, so the 4dr feels smaller even though it is a bigger vehicle.

My opinion, the Bronco was optimally designed as a 2dr, then tweaked for the 4 door.

Being taller, I haven't used the visor. The roof line of the vehicle actually does a great job of acting as a visor, so much that I find myself wearing sunglasses less in the Bronco.

I have spent a lot of time driving the Bronco, road trips in my 2dr and the all day Off-Rodeo, and they are both comfy for me. The seats are surprisingly comfortable and even without the mid, high or lux packages, they seem outfitters very well and easy to operate.

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