First Group @ Moab Off-Roadeo: Bronco Drive Notes & Video

[Lab00Rat]

Happy Birthday!

Mine was spent in Covid lockdown...

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[Potluck99]

Bronco6g,
Let me know if any questions.

we were there! We were bronco #3, jim and rebecca. Looks like you were in #6?

 

[ChrisD]

Good review! Thanks!

I'll be there on the 4th. I have the Badlands, non-squatch, so when I put it in "Rock Crawl" mode, it does shift to 4L. The Wildtrak doesn't have the same modes. Just a note from my observations.

I'm going to self-squatch in the future. I went with the 33s but will probably put in a very minor lift and then move to 35s in the future. I don't think I'll want anything bigger than that.

When I drove out in the desert last weekend, I kind of decided Baja mode was fun, but unless I'm racing, just Normal mode and 4H was the way to go. Baja uses a lot of gasoline. I don't have a Sport mode, so I can't relate to that.

Thanks again!

 

[BuzzyBud]

Excellent summary! Thank you. That video is amazing.
Yesterday, August 16, I was in the opening day event in New Hampshire. Knocked my socks off. Two questions.
1. We were driving up and down a mountain. In 4L all the time. In addition on the way down we were in manual (M) on the gear shifter while using the thumb control to move up and down the transmission gears as needed. That was superb in saving wear and tear on the brakes. Did your group try that?
2. We were at low speed dodging trees and found Shuffle Steering to be beneficial. Anyone try that at Moab?
One other comment. I love how your location can facilitate high speed travel. We did engage in "high speed" travel on narrow wooded trails and it felt alarmingly fast. I laughed when I read the speedometer and found I was only traveling at 17mph. I guess most aspects of life are relative!

 

[Gangstead]

I'll be there on 10/1! I'm only a few hours away from the Austin one but I figured the Moab one would be more fun.

I don't. know the "right" answer about the $75 damage waiver, but I went ahead and bought it for this trip. I usually don't buy those kinds of things, never bought a warranty, insurance on a rental car, travel insurance but I did this time. I've got no reason why, it just hit my fear emotion right and I could just picture myself rolling a $60k Bronco

 

[UtahLars]

Thank you for the post. Some great footage in that video!

 

[Squatchn']

@brettclutch if I understand correctly you were driving one with a Sasquatch package, so why not just put it in 4A instead of 4L? I'm new to off-roading but I thought one of the benefits to SAS is that you put it in 4A and it does most of the thinking for you by automatically engaging the lockers as needed. I could be wrong, so any insight you can provide on this would be much appreciated for whenever I do get my Bronco.

 

[Scohin]

How many 2drs were available? And were they automatic?

 

[Fireman]

Bronco6g,

I live in Denver, CO region so I had been waiting for the Off Rodeo Moab location to announce availability. When they did I furiously signed up and found that the off rodeo first availability was August 16th (today), and that corresponded to my Birthday. I saw “the sign” and instantly registered.

What an amazing experience, we were the first ever group run through the Moab location today and we got to run the trails hard. The whole team made us feel welcome and a special shout out to our Trail Guides Jeff and Mandy who were simply amazing. We had flexibility in choosing lines and we ran the trails fast, we ran these trucks HARD and the Bronco didn’t care, it just kept going and ate up Moab.

They took us out to a Moab trail called ‘Dom Plateau’, its a rated 4 (or 5) level trail and we absolutely ‘killed it’. Section after section I grew more and more confident in the Bronco and what it can do. I can’t state it enough, we ran the trail FAST and HARD, doing things I would have considered abuse but it simply wasn’t abuse for the Bronco.

Here is a quick and dirty ‘iPhone memories’ video for those that want to watch only 1/16th of what we did, unfortunately I didn’t get many of the bigger obstacles on my iPhone. I did get some on my go-pro but that will take me some time to edit.




My Personal Notes of the Bronco after running this Moab Trail:

• * I have on order a 2.7 Badlands automatic, I will be calling my dealership this week to upgrade to Sasquatch package. I drove a wildtrak and it was awesome, I wasn’t missing the sta bar disconnect. I was able to cross the trail with ease, however the badlands behind me with 33’s several times had some rubbing and I did not.
• * The front and rear locking diffs on the top of the dash with quick on and off engagement are game changers. It’s so easy to flip both the lockers on before a large hill and turn the fronts right off after you up. I found myself toggling them on and off on demand naturally. WOW. (Didn’t realize how amazing that would be)
• * The trail turn assist is no joke, especially on the 4 door, i had one point been wondering would it actually be useful on the trail or just fun in the sand. OMG was it useful on the trail in several tight turns, it was amazing.
• * I had been wondering for a while if manual would be the way to go. The automatic is where its at no question after this trail ride. Specifically when your in 4 lo the transmission programming is so good. It will with purpose as soon as you let off the accelerator try to shift down and engine brake you. It engine brakes HARD. It’s exactly what you want when running the trails. It’s no question better including the trail turn assist in my mind (which I’m glad no more wishful thinking towards the manual I have to deal with personally yay)
• * The one pedal where you’re just on the gas to mimic two feet driving, maybe I just need more time to get used to it but it seems like a gimmick, at first it felt awesome, I tried several times to make it work but there is an issue. I will try to explain: If you just take the gas pedal and say the gas pedal travel from barely on to full gas is 0-100 range, then when in one pedal mode the same gas pedal now has a 0-500 range, where you have to push the pedal down WAY more then you would in normal circumstances. As you come down off an obstacle the vehicle is moving all around you and its instinct to get off the gas when your coming down off a cliff and the bouncing of the cabin makes your foot move on the pedal slightly. Unfortunately this causes the bronco to ‘panic brake’ which is exactly what you didn’t want, you wanted to slow to a gentle roll.
• * The GOAT modes was all useless when in 4LO, they all required 4HI. No goat mode for trail running, I wasn’t missing it since I was flipping the lockers on and off with ease as we went. No muss no fuss.
• * There was legit concern by the off rodeo team about a specific order in which to park the Bronco. Come to a stop, shift to neutral, put on park brake, let off regular brake, then move shifter to park. I don’t know the route cause for that concern.
• * Noise levels on the road with the hard top and 35’s tires was a non issue, per Apple Watch it was 60db, which is the same as one of my current Honda Civic. I will call my dealer and upgrade to the 35’s. Road manners and everything where all there and I was happy.
• * Sport mode on the wildtrak, I didn’t find the point in it. The automatic has so many gears anyways that no matter if your in normal or sport on the road the auto shifts so much to respond to your gas pedal it doesn’t much matter. It doesn’t map to sport mode in a 6 speed like you would think where gears could be held onto longer and had a bigger dynamic range where you would want to hold something. With this 10 speed it is a constant shift fest, it takes some getting used to. As such the sport mode I don’t think really matters. I wont miss it in my Badlands after this trip. (Yay)

Thank You to everyone at the Bronco Off Rodoa team for making it a trip to remember and letting us run in Moab. I simultaneously can’t wait to get my Bronco and are willing to wait longer knowing it will be worth it after today. Anyone on the fence absolutely should go, you will learn what your rig will be capable of.

Let me know if any questions.

I will be there this weekend and can’t wait to get into a Bronco

 

[JohnnyReb68]

I was there at Moab as well! The first one to check in, as a matter of fact. Great write up and I concur with mostly everything. I disagree with the Trail Assist review though. While I do like to perform tasks on my own, why go four wheeling if you don't, the Trail Assist impressed me on many occasions. The pedal movement required in the 1 pedal mode took some getting used to, I did like the "cruise control" function and used it numerous times to climb rocky outcrops. Just when it seemed I would have to take over, the Trail Assist knew what it was doing and would apply just enough throttle to get me up and over. Same was true with descents. With the speed set, it would do its thing and apply brake or throttle to keep me moving.

This was the first time I was able to even see a Bronco and it makes me so anxious to actually get mine. I have been reading comments on here for almost a year and think everybody has a right to their opinions and the things they want to nitpick. I, for one, got to drive one for an entire day and could not find one thing I disliked about it. My wife, who sat shotgun for the day, said the only thing she didn't like was the placement of the grab handles.

Anyway, my day will come. Patience is a virtue. Good luck to all.

 

[motofiend]

I was taught this a while back with Land Rovers. I believe it would apply to all automatics. If you place the parking brake on while in neutral, the brake does all the work of holding the car. If you do the reverse, then the transmission takes all the forces and when you turn it back on shift, you will get a transmission clunk sound. Those are the gears grinding while they having the weight of the vehicle on them.
For example, try parking on a hill, place the transmission into Park, the car is not moving, but the transmission is wound up. Then place it in drive and feel the clunk. I would avoid doing that.

I don't know if this is the reason they did this but this is how I've always parked my vehicles with automatics.

 

[RubyRedGT]

Well dang it...so I was just thinking of switching my WT to a BL (soft) in hopes of getting it sooner, but I'd have to leave off Sasquatch to keep the prices closer.

Now sounds like I have to stick to my WT.

Several folks with BL have installed 34" or 35" tires w/o SAS (note the SAS tires are 34.4"). SAS only adds 0.4" of lift but fitting bigger tires is important. Since all the Broncos need a little leveling IMHO, I plan to either (1) add 1" front and 0.5" rear, or (2) just add just 0.5" front spacer.

 

[TXBronco01]

Well dang it...so I was just thinking of switching my WT to a BL (soft) in hopes of getting it sooner, but I'd have to leave off Sasquatch to keep the prices closer.

Now sounds like I have to stick to my WT.

I had a WT(LUX, Tow, Leather) on order but switched to OBX(SAS, LUX, 2.7, Tow, Leather, Soft). Basically the exact same build as long as you are okay with the OBX interiors. Otherwise, all i lost was the MIC and Baja mode but was able to keep Sport mode. OBX was about $200 cheaper. Just scheduled last week...

 

[Gpscharron]

Very nice write-up buddy. Thanks for the detail. I went the the Austin Roadeo and it seems that the terrain is different. I was able to do everything with the Badlands even with 33”. I had a few issues with the Wildtrak the following day.

If regards to insurance: I can not speak for Moab but DO NOT GET IT FOR AUSTIN IF YOU HAVE 30 minutes of OFF-Road experience. It is really for people who have NO experience off road.

Thanks again!

 

[Kos]

* There was legit concern by the off rodeo team about a specific order in which to park the Bronco. Come to a stop, shift to neutral, put on park brake, let off regular brake, then move shifter to park. I don’t know the route cause for that concern.

This should be the parking procedure for any car when you feel the parking break is necessary. Putting the parking break on while the vehicle is in neutral puts the load on the parking break with the transmission break acting as a backup. If you put it in park first, then the transmission break is your primary break and the parking break is your backup.

I would say the "real concern" is they are trying to teach you how to offroad properly and they have to unteach a bad technique that most of us exhibit.

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