I feel gypped by Ford on my cup holders (manual vs auto)

[AZ_Liberty]

It's a terrible analogy, if you want a sports car go buy a sports car. The Bronco is not a sports car its an off road vehicle.

2-doors, stick shift, metallic red. And will live 98 % of it's life on pavement.

No stick shift and it would be far too boring to even consider buying.

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[Lilj4425]

The OP should have a bought a Subaru instead.

 

[Jdyount]

I've extensively driven manuals and autos off-road over several decades. They both have their place. I truly believe that the auto is the better platform for the majority of off-road driving. Sure, there's edge cases. There always is.

I've broken a _lot_ of trucks and parts while wheeling. I've trashed axles, driveshafts, half-shafts, diffs, bearings, u-joints, and oh-so-many clutches. The one part I've never managed to break in even the most aggro of wheeling is an automatic transmission. I generally carry spares for all of those, except my transmission. I throw out a clutch and my day is over. And if you're new to this world, you _will_ trash a clutch. It's an inevitably if you're really pushing to the truck's full ability.

This generation of Bronco was built to perform at its peak ability with the auto transmission. Rowing your own is fun. For this rig though, the auto is my choice.

THIS!

I've shelled differentials, shredded ring and pinions, popped axle bearings, broken u-joints, and absolutely blown up a clutch (like spaghetti). Never have I broken an automatic transmission (off-road).

The other thing is that using a manual off-road is a ton more work. I've been down trails where you have to crawl every rock for half a mile and that gets old fast. Kinda like being stuck on the 101 for 3 hours in my Mustang, my calf was screaming after pressing in the clutch for 1000th time.


I do have to admit, I get a little snobbish when it comes to the Bronco and people not using them off-road. I know I shouldn't but I do. In the end if someone wants to drive their Bronco like a sport car then that's what they should do, have fun. They shouldn't give a rip about me judging them anyway....

 

[TriggerTX]

The one thing I'll give to the manual is that crawler gear. Damn that was low. I had fun trying it out it at Off-Roadeo. I didn't find it to be a killer app that changed my mind to that manual gearbox though. The vast majority of the time it would be unused anyways.

 

[Seahund]

I

So my day at the Las Vegas Off-Rodeo was a blast and a great learning experience about the capabilities of the Ford Bronco.

However, I did find out a difference between my manual BL and the automatic BLs we had for the Off-Rodeo regarding the cup holders in the front.

the BLs were 2021 models (they still had the temp readouts on the knobs). The cups holders in the BL I drove had the “fingers” on the inside of the cup holders that helped to keep stuff from rattling around.

But the cup holders in my manual BL did not have the fingers in the cup holders.

Kinda cheeseball IMHO to not include what can’t be more than $1 worth of plastic and springs for the cup holders in 7-speed Broncos.

Also the whole “layout” of the center console was so much better in the auto than the manual, not just with the cup holders, but also with regard to the window lift buttons and side view mirrors. Basically after sitting in the automatic, it seemed to me like all the ergonomic planning was done for the automatic, and when it came to the manual it was like “oh I guess we can’t do the same layout” so we’ll just shove stuff wherever it fits.

Just like with the tachometer, it’s like the enter console for the manual was an afterthought.

Would definitely turn the vehicle down when it arrives and order the auto

 

[Seahund]

I

@Ford Motor Company , they don't want to sale MT's any more.....

It seems like everything MT related is an Afterthought when there's AT & MT versions of a vehicle, where they place more "design effort" on the AT's and say F the MT people.

And it's looking like I'll be buying something else if @Ford Motor Company stays on that course with this mindset on the Bronco. It's bad enough that they had to copy Jeep on a lot of the things as well.......... smh....

I would order an auto and turn down the manual when it arrives.

 

[Seahund]

That was over the past 10 years, it's been falling fast.

Last few years have been well under 50% at around 35%, with the 2-door being higher and the four door being much lower as one would expect.

And the take rate on Bronco 2drs, from all the reviews I've seen, is around 20-25%...

 

[Seahund]

If I put my travel coffee cup in the cupholder on the Mustang, I can use it as an arm rest when shifting.

I drink from a Camelback hanging from the molle on the back of the passenger seat in my 2dr Badlands. LOLOLOL

 

[thatspecialbeat]

The one thing I'll give to the manual is that crawler gear. Damn that was low. I had fun trying it out it at Off-Roadeo. I didn't find it to be a killer app that changed my mind to that manual gearbox though. The vast majority of the time it would be unused anyways.

I had a chance to actually use the crawler gear in 4L with the rear axle locked and it could drive up a wall.

 

[AK SNO RIDER]

I guess I would have thought there would be some "3 pedal" enthusiasts at Ford working on the Bronco and would have cared more about the stick shift crowd.

This is not the best analogy, but do you think BMW and Porsche short changed their manual drivers over the automatics for the few models they have left with stick shifts? I doubt it. Both groups are important even if the split is 90/10 instead of 50/50 a couple of decades ago.

Just irritating and I was venting after I saw this at the Off-Rodeo.

And to be clear, as much as I love my BL, if it did not have 3 pedals on the floor, I would not be a current Bronco owner. So while I am glad that Ford offered an manual, I am disappointed that we have been short-changed on several things that are meaningful (to me) like the cup holders, the window lift buttons, and the tach.

Yes they literally do. The new M3 can be had as a manual, but if you want the Comp pack you are forced into an auto trans.

Also what are you going on about with the window switches (who tf calls them "lift buttons")? They're in like the exact same place as an auto.

And we were ALL given a shitty tach, Ford didn't just set out to "short change" MT buyers specifically with it.

 

[tourproto]

Yes they literally do. The new M3 can be had as a manual, but if you want the Comp pack you are forced into an auto trans.

Also what are you going on about with the window switches (who tf calls them "lift buttons")? They're in like the exact same place as an auto.

And we were ALL given a shitty tach, it's not just MT owners who were "short changed" in regards to that.

My point about the bimmers was that they didn't F up the ergonomics between the autos and the sticks.

As for the window CONTROLS (happier?) they are in the same "general location" but they are NOT in the same place. The window controls are more forward relative to the armrest in the auto vs. the manual. You don't have to bend your wrist 90* down to get to them in the automatic

A tach does nothing in an automatic unless you are manually shifting (and really how often does anyone do that in a truck?) so not a big deal for auto drivers, but it is an issue for manual drivers to know where you are rev-wise. In my bimmer, I look at the tach more than I look at the speedo, but maybe that is just me.

 

[tourproto]

The OP should have a bought a Subaru instead.

We have one a Subbie Outback with the 3.6L engine and slushbox. It is my wife's car.

 

[Tricky Dick]

The window controls are more forward relative to the armrest in the auto vs. the manual. You don't have to bend your wrist 90* down to get to them in the automatic

Really? I figured the main console was unchanged and only the top painted part would be different.

 

[BigFootie]

So keep the road sodas to a 12 oz. can, got it.

Probably will fit perfect with a roadie soda brand covering coozie!

 

[AZ_Liberty]

And the take rate on Bronco 2drs, from all the reviews I've seen, is around 20-25%...

Would have been somewere between 35-40% if Ford didn't make you choose between the MT and the V-6. You also can't get the stick on the 4-door Base.

1st and 2nd year cars are always statistically different than established ones though. Like when Chevy brought the Camero back. Over 1/2 of sales the first year were convertibles, even though in a normal year the hard top outsells the drop top 8:1

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