If Ford were to make a full size bronco...

[TeocaliMG]

Its not that the Bronco is so small, as much as the incorrectly referenced "Baby Bronco" is not so baby. At least in profile. In powertrain, chassis, and overall weight it will be "baby" The midsize Bronco, as many have pointed out here, will be no smaller than the existing JL Wrangler. It is a miracle that is will be as close as it is honestly.

Again, not hating on the idea of an FSB, just want to clarify that the Bronco is still midsize and that most of this confusion comes from the misunderstood "small rugged utility"

i'll add: If a 2 door Bronco having a competitive wheelbase with a 2 door wrangler is pathetic then there's a lot of pathetic dudes at Moab right now...

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[teejayhoward]

Yep, and here’s your 2 dr and 4 dr ranger based broncos....just like the midsize guys don’t want these, us FSB guys don’t want an F150 with a camper shell.

Uhm, that's exactly what I want. A RCSB F150 with a camper shell, stick shift, and 4WD. They haven't made that combination in what, a decade? And if I want it to fit on a trail, I'm looking at about 70" width, so... Two decades? Three?

edit: Nope, 60s models were the last time that was available, dangit.

 

[TeocaliMG]

In this very thread, this point is disproven, let alone the whole of this forum. Again you are using poor logic saying "smaller than a ford escape" when really you should say, "Bold of ford to make the escape the size of a jeep wrangler" until you consider that the Cherokee basically is. And yet nobody confuses the capability of these vehicles... the JL is killing it in sales right now, Jeep as a brand knows what their doing. The key to an off-road vehicle is not simply how much bigger than an escape it is. You know this so I'm not sure why you are hung up on it. Do you want me to tell you I heard that we are working on an FSB internally? because I haven't. The numbers will tell the truth. You haven't even seen the Bronco yet, sheesh

 

[TeocaliMG]

No, in fact I have clearly been a proponent of high-end IFS over SFA on this forum. What sells the Jeep is image. This image is not free, it is a combination of style and capability. Style is obvious, no one buys vehicles that look like shit. As for capability there is ample evidence that there is no perfect off roader, basically every performance/design choice is a compromise, but there are certain tenants, like 4x4, suspension travel, lockers, maneuverability, reliability etc. You would be hard pressed to find a vehicle out of the box that has more image on the basis of capability than a Jeep Wrangler. Ford has made it clear they are gunning for Wrangler but are not trying to outright clone it. Could an FSB be successful? sure. But the Midsize platform has the best shot at dethroning the Wrangler. This is entirely irrelevant from how large Ford decides to make the escape lol

 

[Jalisurr]

Remember, the new Bronco is going to be intended to evoke the ORIGINAL Bronco. That iconic, small, excellent off road original Bronco. Not the FSB. They are intending to go back to that first generation that was the size of a CJ-7. And I applaud them for it. Nobody else is taking it straight to Jeep that way anymore

After all, you know what else is smaller than a new Escape? This:

 

[JimmyDean]

And the image is because of the capability. You don't get the first without the second. And you can't do the first being 85" across and 120" wheelbase long.

I own a FSB, I would love to see a new FSB, but they need to do the new EB first, and bring out the FSB later as a secondary model. I think their should be three tiers, a small utility unibody type, an EB type, and a FSB, but the EB type should be the centerpiece.

 

[TeocaliMG]

I hope you "voted" for a Super Duty based FSB then (I actually did TBH). If you are calling a Jeep Wrangler a midget mobile than a half ton just wont cut it!

Make way for the Ford F-teenthousand based Bronco please

 

[Jalisurr]

I don't think I've ever heard an Early Bronco described as a 'midget mobile' before. Y'know what, no, Ford should make a proper tiny offroader. Give me a new Suzuki Samurai!

 

[mikonrad]

Hi @Midnight Blue, what's your opinion on the original Bronco? I'm a bit slow some (most) times but with all this back and forth I get the impression you would view the original Bronco as not-a-real Bronco or a midget mobile as you just suggested about the projected size of the new Bronco.

Whatever the capabilities of this new Bronco, It sounds like any vehicle smaller than the original FSB, that would don the name "Bronco", is just an Escape with a flat windshield (as I recall you saying in the past)... Or in the case of the baby bronco - just an Escape. Is that what you're saying?

Also, folks have been helpful here posting data for comparison between the Bronco mules and older Broncos. Seems like the overall size of vehicles has swelled to the point where there's not a big difference between this new Bronco (assuming the mules sizing are accurate) and early FSB. Would you consider early FSB small now and would prefer a current f150 based FSB (which should be bigger than early FSB)?

Maybe this is a fair formula?

Smaller than original FSB (even if we're talking a couple inches, and actual capabilities don't matter) = Not-a-Bronco

This may help folks discussing this with you. If a smaller-than-FSB sucks in general, there's really not much to argue and that poor dead horse can be left alone.

 

[Jalisurr]

I don't know how it is down in LA, but I see wranglers everywhere up here, and I basically never see them with the top or doors off. Especially new ones. You are correct that the hard core offroad capability is for credibility not actual use, but it's absolutely that credibility (derived from their legitimate offroad capability) that is selling the wrangler here. The roof coming off just adds to that image that people like the idea of but will never truly use.

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