- Joined
- Aug 30, 2020
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- Location
- Virginia (temporarily)
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- 2019 Ram Power Wagon
- Your Bronco Model
- Undecided
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- #1
I went to a dealership event today in Springfield VA. First off, it was a great event, laid back, no pressure at all and not too many people. I highly recommend attending an event if you can. I saw a 4 Door Silver Badlands, 2.3 with manual tranny and a 4 door Antimatter Black Diamond Sasquatch 2.7 both with soft tops (the same two making their way up the eastern seaboard).
My first vehicle was an 82 Ford Bronco so I have always had a soft spot for them and am super excited that they are back. I have owned a wrangler, Chevy 1500, F150 and now drive a Power Wagon, my wife drives a camry. We tend to keep our vehicles a long time and are not tied to any manufacturer and just try to pick the best vehicle for us. I camp, hunt and fish in the mountains/backcountry a lot (bird dogs in tow) and have moderate experience off-roading, but am by no means an expert and havenât done any super extreme trails. We are in no hurry to buy, but probably looking at a 1-3 year window to purchase something.
They exterior and stance look absolutely incredible in person! I immediately gravitated towards the BD Squatch. They both looked good, but the Squatch looked incredible. I wouldnât personally go with antimatter due to pin stripes and dirt, but cleaned up the color looks amazing. If you are someone that stays mostly on road and keeps a clean vehicle give it a real look! The stature of the Squatch was noticeably better than the Badlands. Wheels, tires, hood, grill, all excellent. These are damn fine looking vehicles!
I donât know what trims each had, but I didnât notice any significant difference in interior quality between BL and BD. Both had Marine Grad Vinyl and washout floors. As an outdoorsman, I really like the washout floors, it is some kind of squishy rubber material and feels very nice and easy to clean up mud and snow. The step up was not bad at all even in the squatch, much less than my PW on stock 33s. The seats in the bronco were very comfy. Iâm 6â 3â 190lbs (34â inseam) and I worry that my head would touch on a hard top, but I had a couple inches to spare in the soft tops. I have wide shoulders and didnât feel constrained at all, but could see how it would be a problem if you were a big ol boy.
I put the driver seat as far back as it would go and it had plenty of leg room for me to drive comfortably, but I felt like the steering wheel was still a bit too close, but maybe it telescopes in some. I am sorry to say no arm hang out the window of a 4 door with the B pillar placement. The marine grade vinyl is nice. Not as nice as leather in new Ford and Ram trucks, but way better than I expected. It is way softer than most boat seats, so donât be scared by calling it marine grade. If it holds up, then zero complaints from me on the material. There is a TON of plastic in the dash and itâs very simple, clean design and looks utilitarian. Again, as long as it holds up, no complaints, but it is a far cry from what you get these days in a high end F150 or in my Ram PW. It compares well with my wifeâs no frills camry except for the big screen. If you come from driving a newer moderate to higher end truck/SUV, then the dash and interior will probably be a bit of a disappointment. Plastic, plastic, GIANT SCREEN and more plastic is the theme. I wouldnât call anything cheap, but I wouldnât call it premium either. Maybe once the vehicle is started with the screens running it would feel a bit higher end. Utilitarian to average would probably be my description of the dash. The grab handle had some play, the console and glovebox were small and just ok. Exterior got an A+, the Interior gets a solid B, unfortunately the rear gets a C from me and here is why: I tried sitting in the back seat with the driver seat all the way back and my knees just barely touched. I didnât play around with the recline settings too much, but I felt the rear seats sat very straight. If it doesnât recline more than I was able to get it to do, then I can see the rear seats being quite uncomfortable on longer trips for any adult. There was carpet on the back of both bronco rear seats despite the MGV and washout floors, which makes zero sense to me and will be a magnet for dog hair. My biggest complaints centers around the rear cargo area. I believe the rear hatch strut is going to fail rather quickly and it was already feeling odd from the weight of the squatch tire. It had a noticeable rattle when closed and I imagine you will hear that when driving. Personal preference here, but no tailgate is a big miss for me. There just isnât much cargo room so a tailgate would be very useful. The rear hatch latch box takes up a few inches of the already extremely limited space. The rear seats cause about a 4 inch lip from the back deck and donât allow for a lay flat floor so your usable space doesnât improve much with the seats folded down. No idea where I could fit two dog kennels. The rear seats donât appear to be removeable (wish there was a delete option). The rear cargo area is considerably less wide than I was hoping for and there is a ton of flex in the plastic wall material. There are hooks in the floor but it is such a small space the items you strap in would have to be quite small. I would absolutely plan on using a roof rack, cargo hitch or tow a trailer for even a short weekend hunting/camping outings and forget about long term hunting/camping trips without extra cargo capacity somewhere. This is especially magnified if you have dogs or kids. I felt like the bronco looks big from the outside, but the rear cargo area feels small. There is no way I could comfortably sleep in it, which is disappointing for those of us who camp a lot.
The engine bay looked good, with more room to work than I anticipated. This is good if you are mechanically inclined, especially with the 2.3 engine. I loved all the screws and mounting points, they seem very well thought out for easy additions for all kinds of accessories. The skid plates and armor looked good, but I didnât crawl under or look at metal thickness or anything.
Someone from the peanut gallery, behind the roped off area that apparently forgot to register for the event was lightly heckling one of the bronco crew inquiring about why there was no coyote engine option. As a fellow naturally aspirated engine lover, I got quite a kick out of it, so kudos to whichever one of you that was!
Overall, I left there very impressed but not blown away. Ford did a great job coming out of the gates but still left some room for improvement. I of course still need to drive it and I need to see how much head room I have with a hardtop to make a truly informed opinion. If I was buying solely based on what I saw today, I would think real hard about going with a BD or lower trim with squatch, but admittedly I donât know what trim the badlands was and I havenât seen a FE or Wildtrack so maybe there are better/higher end interiors out there that werenât displayed today.
I am glad I have some time to weigh my decision. I want to see if Ford can improve upon the rear cargo area to maximize the limited cargo area and maybe polish up the interior a touch. I am a bit intrigued about what the warthog may bring, but left really wanting to see a full size bronco on the F150 platform to provide more room for outdoorsman, like I remember my â82 ford bronco offering. I canât wait to drive the Bronco and as soon as I do all my fence sitting may go away and I may be hooked immediately, like I was when I first drove my PW. I highly recommend seeing the Bronco in person, it is very unique and there are not a lot of similar sized vehicles are out there. The best vehicle I can compare it is a slightly smaller FJ cruiser or slightly larger wrangler, with the FJ being the closer comparison. Not a ton of new info, but hope it helps a few of the hardcore hunters/fisherman/outdoorsman that haul a bunch of gear in the woods/mountains throughout the year.
My first vehicle was an 82 Ford Bronco so I have always had a soft spot for them and am super excited that they are back. I have owned a wrangler, Chevy 1500, F150 and now drive a Power Wagon, my wife drives a camry. We tend to keep our vehicles a long time and are not tied to any manufacturer and just try to pick the best vehicle for us. I camp, hunt and fish in the mountains/backcountry a lot (bird dogs in tow) and have moderate experience off-roading, but am by no means an expert and havenât done any super extreme trails. We are in no hurry to buy, but probably looking at a 1-3 year window to purchase something.
They exterior and stance look absolutely incredible in person! I immediately gravitated towards the BD Squatch. They both looked good, but the Squatch looked incredible. I wouldnât personally go with antimatter due to pin stripes and dirt, but cleaned up the color looks amazing. If you are someone that stays mostly on road and keeps a clean vehicle give it a real look! The stature of the Squatch was noticeably better than the Badlands. Wheels, tires, hood, grill, all excellent. These are damn fine looking vehicles!
I donât know what trims each had, but I didnât notice any significant difference in interior quality between BL and BD. Both had Marine Grad Vinyl and washout floors. As an outdoorsman, I really like the washout floors, it is some kind of squishy rubber material and feels very nice and easy to clean up mud and snow. The step up was not bad at all even in the squatch, much less than my PW on stock 33s. The seats in the bronco were very comfy. Iâm 6â 3â 190lbs (34â inseam) and I worry that my head would touch on a hard top, but I had a couple inches to spare in the soft tops. I have wide shoulders and didnât feel constrained at all, but could see how it would be a problem if you were a big ol boy.
I put the driver seat as far back as it would go and it had plenty of leg room for me to drive comfortably, but I felt like the steering wheel was still a bit too close, but maybe it telescopes in some. I am sorry to say no arm hang out the window of a 4 door with the B pillar placement. The marine grade vinyl is nice. Not as nice as leather in new Ford and Ram trucks, but way better than I expected. It is way softer than most boat seats, so donât be scared by calling it marine grade. If it holds up, then zero complaints from me on the material. There is a TON of plastic in the dash and itâs very simple, clean design and looks utilitarian. Again, as long as it holds up, no complaints, but it is a far cry from what you get these days in a high end F150 or in my Ram PW. It compares well with my wifeâs no frills camry except for the big screen. If you come from driving a newer moderate to higher end truck/SUV, then the dash and interior will probably be a bit of a disappointment. Plastic, plastic, GIANT SCREEN and more plastic is the theme. I wouldnât call anything cheap, but I wouldnât call it premium either. Maybe once the vehicle is started with the screens running it would feel a bit higher end. Utilitarian to average would probably be my description of the dash. The grab handle had some play, the console and glovebox were small and just ok. Exterior got an A+, the Interior gets a solid B, unfortunately the rear gets a C from me and here is why: I tried sitting in the back seat with the driver seat all the way back and my knees just barely touched. I didnât play around with the recline settings too much, but I felt the rear seats sat very straight. If it doesnât recline more than I was able to get it to do, then I can see the rear seats being quite uncomfortable on longer trips for any adult. There was carpet on the back of both bronco rear seats despite the MGV and washout floors, which makes zero sense to me and will be a magnet for dog hair. My biggest complaints centers around the rear cargo area. I believe the rear hatch strut is going to fail rather quickly and it was already feeling odd from the weight of the squatch tire. It had a noticeable rattle when closed and I imagine you will hear that when driving. Personal preference here, but no tailgate is a big miss for me. There just isnât much cargo room so a tailgate would be very useful. The rear hatch latch box takes up a few inches of the already extremely limited space. The rear seats cause about a 4 inch lip from the back deck and donât allow for a lay flat floor so your usable space doesnât improve much with the seats folded down. No idea where I could fit two dog kennels. The rear seats donât appear to be removeable (wish there was a delete option). The rear cargo area is considerably less wide than I was hoping for and there is a ton of flex in the plastic wall material. There are hooks in the floor but it is such a small space the items you strap in would have to be quite small. I would absolutely plan on using a roof rack, cargo hitch or tow a trailer for even a short weekend hunting/camping outings and forget about long term hunting/camping trips without extra cargo capacity somewhere. This is especially magnified if you have dogs or kids. I felt like the bronco looks big from the outside, but the rear cargo area feels small. There is no way I could comfortably sleep in it, which is disappointing for those of us who camp a lot.
The engine bay looked good, with more room to work than I anticipated. This is good if you are mechanically inclined, especially with the 2.3 engine. I loved all the screws and mounting points, they seem very well thought out for easy additions for all kinds of accessories. The skid plates and armor looked good, but I didnât crawl under or look at metal thickness or anything.
Someone from the peanut gallery, behind the roped off area that apparently forgot to register for the event was lightly heckling one of the bronco crew inquiring about why there was no coyote engine option. As a fellow naturally aspirated engine lover, I got quite a kick out of it, so kudos to whichever one of you that was!
Overall, I left there very impressed but not blown away. Ford did a great job coming out of the gates but still left some room for improvement. I of course still need to drive it and I need to see how much head room I have with a hardtop to make a truly informed opinion. If I was buying solely based on what I saw today, I would think real hard about going with a BD or lower trim with squatch, but admittedly I donât know what trim the badlands was and I havenât seen a FE or Wildtrack so maybe there are better/higher end interiors out there that werenât displayed today.
I am glad I have some time to weigh my decision. I want to see if Ford can improve upon the rear cargo area to maximize the limited cargo area and maybe polish up the interior a touch. I am a bit intrigued about what the warthog may bring, but left really wanting to see a full size bronco on the F150 platform to provide more room for outdoorsman, like I remember my â82 ford bronco offering. I canât wait to drive the Bronco and as soon as I do all my fence sitting may go away and I may be hooked immediately, like I was when I first drove my PW. I highly recommend seeing the Bronco in person, it is very unique and there are not a lot of similar sized vehicles are out there. The best vehicle I can compare it is a slightly smaller FJ cruiser or slightly larger wrangler, with the FJ being the closer comparison. Not a ton of new info, but hope it helps a few of the hardcore hunters/fisherman/outdoorsman that haul a bunch of gear in the woods/mountains throughout the year.
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