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Mattwings

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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 haven’t 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 wouldn’t 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 don’t know what trims each had, but I didn’t 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. I’m 6’ 3” 190lbs (34” 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 didn’t 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 don’t 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 it’s 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 wife’s 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 wouldn’t call anything cheap, but I wouldn’t 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 didn’t play around with the recline settings too much, but I felt the rear seats sat very straight. If it doesn’t 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 isn’t 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 don’t allow for a lay flat floor so your usable space doesn’t improve much with the seats folded down. No idea where I could fit two dog kennels. The rear seats don’t 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 didn’t 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 don’t know what trim the badlands was and I haven’t seen a FE or Wildtrack so maybe there are better/higher end interiors out there that weren’t 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 ’82 ford bronco offering. I can’t 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.
Nice write up. I share most of your opinions. I don't think you will see any changes to the rear cargo area or a "full size' Bronco any time soon. Expedition Timberline will look to fill that role (and possibly the Explorer Timberline). It will be interesting to see if the Bronco will fill the "do it all" role for me long term. I am replacing my F150 that I never use to it's fullest extent, towing or cargo wise, but one of my past complaints about my Jeep LJ was space. It was always just a little to small for all my stuff (similar uses to you). I also loved my 5G Bronco, the capacity was just about perfect, but it was a handful in smaller trails when we live in Oregon and Washington. I am hoping the Bronco is "just right", but in my case, the 3500lb. tow rating is a bit of an issue as well. I am going to try and report back as much as possible when i get mine about how it fits the roles a lot of us "outdoorsmen" are interested in.
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NCOBX

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Nice write up. I share most of your opinions. I don't think you will see any changes to the rear cargo area or a "full size' Bronco any time soon. Expedition Timberline will look to fill that role (and possibly the Explorer Timberline). It will be interesting to see if the Bronco will fill the "do it all" role for me long term. I am replacing my F150 that I never use to it's fullest extent, towing or cargo wise, but one of my past complaints about my Jeep LJ was space. It was always just a little to small for all my stuff (similar uses to you). I also loved my 5G Bronco, the capacity was just about perfect, but it was a handful in smaller trails when we live in Oregon and Washington. I am hoping the Bronco is "just right", but in my case, the 3500lb. tow rating is a bit of an issue as well. I am going to try and report back as much as possible when i get mine about how it fits the roles a lot of us "outdoorsmen" are interested in.
The Expedition is IRS, it’s incapable of filling the role of a full-size Bronco
 

BTomorama

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As others have noted, the 2021 is not a full sized suv. That seems to be a constant disappointment for full size (and super duty) drivers. Compared to Jeep, it's equivalent with various trade-offs.
This confuses me too and likely comes from people with a larger SUV or truck shopping the Bronco. It is an entirely different class and shouldn't be expected to compete in everything.

This Bronco form on an F150 would be a monstrosity IMHO, plus lose a lot of offroading flexibility.
 
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Mattwings

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The Expedition is IRS, it’s incapable of filling the role of a full-size Bronco
Ok. I am just mentioning that’s what Ford is marketing to those that want a “Full Size” SUV. The have added FX4 and now Timberline trims to make it more biased towards “off road” use. The 5G Bronco died, because it was a two door. Demand evaporated for it, Ramcharger and the Blazer. It’s very, very unlikely to see an F150 based two door SUV, but anything is possible!
 

NCOBX

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Ok. I am just mentioning that’s what Ford is marketing to those that want a “Full Size” SUV. The have added FX4 and now Timberline trims to make it more biased towards “off road” use. The 5G Bronco died, because it was a two door. Demand evaporated for it, Ramcharger and the Blazer. It’s very, very unlikely to see an F150 based two door SUV, but anything is possible!
We haven’t had a 2 door full-size in decades, it’s hard to say there’s no demand. Likewise the market for a full-size 2 door is likely much larger today than it was in the 90s when demand was last satiated. I mind you the 2 door Wrangler doesn’t sell well at all, so why is Ford marketing a 2 door Bronco?

I would be happy with either a 2 door or 4 door full-size Bronco option.

You can add all the trim levels you want to an expedition but it’s lipstick on a pig. You can’t force a non-off-road biased platform to be off-road capable.
 

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Mattwings

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We haven’t had a 2 door full-size in decades, it’s hard to say there’s no demand. Likewise the market for a full-size 2 door is likely much larger today than it was in the 90s when demand was last satiated. I mind you the 2 door Wrangler doesn’t sell well at all, so why is Ford marketing a 2 door Bronco?

I would be happy with either a 2 door or 4 door full-size Bronco option.

You can add all the trim levels you want to an expedition but it’s lipstick on a pig. You can’t force a non-off-road biased platform to be off-road capable.
We haven’t had a two door because there was no demand. Why did they make a 2 door Bronco? It’s a different market I guess, but after the first year or two they will sell at the same 20-30% of four doors. The worst part about my 5G was the two doors. Huge PITA to get car seats back there, particularly when we lived in Seattle and parked on hills all the time. Coupes are almost completely gone, with only sports cars and the Jeep (and now Bronco) have two doors. I’m not sure why IRS makes a vehicle incapable of off road use, but certainly an Tahoe or Expedition won’t compete with a Jeep or Bronco off road. But a “full size” F150 based two door wouldn’t either. It would be wider, heavier and longer wheelbase.
 

Dads_bronze_bronco

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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 isn’t 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.
Coming from a JK with nothing but a strap to keep the swingate and tire from opening too far (and swinging back on you randomly while you're pulling to gear out), I appreciate the latched strut. To be fair - I would imagine a tailgate would have some rattle off road too, and given a swing out spare like the old early Bronco (which may also rattle), it is not like you could really drive around safely with the tailgate down and the spare swung out.

I would have liked a tailgate with swing out tire mount ala early Bronco, because tradition, but the swingate really is more convenient.

We haven’t had a 2 door full-size in decades, it’s hard to say there’s no demand. Likewise the market for a full-size 2 door is likely much larger today than it was in the 90s when demand was last satiated. I mind you the 2 door Wrangler doesn’t sell well at all, so why is Ford marketing a 2 door Bronco?

I would be happy with either a 2 door or 4 door full-size Bronco option.

You can add all the trim levels you want to an expedition but it’s lipstick on a pig. You can’t force a non-off-road biased platform to be off-road capable.
The Jeep two door is shorter than the Bronco, which is shorter than the Defender 90. Two doors aren't practical if you are planning on hauling third and forth passengers often, and never have been. But I think the Bronco and the 90 lengths have an advantage over the Jeep's road behavior wise. And the Bronco has the best rear cargo volume (Defender prioritized rear passenger room over cargo volume.)
 
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NCOBX

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We haven’t had a two door because there was no demand. Why did they make a 2 door Bronco? It’s a different market I guess, but after the first year or two they will sell at the same 20-30% of four doors. The worst part about my 5G was the two doors. Huge PITA to get car seats back there, particularly when we lived in Seattle and parked on hills all the time. Coupes are almost completely gone, with only sports cars and the Jeep (and now Bronco) have two doors. I’m not sure why IRS makes a vehicle incapable of off road use, but certainly an Tahoe or Expedition won’t compete with a Jeep or Bronco off road. But a “full size” F150 based two door wouldn’t either. It would be wider, heavier and longer wheelbase.
Go look under a 2020 and a 2021 suburban, with the IRS setup they may as well go ahead and lose the frame as well and complete its transformation to minivan, the Expedition is just as bad.
IRS is a death sentence when it comes to a competent offroader.

Fullsize Bronco wouldn’t need just be 2 door, a 4 door option would be perfect as well.
 

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No offense, but just seems Bronco is a bad fit for a lot of people. Hearing the cargo needs of many, it just seems a crew cab F150 fits the bill so much better. For dogs, guns and needing to haul 4 people more comfortably, this seems a less than optimal choice. Even in 4dr config, it seems more a fun 2 person runabout or short camping duration rig.

If was still hunting, or wanted to camp or overland for long durations, I would choose something else, that had more versatility. Even for me, its borderline impractical and I don't have kids at home or plan to overland or camp for more than a couple nights at most, infrequently.
 

RoLyMa27

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Bronco is a bad fit for a lot of people. Hearing the cargo needs of many, it just seems a crew cab F150 fits the bill so much better.
I agree! But this is such a badass vehicle, many people are trying really hard to fit a square peg in a round hole just to make it work! This is why I am keeping my F150! The Bronco will be our top down fun magnet!
 

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No offense, but just seems Bronco is a bad fit for a lot of people. Hearing the cargo needs of many, it just seems a crew cab F150 fits the bill so much better. For dogs, guns and needing to haul 4 people more comfortably, this seems a less than optimal choice. Even in 4dr config, it seems more a fun 2 person runabout or short camping duration rig.

If was still hunting, or wanted to camp or overland for long durations, I would choose something else, that had more versatility. Even for me, its borderline impractical and I don't have kids at home or plan to overland or camp for more than a couple nights at most, infrequently.
I have a feeling a good many folks were thinking Bronco and camper/trailer to haul all their gear... until the tow ratings came out.

The reality of it is, if folks are already doing the camping/overlanding, they already have the larger vehicles and will know that the Bronco will not work for them.
If they are about to jump into that hobby, well, we'll see those Broncos on the used lots in a year or three!

Man, if I had to haul all my stuff for the family to camp for more than a day or two, I'd need a Suburban or CC pick up as you suggested.

I'm glad I have access to a nice cabin!
 
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I agree! But this is such a badass vehicle, many people are trying really hard to fit a square peg in a round hole just to make it work! This is why I am keeping my F150! The Bronco will be our top down fun magnet!
This is pretty much where we are. I'm not selling my truck. As there is no way a bronco can replace it. I was hoping the bronco would be perfect for my wife who wants an SUV and we could use for the road trips when we don't need as much gear and have a smaller top off off-roader for fun and to hang onto as a toy once it gets old. Plus I hoped to use it sometimes for shorter solo camp trips.

We have a couple 50ish pound bird dogs, so it's just not quite big enough for a dual dog kennel (found one that would work if not for the latch box). Plus we want enough room for a couple bags, maybe a small cooler and some miscellaneous gear. Again, it's so close to being workable.

We have an off-road teardrop that is right under the broncos tow rating but hate maxing out a vehicle so a little concerned there.

It also would be nice if it comfortably sat 4 adults for when we have some company over. I didn't think the back seat was very comfortable and think it stinks that it's at not removeable for extra cargo room since it's not a very comfortable seat as is.

The bronco may work for us, but it is just a touch small and I've never liked dealing with cargo racks and hitches.

The 4 runner or a gladiator with a topper is probably ford's biggest competitor for us. There isn't really anything else to compare in the full size suv market that's a capable off-roader (not going European and not paying $100k for a landcruiser) and really all we needed was something closer to the 5 Gen bronco size or 4 runner cargo size.

So yes, we are trying to fit the square peg in a round hole and it's darn close to fitting.
I'm still hopeful that either a full size bronco or something a little bigger will be announced before we need to buy.
 

RoLyMa27

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This is pretty much where we are. I'm not selling my truck. As there is no way a bronco can replace it. I was hoping the bronco would be perfect for my wife who wants an SUV and we could use for the road trips when we don't need as much gear and have a smaller top off off-roader for fun and to hang onto as a toy once it gets old. Plus I hoped to use it sometimes for shorter solo camp trips.

We have a couple 50ish pound bird dogs, so it's just not quite big enough for a dual dog kennel (found one that would work if not for the latch box). Plus we want enough room for a couple bags, maybe a small cooler and some miscellaneous gear. Again, it's so close to being workable.

We have an off-road teardrop that is right under the broncos tow rating but hate maxing out a vehicle so a little concerned there.

It also would be nice if it comfortably sat 4 adults for when we have some company over. I didn't think the back seat was very comfortable and think it stinks that it's at not removeable for extra cargo room since it's not a very comfortable seat as is.

The bronco may work for us, but it is just a touch small and I've never liked dealing with cargo racks and hitches.

The 4 runner or a gladiator with a topper is probably ford's biggest competitor for us. There isn't really anything else to compare in the full size suv market that's a capable off-roader (not going European and not paying $100k for a landcruiser) and really all we needed was something closer to the 5 Gen bronco size or 4 runner cargo size.

So yes, we are trying to fit the square peg in a round hole and it's darn close to fitting.
I'm still hopeful that either a full size bronco or something a little bigger will be announced before we need to buy.
I totally agree with you. I believe, if you do decide to get a Bronco, you will find workarounds for those things and they will become an afterthought. Then, one day when your out on a trail having the time of your life your gonna say to your self...Damn, I sure am glad we bought a Bronco!...And if not, you can just sell it!
 

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I agree, workarounds will be needed. I expected that from the beginning, when deciding to downsize from my old F-150 I've used for 20 years for camping and hunting. It's been great to have a huge bed, I can put in back a coleman stove, often have a small backpacking stove backup, usually two lanterns, camping table, 5-6 folding chairs, 5 man tent (when we had young kids), dog equipment, cooking utensils, dutch oven, on and on.... We towed a three horse slant trailer, and mules, so also had saddles, hay, etc. It was very comfortable for equipment (not so much inside, had just the Extra cab).

When we quit riding (equines) and the kids grew up, I figured I could go back to a mid sized SUV. The one thing I missed was our 4runner from the toddler years. I could go any where in that thing, that the F-150 won't. Would drive right up to the elk hunting area, we'd sleep in the back of it, putting all the equipment on the ground around camp. We'd drive through rivers and up tiny mining roads that are too tough for a giant truck. It worked fine, and I'm sure the Bronco will - if you downsize your equipment too.

So I'll be taking a small 3 man tent, one lantern, one stove, one cook kit, just 2 chairs. Fold the rear seats down, make room for 1 dog. I think it will work, but I won't be throwing 100lbs of firewood in the back....like I did in my F-150.

It's like people that do motorcycle touring (I did all through Mexico and coast to coast), or backpacking (did too), or mulepacking (did too). You have to go ultra light, efficient, and minimalist. When I heard about all the "overlanders" that are going to put a refrigerator in the Bronco I thought it was overkill. No one had refrigerators in the 1950s-2000, they used a cooler. I will too, and not be bringing much that has to stay cold longer than 2-3 days. A big water can and dry goods is better for where I live anyway, in Arizona.
 

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But I hear you on the storage space and lack of tail gate. First thing my wife said when she saw the Bronco was "I wish it had a tailgate like our truck and the 4runner did." We always come back from a hike, lower the tailgate, unload packs and guns, and sit on it to have a snack. Now it will be pulling chairs out (small ones) and using the rear cargo as the table, I guess.
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