My KOH Ride & Impressions - from a Jeep, Ranger Rover and Bronco owner

[rigel]

I stopped by KOH yesterday to get a look at the new Bronco while I can still change my BaseSquatch order. Little did I know that they where giving 30 minute rides in them. Let me give you a little about me so you can put my opinions into prospective. I'm 54 years old and owned my first Jeep at age 18. In the late 1980's our family business ran a few buggies and trucks in SCORE and Baja. I own a 1967 bronco and daily a 2016 fullsized Range Rover. The Range Rover currently rides on 32" all terrain tires and is actually very good off road for anything short of rock crawling... It would do better than expected on the rocks but I don't want to have to pay to fix body damage on that! With that background here is my take and because these are preproduction units I won't pick at the fit of any parts.


Appearance

• The 2 door proportions are perfect and it is really stunning in person. The 4 door proportion seem a little off to me. I'm sure that will piss off a bunch of you.
• The 35" tires really make it look the part even if the 33" tires still function just fine. More on the 33" tire in the performance section.
• The MGV looks and feels very nice. No it isn't going to make think it is the leather in the Range Rover but it's better then expected. I'm not sure the partial leather is worth the extra money. My concern is that black vinyl, sun and heat don't make for good traveling companions. Take the top off with the sun out and you will look like you wet your shorts when you exit the vehicle.
• The dash is one big expanse of hard plastic. For the life of me I don't understand why they couldn't do something better then that. In fact this is really my only complaint with the entire truck.

Performance

• I got a ride in a soft top 4 door badlands with the stock badlands suspension, 33" tires, 4 cylinder, manual transmission.
• The 4 cylinder provides plenty of power. You really don't need more grunt out of it. It accelerated plenty hard and pulled very steep soft sand hills in the crawl gear while still in high range. I would understand wanting more power if you were towing but the truck only has a 3,500 pound tow rating so really what are you going to use the extra power for anyway.
• Much like my Rover it has different "modes" but really if you know what you are doing the modes aren't all that important. As our proffessional driver said, "they are there to help the novice off-roader".
• The disconnectable sway bar is for real. It is very impressive and is making me wonder if I don't want to switch from my BaseSquatch to Bandlands. Of course that is a lot of money for that one feature. Perhaps there will be simple manual disconnect in the aftermarket.
• The suspension is amazing! Ford has really done their homework on this. We were going 50 mph through the bumps and it only hit the stops a few times and when it did hit it wasn't hard. When I talked to the driver about that afterwards he confirmed that the shocks have some secondary valving as they approach the limit of travel. The truck was extremely stable at high speed while still being soft enough to flex over rocks when going slow. You could hear the stability control at work independently brake wheels to help stabilize the truck. Ford definitely spent some time sorting this truck out.
• The tailgate rattled endlessly and reminded me of my jeep in the 80's. I think it is too big of an ask to hang a large heavy wheel on the tailgate and not expect it to shake off road. I suspect many people will move to a steel rear bumper with a bumper mounted spare tire carrier.
• The 33" tires on the 4 door look a little small but they get the job done just fine off road.
• The hill decent control was impressive. We went down a 26 degree hill with the computer managing all the braking.

It entire truck far exceeded my expectations at every level. My only complaint is that ugly hard plastic dash. I'm more excited then ever to take delivery of my BaseSquatch.

I'm loving all the first hand info from would-be buyers. keep it up champs!

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[2Jeeps&PatriotX1]

To the people commenting on the rattle noise....I hope they do address but based on my Ford experience it may be wishful thinking. My loaded 3yr old F150 has a pano roof where the sunroof’s glass rattles like no other when offroading and bumps on the road. Been to the dealership 3x time for and no luck, always the same story. My next truck will not have the pano roof. New JLUs also have all kinds of rattles.

also, the automatic braking/hill descent isnt anything new. I use it all the time when wheeling my f150. Wife’s grand cherokee has it as well.

 

[Mattwings]

Great write up, thanks for sharing! I never mind people sharing their opinions on the look or design aspects, i's just that and we all have them. They key things people should focus on are the mechanical aspects and feedback relative to what is important to you! From that perspective yo mentioned a lot of important details. I think people will be constantly amazed and impressed, particularly with the 2.3 and the ride/handling. I don't worry too much about the rattles, it's rare a vehicle doesn't at 55mph across ruts and washboards, but to others, that can be something they want to ponder.

 

[Mattwings]

To the people commenting on the rattle noise....I hope they do address but based on my Ford experience it may be wishful thinking. My loaded 3yr old F150 has a pano roof where the sunroof’s glass rattles like no other when offroading and bumps on the road. Been to the dealership 3x time for and no luck, always the same story. My next truck will not have the pano roof. New JLUs also have all kinds of rattles.

also, the automatic braking/hill descent isnt anything new. I use it all the time when wheeling my f150. Wife’s grand cherokee has it as well.

I hated my pano-roof for so many reasons My current F150 doesn't have it and I would never want one again! I will be much more forgiving of my Broncos' roof, sort of expect it won't be perfect. It is the one thing I sort of dread. I might even prefer it was 2 vs. 3 piece (not 1 piece, my LJ roof was super awkward to remove) for simplicity, remains to be seen.

 

[MJJ]

To the people commenting on the rattle noise....I hope they do address but based on my Ford experience it may be wishful thinking. My loaded 3yr old F150 has a pano roof where the sunroof’s glass rattles like no other when offroading and bumps on the road. Been to the dealership 3x time for and no luck, always the same story. My next truck will not have the pano roof. New JLUs also have all kinds of rattles.

also, the automatic braking/hill descent isnt anything new. I use it all the time when wheeling my f150. Wife’s grand cherokee has it as well.

My JL rubicon is rattle free. Only in the dead of winter will it get an occasional rattle from the top.

I could expect wheeling thru those roads, anything would rattle. I can accept that as long as it doesn’t rattle on pavement. If it does, spare will be removed.

 

[395N]

To the people commenting on the rattle noise....I hope they do address but based on my Ford experience it may be wishful thinking. My loaded 3yr old F150 has a pano roof where the sunroof’s glass rattles like no other when offroading and bumps on the road. Been to the dealership 3x time for and no luck, always the same story. My next truck will not have the pano roof. New JLUs also have all kinds of rattles.

also, the automatic braking/hill descent isnt anything new. I use it all the time when wheeling my f150. Wife’s grand cherokee has it as well.

What's a pano roof?

 

[MotownSpartan]

Excellent write up...many many thanks!

 

[Joker]

Panoramic

 

[Squatch]

Thanks for the perspective!

With or without kids, good luck sleeping in a 2 door. But yeah, at 22 I'd have done the same! Enjoy your sweet ride!

Wait... we have to sleep in our Broncos?

 

[Dirty Bronco]

Can someone please confirm the height of a Sasquatch or a wildtrak? I know we had preliminary measurements and then Bronco nation came out with a dimension guide which listed the wildtrak/Sasquatch to be 5 inches higher than the Badlands. I figured this couldn’t be correct but went and checked my garage clearance. I have 79” (yes ladies you read that correctly) which is cutting it close according to Bronconations dimension guide. It would be great to have someone actually put a tape measure to one.

 

[Bronco4]

Love the dash considering my Harley doesn't have one. Second thought my 72 Bronco didn't have much of a dash either and that's the only Truck I wish I still owned. IMHO.

 

[timhood]

I find the 2 door sits a tad too high, when I look at the Bronco R it's wheelbase seems closer to the 4 door not the 2 door. However, I can't get the 2 door anyways lol girlfriend wont let me and I have a malamute husky. We were also looking at bringing friends camping with us so the 4 door is a must.

You're letting your girlfriend dictate what vehicle you get? I feel sorry for you. Either version has room for a Malamute Husky.

 

[bbqbronco]

I really don't mind the "plastic" dash but if you do, then this may alleviate the problem.
https://www.covercraft.com/us/en/product/carhartt-ltd-edition-custom-dash-cover.DMLC

Looks like someone's grandma got ahold of the dash.

How do you know it was the tailgate rattling as a result of the spare? Maybe it was bottle caps rattling in that pillar they drop into. If there is a rattle I want an explanation from Esteban plaza mike levine himself. '22 is rattle free right.

 

[JesseS]

With or without kids, good luck sleeping in a 2 door. But yeah, at 22 I'd have done the same! Enjoy your sweet ride!

That's why I tow it to the trail with a Class A motor home, wife insists on flush toilets and a shower, and at my age sleeping in a cramped space is a non-starter! I car camped across Europe in my youth, with the operative word being 'Youth'

 

[zoldham]

Can someone please confirm the height of a Sasquatch or a wildtrak? I know we had preliminary measurements and then Bronco nation came out with a dimension guide which listed the wildtrak/Sasquatch to be 5 inches higher than the Badlands. I figured this couldn’t be correct but went and checked my garage clearance. I have 79” (yes ladies you read that correctly) which is cutting it close according to Bronconations dimension guide. It would be great to have someone actually put a tape measure to one.

Ford Reps Estabon and the other ones said there is a 10MM difference between stock badlands and Squatch package during one of there videos back in December or January

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