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I attended the Las Vegas Off Roadeo today and thought I'd pass along some impressions. The Bronco I drove was a 4dr 2.7L Outer Banks with Sasquatch. It had the 12" screen and 360* camera. From looking at pics and video from the various Off Roadeo locations, I think it's safe to say that the Nevada venue has the most technical routes. There is plenty of off camber, narrow tight canyons, steep uphill and downhill grades, drops, and climbs, and rocks. The information and instruction that was provided by our guide Joe was informative, accurate, and thorough. I say this based on many many years of hardcore off roading and exploring (and competing).
The suspension was a bit stiffer than I expected. It wasn't bad, just a touch stiffer going 5-15 mph than I thought it might be. Going slow over rougher terrain it was fine, and stable, and it felt good going 20 mph plus. My Outer Banks didn't have the sta bar disconnect, so the articulation wasn't as good as on a Bronco that did have it. This didn't keep the Bronco from doing everything easily, but the lockers had to be used a few times more than I expected, based on comparing it to Jeeps I've wheeled when the sway bar was disconnected. The Bronco lifted a tire more easily, but never had a problem making it with one locker engaged. With a reasonably firm suspension and no sway bar disconnect, the Bronco needs at least one locker for twisty very uneven terrain. Makes a good argument for at least a Black Diamond or Sasquatch if your wheeling and exploring will be rougher and more uneven roads and trails.
One of the surprising things for me was how well the auto trans worked. In normal mode the trans wouldn't automatically upshift when off the throttle, it would hold in a gear based on the speed. That was nice. When in the manual mode, which makes you shift each gear, the torque converter kept a very low stall speed and even going downhill with no foot on the brake and not using One Pedal it would hold the Bronco at a very low speed. It was totally fine going down a long steep hill at crawl speed without touching the brake. I had not expected that. And this was just manual mode for the trans, not One Pedal or Trail Control. Overall, the trans seems to have a very low stall speed, which is good for off road slow speed driving. It was easy to crawl slowly once I got a bit used to it. If you want to control each gear and shift, and hold better going down steep hills, the manual mode gives you complete control of the trans, it will stay in whatever gear you shift it to.
Another thing that was a pleasant surprise was that I actually liked the One Pedal and the Trail Control. Previously I anticipated that they were just widgets added for marketing but likely would have little benefit in actual trail running. The One Pedal you have to get used to it. One off road driving technique that I've learned is to left foot brake slightly and apply steady throttle pressure to keep the torque converter loaded and the speed more constant at slow speed crawling. Obviously, more seat time in any car will help you do this effectively. However, once I got a feel for it, it was pretty smooth to do the same thing with One Pedal. You have to keep enough throttle pressure to keep moving slowly but it works, and if you must stop it automatically holds you until you start up again. Not a necessary feature, but it does work and has a purpose. The Trail Control was kind of cool. You use the up arrow on the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel to set your desired speed, it goes up in .5 mph increments, then take your foot off the brake and it goes to and holds that speed. There is a readout on the dash that tells what speed, like 1.5, 2.5, 3, etc. Was nice to use while following the line of Broncos on a trail winding through trees and going up and down, hit the up button to increase by .5 mph increments or hit the down button to decrease by .5 mph to keep the distance you want between the Bronco in front of you, or a speed that's comfortable. Sure, you can control the speed yourself, but it works perfectly and was kind of cool. Now, I did not like Trail Control going up hill over bigger rocks, the idle speed wasn't enough to keep it from stalling out and stopping and starting, since I wanted a very slow speed to not bounce over the rocks. But on small rocks and other surfaces it worked fine.
It was the same with Turn Assist. Sure, we can back up and make a two or three point turn. If you've been on trail runs with other vehicles, it's always nice when you can negotiate any obstacle or turn without having to stop and back up. We use cutting brakes on sand cars and rock buggies. Turn Assist lets you make tight turns without backing up. It works especially well if the front locker is locked and Turn Assist is used, it's just like what we call doing a front dig in a rock buggy. We disconnect the rear axle and power the front in a tight turn with a cutting brake holding the rear, and the front digs around pivoting on the rear to reposition in a tight situation. Exactly what the Bronco can do with Turn Assist and the front locker engaged.
One of the negative things of the Bronco is the visibility on the trail in tight or rocky situations. It's hard to determine how big a deal this is with only one time driving. As we get familiar with a vehicle we get a much better sense of the vehicles foot print and where things are. So, it might end up being ok, but it was different from driving the Jeep that I'm used to. The Bronco I drove had the 12" screen and 360* camera. Front view with the 12" screen is actually a bit annoying. It's very large and visible and the movement draws your eye to it. The camera is such a wide angle that the depth perception is very difficult and mostly useless. It removes much of the size and shape in 3d of what you're seeing, so it's kind of a flat view with little useful info. If you've already looked ahead and can remember what's there, then it would help identify what you're seeing on the screen, but then maybe you don't need to see it on the screen. The 360* view I saw no point in at all, but this is a very short term impression and with more seat time maybe it would be helpful. The view that I did like was forward at te two front tires. The camera looks forward from the mirror and shows the front tire, on a split screen so you can see both front tires and what they are doing. This had some benefit in placing the tires where you wanted and missing some bigger rocks.
I liked that the steering wheel both tilted and telescoped, so it was nice to get it exactly where was comfortable. I liked that the door was frameless around the window, was just a nice touch getting in and out with the window down. We switched various modes regularly, and there would be a message on the dash display asking or telling you, with a red OK highlighted. You had to remember to hit the OK button on the steering wheel, but that is just something to get used to.
So, there are a few impressions and observations after having a few hours driving off road in the Bronco.
The suspension was a bit stiffer than I expected. It wasn't bad, just a touch stiffer going 5-15 mph than I thought it might be. Going slow over rougher terrain it was fine, and stable, and it felt good going 20 mph plus. My Outer Banks didn't have the sta bar disconnect, so the articulation wasn't as good as on a Bronco that did have it. This didn't keep the Bronco from doing everything easily, but the lockers had to be used a few times more than I expected, based on comparing it to Jeeps I've wheeled when the sway bar was disconnected. The Bronco lifted a tire more easily, but never had a problem making it with one locker engaged. With a reasonably firm suspension and no sway bar disconnect, the Bronco needs at least one locker for twisty very uneven terrain. Makes a good argument for at least a Black Diamond or Sasquatch if your wheeling and exploring will be rougher and more uneven roads and trails.
One of the surprising things for me was how well the auto trans worked. In normal mode the trans wouldn't automatically upshift when off the throttle, it would hold in a gear based on the speed. That was nice. When in the manual mode, which makes you shift each gear, the torque converter kept a very low stall speed and even going downhill with no foot on the brake and not using One Pedal it would hold the Bronco at a very low speed. It was totally fine going down a long steep hill at crawl speed without touching the brake. I had not expected that. And this was just manual mode for the trans, not One Pedal or Trail Control. Overall, the trans seems to have a very low stall speed, which is good for off road slow speed driving. It was easy to crawl slowly once I got a bit used to it. If you want to control each gear and shift, and hold better going down steep hills, the manual mode gives you complete control of the trans, it will stay in whatever gear you shift it to.
Another thing that was a pleasant surprise was that I actually liked the One Pedal and the Trail Control. Previously I anticipated that they were just widgets added for marketing but likely would have little benefit in actual trail running. The One Pedal you have to get used to it. One off road driving technique that I've learned is to left foot brake slightly and apply steady throttle pressure to keep the torque converter loaded and the speed more constant at slow speed crawling. Obviously, more seat time in any car will help you do this effectively. However, once I got a feel for it, it was pretty smooth to do the same thing with One Pedal. You have to keep enough throttle pressure to keep moving slowly but it works, and if you must stop it automatically holds you until you start up again. Not a necessary feature, but it does work and has a purpose. The Trail Control was kind of cool. You use the up arrow on the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel to set your desired speed, it goes up in .5 mph increments, then take your foot off the brake and it goes to and holds that speed. There is a readout on the dash that tells what speed, like 1.5, 2.5, 3, etc. Was nice to use while following the line of Broncos on a trail winding through trees and going up and down, hit the up button to increase by .5 mph increments or hit the down button to decrease by .5 mph to keep the distance you want between the Bronco in front of you, or a speed that's comfortable. Sure, you can control the speed yourself, but it works perfectly and was kind of cool. Now, I did not like Trail Control going up hill over bigger rocks, the idle speed wasn't enough to keep it from stalling out and stopping and starting, since I wanted a very slow speed to not bounce over the rocks. But on small rocks and other surfaces it worked fine.
It was the same with Turn Assist. Sure, we can back up and make a two or three point turn. If you've been on trail runs with other vehicles, it's always nice when you can negotiate any obstacle or turn without having to stop and back up. We use cutting brakes on sand cars and rock buggies. Turn Assist lets you make tight turns without backing up. It works especially well if the front locker is locked and Turn Assist is used, it's just like what we call doing a front dig in a rock buggy. We disconnect the rear axle and power the front in a tight turn with a cutting brake holding the rear, and the front digs around pivoting on the rear to reposition in a tight situation. Exactly what the Bronco can do with Turn Assist and the front locker engaged.
One of the negative things of the Bronco is the visibility on the trail in tight or rocky situations. It's hard to determine how big a deal this is with only one time driving. As we get familiar with a vehicle we get a much better sense of the vehicles foot print and where things are. So, it might end up being ok, but it was different from driving the Jeep that I'm used to. The Bronco I drove had the 12" screen and 360* camera. Front view with the 12" screen is actually a bit annoying. It's very large and visible and the movement draws your eye to it. The camera is such a wide angle that the depth perception is very difficult and mostly useless. It removes much of the size and shape in 3d of what you're seeing, so it's kind of a flat view with little useful info. If you've already looked ahead and can remember what's there, then it would help identify what you're seeing on the screen, but then maybe you don't need to see it on the screen. The 360* view I saw no point in at all, but this is a very short term impression and with more seat time maybe it would be helpful. The view that I did like was forward at te two front tires. The camera looks forward from the mirror and shows the front tire, on a split screen so you can see both front tires and what they are doing. This had some benefit in placing the tires where you wanted and missing some bigger rocks.
I liked that the steering wheel both tilted and telescoped, so it was nice to get it exactly where was comfortable. I liked that the door was frameless around the window, was just a nice touch getting in and out with the window down. We switched various modes regularly, and there would be a message on the dash display asking or telling you, with a red OK highlighted. You had to remember to hit the OK button on the steering wheel, but that is just something to get used to.
So, there are a few impressions and observations after having a few hours driving off road in the Bronco.
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