"One pedal" driving impressions.

[lalnx]

Feel I will be more than happy with the 2.3L performance/reliability, but "one pedal" sounds like it could be a "nice to have" option. this requires going with the 2.7L. The cost upgrade, and my confidence in 4 cyl reliability vs V6 has me in the 2.3L camp. What are your driving impressions using "one pedal" do I really want it, or just think I do? Current order, 2dr Basesquatch, 2.7L, thinking to drop back to 2.3L to increase build potential as well.

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[Sideways]

I haven't tried it. I don't even know how to turn it on. I just grip it and rip it...

I know, I'm no help.

 

[Julz670]

I attended off-roadeo and completely forgot about one-pedal drive until after the event, but did get a chance to try out trail control. I'm no hardcore off-roader but those trails were pretty tough and more technical than most things I would ever do in my own Bronco.

I don't think I'll regret not getting one-pedal. Trail control could be used in a very similar way, but instead of pressing and releasing the gas, you press and release the break. Set it at 1 mph and just press the break when you need to hold position, then release it to let the Bronco crawl over obstacles again. Unless you are doing insane rock crawling, I don't think it's necessary.

 

[JBMontclair]

A couple of weeks ago I took my 2.7 4D off-roading for the first time for myself and for my bronco.

I haven't been to the offroadeo yet so was starting fairly fresh with a little basic instruction with the jeeps I arrainged to meet up with. The place I was riding was Rausch Creek Offroad park in PA. Trails were very rocky choosing you to slowly pick your line (or as a rookie follow the guy in front of me). I started the day with it running in mud and ruts (4H) without the one-pedal actvated. While I was trying to keep to a slow steady pace and being new to this kind of driving I found I was at time throttling too much when wanting to take something slow , causing me to hit the brakes, nosing the front down and giving the bash plates a workout.

After about 20min of my first ride I figured out the one-pedal settings (push button in center of GOAT wheel and use the cruise control speed set buttons to adjust speed. Once doing this throttle control got much easier. It was most noticeable going down a grade slowly where instead of having to ride the brakes it felt just like I was in a manual and downshifted to a low gear to let the gearing add resistance to avoid abusing the brakes. After the switch I pretty much kept one pedal on. We mostly ran greens and a couple of blue trails. Now if the trail gets very rocky where you are constantly setting your line to avoid scraping the plates it recommend moving rock crawl (or just 4L) as the lower gear ratio further limits your speed fluctuations as you vary the accelerator because there was one time where i wasn't expecting a bump as abrupt as it happened (in 4H) and i accidentally went too far on the pedal and i sort a skipped across a couple of rocks. Not my proudest moment on the trail but it was my first time. Bronco survived with no body scratches to I guess that's a win. I think I impressed the rubicons i ran with running 35s on the capability of my blackdiamond on 32s. Just next time I will likely keep it in 4L for most of these trails.

So yeah one-pedal made it much easier for me. I did on occasion turn on the trail turn assist for a couple of obstacles where i wanted to turn tighter but for the most part left the rear locked as that mode is noisy.

 

[lalnx]

A couple of weeks ago I took my 2.7 4D off-roading for the first time for myself and for my bronco.

I haven't been to the offroadeo yet so was starting fairly fresh with a little basic instruction with the jeeps I arrainged to meet up with. The place I was riding was Rausch Creek Offroad park in PA. Trails were very rocky choosing you to slowly pick your line (or as a rookie follow the guy in front of me). I started the day with it running in mud and ruts (4H) without the one-pedal actvated. While I was trying to keep to a slow steady pace and being new to this kind of driving I found I was at time throttling too much when wanting to take something slow , causing me to hit the brakes, nosing the front down and giving the bash plates a workout.

After about 20min of my first ride I figured out the one-pedal settings (push button in center of GOAT wheel and use the cruise control speed set buttons to adjust speed. Once doing this throttle control got much easier. It was most noticeable going down a grade slowly where instead of having to ride the brakes it felt just like I was in a manual and downshifted to a low gear to let the gearing add resistance to avoid abusing the brakes. After the switch I pretty much kept one pedal on. We mostly ran greens and a couple of blue trails. Now if the trail gets very rocky where you are constantly setting your line to avoid scraping the plates it recommend moving rock crawl (or just 4L) as the lower gear ratio further limits your speed fluctuations as you vary the accelerator because there was one time where i wasn't expecting a bump as abrupt as it happened (in 4H) and i accidentally went too far on the pedal and i sort a skipped across a couple of rocks. Not my proudest moment on the trail but it was my first time. Bronco survived with no body scratches to I guess that's a win. I think I impressed the rubicons i ran with running 35s on the capability of my blackdiamond on 32s. Just next time I will likely keep it in 4L for most of these trails.

So yeah one-pedal made it much easier for me. I did on occasion turn on the trail turn assist for a couple of obstacles where i wanted to turn tighter but for the most part left the rear locked as that mode is noisy.

so were you actually using "one pedal" which actually brings you to a complete stop when you let off the gas, or were you just in trail control mode?

 

[Mickey21]

I have used both of the features for trail control and one pedal driving and I gotta say after using them during the 2 days at the OffRoadeo I was really in love with the features. Trail control is great, but I was really more impressed with the one-pedal driving. When trying to maneuver slowly over an obstacle it made it very easy to give as much or as little as it took to go over the obstacle and not have to double foot the pedals. Removes a lot of the jerkiness out of trying to go up and over something and imo would reduce mistakes of over doing it with either acceleration or braking.

For the novice, I think it is even easier as you are not trying to relearn a habit of using two pedals, but either way I didnt find it hard to get used to one pedal driving. To me it was like advanced cruise control. Once I had the feature, I dont want to not have it any more. It is a definite for me on my next vehicle if possible for off roading. Not that I couldnt deal without it, but when you can and the torque of the vehicle can handle it, why not.

 

[JBMontclair]

so were you actually using "one pedal" which actually brings you to a complete stop when you let off the gas, or were you just in trail control mode?

I used one pedal and it did stop when I letup on pedal. Turn assist I used but rarely.. kinda just played with that only a couple of times

 

[OldGrayMare]

I tried it during off-roadeo on the rock garden and being an old school off-roader (2 pedal-er), it was strange. If I can get used to it, it will be a great feature on the trails.

 

[KyleQ]

I've used it and trail control - I'm a hardcore wheeler with 20 years of experience, so take that at a grain of salt, but the trail control is a total gimmick and the ONLY place I could see using one pedal would be serious rock crawling on dry conditions - think Moab on their "slickrock" which is totally like driving on 80 grit sandpaper.

...if only we could use trail control in bumper to bumper traffic being that we don't have stop and go adaptive cruise control.

 

[Blue's B6G]

...if only we could use trail control in bumper to bumper traffic being that we don't have stop and go adaptive cruise control.

Yup couldn’t agree more. That’s the only use I have for it; the 405. I’ve used it a bunch and the cruise feature makes off roading boring and the one pedal feature creates a lot of lurching, for me. I like being in control of the vehicle, especially off road, so I don’t even bother with that center button anymore. But it’d be sweet in traffic on the freeway to have a low speed cruise control to notch up and down in increments.

 

[sjp]

After about 20min of my first ride I figured out the one-pedal settings (push button in center of GOAT wheel and use the cruise control speed set buttons to adjust speed.

What you're describing is exactly how the guides at the Moab Off-Roadeo instructed us to use Trail Control. I believe one-pedal driving is a bit different, but I have never used it.

Actually, the owner's guide explains the differences. Start on page 207 (211 in the left pane, 207 on the page): 2021 Ford Bronco Owner's Manual.

 

[Tricky Dick]

The closest thing to One Pedal I've experienced was in a Mach E. It was so weird. Then again Two Pedal isn't enough pedals for my liking either.

 

[Julz670]

What you're describing is exactly how the guides at the Moab Off-Roadeo instructed us to use Trail Control. I believe one-pedal driving is a bit different, but I have never used it.

Actually, the owner's guide explains the differences. Start on page 207 (211 in the left pane, 207 on the page): 2021 Ford Bronco Owner's Manual.

Looking at the owner's manual, it does state that trail control and one-pedal drive are the same button. Trail control takes over once you set a speed with the +/- buttons on the steering wheel. If you don't set a speed, then 2.7L Broncos automatically go into one-pedal drive when you press that button.

That said, I do feel that these are pretty much the same feature, its just a matter of whether you are using the break or the gas. Either way you are only using one of the pedals. The benefit I see to one-pedal over trail control is that there are probably still some breaks being applied as you ease off the gas, making for a smoother roll over an obstacle. But you would have to EASE off the gas, I think if you just let go quickly it will slam the breaks and cause some jerking. Same thing with trail control though, if you slam the breaks, you jerk. If you ease into the breaks as trail control rolls you over an obstacle, you'll have a similarly steady roll.

I think...

 

[lalnx]

I tried it during off-roadeo on the rock garden and being an old school off-roader (2 pedal-er), it was strange. If I can get used to it, it will be a great feature on the trails.

when using one pedal, does it change the throttle ratio/pedal ratio (need to push accelerator further to achieve same RPM), thought I heard that in a video, and people thinking that was strange.

 

[Julz670]

In the end, buy what you can afford and feel most comfortable with. If you are missing some features, that just means you'll learn the skill instead of the tech. People have off-roaded for years without any of these, we'll learn too

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