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Road manners / ride quality of new 2021 Bronco?

securitysix

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Not totally related to the question, I just wanted to say if you're honestly on the trail 20% of the time, that's a buttload of off roading for a daily driver....
I get the impression that OP has and will continue to have other vehicles, and that the Bronco would be to get them to and from more wild places, without necessarily being a daily driver.
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VTBronco

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I mean, if you test drive a Wrangler and are happy with it you definitely won't mind the Bronco. There was a post from a member who talked to a test driver who said driving the Ranger is similar but IMO it should still be a lot different. There aren't any BOF suvs with coilovers at all 4 corners as far as I know. In theory it's probably somewhere between a Wrangler and a 4Runner.
Thank you!

Yeah I’m thinking between the wrangler and the ranger, if those feel good then the bronco definitely would be. I love my Civic but I’ve always wanted a bigger vehicle, this fits the bill. I’ve always wanted a wrangler to take the top off but I’m not a big Jeep fan - so this would be perfect
 

timhood

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The front suspension is going to make a huge difference compared to the Jeep. Combined with "civilized" tires, I feel confident that any but the most severe rock-crawling Jeep owner will be jealous of how much better the Bronco rides. You have to figure a huge point of putting in the IFS was better on-road manners. Oh, yeah, and you'll get all of the electronic helpers if you want them as well.

Last, don't forget that the Bronco's "modern" rack-and-pinion steering kicks butt over Jeep's sloppy recirculating ball steering. No fears of death wobble. Those three things combined will make an Outer Banks Bronco feel like night-and-day vs. the Wrangler.

If you want something with a bit more off-road chops than Outer Banks, you could always get a different model and a set of "daily driver wheels and tires" and just swap out the A/T tires when you need them. With the noise, handling and cost of good A/T tires, I wouldn't want to wear them out on grocery runs.
 
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timhood

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The front suspension is going to make a huge difference compared to the Jeep. Combined with "civilized" tires, I feel confident that any but the most severe rock-crawling Jeep owner will be jealous of how much better the Bronco rides. You have to figure a huge point of putting in the IFS was better on-road manners. Oh, yeah, and you'll get all of the electronic helpers if you want them as well.

Last, don't forget that the Bronco's "modern" rack-and-pinion steering kicks butt over Jeep's sloppy recirculating ball steering. No fears of death wobble. Those three things combined will make an Outer Banks Bronco feel like night-and-day vs. the Wrangler.

If you want something with a bit more off-road chops than Outer Banks, you could always get a different model and a set of "daily driver wheels and tires" and just swap out the A/T tires when you need them. With the noise, handling and cost of good A/T tires, I wouldn't want to wear them out on grocery runs.
Would a Base vs Outer Banks have any differences in feel besides creature comforts in OBX? Obviously bigger tires than the 30s on Base.
[/QUOTE]
I forgot the base model had all-season tires. A base model is going to be pretty civilized on-road due to its all-season tires. I mentioned Outer Banks because that seems to be the "creature comfort-oriented" model, so it's likely to be a comfy daily driver.

I've driven Vermont winters quite a bit and have plowed through some pretty deep snow-covered gravel roads in my Escape with all-season tires, among other vehicles. The scariest moment I ever had was driving an Edge Sport with summer tires in a snowstorm (not my choice!). That said, winter tires are always going to be better on any vehicle, including one with 4WD. If you don't have to commute in the snow, you can likely get by just fine on all-season tires until the tread gets low. So, depending on wear, you might find yourself replacing tires during the winter even though they haven't reached minimum tread depth. Unless you're well up in the mountain areas and dealing with deep snow a lot, I'd probably try the stock tires out the first winter before committing to $800+ on tires and probably ($160 per year on mounting/dismounting costs or another $800 plus on a second set of wheels).

I read a review in one of the car magazines a year or two ago of winter tires. The bottom line was the winter tires always performed better but they found that today's all-season tires perform as well as winter tires used to in the past.
 

VTBronco

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The front suspension is going to make a huge difference compared to the Jeep. Combined with "civilized" tires, I feel confident that any but the most severe rock-crawling Jeep owner will be jealous of how much better the Bronco rides. You have to figure a huge point of putting in the IFS was better on-road manners. Oh, yeah, and you'll get all of the electronic helpers if you want them as well.

Last, don't forget that the Bronco's "modern" rack-and-pinion steering kicks butt over Jeep's sloppy recirculating ball steering. No fears of death wobble. Those three things combined will make an Outer Banks Bronco feel like night-and-day vs. the Wrangler.

If you want something with a bit more off-road chops than Outer Banks, you could always get a different model and a set of "daily driver wheels and tires" and just swap out the A/T tires when you need them. With the noise, handling and cost of good A/T tires, I wouldn't want to wear them out on grocery runs.
Would a Base vs Outer Banks have any differences in feel besides creature comforts in OBX? Obviously bigger tires than the 30s on Base.
I forgot the base model had all-season tires. A base model is going to be pretty civilized on-road due to its all-season tires. I mentioned Outer Banks because that seems to be the "creature comfort-oriented" model, so it's likely to be a comfy daily driver.

I've driven Vermont winters quite a bit and have plowed through some pretty deep snow-covered gravel roads in my Escape with all-season tires, among other vehicles. The scariest moment I ever had was driving an Edge Sport with summer tires in a snowstorm (not my choice!). That said, winter tires are always going to be better on any vehicle, including one with 4WD. If you don't have to commute in the snow, you can likely get by just fine on all-season tires until the tread gets low. So, depending on wear, you might find yourself replacing tires during the winter even though they haven't reached minimum tread depth. Unless you're well up in the mountain areas and dealing with deep snow a lot, I'd probably try the stock tires out the first winter before committing to $800+ on tires and probably ($160 per year on mounting/dismounting costs or another $800 plus on a second set of wheels).

I read a review in one of the car magazines a year or two ago of winter tires. The bottom line was the winter tires always performed better but they found that today's all-season tires perform as well as winter tires used to in the past.
[/QUOTE]



Thanks so much. Yeah this is a pretty big purchase...I’m not trying to drop $$$ on tires unless I need to. I’ll give the A/S a go!
 

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Paint

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I drive this ???. Comfort means nothing to me. Most the time I drive it I feel I might die.
IMG_20200407_131643938.jpg
I know those feels bro.

Probably around 9 inches of spring over axle plus some...lift.

Ford Bronco Road manners / ride quality of new 2021 Bronco? 20150817_003705
 

jtzako

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Some of the highway manners comes from wheelbase. Longer will be less twitchy (left/right) and less choppy (front/back). Tire size will matter too but a 33" ist going to be much worse than a 32 if it is even noticeable. Even on E rated (stiff sidewall) 33" Duratracs the ride is fine on my xterra which will be somewhat similar to the setup in the 4dr Bronco (except I have leafs in the rear so the bronco will be a bit nicer with its coils)
 

NVCowboy

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Theres a post from a Member here who complained that the Bronco had the road manners of a Honda pilot. Another member stated the Honda Pilot ride during the week and a bad ass off roader on the weekend is a feature, not a bug.
 

Capt steve

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I have 1800 miles on my big bend 2.3. 10 speEd auto. Almost all on the road. Been to Delaware, north jersey and NYC. As well as all over south jersey. Rides a lot better than my 2017 f 150 and I’m getting 23 mpg at highway speeds 72 mph cruise. It’s easy to handle and I have no complaints except that at times the synch lady comes on and says “ how can I help you”. Without me touching anything. I see a difference in pick up and performance with high test as opposed to regular gas but not so great that I’ll pay the extra for the premium ,especially nowadays. I couldn’t be happier with my vehicle. Now if I could just remember that the window controls are not on the door …….
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