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5280Bronco

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I kind of agree with a lot of what he said. I'm good with the soft top and it doesn't bother me a bit.

Badlands is the right Bronco for me. I'm not an Outer Banks person. I totally get it.

I don't have a problem with the soft top. I do notice some noise when I go through some of the crazy rainstorms we get out west. Coming back through Lehi a few weeks ago, the lights were all out and the world was blowing sideways. The top was noisy then. As far as driving 75/80, I don't really notice the noise.

But that might just be me. I drove army trucks, too.
I think that threshold for top noise is probably one of the most individual things people are going to find. Its like how loud people think music is. That varies like crazy as far as i have learned in life. I'm sure driving the army trucks didn't lower your threshold for noise, that's for sure!
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JimL

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I always thought not having vents in the back was an odd decision by ford. Makes no sense to me.

Personally what gets to me is : in order to get a heated steering wheel i need to get the Lux pack. I live in Ontario i dont want to wear gloves on a really cold day in the $60k+ car when just getting into it. I also dont need anything Lux pack gives but the heated steering wheel. (venting)
Ford does the same bullshit on the F-150. You have to buy into the highest package on the Lariat to get a heated wheel. On my cloth-seated 2017 Explorer XLT I bought the heated wheel option for about $175. Ford can be real toolbags sometimes with their options.
 

5280Bronco

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I knew someone was going to post this. You squached yours, so it's different, you know that. He really means the non-squached version of the OB.
 

Ricky_gibbs

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That’s a scary review for a guy who has 2 kids that easily get car sick…
So as far as the air going towards the back, its not as bad as he made it sound, though I do have a hard top I have 3 kids and I put the center vents in the front in a crossing pattern. It's been around 104 here the past couple days and I've had them complain its gotten too cold lol. I also had limo tint put in the back windows which also helps with that. Not sure how bad it is in the soft top but coming from another vehicle before this that also only had floor vents in the back this ac is way more powerful
 

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Blue's B6G

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I knew someone was going to post this. You squached yours, so it's different, you know that. He really means the non-squached version of the OB.
I know that but most people don’t, clearly.
 

TheSpydyr

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I understand why people don't like some of his style, but what is the bronco for then? Are what he talked about not "real" uses? Im just trying to understand what you feel the truck is for? Only hardcore offroad? His discussion is applicable to 80-90% minimum of people that will be buying it imo, so it's very applicable. Especially the outer banks.
agree with this completely. I have been a big fan of Justins for awhile now. And I appreciate his views on stuff that he does, even if I don't fully agree with them. It always gives me a different outlook on things.
 

WyoBronc

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The air vents in the floor is inexcusable….I haven’t driven in the rear seats yet, and none of my passengers that have has complained, but logic would dictate the rear airflow design is flawed.

I’m not sure how someone could have an expectation of a soft top being quiet. What was he contrasting the noise level to…..a 4Runner? A hard top Jeep? An F150?

So, I hated the idea of a soft top from an appearance, noise level, and Wyoming winter driving perspective. Now winter is a few weeks away, so I can’t address that issue yet, but it has exceeded my expectations as it relates to noise and appearance, and I really enjoy flipping 2 latches and flipping the top back.

I’m driving 4dr BB with a soft top that was an abandoned order until my 2dr BL MIC top shows up sometime next year. On a 200 or so mile trip this past weekend from Cheyenne to the Denver zoo, the noise level seemed excessive compared to the prior 700 miles of driving. There was an inordinate amount of road noise, wind noise and a whistling sound. While retrieving some items from the cargo area upon arriving at my destination I noticed the rear of the top had a gap where it wasn’t latched on one side. I latched it correctly and the ride back to Cheyenne was much quieter.

Perhaps something wasn’t latched or sealed correctly for Justin. Also, I switched out my tires from the 32” Bridgestone Duelers to the 33” Toyo Open Country A/T III’s which are more aggressive than the stock Outerbanks tires and I don’t even notice the road noise. From my experience, thus far, the reviewers comments on noise level and pressure leading to car sickness is not something myself or my wife have experienced…..and her daily driver was a Lincoln MKZ until I traded it in on a Ranger earlier this year.

I don’t even know what to say regarding car sickness and pressure changes. If that were a common problem, I think I would have noticed driving at elevations between 5,000 and over 6,000 feet the past month or so.

You can take my words with a grain of salt as well, and look for opportunities to drive a soft top for yourself before purchasing. I’m still, looking forward to my BL with MIC top, but have been pleasantly surprised with the soft top.
 

LSU Jonno

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Some notes on the softtop, pressure differences/car sickness, road noise and air circulation:

Me and my wife drove a soft top at the Moab off-roadeo. The weather in Moab changed dramatically during the day we were driving our soft-top badlands. In the morning the weather was calm with almost no wind and it was 97 degrees by noon. By the time we were driving back a front moved in, it was windy and rainy and the temps dropped to 65 degrees.

First on the noise - Noise in the soft top is HIGHLY variable. I think that's why folks are reporting such varying experiences, plus its obviously subjective. On our way out in the morning we were driving 60mph and we were both impressed at how quiet the soft top was. You could definitely hear elevated road noise, but we both thought it was negligible. On our way back we had significant crosswinds, moderate rain, and driving about 50mph, and it was VERY loud. It was mainly the cross-winds which were responsible for the noise. We also heard the famous mirror whistle due to the crosswinds which we didn't hear in the morning. Ultimately we decided that the noise wasn't going to be a deterrent to us getting the soft top because we aren't going to be driving in that kind of weather every day.

Car sickness - we didn't experience any of the pressure differences that JMB is talking about in his video. My wife get's car sick very easily, and I never heard her complain about this as a driver or passenger.

Air Circulation - All of the reviews that we've read so far on A/C have been positive, and that was our experience as well. Keep in mind we were in a 4 door, soft top, in the desert with temps at 97 degrees, driving slowly on a trail. My wife spent time in the backseat when the Off-Roadeo guide hopped in our bronco for a while. We specifically asked her how the temps were back there, and she reported that she was fine (and she's hot natured). We actually didn't have the A/C running full blast either. The off-roadeo guide commented that everyone he spoke with was satisfied with the rear temps. Also of note, that the rear bottom vents will not blow air by default with the A/C on since the A/C defaults to top vents only. If you turn on high and low vents manually it will push out cold air to the rear. My wife was fine with the default setting, however, we ended up turning the low vents on for our test and left it that way.

So all of that to say, our experience was quite a bit different than @justinbmcbride, but also some of this stuff is going to be variable based on your environmental conditions and based on personal perceptions. But the soft top passed my wife's test, and she's pretty sensitive to heat and car sickness...
 

sjp

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My two big takeaways from this discussion:

While retrieving some items from the cargo area upon arriving at my destination I noticed the rear of the top had a gap where it wasn’t latched on one side. I latched it correctly and the ride back to Cheyenne was much quieter.
Also of note, that the rear bottom vents will not blow air by default with the A/C on since the A/C defaults to top vents only. If you turn on high and low vents manually it will push out cold air to the rear.
Good info, guys.
 

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Bjj101

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There are so many videos out there with opinions specific to the person. It's cool to watch them just so you can be aware of what others are experiencing. But let's just keep in mind that no one answer regarding the Bronco is correct. It'll all boil down to personal preference and tolerance levels. I encourage you to wait until you experience it for yourself, in your own vehicle, before coming to any conclusions. I have a soft top 4dr OBX with lux (heated steering wheel baby!). This is the first soft top convertible I've ever owned. Is it noisier than the Ram 1500 I traded it for? Absolutely. Is that noise so intolerable that I'm 2nd guessing my decision? Not in the least bit. It doesn't interfere with music or conversation and honestly has exceeded my expectations. This is my DD so I'm in it all the time and none of the other issues have been a problem (knock on wood). ;)
 

ReimundKrohn

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Looking back now on my decision to jump on the Bronco bandwagon initially, I have to confess I am guilty of buying into the hype…. And that is what we are seeing in all of these “is the Bronco better than the Wrangler” / “Should I dump my Wrangler for a Bronco” reviews.

the Bronco is in it’s infancy. Forget that the Bronco name has a long history, the Gen6 doesn’t have much to do with those apart from styling cues. This thing is new and everyone is judging it based on either relatively short test drives and / or Ford marketing videos - (which have been absolutely brilliant. I mean, it seems lots of folks not in the off-road scene don’t even know that the Wrangler comes with both soft and hard tops which are fully removeable. They think Ford invented this concept!).

The point is, only real-world trials and time will prove whether the Bronco is a worthy Wrangler-competitor. It would be a mistake to think that the hardtop and soft top issues, are going to be the only issues we will see from Ford. Ford will get some things right, and they will continue to get some things wrong. Maybe we all know that, but it is good to be reminded that a lot of assumptions are being made about quality and longevity that are based on little more than the initial excitement and hunger for the return of the Bronco.
 

TheWoo

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He makes some good points, but the video is really misleading. He notes that the Outer Banks isn't for him and the Badlands is, yet most of his complaints aren't specific to the OBX. Sidewall, yes. Step, yes. Those things can easily be changed. And you can add 4A to the OBX. You can Sasquatch it too. You can add the high package and get the 12" screen. And you can get it with a hard top (next year).

His comments about the crappy soft top, the vents, and the seats not laying flat are going to be a problem on any trim - including the Badlands.

Also, if he likes those cloth seats, he won't get them in the Badlands.
I'm confused about what you think is misleading - he clearly states he wouldn't trade his Jeep for this Bronco, and his reasons are mainly related to the tires/wheels/off-roading setup and the soft top. So he wouldn't trade for this Bronco. A Badlands with a hard top solves all his major complaints. Or a squatched OBX with a hardtop and a high or lux package (though he clearly states the 8" screen is fine for him).

He also doesn't care for the lack of rear vents and the seats not laying flat. Is what it is, but sounds like they won't be huge deals for him. I think the lack of rear vents and the seats not quite laying flat sucks too, but they aren't deal-breakers.
 

sjp

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I'm confused about what you think is misleading - he clearly states he wouldn't trade his Jeep for this Bronco, and his reasons are mainly related to the tires/wheels/off-roading setup and the soft top. So he wouldn't trade for this Bronco. A Badlands with a hard top solves all his major complaints. Or a squatched OBX with a hardtop and a high or lux package (though he clearly states the 8" screen is fine for him).

He also doesn't care for the lack of rear vents and the seats not laying flat. Is what it is, but sounds like they won't be huge deals for him. I think the lack of rear vents and the seats not quite laying flat sucks too, but they aren't deal-breakers.
What I mean is that anyone who watches this video and isn't familiar with the trim levels and what they include or offer as options is going to assume that all the stuff he complains about is specific to the OBX, and that the BL doesn't have these "flaws." That's going to be the majority of viewers. I think he does them a disservice by not making that clear.

I typically like Justin's videos. Not this one. And I hate criticizing anyone who puts themselves out there with opinons, because as a writer, I know how much we get criticized for every misstep. I think he should have scripted this video better, putting himself in the place of the average Bronco buyer who's still trying to decide on the best trim level for themselves. Maybe he was rushed, or just didn't do his homework. He could have at least said something like, "And I really wish the Badlands came with a cloth interior because that's one of the best features of the OBX."
 
 


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