It's a fairly safe bet that the mule with a Ranger body has a Ranger engine. That body has for the last 10 years only had inline engines in it as well. I get what you're saying though, and they probably couldn't tell by sound alone if it had the inline 3 cylinder Dragon Ecoboost in it.
I wish we would se a actual Bronco mule
It could be the new chassis, or a heavily modified one. "Elevation testing," if that is why the mule made a trip to Colorado, would seem to indicate they're looking at something with the engine, but unless someone gets really intrusive we'll probably never know what unless it sounds very different.
Regardless of what other options we might get, it seems very likely the 2.3 Ecoboost will be offered, perhaps as the base engine. Most hands on reviews of the Ranger speak favorably of the engine, so for the average buyer driving about on the road in a lighter Bronco it should do well.
I wonder why we haven't seen a 2-door version of frankenRanger here in the States?
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One would think that if the feankenRanger is a suspension mule, both a 2 and 4 door version would need to be tested.
My source at Ford told me they are rear suspension and powertrain mules. Front axle is a placeholder... hence why they haven’t bothered covering it up even after someone managed to get under one.
What do you suppose they're waiting for to make that reveal? It would be quite significant for the Bronco, and generally anything smaller than a 3/4-ton, to have a solid front axle again. I hope you are right.
My source stated(this is a few months back) that even Ford themselves hadn’t finalized between a solid front axle or an IFS, and that they were testing both options. This is supported by that post about the Bronco by the guy who claimed to work on the project, notice how he didn’t mention anything about front suspension? It’s because he didn’t know either. As for what they’re waiting for, I’d bet on them not revealing it until it’s unveiled IMO.
