Been holding off responding to this thread till we had a few more Broncos in our classes. We see more Jeeps than anything else but have had everything from Jeeps, Bronco Sports, multiple versions of Bronco, multiple Toyoda's, Land Rover, Mercedes and even a Porsche. Now that we have seen several Broncos, I have a few basic thoughts. Note that 95% of our driving school clients are driving showroom vehicles, which may include dealer added lifts and tires, but otherwise most don't have any mods. My assessments are based on teaching people how to drive slow and controlled, who have zero to minimum off-road experience.
No comments on the Bronco Sport other than it handles off road about like the Jeep Renegade.
Ford marketing vs Jeep. Ford wins hands down. We have had a couple events at the local ORV park where both Ford and Jeep had displays and ride alongs. Jeep won't let you drive and the cute girl driving didn't know shit about her vehicle other than to say "doesn't that 392 sound awesome?". I asked about downhill descent and the lockers and she was clueless. Then we did the Bronco ride along. My wife got to drive, they had a great route planned out where you could see how the sway disconnect made a difference, lockers worked and the turn assist. Jeep needs to up their game in that area. Bronco +1
I've not driven one but have been a passenger on the road and the ride seems nicer than the Jeep.
Snow, ice and sand, the tires on the Bronco kick ass over the Jeep tires. Bronco +1
Out of the gate, the IFS suspension does not do as well as the stock Jeep suspension when getting into mild irregular terrain that will lift a tire. Ford should have provided the sway disconnect on all models, as it makes a significant difference. In similar terrain, the Rubicons don't need to disconnect. Jeep +1
The button placement for sway and lockers is awesome and they seem to engage quicker than the Rubicon. I have a place where I bring people through and they lose traction, tell them to engage the locker to see the difference, immediately unlock when they move a foot forward and repeat. This shows them how their traction works - or doesn't. The Rubicons take longer to engage and disengage, sometimes needing to click to N or R to get them to unlock. Bronco +1
Turn assist. Works Awesome. Should be standard on all models. Jeep needs this feature. Bronco +1
Transfer case shifting. Hard to beat electric for a woman. Manual shift is more direct and positive, but for whatever reason, the Rubicon cases seem hard to shift and many women struggle with it. So again, Ford was thinking about the general consumer more than the hardcore wheeler. Bronco +1
That said, all the different rock, sand, snow settings is dumb.
Speed control/downhill descent. Bronco and JL work equally well for downhill. I don't teach auto speed control for uphill so no opinion. I actually like the Jeep a little better as you are shifting the shifter to change speed rather than the button on the steering wheel. That way, a person is steering and shifting vs steering while trying to select the up/down button on the wheel. Jeep +1
All in all, we really like what we have seen with the Bronco. If we were in the market for a new mid level daily/wheeler on 35's, we would certainly shop for both Bronco and Rubicon. But we're not. LOL
Bronco has too many options on the various rigs. Lots of people show up thinking they have sway disconnect and they don't. For the general consumer, understanding the difference of the option package is a bit confusing.
wheeled a few times out at Paragon with you and Steve/getstuck(?) back in the day, spent plenty of time in the Pines as well at the quarries and George's old place. 🍺
