There is an elephant in the Bronco’s room, and that is the Sport. For some reason or another, Ford wanted to roll out a more affordable alternative to the mid-size model with a ladder-frame chassis, and the truth of the matter is, unibodies are not that great off the beaten path. Or are they?
FreeWheelin Overland has filmed a stock Bronco Sport doing its thing in Moab, Utah on Hell’s Revenge in order to answer that question. As you can tell, a slippery rock and a bit of an incline are not enough to unsettle the Badlands version. The Jeep Wrangler Rubicon behind it, curiously enough, has a little more trouble conquering the rock due to wheel spin.
Despite this video, the elephant is still there. Under the skin, the Bronco Sport features the C2 front- and all-wheel-drive platform of the Escape and various other Ford models such as the Focus. The differences, however, kick off with the AWD system. Opt for the Badlands trim level, and you’re also treated to a 1.0-inch lift kit for a ground clearance of 8.8 inches as opposed to 7.8 inches stock, softer springs, and tuned struts and shock absorbers.
From a visual standpoint, the Badlands also differs from its peers thanks to “steelies,” a unique grille, and black-painted roof rack side rails. The most off-road trim level also happens to come standard with the larger engine – the 2.0-liter EcoBoost – and twin-clutch torque vectoring for the rear differential. Like the three-cylinder turbo of lesser models, an eight-speed automatic transmission is included in the rather princely price of $32,660.
“Pinnacle of off-road performance, equipped for rugged terrain and off-road excitement,” is how Ford describes the Badlands online. Marketing paraphernalia aside, serious enthusiasts should upgrade to the mid-size Bronco with two doors and the Sasquatch Package for good measure.
By the end of August, the larger of the two Broncos will be available to build online as well according to product communications manager Mike Levine. The biggest unknown for the time being is the price of the highly popular Sasquatch Package mentioned beforehand, the body-on-frame Bronco’s answer to what Jeep calls the Rubicon in the Wrangler’s case.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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