2021 Ford Bronco Wildtrak Does 0-60 in the Low 5s With Tune and E85, Runs Out of Road

The tuning industry is here to help, and, as it turns out, the 2.7-liter V6 EcoBoost engine is more than capable of delivering surprisingly sprightly performance for a unit that's seen its share of criticism over the relatively modest output. Or maybe it's the fact that it misses two cylinders; who knows?

We already showed you what the guys over at Palm Beach Dyno (PBD) did with their 2021 Bronco Wildtrak after installing a tuning module (JB4) from Burger Motorsports. The SUV pumped up its output to the rear wheels from the stock 265 hp (as revealed by the dyno, with official figures claiming a much more impressive 330 hp, albeit on premium fuel) to 322 hp, bringing it almost on par with the published numbers.

Out in the real world, this boost translated into a drop of 0.4 seconds in the SUV's 0-60 mph acceleration time, putting it at a very respectable (for a vehicle this size wearing 35-inch off-road tires) 6.89 seconds. However, not the type to settle for anything less than the best, the guys at PBD wanted to see what would happen if they poured a 2:1 mixture of 93 octane gas and E85 into the truck's fuel tank and used one of JB4's ethanol maps.

Well, the first few runs were pretty underwhelming as the Bronco only managed to hit mid-sixes, but then Ken, owner and founder of PBD and the designated driver of the Bronco on the day, decided to alter his strategy a little. Aside from disabling traction control altogether and putting the car in sport mode, he also figured launching in second gear might prove advantageous as the low-end boost in first gear seemed limited.

Lo and behold, he was right. The Bronco immediately dropped in the fives (5.86), with the subsequent runs shaving more and more tenths and hundreds of a second off that time. The best he managed to achieve was 5.7 seconds, which, let's face it, is pretty darn impressive. It's probably on par with what the Raptor will do.

With the launching technique mastered, all Ken could do to improve the time was to shed some weight off the SUV. Luckily, the Bronco is designed to be stripped down, and the first one to come off was the roof. The result? 5.58 seconds, which equates to 5.3 seconds with the rollout subtracted.

The next logical step was taking off the doors and the spare tire, and with those bits gone, the Ford Bronco managed an almost unbelievable time of 5.39 seconds (5.12 with the rollout). Yes, pretty crazy, but the really crazy part was that there was still room to grow: the JB4 was on Map4, with a Map5 still untapped.

On a prepped surface with different tires, the superior mapping would probably make a bigger difference, but on regular asphalt and stock 35s, it only brought an improvement of 0.02 seconds. That prompted Ken to declare Map4 as the best configuration as it offered the optimal balance between performance and limiting the strain put on the powertrain elements.

This would have been a complete success if Ken hadn't gotten a little carried away with the Bronco. However, it wasn't the SUV's acceleration that brought its undoing, but rather Ken's off-roading abilities. By his own admission, he's far from being an expert in the field, but with a truck like the Wildtrak, it's hard to resist the temptation even when you're in a suburban landscape. A bit of miscalculation and excessive enthusiasm landed both Ken and the red Bronco in a bit of a pickle (as you can see in the image), but if you want to see how they both managed to get out of the hairy situation, it's best I don't spoil it and leave you to watch it (skip to 9:45 for that part).