Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Any Bronco Sport owners here?

Yeah I suspected it was mostly his fault. I'm just saying the bronco sport badlands met and exceeded my needs this fall, and impressed the few people I hunt with. Also I can't see paying 30k plus more for something better, likely marginally better
 
Sacrilege!
I've seen more than one awd Escape do more than expected offroad, but there's a cost. My.wife has taken her Escape some places that I will park my F150 and walk. It's been in the body shop several times, needed new shocks, needs struts and the motor mounts are looking kinda sus. ~150k miles.

I'm doing my best to steer her to a Toyota car.
 
I've seen more than one awd Escape do more than expected offroad, but there's a cost. My.wife has taken her Escape some places that I will park my F150 and walk. It's been in the body shop several times, needed new shocks, needs struts and the motor mounts are looking kinda sus. ~150k miles.

I'm doing my best to steer her to a Toyota car.
She definitely won't be off-roading whatever she buys! I suggested the Escape instead of a used sedan because it has more room to haul her dog and whatever, and Ford just doesn't build a new one anymore! It gets better MPG than the Bronco but I don't think she cares about that too much. She may change her mind after driving one. It will be a couple months before she gets serious.
 
I can’t speak to the bronco sport but my wife loved her escape, that was also her first suv. We upgraded her to an edge a couple years ago, she likes it even better.

I think the bronco sports and escape are very similar, drive both and go with whatever she likes. Always makes me smile to see someone else reject a Toyota 🙂
 
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My wife has a Bronco Sport Badlands and absolutely loves it. The previous poster is correct, they're fantastic in the snow.

Saying it's the same as an Escape is simply not correct (I bought an Escape for an employee to drive and still own it... and it's not nearly as capable as the BS).

For example, the F-150 Tremor is on the same platform as an Expedition, but they don't have the same off-road capability. It's a similar comparison between the Escape and Bronco Sport Badlands.

(For reference, the Badlands has a 1" lift, larger motor, locking rear, and the ability to lock in 4wd via a different clutch system that the other models don't have. They also have all the G.O.A.T modes. My sister and her husband bought a Big Bend and say the smaller motor is still very zippy in that vehicle.)

I understand that the 4wd system is clutch-based, but it also has intelligent computer assist that older 4wd vehicles don't have. It senses wheel slip and sends power where it's needed. It works very well.

The BS is also really stable from a weight standpoint, I think that really helps in the snow. It's 10x more stable on a snowy highway than my Ford Ranger FX4 or F-350 FX4. Those are both true 4wd trucks with lockers, but I'll take the BS in a snow storm any day.

It's a really easy vehicle to drive around town, turns very sharp, parks easy, etc...

The back cargo area works great for groceries, but also the dog and hunting gear for grouse hunts. We've taken it on many birds hunts because it's so comfortable to drive.

If I had to look for the cons, I'd say that the backseat is tight for adults with the carseat in the middle seat. We've put the bike racks on it and taken it all over the west hiking or just on vacation and it's great. But I wouldn't want to be an adult sitting next to a carseat for long trips.

The other con would be that if we go on vacation and take the dog, she takes up most of the cargo area and there's not much room for luggage. It gets a little small. Without the dog, there's plenty of room, just not enough room for luggage plus a full size dog.

I guess its small size, which is one of its greatest attributes, is also its biggest weakness.
 
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My wife has a Bronco Sport Badlands and absolutely loves it. The previous poster is correct, they're fantastic in the snow.

Saying it's the same as an Escape is simply not correct (I bought an Escape for an employee to drive and still own it... and it's not nearly as capable as the BS).

For example, the F-150 Tremor is on the same platform as an Expedition, but they don't have the same off-road capability. It's a similar comparison between the Escape and Bronco Sport Badlands.

(For reference, the Badlands has a 1" lift, larger motor, locking rear, and the ability to lock in 4wd via a different clutch system that the other models don't have. They also have all the G.O.A.T modes. My sister and her husband bought a Big Bend and say the smaller motor is still very zippy in that vehicle.)

I understand that the 4wd system is clutch-based, but it also has intelligent computer assist that older 4wd vehicles don't have. It senses wheel slip and sends power where it's needed. It works very well.

The BS is also really stable from a weight standpoint, I think that really helps in the snow. It's 10x more stable on a snowy highway than my Ford Ranger FX4 or F-350 FX4. Those are both true 4wd trucks with lockers, but I'll take the BS in a snow storm any day.

It's a really easy vehicle to drive around town, turns very sharp, parks easy, etc...

The back cargo area works great for groceries, but also the dog and hunting gear for grouse hunts. We've taken it on many birds hunts because it's so comfortable to drive.

If I had to look for the cons, I'd say that the backseat is tight for adults with the carseat in the middle seat. We've put the bike racks on it and taken it all over the west hiking or just on vacation and it's great. But I wouldn't want to be an adult sitting next to a carseat for long trips.

The other con would be that if we go on vacation and take the dog, she takes up most of the cargo area and there's not much room for luggage. It gets a little small. Without the dog, there's plenty of room, just not enough room for luggage plus a full size dog.

I guess its small size, which is one of its greatest attributes, is also its biggest weakness.
Appreciate the great reply! Thanks, grizzly!
 
I'm going to say if she buys one it will be the Big Bend package. She will still need to finance part of it and won't want a big payment. We'll have a talk about interest and total cost/length of loan. Myself, not a big fan of the Sport model but I'm a truck guy. At least I used to be!
 
Tell her to skip the Ford and get a Jeep wrangler :). OR....just get a Subaru....I hear they are all the rage... :). Seriously...I don't own a Bronco, but I sure seemed to read/hear a lot of bad stuff about them. Make sure to read as much as possible.
 
I bought one for my daughter a “Big Bend” edition couple months ago, so far it’s been a nice little car - haven’t used it much off the pavement. She hauls her dogs back and forth to the ranch on weekends, drives it to school. It does drive and ride nice. Seems to be a decent value, my buddy has a 2021 model that he uses for work and he has put almost 100k miles so far with no issues.
 
The sport version is a car with a big boxy body.
It is not a 4-wheel drive, it is an all-wheel drive there is a BIG difference.
I think it is the same as the Ford Escape with a different body. If you're thinking a small Ford Bronko you will be very disappointed.
I do not own but have looked at them and test-drove one.
It's NOT a Bronco.
My wife and I have been thinking the same thing since they came out. There's the bronco then there's the little version that doesn't even look like a bronco.

She drives a 17 escape and me an 05 f150. The bronco sport is like the jeep renegade or liberty, not THE jeep which would be the wrangler.
 
I have a 2021 Wildtrak. It’s been a good vehicle with 25,000 miles so far. It’s louder than I would want for a daily driver. The turning radius is outstanding. Simple controls, everything seems well thought out. I like it.
 
Wife had a bronco sport for about a year. I didn’t think they were very comfortable to sit in. Maneuvered around nice in traffic and parking was nice It got around good in the snow and got good fuel mileage. Went through 3 windshields in that year with them. Not sure if the windshield being more vertical than most vehicles but it was a rock magnet. Seen a few crash test for them and they don’t turn out to pretty.
 
Not the pictures I’ve seen. Crushed beer can
They're supposed to crush, that absorbs the impact. The key is keeping the occupants safe, which the Bronco Sport clearly does based on independent testing and the subsequent top/perfect ratings by both the government and insurance industry.

We looked hard at crash tests before buying ours because we wanted something safe for our little girl.

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Check out this Bronco Sport that rolled off a mountain and both the driver and her dog survived.

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