Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / Exploring the 2024 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend 4x4: City Convenience Meets Off-Road Adventure
Transcript
- 0:11Speaker 1: Time now for this hour's car review.
- 0:13Speaker 1: I had a chance to drive the 2024 Ford Bronco Sport, the big-bend 4x4 version.
- 0:22Speaker 1: This is considered a small SUV, seats 5.
- 0:26Speaker 1: Exterior changes from last model year?
- 0:28Speaker 1: Not much.
- 0:30Speaker 1: It was all new in 2021.
- 0:32Speaker 1: This is about the second or third one that I've had.
- 0:36Speaker 1: I was very fortunate at the Ford Motor Company and my friend Ken Peabody arranged for me to drive a Ford Bronco Sport when I went up to visit cousin Steve and his wife Penny.
- 0:47Speaker 1: I remember that, and it was the Heritage Edition.
- 0:50Speaker 1: It had the white wheels and the yellow body on it with the white top.
- 0:56Speaker 1: It was really cool.
- 0:57Speaker 1: It got lots of looks, that's for sure.
- 0:59Speaker 1: This one's the Big Bend 4x4.
- 1:01Speaker 1: It's new this year.
- 1:02Speaker 1: Not much, as I said, has changed as far as the design is concerned.
- 1:05Speaker 1: Uh, reminds of the older land rover conservative but attractive design.
- 1:11Speaker 1: Big wheel openings, wheels based on the trim level that you buy.
- 1:15Speaker 1: Available colors and trims are numerous.
- 1:19Speaker 1: It's too numerous to mention.
- 1:21Speaker 1: You just have to go and check it out.
- 1:22Speaker 1: The Big Bend decals look good and that's part of the attraction of the Big Bend.
- 1:29Speaker 1: There are a lot of other things that are attractive as well.
- 1:32Speaker 1: The full-time all-wheel drive system has different springs, shocks.
- 1:38Speaker 1: It's a different, more off-roady version of the Bronco Sport and I don't know whether you know this or not, but the Bronco Sport is basically a re-skinned Ford Escape.
- 1:49Speaker 1: Wow, did you know that Mars?
- 1:50Speaker 1: No, I did not.
- 1:51Speaker 1: I did not know that either.
- 1:52Speaker 1: Incredible.
- 1:53Speaker 1: They change.
- 1:54Speaker 1: You know they'll use the same platform a lot of times for different cars, but I did not realize that was one of them.
- 1:59Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an escape Ford Escape.
- 2:02Speaker 1: I didn't either, until I started doing the research on it, what I liked about it.
- 2:06Speaker 1: The exterior competes with many true off-roaders like, for instance, the Jeep Wrangler, et cetera.
- 2:13Speaker 1: Now, what could use improvement?
- 2:15Speaker 1: I say not sure.
- 2:17Speaker 1: I don't know if I'd change anything about it.
- 2:20Speaker 1: It's very attractive and it fits very well in the Bronco family.
- 2:24Speaker 1: It's certainly not near as expensive as the real Bronco of late.
- 2:29Speaker 1: Interior highlights Dash is well laid out, handy cell phone cubby right underneath the infotainment screen, like that.
- 2:37Speaker 1: Trim level dictates either a warm feel or the stark off-road vibe, and I will tell you that they have so many different trim levels you can make this thing look completely different on the inside.
- 2:51Speaker 1: Have you had a chance to drive one of those?
- 2:52Speaker 1: No, I haven't, but I saw some of the pictures that go with it.
- 2:57Speaker 1: It was wait, is this the same vehicle Exactly?
- 3:00Speaker 1: I can't emphasize that.
- 3:01Speaker 1: Enough Cargo room more than you'd think, with the rear seats up even, and obviously with the rear seats down.
- 3:08Speaker 1: Lots.
- 3:09Speaker 1: What I liked about it the interior, the versatility of it all.
- 3:12Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
- 3:13Speaker 1: The black appearance package looks good, but you have to question whether the $1,795 price point on that package, that trim, is worth it.
- 3:26Speaker 1: The Bronco Sport, I said, is a re-skinned Escape under the body panels.
- 3:39Speaker 1: 1.5 liter engine Wow, it's an EcoBoost, so it's got a turbo on it and it's three cylinders.
- 3:46Speaker 1: You know I'm always used to 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12.
- 3:50Speaker 1: Oh no, this is 3.
- 3:51Speaker 1: 3 sounds just weird.
- 3:52Speaker 1: It's like how does it go down the road?
- 3:55Speaker 1: You hit the firing order and you go boom, boom.
- 3:58Speaker 1: That's pretty much it.
- 4:00Speaker 1: 181 horsepower, though I thought that was pretty good.
- 4:02Speaker 1: Much yet.
- 4:02Speaker 1: 181 horsepower, though I thought that was pretty good.
- 4:03Speaker 1: Torque, 190 pound-feet, 8-speed automatic transmission.
- 4:07Speaker 1: It works well.
- 4:08Speaker 1: It's not a rocket ship by any stretch of the imagination and it will tow up to a ton, about 2,000 pounds.
- 4:13Speaker 1: 25 miles per gallon in the city is what it's rated, 29 on the highway for a combined of 26.
- 4:20Speaker 1: I got 28.2 miles per gallon over 341.2 miles.
- 4:25Speaker 1: What I liked about it the 181 horsepower.
- 4:28Speaker 1: It doesn't seem to work, but it does.
- 4:31Speaker 1: With that eight-speed automatic transmission.
- 4:33Speaker 1: It gets the job done.
- 4:34Speaker 1: Not a rocket, but it gets down the road and you can actually pass people, if that's what your intention is.
- 4:40Speaker 1: What I liked about the ride and handling the GOAT mode GOAT stands for goes over any terrain.
- 4:49Speaker 1: It's adjustable and has the all-wheel drive algorithms that adjust to whatever you set it.
- 4:58Speaker 1: What could use improvement?
- 4:59Speaker 1: It didn't take it off-road, but this Badlands version rides like an off-roader on the street.
- 5:07Speaker 1: Base trim price $31,230.
- 5:09Speaker 1: Price is tested $38,940.
- 5:11Speaker 1: The base model price that you can get in one $29,795.
- 5:16Speaker 1: Competitors and boy, there are plenty of them, and here are just three.
- 5:19Speaker 1: The Honda CR-V starts at $29,500.
- 5:21Speaker 1: Toyota RAV4 goes for $28,675.
- 5:24Speaker 1: These are all entry-level prices.
- 5:26Speaker 1: Mazda CX-5 starts at $29,300.
- 5:30Speaker 1: And that, my friends, is the review of the 2024 Bronco Sport Big Bend Edition.
- 5:40Speaker 1: Didn't you like it?
- 5:42Speaker 1: Wasn't it good?
- 5:43Speaker 1: Did you like it wasn't it good?
- 5:45Speaker 1: Do you agree?
- 5:45Speaker 1: Yeah,