Ford Bronco four-wheel-drive tested
This rugged beast has the ingredients to be a smash hit in Australia, but there are no guarantees it will reach our shores despite its local roots.
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Forbidden fruit isn’t always this sweet.
Of the dozens for cars off-limits to Australia, the Ford Bronco shapes up as one that would work well on our roads.
It looks sensational, it’s fun to drive and has close ties to Australia.
The Ford Bronco rides on the same “T6” platform as the locally developed Ford Ranger, and Australian engineers played an important role in its development.
Even so, the Blue Oval has no plan to offer the machine in right-hand drive.
Built to tackle the Jeep Wrangler, the Bronco is a rugged off-roader available with two doors, four doors, or even zero doors as you can easily remove the doors and roof for off-road adventures.
It has aggressive approach and departure angles, proper high and low range four-wheel-drive, plenty of hi-tech toys and the option of huge all-terrain tyres.
But the biggest selling point might be that it looks rad.
There’s a long waiting list for the retro-styled Bronco in America, where customers are paying significantly more than recommended retail prices to get hold of one of the coolest cars on sale.
The Bronco range starts from about $US35,000 ($53,000) drive-away for a basic model and runs to $US90,000 ($135,000) for a high-performance Bronco Raptor with twin-turbo V6 power.
The Bronco Heritage four-door model shown here sits toward the lower end of the scale at about $US50,000 ($75,650) drive-away.
It ramps up the cool factor with white paint for the grille and wheels, along with retro touches including “plaid” checked cloth seats in the cabin.
Sweeping digital dashboards and iPad-like centre touchscreens were not part of the original Bronco recipe, so designers left them out in favour of more subtle tech. It makes do with a small digital dash and a compact touchscreen with sat nav and smartphone mirroring, along with physical knobs and dials for the air conditioning.
It looks great and works well, suggesting there might be more to cabin design than trying to wedge a flatscreen TV under the windscreen.
The Bronco’s cabin is impressively spacious, with more comfortable accommodation than most off-road rivals.
Our taste of the Bronco came during an Appalachian road trip following the launch of the new Ford Mustang, driving in convoy with the low-slung muscle car and a Ford F-150 support vehicle.
As such, it wasn’t the right opportunity to examine the Bronco’s off-road credentials.
Suffice to say, a seven-speed transmission with an ultra-low speed “crawler” gear, proper low-range four-wheel-drive, long-travel Bilstein suspension, 35-inch all-terrain tyres and electronically locking front and rear diffs should make the Bronco a force to be reckoned with on the trails.
But some of those factors compromise highway performance.
The off-road tyres, removable roof and boxy styling work in chorus to create wind and road noise you won’t find in sedans.
Our test car had a modest 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo engine similar to that offered locally in the Ford Mustang EcoBoost and Focus ST.
Capable of making 223kW and 427Nm, the smooth engine works well enough at low speed but lacks punch for a car this size in hilly terrain – particularly when stuffed with luggage and passengers that won’t fit in the back of a Mustang.
You need to work the Bronco’s seven-speed transmission to get the most from it – but doing so is no chore, as it’s a light and easy experience with accurate throws and a trouble-free clutch.
We’d love to try it with the 10-speed automatic transmission and twin-turbo petrol V6 found in the Ford Ranger Raptor developed by Australian engineers.
The Bronco steers sweetly, with effortless responses from its well-placed steering wheel. It has far more sophisticated suspension than simpler rivals such as the Wrangler, lending high-speed stability absent from the iconic Jeep.
Bronco customers also benefit from a narrower set of objectives than the Ranger.
Without attempting to tow 3.5 tonnes or carry a tonne in the tray, the four-wheel-drive’s suspension can be tuned without compromises required by heavy duty work.
Ford’s Australian arm would love to have the Bronco, but it’s not an option for
But it looks like this wild horse will remain untamed.
FORD BRONCO HERITAGE EDITION
PRICE About $US50,000 ($75,650) drive-away
ENGINE 2.3-litre 4-cyl turbo, 223kW and 427Nm
THIRST 14.1L/100km
CARGO 471 litres
SPARE Full-size
Originally published as Ford Bronco four-wheel-drive tested
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