Arizona Bronco Club

[tlowell01]

I was thinking the same thing! We’re you able to get Otto the overland expo in Flagstaff last weekend? I got out on Friday and did the Bronco ride along. I wonder if it is the same for the drive at Ft McDowell?

I was not able to make it up to Flagstaff last weekend. Hope you had a great time up there!

I don't think this will be a ride along since the email Ford sent back in August said, "And the wilderness is calling you. While you wait for your new Bronco to arrive, you and two guests have been exclusively selected to attend this invitation-only Ford Bronco off-road drive – and you’ll be the one in the driver’s seat." It sounds like I'll get to drive. I'm hoping Mrs @tlowell01 will have a clear enough work calendar to be able to make it up there with me. I've gone to a couple events and seen them and did a test drive of a Mannequin, but other than seeing an Area 51 softtop driving around our area, she hasn't seen one yet.

Any chance they had a Green or the Hot Pepper Red up in Flagstaff? I'm not super interested in HPR, but I think my MY'22 color will come down to the Green or Velocity Blue.

 

[3Dogs]

Boy this thread has been quiet for almost 9 months!!!!

The Bronco Off-Road Drive at the Ford McDowell Rodeo grounds opens today (and goes through Oct 9th). Is anyone else signed up to participate? I'm booked for Monday (10/4) at 3:45 PM. I look forward to meeting any other BN members that might be that at the same time.

I'm booked for that time slot, too!
See you there.

 

[TK1215]

I was not able to make it up to Flagstaff last weekend. Hope you had a great time up there!

I don't think this will be a ride along since the email Ford sent back in August said, "And the wilderness is calling you. While you wait for your new Bronco to arrive, you and two guests have been exclusively selected to attend this invitation-only Ford Bronco off-road drive – and you’ll be the one in the driver’s seat." It sounds like I'll get to drive. I'm hoping Mrs @tlowell01 will have a clear enough work calendar to be able to make it up there with me. I've gone to a couple events and seen them and did a test drive of a Mannequin, but other than seeing an Area 51 softtop driving around our area, she hasn't seen one yet.

Any chance they had a Green or the Hot Pepper Red up in Flagstaff? I'm not super interested in HPR, but I think my MY'22 color will come down to the Green or Velocity Blue.

Great to hear keep us posted!

 

[SquatchOrBust]

Boy this thread has been quiet for almost 9 months!!!!

The Bronco Off-Road Drive at the Ford McDowell Rodeo grounds opens today (and goes through Oct 9th). Is anyone else signed up to participate? I'm booked for Monday (10/4) at 3:45 PM. I look forward to meeting any other BN members that might be that at the same time.

I'm booked for tomorrow morning.

 

[NickP]

I'm going on saturday evening if anyone else is at the same time! Super excited to drive these out in the desert.

 

[tlowell01]

@NickP and @SquatchOrBust , how was the event? What should we expect?

 

[NickP]

@NickP and @SquatchOrBust , how was the event? What should we expect?

It was a great time! It wasn’t a super hard trail or anything, but I was in a non Sasquatch black diamond so it was cool to see how well even a relatively “stock” bronco can do. It is about as hard of stuff as I expect 80% of Bronco owners will actually do. There were 2 or 3 obstacles that anything less capable than a 4Runner would probably get stuck without extremely good technique or just would be flat out impossible.

Also, I was able to finagle my way into a manual(They are requiring manual drivers to have a manual on order) and it was a lot of fun. I get why they’re protective of it though, if you didn’t own a manual off road vehicle already it would be a struggle, and my copilot said only a handful of people so far had known what they were doing. The crawl gear is insanely cool, being able to use it as an “instant” low range on some of the hill climbs was a blast. We also got a short on road drive and the 2.3 felt great. Had a nice turbo noise with the roof off and doors open too, anyone that figured they would be fine without the 2.7 is probably going to be pretty happy.

 

[tlowell01]

It was a great time! It wasn’t a super hard trail or anything, but I was in a non Sasquatch black diamond so it was cool to see how well even a relatively “stock” bronco can do. It is about as hard of stuff as I expect 80% of Bronco owners will actually do. There were 2 or 3 obstacles that anything less capable than a 4Runner would probably get stuck without extremely good technique or just would be flat out impossible.

Also, I was able to finagle my way into a manual(They are requiring manual drivers to have a manual on order) and it was a lot of fun. I get why they’re protective of it though, if you didn’t own a manual off road vehicle already it would be a struggle, and my copilot said only a handful of people so far had known what they were doing. The crawl gear is insanely cool, being able to use it as an “instant” low range on some of the hill climbs was a blast. We also got a short on road drive and the 2.3 felt great. Had a nice turbo noise with the roof off and doors open too, anyone that figured they would be fine without the 2.7 is probably going to be pretty happy.

Oh Nice. I have a MT on order, but I've never really done any offroading (in a manual or otherwise). I learned to drive a MT on my dad's '75 corvette and then drove a MT '97 Mustang for ~17 years. It will be a new experience for me!

 

[NickP]

Oh Nice. I have a MT on order, but I've never really done any offroading (in a manual or otherwise). I learned to drive a MT on my dad's '75 corvette and then drove a MT '97 Mustang for ~17 years. It will be a new experience for me!

Yup so you can request the manual, if you want. If you do just listen to the guide and you’ll be good, he was even giving me some tips in regards to when to use the crawl gear and keeping it in the power band. The 4 banger is happiest at closer to 2k RPM and you just gotta know what gear is appropriate but they’ll have a recommendation.

My main takeaway; the manual is a ton of fun. I even have the slightest tinge of regret not just doing a manual badlands, it is super capable. If you gave me the option of doing the rubicon in a stock vs stock manual JL Rubicon or a manual badlands I would take the badlands hands down. The crawl ratio is just too cool.

 

[SquatchOrBust]

@NickP and @SquatchOrBust , how was the event? What should we expect?

Definitely a fun event. The place was really close to Wekopa casino (formerly Fort McDowell Casino) and is on Indian reservation land. There are signs on Rodeo Drive so you won't miss the place.

Check-in was quick as there weren't too many people. During check-in, they gave us each a free Bronco hat which was a nice surprise. They have pretty much every trim available except for FE. 2-doors and 4-doors were both available, and so is a manual transmission. There were 2 Sas Badland & 1 Sas Wildtrack. The rest of the Broncos were non-sasquatch. There were also a couple of broncos with the doors off. I got to drive a 2.3 BB non-sas. It didn't have any lockers but you won't really need it on that trail. The entire event was really just 10 mins of briefing/introduction and about 30-40 mins of offroad driving and not a whole hour (or maybe I was just going really fast). The staff was very friendly and the trail guides are very knowledgeable. I took a few photos just to give you all an idea of what to expect to see.

 

[Joeyeo]

I went to the event as well and was able to drive my build which was super helpful. The best part about it was if you drove the badlands with the doors off, they would take a leaf blower and get the dust off off you.

 

[3Dogs]

I went today with my Wife.
I drove a manual 2-door Black Diamond. The trails were no challenge for the Bronco - the idle would have been strong enough to pull it up the steepest hill in crawler gear. I spent most of the time in 2nd gear, and didn’t have to use the clutch very much. I thought the event was very helpful - the trails we were on were probably close to what I am most likely to try (although I may be doing them in the snow).
I had a grand time - my wife, not so much.

 

[tlowell01]

I went today with my Wife.
I drove a manual 2-door Black Diamond. The trails were no challenge for the Bronco - the idle would have been strong enough to pull it up the steepest hill in crawler gear. I spent most of the time in 2nd gear, and didn’t have to use the clutch very much. I thought the event was very helpful - the trails we were on were probably close to what I am most likely to try (although I may be doing them in the snow).
I had a grand time - my wife, not so much.

Oh no, I'm sorry your wife didn't enjoy it. I wish mine had been able to make it.

I was in a MT Badlands. For someone who hasn't done any kind of offroading since the 90's. My guide Evan was great about coaching through what features and gears to use in the situations encountered and didn't judge the rust on my 3rd pedal skills. I was really impressed with the Bronco hill descent control feature and how it worked with the MT.

I'm really excited for an Off Roadeo for a full day of instruction to expand on the 30 minutes I got today!

 

[3Dogs]

Oh no, I'm sorry your wife didn't enjoy it. I wish mine had been able to make it.

She hates being a passenger and bouncing around out of her control.
Went we went jet skiing, she was unhappy until she got to drive, then then she had fun.
I’m not sure she’ll ever want to drive off-road herself, but maybe she won’t be so unhappy in the fromt seat instead of the back.

 

[TK1215]

I got an email today from Ford regarding the Bronco ride along! In the SF Bay Area where I moved from….maybe I will go back and do the drive the end of this month or in November…my address has been in AZ since I put in my reservation. Last year

 

[SquatchOrBust]

I got an email today from Ford regarding the Bronco ride along! In the SF Bay Area where I moved from….maybe I will go back and do the drive the end of this month or in November…my address has been in AZ since I put in my reservation. Last year

What's the Bronco ride along? Is it the same type of event where you get to drive off-road?