Oct 17, 2022
Obviously at this point there are several hundred of reviews for the 6th generation Bronco on the internet. My goal is not to rehash those reviews, I just don't feel that adds any real value. So I will be glancing over many areas of the Bronco that have been talked about in-depth before and instead focus on areas that I think are important that have not yet been talked to death. You may also find me linking to reviews that I personally agree with so I don't reinvent the wheel.
My Background
Just a quick background on me so you have some idea of where I'm coming from. I am a self-professed Ford fanboy. My father worked for Ford Motor Company for nearly 30 years and I have grown up in a "Ford family". With the exception of my wife's Chevy Cobalt that she owned prior to our marriage, I have never owned or extensively driven a non-Ford passenger vehicle.
My interest in the 6th gen Ford Bronco comes from my father's old 4th generation 1989 Ford Bronco XLT. That was the family vehicle, the vast majority of our family adventures took place in that Bronco--from Moab, to Yellowstone, Telluride, to the Indiana Dunes near Chicago. Everything we did as a family took place in or thanks to that Bronco, and I loved it. To be honest, my primary reason for buying the new Bronco is to recreate many of the experiences I had as a kid in my father's Bronco.
Some other info…. my education background is Electrical Engineering, I work in IT… wife, two kids, mid-30s. Grew up in the southwest US, now live in New England. That's about it.
The Build
Reserved July 21st, 2020. Delivered September 10th, 2022.
There were two features that I considered necessary. The first was a manual transmission, and the second was front and rear factory lockers. Everything else was negotiable. The build that I wanted was a Black Diamond with the Sasquatch package. Unforunately, the pricing on the Sasquatch package with the manual transmission isn't a real good value proposition (at least for 2022MY), and it was only a few $100 just to bump up to the Badlands trim… so I did just that.
Interior
I got the base Badlands interior with the marine-grade vinyl seats. Everything you've read/heard about hard plastics and lack of premium interior materials is true. Doesn't bother me at all because this is an off-road family SUV. There will be dirt, there will be mud, and there will be that nasty salty snow brine mess that gets created in the midwest/northeast winters. This interior is easy to clean and relatively durable, and I appreciate it.
A big selling point of the upper-trim Broncos was the camera system in the High/Lux package along with the 12" screen… and I personally could not care less about that stuff. I opted for the Mid package, and the only reason why I went that far was because my wife adores heated seats. That said, I have driven several Broncos with the High/Lux package, so if you care about my opinion on the subject… I personally think the High package is a good value for what you get. The Lux package is not a good value.
A few quick hitters before we move on:
On-Road Driving
My overall driving impressions basically matches the SavageGeese review. So I will just point you in their direction:
The most commonly asked question I get is probably "Is the 2.3L enough?". To avoid digging into this topic yet again I'll keep it simple: Yes, yes it is. Moving on.
I primarily drive manual transmission vehicles. It's what I learned on, and what I have always driven. The first time I drove an automatic transmission (several years after I obtained my license) I immediately crashed it into a garage door because I honestly had no idea autos moved forward by themselves once you put it in "Drive". (If my dad reads this--sorry about the dent in the garage door.) Needless to say, the manual transmission is important to me and I am acutely aware that with the rise of hybrid and electric vehicles this Bronco will most likely be the last manual transmission vehicle I will own.
So how is the manual transmission in the Bronco? Well… it's good. Not great, but really good. The crawler gear in the 7-speed transmission is truly awesome. If you switch the Bronco in 4x4 Low and shift it into the crawler gear the Bronco is barely moving at 2000 RPM. The gear reduction provided by the transfer case and crawler gear is super impressive.
BUT, let's ignore the crawler gear for a second. If you are expecting a manual transmission like one you'd find in the Honda Civic Si, Ford Focus ST/RS, Subaru WRX, or any of the other "zippy" compact/mid-sized cars on the market… you will be disappointed. But if you compare it to other manual transmission vehicles that are simlarly sized… Jeep Wrangler, Toyota Tacoma, etc… it stacks up really well.In my opinion it is far superior to the manual transmission in the Nissan Frontier. Comparing it to the 2nd gen Colorado, Tacoma, and Wrangler JL—which all use Aisin transmissions—is a little harder. I don't think there is anything about the Bronco's transmission that makes it really stand out above the Aisin transmissions, but overall I do prefer the transmission and especially the clutch in the Bronco more than those other vehicles. Unforunately I have not driven the newer Tacoma (2018+) with Toyota's RC62F 6-speed transmission, so I cannot compare it to that vehicle. But regardless, I am more than happy with the Bronco's MT-88 transmission overall.
Off-road Driving
Driving off-road is largely the same between all Broncos so I won't spend too much time here. There are plenty of resources on the internet to get a sense of it's off-road capabilities, but my short review is this: Fun.
I did want to quickly go over the differences between the manual and automatic transmission in terms of off-road features, because in my opinion Ford does a terrible job at it. If you pick the 2.3L with the manual transmission you are giving up a few off-roading features Ford has made available in the Bronco:
Out of those three features, the only one that is really valuable in my opinion is Trail Control. That mode is extremely impressive and lets you focus entirely on steering the vehicle rather than modulating the gas/brake pedals. Donut mode is largely a party trick, I'm not sure I would ever use it, especially given that it rips up the trail so badly. One-pedal driving is a decent feature, but since I would have Trail Control available I would pick that mode instead of one-pedal drive 99 times out of 100.
So is there anything you gain by picking the manual transmission?? Why… yes there is.
Hill Decent Control is similar in many ways to Trail Control, except that it only modulates the brakes (and maybe some engine parameters for increased engine braking ? hard to tell) instead of both the accelerator and the brakes. Handy, but not as handy as Trail Control. The crawler gear I've already talked about before, and while it is impressive I have a feeling that it's a feature only die-hard manual transmission users would get excited about. Still, the highest crawl ratio available with the automatic is 67.8:1… so a 94.7:1 ratio is insane and definitely will help you keep off the clutch while driving slow off the beaten path.
To sum it up… if you are on the fence about the automatic or the manual transmission… the decision in my mind comes down to how valuable you think Trail Control would be in your adventures, and if having Trail Control outweights the fun of driving a manual transmission.
End
So… that's it for now. I'll be back with a 10,000 mile update, and possibly again at 100,000 miles if people still care about the Bronco by then. If all goes according to plan I'll be talking about which modifications I've made rather than all the mechanical issues I've encountered. BUT, we'll see how it goes.
Feel free to ask questions, or yell at me if you think I'm wrong.
My Background
Just a quick background on me so you have some idea of where I'm coming from. I am a self-professed Ford fanboy. My father worked for Ford Motor Company for nearly 30 years and I have grown up in a "Ford family". With the exception of my wife's Chevy Cobalt that she owned prior to our marriage, I have never owned or extensively driven a non-Ford passenger vehicle.
My interest in the 6th gen Ford Bronco comes from my father's old 4th generation 1989 Ford Bronco XLT. That was the family vehicle, the vast majority of our family adventures took place in that Bronco--from Moab, to Yellowstone, Telluride, to the Indiana Dunes near Chicago. Everything we did as a family took place in or thanks to that Bronco, and I loved it. To be honest, my primary reason for buying the new Bronco is to recreate many of the experiences I had as a kid in my father's Bronco.
Some other info…. my education background is Electrical Engineering, I work in IT… wife, two kids, mid-30s. Grew up in the southwest US, now live in New England. That's about it.
The Build
- 4-door Bronco Badlands
- 2.3L EcoBoost w/ Manual Transmission
- MIC Hard Top
- Mid Package
- Tow Package
Reserved July 21st, 2020. Delivered September 10th, 2022.
There were two features that I considered necessary. The first was a manual transmission, and the second was front and rear factory lockers. Everything else was negotiable. The build that I wanted was a Black Diamond with the Sasquatch package. Unforunately, the pricing on the Sasquatch package with the manual transmission isn't a real good value proposition (at least for 2022MY), and it was only a few $100 just to bump up to the Badlands trim… so I did just that.
Interior
I got the base Badlands interior with the marine-grade vinyl seats. Everything you've read/heard about hard plastics and lack of premium interior materials is true. Doesn't bother me at all because this is an off-road family SUV. There will be dirt, there will be mud, and there will be that nasty salty snow brine mess that gets created in the midwest/northeast winters. This interior is easy to clean and relatively durable, and I appreciate it.
A big selling point of the upper-trim Broncos was the camera system in the High/Lux package along with the 12" screen… and I personally could not care less about that stuff. I opted for the Mid package, and the only reason why I went that far was because my wife adores heated seats. That said, I have driven several Broncos with the High/Lux package, so if you care about my opinion on the subject… I personally think the High package is a good value for what you get. The Lux package is not a good value.
A few quick hitters before we move on:
- The base audio system is as bad as everyone says it is. My cheapo base-trim Focus audio system is WAY better than the Bronco's audio system. Those who got bumped to 2023MY should consider themselves lucky that Ford is upgrading the base audio system.
- The MGV seats get hot in warm weather and cold in cool weather, similar to leather. Keep that in mind when deciding if you want cloth/leather/MGV, or if you want to get the Mid package for heated seats.
- The satellite radio has a noticably harder time acquiring and keeping a signal compared to other vehicles I've driven. I assume this is simply because the hard top is attenuating the signal a bit. But if you care about Siruis XM… something to note.
On-Road Driving
My overall driving impressions basically matches the SavageGeese review. So I will just point you in their direction:
The most commonly asked question I get is probably "Is the 2.3L enough?". To avoid digging into this topic yet again I'll keep it simple: Yes, yes it is. Moving on.
I primarily drive manual transmission vehicles. It's what I learned on, and what I have always driven. The first time I drove an automatic transmission (several years after I obtained my license) I immediately crashed it into a garage door because I honestly had no idea autos moved forward by themselves once you put it in "Drive". (If my dad reads this--sorry about the dent in the garage door.) Needless to say, the manual transmission is important to me and I am acutely aware that with the rise of hybrid and electric vehicles this Bronco will most likely be the last manual transmission vehicle I will own.
So how is the manual transmission in the Bronco? Well… it's good. Not great, but really good. The crawler gear in the 7-speed transmission is truly awesome. If you switch the Bronco in 4x4 Low and shift it into the crawler gear the Bronco is barely moving at 2000 RPM. The gear reduction provided by the transfer case and crawler gear is super impressive.
BUT, let's ignore the crawler gear for a second. If you are expecting a manual transmission like one you'd find in the Honda Civic Si, Ford Focus ST/RS, Subaru WRX, or any of the other "zippy" compact/mid-sized cars on the market… you will be disappointed. But if you compare it to other manual transmission vehicles that are simlarly sized… Jeep Wrangler, Toyota Tacoma, etc… it stacks up really well.In my opinion it is far superior to the manual transmission in the Nissan Frontier. Comparing it to the 2nd gen Colorado, Tacoma, and Wrangler JL—which all use Aisin transmissions—is a little harder. I don't think there is anything about the Bronco's transmission that makes it really stand out above the Aisin transmissions, but overall I do prefer the transmission and especially the clutch in the Bronco more than those other vehicles. Unforunately I have not driven the newer Tacoma (2018+) with Toyota's RC62F 6-speed transmission, so I cannot compare it to that vehicle. But regardless, I am more than happy with the Bronco's MT-88 transmission overall.
Off-road Driving
Driving off-road is largely the same between all Broncos so I won't spend too much time here. There are plenty of resources on the internet to get a sense of it's off-road capabilities, but my short review is this: Fun.
I did want to quickly go over the differences between the manual and automatic transmission in terms of off-road features, because in my opinion Ford does a terrible job at it. If you pick the 2.3L with the manual transmission you are giving up a few off-roading features Ford has made available in the Bronco:
- Trail-Turn Assist - aka: donut mode. Uses the ABS system to lock up one of the rear wheels for tighter turns
- Trail Control - Low speed cruise control.
- Trail One-Pedal Driving - A 2.7L exclusive feature. Pressing the accelerator pedal will speed up the vehicle, letting it go will apply the brake.
Out of those three features, the only one that is really valuable in my opinion is Trail Control. That mode is extremely impressive and lets you focus entirely on steering the vehicle rather than modulating the gas/brake pedals. Donut mode is largely a party trick, I'm not sure I would ever use it, especially given that it rips up the trail so badly. One-pedal driving is a decent feature, but since I would have Trail Control available I would pick that mode instead of one-pedal drive 99 times out of 100.
So is there anything you gain by picking the manual transmission?? Why… yes there is.
- Hill Decent Control - Modulates the brakes automatically to maintain a constant speed down a hill
- Granny/Crawler Gear - Gives you the lowest gear ratio available in the Bronco--a whopping 94.7:1 gear ratio.
Hill Decent Control is similar in many ways to Trail Control, except that it only modulates the brakes (and maybe some engine parameters for increased engine braking ? hard to tell) instead of both the accelerator and the brakes. Handy, but not as handy as Trail Control. The crawler gear I've already talked about before, and while it is impressive I have a feeling that it's a feature only die-hard manual transmission users would get excited about. Still, the highest crawl ratio available with the automatic is 67.8:1… so a 94.7:1 ratio is insane and definitely will help you keep off the clutch while driving slow off the beaten path.
To sum it up… if you are on the fence about the automatic or the manual transmission… the decision in my mind comes down to how valuable you think Trail Control would be in your adventures, and if having Trail Control outweights the fun of driving a manual transmission.
End
So… that's it for now. I'll be back with a 10,000 mile update, and possibly again at 100,000 miles if people still care about the Bronco by then. If all goes according to plan I'll be talking about which modifications I've made rather than all the mechanical issues I've encountered. BUT, we'll see how it goes.
Feel free to ask questions, or yell at me if you think I'm wrong.
2022 4dr Badlands, 2.3L Manual, Mid pkg
YouTube: youtube.com/@ragnarkon
YouTube: youtube.com/@ragnarkon
kwerking, MobScene13