Bronco vs. Bronco Sport: Completely Different Vehicles

Bronco Sport

While it shares a platform with the more pedestrian Ford Escape, the unibody Bronco Sport is still a small SUV with legitimate off-road capabilities, far exceeding the average talents of a CR-V or a RAV4. Starting at $29,215 msrp for the base model with seating for five, the Bronco Sport is quite a bit more affordable than its Bronco big brother, with more standard features to boot. Standard four wheel drive is controlled with five vehicle modes, sand, slippery, sport, eco, and regular. Floodlights in the rear liftgate light up the world below, and a rear liftgate bottle opener is also standard. Also included are tilt and telescope wheel, easy-to-clean seats with rubberized cargo floor, 6-speaker stereo with Ford SYNC 3 infotainment, power windows and locks, and 17 inch wheels. Bronco Sports are propelled by a 181 horsepower turbo engine, while a 245 horsepower turbo is optional, both with eight speed automatic transmission.

Bronco Sport has a host of trim options to customize to the likings of various consumers. The Heritage starts at $33,700 msrp and includes white roof, white grille with red lettering, and white wheels, along with plaid interior seating. The Free Wheeling trim, $33,730 msrp, has an orange/yellow/red graphics package that you might have found on your Matchbox toy Bronco as a child, with rainbow striped interior seats and red-painted wheels to boot. The Outer Banks, msrp $35,915, adds premium-trim heated front bucket seats, premium-wrapped steering wheel, dual-zone auto climate control, remote start, memory power driver’s seat, and 18-inch black painted wheels.

If you want an off-roader on a budget, the Bronco Sport Badlands is the main event. Starting at $38,390 msrp, it has the 250 horsepower turbo motor with 277 lb-ft of torque, and a twin-clutch 4x4 system to improve traction off-road, shifting all power to one rear wheel if necessary. The Badlands has its own terrain management system with seven modes, adding mud/ruts and rock crawl modes. It also gets lifted suspension and better tuning for off-roading, along with all-terrain tires instead of all-seasons.

Bronco

The full size body-on-frame Bronco comes in both two and four door models, both of which have removable doors like a Jeep Wrangler. Two doors come in removable hard top and four doors come with soft roof, hard top optional. The full size Bronco starts at $39,130 msrp for the entry-level Big Bend 2-door model. Standard powertrain is a 2.3L turbo 300 horsepower inline-4 motor with four wheel drive. Hill descent control comes on manual transmission models, and other standard features include LED fog lamps, air conditioning, remote keyless access with push button start, USB charging ports, 8 inch color LCD instrument panel, a terrain management system, 32-inch all-terrain tires, leather wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, a tilt/telescoping steering wheel, and 7 speed manual transmission. 10-speed automatic transmission is a $1,995 option, while the 4-door Big Bend starts at only $740 more than 2-door models. 2-door Broncos seat four people, while 4-door broncos seat five.

The full-size Bronco comes in a lot of trims with lots of potential for customization, so buckle up for the low-down on all nine packages. Black Diamond starts at $42,630 msrp and adds powder-coated steel bumpers with tow hooks and fog lamps integrated, rock rails and full underbody bash plates, vinyl seats, and rubber flooring with drain plugs so you can hose the whole thing down. Outer Banks starts at $47,940 msrp, adding 18-inch wheels, Ford SYNC 4 infotainment system, LED headlamps and tailamps, powder-coated tube steps, and heated front row seats (leather optional).

Ford has five heavy duty off-road trims, three of which are Badlands, Everglades, and Wildtrak, starting at $49,395, $55,520, and $60,025 msrps, respectively. All three trims get e-locking front and rear axles for better off-road performance. The Badlands has larger 33 inch all terrain tires with its 17-inch carbonized machine-faced aluminum wheels, a unique suspension with front stabilizer bar disconnect, and a hose-able rubber floor and vinyl seats. Everglades gets 35 inch mud tires, factory installed snorkel, factory-installed winch on the front bumper, heavy duty modular front bumper, and the vinyl seat / washout floor combo. The Wildtrak adds the 2.7L V6 turbo engine as standard, which is optional on other Bronco trims. It has 330 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque, much more than the 4-banger’s 325 lb-ft. Wildtrak also has 35-inch mud tires, Bilstein position-sensitive dampers, and fender flares, as well as leather-trimmed heated front seats.

The two remaining off-road Bronco trims are retro-throwback styles, the Heritage, which starts at $47,855 msrp, and the Heritage Limited, $69,685 msrp. Heritage includes 17-inch white retro wheels, white grille and white hard-top, plaid cloth seating, and the 35-inch tires, Bilstein shocks, and fender flares from the other off-road Bronco models. The up-scale Limited adds the 2.7L V6 turbo, automatic transmission, perforated plaid inserts on leather-trimmed seats, 17-inch black/white wheels, Bang and Olufsen sound system, and heated front seats.

Lastly, the special top-of-the-heap is the Bronco Raptor, a different vehicle altogether. It starts at $89,835 msrp with 37-inch all-terrain tires, heavy-duty full-vehicle bash plates, front stabilizer bar disconnect, enormous fender flares, and a 3.0L turbo V6 engine with 418 horsepower. Only offered in 4-door with 10-speed automatic, the Bronco Raptor rockets across sand dunes and trails. 13 inches of front travel and 14 inches of rear travel enable the FOX suspension to conquer it all.

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