{"id":25859,"date":"2020-08-19T18:16:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T22:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=25859"},"modified":"2020-08-19T18:17:10","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T22:17:10","slug":"henry-payne-payne-in-the-saddle-of-the-bucking-ford-bronco-and-bronco-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/henry-payne-payne-in-the-saddle-of-the-bucking-ford-bronco-and-bronco-sport","title":{"rendered":"HENRY PAYNE Payne: In the saddle of the bucking Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Three Amigos (left to right): Ford Bronco 4-door, Bronco 2-door, Bronco Sport at Holly ORV park, reviewed by Detroit News auto critic Henry Payne.<\/p>\n

Holly<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 The new Holly Oaks Off-Road-Vehicle Park off Interstate 75 will be one of the premier off-road playgrounds in Michigan when it opens this fall \u2014 just in time for the 2021 Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport.<\/p>\n

I got a sneak peek of the park while riding shotgun in the Ford siblings\u2019 most extreme Badlands trims last week. In their natural ORV habitat, the Broncos are a blast. And, yes, I\u2019m including the unibody Bronco Sport in the same breath as the truck-based, scene-chewing, rock-stomping Bronco.<\/p>\n

With its fancy rear clutch packs and four skid plates, the Bronco Sport Badlands brings big bandwidth as a daily driver and weekend warrior. More on that later. Let\u2019s start with the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon-fighting headliner, the truck-based Bronco Badlands.<\/p>\n

The $43,590 Badlands sits at the top of Bronco\u2019s dizzying, six-model ladder (Base, Big Bend, Black Diamond, Outer Banks, Wildtrak, Badlands). Bronco Badlands isn\u2019t bashful about copying Rubicon\u2019s playbook: retro-looks, two-or four door configuration, outboard spare tire, removable body panels, manual transmission option, washable interior. My tester was further equipped with the Sasquatch package \u2014\u00a035-inch tires, dual-locking differentials, 12-inch screen \u2014\u00a0that can be had on any Bronco model.<\/p>\n

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Holly Oaks is gonna be a Bronco-Wrangler war zone when the Ford comes to market next spring. The park echoes California\u2019s epic, state ORV sandboxes with its high-speed canyons and skyscraper-high trails. With pedal to the metal in our skid-plated armored, 310-horsepower Bronco Badlands, Ford engineer Dan Schaeffer rocketed up formidable, 27-degree dirt inclines, splashed through ponds\u00a0and devoured sand.<\/p>\n

But Holly ORV park isn\u2019t just about trails. Like any serious ORV park it offers diabolical obstacle courses as well. Its signature hill is a re-creation of some of Moab\u2019s most infamous rocky terrain: the 45-degree steep Hot Tub. Mogul-pocked Mashed Potato Hill. Or the I-dare-you-to-cross-me Golden Crack.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n
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For these outdoor torture chambers, Badlands brings a deep toolbox like Wrangler Rubicon. The key difference is modern Badlands\u2019 equipment like the hydraulic, detachable front sway bar that helped us crawl over an impossible incline. Or the independent front suspension (Wrangler prefers solid axle front and rear) that allows for a smoother ride.<\/p>\n

Off-road veterans will swear by Wrangler\u2019s mechanical purity, but a new generation reared on 21st-century electronics will cheer the Bronco\u2019s advances.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most significant is Bronco\u2019s rotary, transfer-case controller with seven\u00a0signature GOAT\u00a0modes (Go Over Any Terrain) in Badlands models. It counters Wrangler\u2019s manual option (essentially a second gearshift growing from the console).<\/p>\n

As we grunted around the ORV park, Bronco cowboy Schaeffer simply spun the dial when he needed to switch from four-wheel-high to four-wheel-low or (Bronco exclusive) four-wheel crawl. It\u2019s hardly a bucking Bronco.<\/p>\n

A Wrangler Rubicon, by contrast, has to be stopped so you can arm-wrestle the stick shift to the proper mode.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n
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Taking inspiration from the original Bronco that became the first production vehicle to win the grueling Baja 1000 endurance race in 1969, the Bronco team developed its toolbox (engines, 10-speed tranny, suspension, chassis) alongside the current Bronco R Baja racer. Both the V-8-powered\u00a0\u201969 Baja Bronco and the \u201919 Baja Bronco R were available for Holly Oaks rides.<\/p>\n

From the right-hand saddle, the \u201969 machine \u2014\u00a0driven by pro driver Shelby Hall, daughter of \u201969 Baja winner Rob Hall \u2014\u00a0proved to be a serious rodeo ride compared to the state-of-the-art R. But its V-8 roar made me nostalgic. The new car\u2019s 2.7-liter turbo-6 (which Shelby will pilot at Baja this November) packs plenty of punch but lacks the visceral thrill.<\/p>\n

\"Bronco<\/p>\n
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As for the unibody Sport SUV, Ford likes to describe it as the mule that will haul gear, bikes\u00a0and kayaks to the trailhead. If you want to go further, take the Bronco. Well, maybe.<\/p>\n

Bronco Sport Badlands wants a piece of the action.<\/p>\n

Holly Oaks echoes California\u2019s epic ORV parks with its\u00a0high-speed canyons and skyscraper-trails. Barreling along in the four-skid-plated Bronco Sport Badlands model, Ford engineer Kyle Culek attacked the same 27-degree dirt incline I\u2019d experienced minutes before in a Bronco Badlands. Piece of cake.<\/p>\n