{"id":27577,"date":"2021-07-01T10:49:09","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T14:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=27577"},"modified":"2021-07-01T10:49:09","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T14:49:09","slug":"payne-behind-the-wheel-at-the-bronco-off-roadeo-texas-theme-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/payne-behind-the-wheel-at-the-bronco-off-roadeo-texas-theme-park","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Behind the wheel at the Bronco Off-Roadeo Texas theme park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin, Texas\u00a0\u2014<\/em>\u00a0The frisky 2021 Bronco has reinvented\u00a0Ford\u2019s iconic\u00a01960s off-roader as a high-tech, high-powered competitor to the Jeep Wrangler. But that\u2019s just the beginning. As Ford remakes itself as a rugged, SUV brand (think Jeep), it wants to educate customers on the off-road experience.<\/p>\n

Say hello to Bronco Off-Roadeos \u2014 four sprawling,\u00a0Disney-like\u00a0off-road-vehicle parks that Ford has developed across the country.<\/p>\n

Available at no cost to buyers of the truck-frame Bronco (and its unibody kid brother Bronco Sport Badlands), these “ORV resorts” offer an immersive experience to teach the vehicles\u2019 versatile tools in the wild. Just a week before its July opening to customers, I got a driver\u2019s eye view of what is in store for Bronco Nation at Ford\u2019s premier Off-Rodeo park 54 miles northwest of Austin.<\/p>\n

\"Welcome<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe bring customers out here and say: \u2018Here is where you start.\u2019 We teach the ABCs of off-roading,\u201d said Bronco Off-Roadeo program manager Greg Nikolas as we looked out over the 360-acre property in the Texas foothills.<\/p>\n

The idea of marinating customers in an auto brand is hardly new. Luxury performance automakers have done it for years. Buy a ferocious Cadillac V-series performance sedan and GM\u2019s luxe brand will invite you to Spring Mountain Motorsport Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, where you get schooled on track, then unwind by the pool. Porsche has built U.S. customer playgrounds in Atlanta and Los Angeles so customers can wring the neck of six-figure sportscars.<\/p>\n

Ford itself has entertained buyers of its performance products \u2014 think F-150 Raptor and Mustang coupe \u2014 at locales like Utah Motorsport Campus and Charlotte Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

But the four Off-Roadeo theme parks \u2014\u00a0in Austin;\u00a0Moab, Utah;\u00a0Las Vegas, and an east coast location to be named \u2014 are ambitious for a mainstream brand. They cater \u2014 not just to speed-addled motorheads \u2014 but to a new generation of\u00a0buyers as Ford repositions itself in the market.<\/p>\n

\"On<\/p>\n
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Just a few years ago\u00a0new Ford customers were learning to hoon around Utah Motorsports Park in entry-level Ford Focus and Fiesta ST pocket rockets. Those cars are gone \u2014 replaced by a full lineup of SUVs led by Bronco and Bronco Sport.<\/p>\n

Like taking the family to a Disney theme park, Ford hopes the experience will nurture new Bronco fans for years to come.<\/p>\n

Nikolas brought in drift racing legend Vaughn Gittin\u00a0Jr. and King of the Hammers champ Loren Healy to help\u00a0craft the park.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe helped curate the experience,\u201d smiled Gittin, who won the Formula Drift championship in 2020 and competes in Ultra4 off-road racing. \u201cI call it Walt Disney-fying the off-road experience so that owners can learn everything they need to know about their Bronco. We want them to embrace the Bronco lifestyle and join the collective of off-roading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gittin & Co. have designed off-road trails with spicy names like Jalapeno, Habanero\u00a0and Ghost Pepper that snake through the park\u2019s woods, streams, rocks\u00a0and 150-foot elevation change.<\/p>\n

Ford leases the off-road park from the Horseshoe Bay Resort overlooking the Colorado River. The Vegas venue will be the next to open late this summer. Off-Roadeo attendees can book rooms (flights and hotel are on the customers) at the resort or other local hotels \u2014 then take a 20-minute shuttle to the venue. Spouses and children\u00a0over 12 are welcome.<\/p>\n

Off-Roadeo\u2019s ranch-like vibe is anchored by a main building where participants register and share southwest-style meals. Attendees can play games on the wide porch or relax in Adirondack lawn chairs. Broncos outfitted in the rugged \u201cSasquatch\u201d wardrobe of 35-inch tires and Bilstein shocks are littered around the main campus.<\/p>\n

Bronco Off-Roadeo welcomes drivers of all skill levels. The two-day experience begins after lunch with an orientation session at \u201cThe Sluice Box,\u201d where customers learn the Bronco\u2019s formidable off-road toolbox. Those tools include\u00a0a 43-degree approach angle, best-in-class 29-degree breakover angle, front and rear locking differentials, and two-speed 4×4 transfer case.<\/p>\n

\"Free<\/p>\n
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With Off-Road 101 under their belt, customers make their way to the ORX course (Off-Road Experience), where they apply the tools in\u00a0various disciplines. A steep hill shows off Bronco\u2019s Trail Control feature. A rock crawl demonstrates the 360-degree camera. Tight turns show off Trail Turn Assist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe show them the techniques and the technology,\u201d said Nikolas.<\/p>\n

Broncos head out on a trail, next familiarizing drivers with the terrain. Drivers learn which modes to select with the SUV\u2019s GOAT (Go Over Any Terrain) mode selector. Or how to shift to neutral before engaging the 4×4 transfer case.<\/p>\n

Dressed in bright colors like Lightning Blue Metallic and Cyber Orange, Bronco impresses as a cute ute. But back on the main campus, Bronco experts demonstrate the Ford\u2019s macho modularity with removable doors, fenders\u00a0and roof. Some 200 accessories can be snapped on. It\u2019s Legos for adults.<\/p>\n

Attendees end Day One with dinner and a campfire.<\/p>\n

After breakfast on Day Two, customers apply all they\u2019ve learned in a four-hour drive across the property. A full stable of Broncos are stamped \u2014 Jurassic Park-style \u2014 with the \u201cBronco Off-Roadeo\u201d logo. Ford built a gas station on property to keep their steeds fed.<\/p>\n

The four-hour drive shows off the SUV\u2019s remarkable range, from fording 34 inches of water to climbing steep rock faces.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n
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At the end, customers get the icing on the cake: a high-speed Bronco roller-coaster ride with a skilled driver at the wheel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call it the Funhammer Five-Smile Loop,\u201d said Gitton\u00a0before taking me through the course.<\/p>\n

Exhausted and exhilarated, attendees return to the main building for lunch and debrief before re-entering civilian life. Now official members of Bronco Nation, they can share their experiences at thebronconation.com \u2014 an independent online community for the Bronco brand faithful.<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Austin, Texas\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The frisky 2021 Bronco has reinvented\u00a0Ford\u2019s iconic\u00a01960s off-roader as a high-tech, high-powered competitor to the Jeep Wrangler. But that\u2019s just the beginning. As Ford remakes itself as a rugged, SUV brand (think Jeep), it wants to educate customers on the off-road experience. Say hello to Bronco Off-Roadeos \u2014 four sprawling,\u00a0Disney-like\u00a0off-road-vehicle parks that Ford has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27578,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27577\/revisions\/27578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}