{"id":34377,"date":"2025-04-17T22:49:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T02:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=34377"},"modified":"2025-04-17T22:49:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T02:49:02","slug":"payne-taking-on-all-seasons-in-the-ford-bronco-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/payne-taking-on-all-seasons-in-the-ford-bronco-sport","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Taking on all seasons in the Ford Bronco Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anza-Borrego Desert, California<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 With all-terrain tires, all-wheel drive, seven driving modes and wireless navigation, the Ford Bronco Sport is a packhorse built for all seasons.<\/p>\n

In southern California, those seasons can happen in one day.<\/p>\n

The Bronco Sport \u2014 aka, Son of Bronco, Bronco Jr., Bronco Lite \u2014 is the entry-level sibling in Ford\u2019s tough Bronco sub-brand. Built on a smooth unibody chassis rather than Bronco\u2019s truck-like ladder frame, Bronco Sport is nevertheless a tough little cookie, at home in dense city traffic or on endless desert sand.<\/p>\n

I departed my Gaslamp Quarter hotel in San Diego at the crack of dawn and pointed my 2025 Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch tester in the direction of the Anza-Borrego Desert about 95 miles away. Over the next 11 hours, I would travel through crisp fall, snowy winter, bright spring and sandy summer conditions.<\/p>\n

Fall<\/h2>\n

The crisp air in SoCal was decidedly fall-like in early April, and I headed east from San Diego in 42-degree temps. The Bronco Sport is one of two compact SUVs that Ford makes on its C2 unibody platform (the others is the Escape), and Bronco Sport is the wild child of the pair.<\/p>\n

With their Bronco-like headlights and optional Black Diamond and Sasquatch off-road packages, the Bronc\u2019s Big Bend, Outer Banks and Badlands models are ready to tread beyond where the asphalt ends.<\/p>\n

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The 2025 Ford Bronco Sport looks rugged in an urban setting with standard all-wheel-drive. But it rides smoothly on its unibody chassis.<\/em><\/div>\n
Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

But Bronco Sport is also well equipped for morning commutes in the urban jungle.<\/p>\n

I put my Borrego Springs destination in my phone, which instantly translated to the 13.2-inch digital display high in the dash via standard, wireless Android Auto \u2014 and in the instrument display in front of me. I spun the rotary GOAT mode dial (Ford-speak for drive modes) from NORMAL to ECO and followed the instructions though San Diego\u2019s gridded streets and on to the highway choked with morning traffic.<\/p>\n

Also standard is a moat of safety systems. Merging onto California Highway 94, I\u00a0checked my six.<\/strong>\u00a0The blind-spot assist icon flickered in my rearview mirror and I waited for a line of cars to pass before merging left. Whether married to the base 1.5-liter turbo 3-cylinder engine or the 2.0-liter turbo-4 exclusive to my Badlands tester, the standard eight-speed transmission is smooth as silk \u2014 even under my lead Size 15 foot.<\/p>\n

Up to speed, I set standard adaptive cruise control at 70 mph and cruised effortlessly through the ebbs and flows of traffic. Without taking my eyes off the road, I toggled the raised switch on the steering spoke to adjust speed and following distance.<\/p>\n

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The 2025 Ford Bronco Sport offers cloth and leather seats that are comfortable for long trips into the Outback.<\/em><\/div>\n
Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As the route narrowed to two-lane California 79, I rotated the GOAT to SPORT and punched the MANUAL button in the middle of the selector. Paddle time.<\/p>\n

I reached for the shift paddles behind the wheel and manually shifted through the blizzard of Cuyamaca Mountain S-turns. The Bronc Sport is hardly a hot hatch, but my Sasquatch package-equipped Badlands model rotated nicely with planted steering and torque-vectoring clutches once found on the Ford Focus RS.<\/p>\n