How good is the 2021 Ford Bronco off-road?
The 2021 Ford Bronco looks cool, but how does it actually drive off-road? That’s a question I’ve been hearing since the reveal and now I can tell you how the 2-door Bronco handles off-road– at least from the passenger seat.
Ford recently let me take a ride in the 2021 Ford Bronco 2-door model through an off-road park in Michigan. This model was equipped with the seven-speed manual, which includes a Creeper Gear, and the turbocharged 2.3L EcoBoost inline-four capable of 270-horsepower and 310 lb-ft. of torque. You can also get the 2021 Ford Bronco with a 10-speed automatic transmission.
While I am eager to get into the driver seat, experiencing the 2021 Ford Bronco does offer insights into the capabilities and the ease of using the off-road features. My driver was very experienced with the manual transmission found on this model. From the passenger seat, the shifting looked smooth and the Creeper Gear was a very handy option allowing for more control and torque over obstacles.
Ultimately I want to experience driving the new Bronco through these obstacles, but the control, and ease with which the Bronco and the Bronco Sport tackled the obstacles reminded me of an off-road easy mode.
In the case of the Bronco, this comes from a variety of handy features. Halfway through the off-road experience, we paused on a series of hills meant to put articulation to the test. Reaching up and pressing the sway bar disconnect button that is on the top edge of the dash, we boosted the Bronco’s articulation, making it easier to crawl off without worrying about tipping.
While you are off-road you can easily reach and engage common off-road features. (Prototype shown, final design may differ)
This is a prime example of the ease of using the features on the Bronco. In our Bronco Features roundup, we focused on the amount of attention that Ford put into the usability and livability of their off-road machine, and after spending part of the afternoon actually going off-road in the Bronco it’s clear that this strategy paid off.
I came away impressed with the off-road capabilities and ride of the 2021 Bronco. It’s a different experience in the passenger seat, but it’s also a place I’ve spent many hours in the Jeep Wrangler, which the Bronco is going head to head with. The ride quality off-road felt good on the passenger side, comparable with my time in the Wrangler.
Overall the experience was confidence bolstering. Yes, this was a course that the driver had run multiple times and he had a lot of off-road experience, but it felt like there was a lot of capability left in the Bronco. That’s something we’re looking forward to testing for ourselves soon.
We weren’t able to try out a lot of the on-trail tech in the Bronco during this experience, but the huge screen with Sync 4 and over 1,000 trail maps hold a lot of promise. That’s something we’re waiting to take a deep dive into soon.
