That looks like so much fun, Justin! And that is a beautiful Bronco Sport!We just got back from a 4900 mile roadtrip across the country. You can see the route here. There were day trips to some different locations, but this is the main route that we took.
We had the BS packed pretty full (sorry no pictures) with our luggage, camping gear, inflatable SUP, dog and his kennel, beach gear, etc. I have Thule Evo bars and the Canyon XT basket on the top, which were also filled with more luggage and gear. Combined weight of rails, basket, and gear was approaching my 100lbs limit due to the moonroof. We used a rooftop bag to protect the gear from the elements. It worked flawlessly even through some serious extended downpours at highway speeds. (Bag is Here)
When we do our next cross country trip I will definitely buy a hardtop carrier. The basket and bag were great, but the constant loading and unloading of gear from this setup is tedious. It's also a very sweaty job in desert heat. I love the flexibility that the basket and bag offer for packing over a hard box, but for daily packing and unpacking a hardtop carrier would be ideal.
The BS performed flawlessly the entire trip. I was concerned about having the top packed full of gear, but the BS handled almost the exact same. I could tell for the first hour or so that the BS was working a little harder on the highway, but quickly became accustomed to it and it never struggled. Into the wind at highway speed was no problem. Sideways winds obviously would blow us around a little more, but it never bothered me enough to have to slow down. We averaged between 75-80mph on the highways with no issues. We did take notice to slow down more than we normally would for larger turns, interchanges, and off-ramps.
I can say that I was thoroughly impressed, and cannot say enough about how it handled itself.
I reset the trip computer in our driveway, and here is the photo pulling back in. I filled up with gas at the station about .5 miles away right after this picture so my calculations are accurate.
The computer says we averaged 20.8MPG. Now I have 245/65/17 Toyo AT3 tires so I know my computer and speedometer are not exact. Calculations by hand put us at 19.8MPG for the trip. We used 247.64 gallons and average price paid was $4.08/gallon. I was pretty happy with this. On 1000 mile roadtrips without the car loaded up the computer always says the average is between 21-22MPG. I don't drive slow and you'll almost always find us in the left lane. I don't know how people claim to average 28MPG with a Badlands.
For some more context I always use premium fuel. Always. The only 87 that was ever in the BS was the 3 gallons it had upon pickup from the dealer. I filled it up with 93 the whole way through Del Rio, TX then 91 was the only thing available until after OKC when we switched back to 93. I can't say I noticed a difference, and I didn't keep close enough records to try and compute MPG on 91 vs 93 tanks. We tried to keep the tank above 1/2 at all times, especially in the desert and on the excursions outside of the towns we stayed.
Some highlights were Route 90 through Texas, White Sands National Park, Shiprock National Monument, and Monument Valley. Driving into Shiprock the road has some big ruts and holes, but it is easy to navigate. Natalie drove there and we never bottomed out or had any issues in loose rocks. We drove up some steep side embankments and the BS handled them without hesitation. Wheels never spun and they were some steep 30 yard hills closer to the Spine.
The BS is a great vehicle and I love mine more than I did 2 weeks ago. It was everything we could have asked for from a road-trip vehicle. I need to purchase a hardtop carrier for next time, but other than that I would do everything else the same. I wish it could handle more than 100lbs on top with the moonroof to free up a little more interior space. That's about my only complaint.
That's a stunning Bronco Sport, Rebecca! Thanks for sharing!Great report! You were in my neck of the woods. Here’s my BS Badlands at White Sands in April. Love it.
I have the same size tires with a lift, and the only time I've ever gotten 28 MPG was with a 50 knot tailwind the entire drive from El Paso to Denver. Needless to say, I was super excited with the extended fuel range! Most long trips I average 24-25 MPG at highway speed (70-85) and 23 in the city. Doesn't look like you're loosing too much in the way of gas mileage with the top on, curious if the hard top will have slightly better MPG on your next long trip.
I never use less than premium fuel either. It is quite common at higher altitude to have 91 octane being the premium fuel. I've never seen 93 octane out here. You don't see a performance drop with it, even with the turbo. You have to be careful though- some of the cheaper stations in a one or none stop-light town will only have 90 octane. I tend to get poor gas mileage from those fill ups; I suspect they also have as much ethanol as possible in the mixture which drops your mileage.
Once again, these photos are just terrific. Please keep sharing!Love this real world account... sure better MPG is always a thing... but so is just having fun and enjoying th outdoors.... I averaged 25 on the highway at speeds averaging 75MPH with non-aerodynamic stuff atop. Just changed to KO2s I the larger 245x65x17s... so always have my dash screen to CALM... so I stay CALM! hahahaha
Yea I'm already watching the local Facebook marketplace and Craigslist. I don't need a hardtop immediately and I'm hoping I can find some that bought one for a summer trip and doesn't want to store it in their garage. That's how I got the basket I have.
Fortunately we also had enough gas to not use anything less than 91. There were some stops where the station only had 85 but we had plenty of fuel. A couple extra gallons would be nice to have for sure.
