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Column shifters are clumsy to use if you need to change gears manually. Especially nowadays when the automatics have a minimum of 6 gears. From previous pictures, the Bronco Sport may have paddle shifters on the steering wheel, which is the best of both worlds.

The Dragon engine has a belt in oil. They say they do this for efficiency and noise, but it is less costly which is the real driver. This has been done in a few Ford engines since 2008 and the history has been spotty. The thing is, it is a PITA to replace since the belt is inside.....oh...

Ford, in an era increasing reliability, is using a timing belt in lieu of a chain for noise. My understanding is that this belt is a not a maintanance item. The design life of this engine can’t be much more than 150k miles. Just wait till someone adds a can of Sea Foam to the engine oil to...

There is no excuse for producing a base engine that has so many vices. Buyers on a budget will just look for other cars without these issues and not upgrade with Ford. And those American materials......Hondas, Subarus, Toyotas,.....Lincolns. Some actually use American materials on their US...

This is part of it and I’m sure the UAW costs don’t help. But, my issue is the engineering they can control. The money and design time expended on a cylinder deactivation solenoid and the unresolved implementation could have been spent on a smoother running engine that is more durable. They...

It truely irritates me as to the engineering direction that Ford takes. It makes no sense to me. Ford seems to push unresolved technology on the customer without addressing the things that really matter. Concepts like reliability, durability, time to market, competitiveness are all poorly...

Ford has a small unibody pickup in the works for MY2022. Code name P758. Supposedly, they may bring back the Courier name for this. The truck is based on the same platform as the Bronco Sport / Escape; however, the renditions so far have been based on the Escape and they look positively...

Is that a paddle shifter just behind the steering wheel? Hope so.

In regard to length, the Bronco Sport will be shorter by at least 8", maybe more. This is good thing for short overhangs. But just about every other parameter will be close and I would think that the Bronco Sport may be more than an inch taller than the Rav4. Even by Toyota's own measurements...

1. Lifted about an inch as compared to Escape with the same size tire. This means there are suspension modifications. Suspension travel could be slightly greater to compete with Renegade Trailhawk, but this is a detail that won’t show up in order forms. 2. Larger tires available than...

The Bronco Sport is supposed to be more than a cosmetic package. Inline or better than the Trailhawk Jeeps. TRD should be ashamed the “off-road” package they have for the Rav4. You might as well put AT tires on any other Rav4 and pocket the money you saved.

The standard 2WD Renegade was never a Bronco Sport competitor. The 4WD Trailhawk Renegade certainly will be. It is not necessarily a tail of the tape. Off-road chops also come into play. Even so, the Renegade and Compass are based on the same FCA platform. They have the same passenger...

There is some weird stuff going on with the rear roof. It looks like there is another bump in roof, in addition to the big hump after the B-pillar. The first few photos show this, but it is hard to understand. I wonder if the antenna is to deflect what’s really going on.

Hope the steelie wheels are standard, because this may make a good looking stripped vehicle. I much prefer the black details on door handles and mirrors, which again, will likely be a lower cost trim. Now only if they have the full vinyl interior that you clean out with a hose.:)

Ford delayed the hybrid release with the Escape and it was available a few months after the launch. The delay may be an assembly line issue as there are quite a lot of changes with a hybrid. The version Ford needs to get hustling on is the PHEV. The 302 hp, 39 mile EV range, AWD, RAV4 PHEV is...

From the recent info on the Bronco Sport, it can be ordered with a class 2 towing hitch. 3500 lbs max. The towing capacity for the Sport should be between 2000 and 3500 lbs, otherwise a class 2 hitch would not be necessary. Even at 2000 lbs, this is significantly better than the Honda CRV...

Surprising. I would have thought wheelbase commonality with the focus/escape platform would have been desired for cost. I wonder if something like radiators/intercoolers could not be packaged in front of the wheels because the front end overhang seems to be more (+1.6”?.....106.7”-105.1”) than...

The wheelbase is essentially the same as the Cherokee at ~107”, but the Bronco Sport should be quite a bit shorter in overall length. I estimate about a foot shorter than the Cherokee (~170” in length). If true, this is closer to the Renegade or Compass.

A few interesting things. The stock exhaust pipes are super short and out of the way just like the bigger bronco. Those exhaust pipe extenders in the photo are just that, they keep the exhaust from camo cover/extensions. Apparently, something special is waiting for the rear because it is...

Peak torque of the Ford 1.5L 3 cylinder Ecoboost is from 1600 to 4000 rpm. I wouldn’t lug any gas engine below 1600 rpm if torque was needed. Nevertheless, it is likely that the Bronco Sport will have some form of lower gearing than the Escape and other off-road differential features similar...