Bronco Sport vs. Full Size Bronco

[Sojourner]

Cactus Gray?

Nope (though I do like that color!). Eruption Green. Both Badlands.

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[Uncle Brad]

Nope (though I do like that color!). Eruption Green. Both Badlands.

Clearly you have excellent taste.

 

[Escape2Bronco]

I’m sorry if I derailed this thread. The OP’S question was whether anyone had traded in from a Bronco Sport to the bigger Bronco.

I don’t think you derailed the thread at all. The OP is asking if anyone has traded in the Sport for a Full Size. Assumtion is they are looking for comments about the pluses and minus’s. @Uncle Brad and @Sojourner are just saying what many of us had that they serve different purposes but each has their pluses and minuses.

 

[GJarrett]

...And I will be going back to this hill that kicked my ass twice in the BS. It's been an absolute blast so far, I can't wait to push it to its limits...

I watched your link. Is that Rose Garden Hill north of Moab?

 

[Uncle Brad]

Here is a shot from my GoPro, taken a couple of weeks ago, on the Dragon's Tail in Tennessee, which has 318 turns and spans over 11 miles (as mentioned earlier in this thread). Great fun!

 

[Nam3]

I watched your link. Is that Rose Garden Hill north of Moab?

It's actually in Arizona, off of Bloody Basin trail.

 

[RSH]

Most people that choose the Sport over the full size Bronco for the following:

1. Fits in the garage.
2. Manageable size.
3. Better fuel economy.
4. Less truck like driving dynamic.
5. Don't need full size Bronco capability.
6. Less cost.

I've had my Badlands for over 4 years now, I see more full size Broncos on the road than Sports.
If I stumble into the right deal I'd choose a full size Bronco because it's everything the Sport isn't.

 

[Trist0n]

Big bronco for big trails, little bronco for medium/small trails. I might be totally alone in this opinion but IMO small bronco is super fun when you live in an area without a ton of hard trails (DMV, gorgeous routes but trails are limited).

Whereas Joe bro with his lifted Bronco raptor scoffs at literally any trail within a 4 hour radius because he can just drive straight through them with no challenge, I can be out there having a blast on the much more numerous 3-5 rated trails in my lifted First Edition. Sure you have to be careful with the clearance and take a bit more care with the tire placement, but it’s perfectly suited to basically every trail near me.

 

[Uncle Brad]

Big bronco for big trails, little bronco for medium/small trails. I might be totally alone in this opinion but IMO small bronco is super fun when you live in an area without a ton of hard trails (DMV, gorgeous routes but trails are limited).

Whereas Joe bro with his lifted Bronco raptor scoffs at literally any trail within a 4 hour radius because he can just drive straight through them with no challenge, I can be out there having a blast on the much more numerous 3-5 rated trails in my lifted First Edition. Sure you have to be careful with the clearance and take a bit more care with the tire placement, but it’s perfectly suited to basically every trail near me.

Absolutely. The same thing holds true at scale: even with the full-sized Bronco, there are those (like me) with open diffs, no lift, giant tires or tech gizmos. For me, they aren't needed, and amount to added cost, complexity, cost, added maintenance and weight.

 

[Escape2Bronco]

Absolutely. The same thing holds true at scale: even with the full-sized Bronco, there are those (like me) with open diffs, no lift, giant tires or tech gizmos. For me, they aren't needed, and amount to added cost, complexity, cost, added maintenance and weight.

Yup, they all have their limits. Even with 35’s, front and rear Lockers, there are still plenty of trails I can’t do. You see a lot more buggies with 40+ tires out there these days.

 

[Schuelady]

Most people that choose the Sport over the full size Bronco for the following:

1. Fits in the garage.
2. Manageable size.
3. Better fuel economy.
4. Less truck like driving dynamic.
5. Don't need full size Bronco capability.
6. Less cost.

I've had my Badlands for over 4 years now, I see more full size Broncos on the road than Sports.
If I stumble into the right deal I'd choose a full size Bronco because it's everything the Sport isn't.

The reasons you mentioned are the exact reasons why I bought a 2025 Sport, plus I don't plan on taking it off roading. Now my son, he loves his 2021 special order Sasquatch Bronco in Lightning Blue I believe. Anyway, he just loves the look and what it came with and doesn't take it off roading, just loves the look and feel of it!

 

[Warped9]

The reasons you mentioned are the exact reasons why I bought a 2025 Sport, plus I don't plan on taking it off roading. Now my son, he loves his 2021 special order Sasquatch Bronco in Lightning Blue I believe. Anyway, he just loves the look and what it came with and doesn't take it off roading, just loves the look and feel of it!

Candidly this is why I could see getting a fullsize Bronco: for the look.

Everyone has different values and priorities. I had a very nice 2004 Ford CrownVic LX I had tweaked exactly the way I liked it. It was a damned cool car in so many ways. It got lots of admiring attention. I really really liked it. But circumstance motivated me to move on to something else.

I still think about my CrownVic. But in many ways I like my Bronco Sport better even though it’s not as cool as the CrownVic was. Certainly in terms of living with a vehicle day-to-day and fitting my lifestyle my Bronco Sport wins out over my CrownVic. And my Bronco Sport is cool in its own way, just not the same way. There was/is a lot of emotion and sentiment tied to my old car. But in more practical terms it wasn’t the best option.

A fullsize Bronco is also a very cool vehicle, but like everything in life there are trade-offs. Everyone has to decide on what the trade-offs are and whether you can rationalize and accept them.

When you’re younger wanting a vehicle that looks cool can loom large in your priorities. And I don’t think that feeling ever really goes away as you age. But with added years and experience and evolving perspective the coolness factor doesn’t loom as large balanced against other considerations you likely didn’t consider when younger.

 

[NMhunter]

I get lots of NM pin striping on my Sport, and the big Bronco is wider by 4". I took my Superduty on an elk hunt, and got some serious pin striping.

 

[Warped9]

Way way back a friend opined that if you want to do serious off-roading you don't buy a nice vehicle. You buy something basic where you won't mind if it gets scratched and banged up because in the wild it most certainly will be.

So back in those days he bought himself pretty much the most basic Jeep Wrangler he could get, in black, and didn't give much thought to it getting scratched up.

 

[Uncle Brad]

Candidly this is why I could see getting a fullsize Bronco: for the look.

Everyone has different values and priorities. I had a very nice 2004 Ford CrownVic LX I had tweaked exactly the way I liked it. It was a damned cool car in so many ways. It got lots of admiring attention. I really really liked it. But circumstance motivated me to move on to something else.

I still think about my CrownVic. But in many ways I like my Bronco Sport better even though it’s not as cool as the CrownVic was. Certainly in terms of living with a vehicle day-to-day and fitting my lifestyle my Bronco Sport wins out over my CrownVic. And my Bronco Sport is cool in its own way, just not the same way. There was/is a lot of emotion and sentiment tied to my old car. But in more practical terms it wasn’t the best option.

A fullsize Bronco is also a very cool vehicle, but like everything in life there are trade-offs. Everyone has to decide on what the trade-offs are and whether you can rationalize and accept them.

When you’re younger wanting a vehicle that looks cool can loom large in your priorities. And I don’t think that feeling ever really goes away as you age. But with added years and experience and evolving perspective the coolness factor doesn’t loom as large balanced against other considerations you likely didn’t consider when younger.

Exactly. Every time my wife sees me behind the wheel of my big Bronco, doing the three-pedal tango, she digs out that old Barry White album...

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