First Major Road Trip Report - 2022 Bronco Sport Big Bend Trim -- 944 miles roundtrip

sparkerk

Big Bend
Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2022
Threads
1
Messages
47
Reaction score
112
Location
Southern California
Vehicle(s)
2010 Ford Escape Limited to Bronco Sport
Took the Bronco Sport BB on it's first major road trip this past weekend - 944 miles roundtrip to Reno, NV and back to Covina, CA. Thought I'd share my thoughts on comfort, performance and mileage. We took US-395 between Southern California and Reno, so lots of elevation changes and speed changes as we slowed to go through smaller towns. About 8 hours each way.

Obviously I have the 1.5L since I have a Big Bend. Started the trip with just over 1,500 miles, now have just under 2,500. The speed limits were mostly 55 or 65 mph, with some drops to 25 -45 through some of the small towns. I used the intelligent adaptive cruise control which generally worked well (sometimes it would read a sign wrong, but most of the time it worked fine). I had the tolerance set anywhere from the limit exactly to no more than 3 mph above the limit, so maximum cruising speed did not go more than 68. Once in a while to pass I might have sped to just above 70 or so, but never cruised at that speed.

The lowest calculated mileage I got was on the first leg of the trip was 28mpg. The highest calculated mileage was in the middle of the return trip at 34mpg (I was very surprised with that number since that was the most mountainous portion of the route, lots of ups and downs). In general, it was easy to get 31 or 32 as that is mostly what I calculated. In general, I found that the average as calculated by the Bronco's trip computer was about 2mpg more than what I calculate by hand.

While I have noticeably less power than my previous 3.0L V6 in my 2010 Escape, I never felt like this engine was struggling at all going up a hill. It almost always needed to shift down to go up, but that's normal with almost any engine driving through mountainous terrain. I was overall very pleased with the mileage and performance of the motor.

I also was happy in terms of comfort. I found the drivers seat to be the most comfortable. While my wife was driving and I was in the passenger's seat, it wasn't quite as comfortable, but I wouldn't say it was uncomfortable.

The Bronco Sport was easy to drive and control, the intelligent adaptive cruise control and active lane centering was quite good. Neither the cruise control or active lane centering was perfect. I already mentioned the cruise control limitation, but the active lane centering most of the time didn't like when two lane sections were merging into a single lane, probably because the lines were so far apart, or other sections when the lines were missing for a short period because of an intersection/junction with another highway. The active lane centering would cancel in some of these situations, but it wasn't surprising to me that it did. It always came back on a second or two later once the lines were back to normal. Just a reminder to all drivers out there that these safety systems ASSIST drivers, they don't replace drivers. Full attention should still be given to the road at all times. Friends, put your phones down while you're driving :)

There was some road noise on the rougher surfaces, but this was minimal as I found US 395 between Southern CA and Nevada to be relatively well maintained. Otherwise, the ride and noise was largely quiet for the bulk of the trip, and what was heard was not offensive at all. Wind noise was only heard when there were some cross-winds during a stormy portion of the return trip, but other than that, nothing noticeable as the max cruising speed was less than 70mph. Had a few minutes of rain here and there, some was heavy and the rest was light, but none of it super long lasting as is typical with late summer storms out west here.

I have another planned family trip to Moab, UT coming up. I grew up in UT and spent some time around Moab during my Jr. High and High School years. We go less often now, but thought it'd be fun to go again and try out the Bronco on some of the easier trails (we always stick with the easy-moderate trails anyway). I'll be excited to give a report on that next month.
Sponsored

 
Last edited:
 




Top