Small Utility - BabyB

[BroncoBuyer]

Old Customer Walks Into Ford Dealership Order Me One Of Those. Half-Soldiers. Or Whatever. You Call The Dam Thing.

Is this one of those wake up in the middle of the night when it finally hits you jokes?
Damn you I have an early meeting tomorrow morning!

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[Nickp]

Exactly!
The orange concept could be the ranger bronco, the shadow is the raptor based FSB!

*BALLS FIST*

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

...
The secret spy shots are NOTHING like this car we are seeing out in the wild.

For one, the tires are WAY larger on the old spy shots, just look at the orange one or the grey one.
2nd, The wheel center caps sit BELOW the rocker panel on the orange one yet they are above the rocker on this one. Where in the hell did all the ride height go for off roading? Did they slam it to the ground to throw us off?
Lastly, what the heck is with these new worthless TINY wheel wells? The orange one has way larger openings that flare out at the bottom to leave things wide open for lifts/bigger tires. This new one has wheel wells so dang small the tiny OEM tires barely fit! How is anybody going to put bigger tires on that without some serious hacking?

I see nothing anybody can work with here... if that’s the baby bronco, I will be extremely disappointed and very concerned over what the real bronco ends up being.
...

It does look far less capable than the concept.

The tires and wheel-wells seem to have been significantly reduced. Most cars don't leave much room for tire/wheel upsizing, but if this was supposed to be a 'rugged' or 'off road' capable vehicle they seem to have curtailed that capability. It's not too different than the competition though.

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[TeocaliMG]

I am quite sure that we are looking at the compact off roader dubbed "baby bronco" on this forum. Two things I would point out: 1, it has Pirelli tires which I think are available on the escape so they may just be using those as donors while they test powertrain to further "camouflage" the vehicle. Or there may be different trims, like Jeep has between Sport and Trail Hawk. 2, This thing is heavily camouflaged, and that may very well include the wheel wells. You can hide a lot with some cardboard and zebratape.

As Stampede pointed out, this still wouldn't be far off the competition, but I highly doubt those are the wheels and tires we would see on the final "baby bronco", if it was I would be very disappointed!

Also I don't want to be one to crush the FSB, I think there is market potential for it personally but that orange one in the spy shot is absolutely not the ranger based one (I at least worked on ranger). Whether or not it is a exaggeration or accurate portrayal of the "baby bronco" is yet to be verified. Meaning the shadow is representative of the Flagship Bronco.

 

[Midnight Blue]

I should hope so. The Edge is already wider than a Wrangler by 2 inches, and longer than the FSB by 5 inches. Bigger than the Edge would make it quite a porker if it is indeed Wrangler they have in their sights.

If I'm not mistaken, Ford already has a Suburban-fighter on the market, little need to replicate that.

The Edge is:

• 76" wide
• 189" long
• 112" wheelbase
• 4100lb curb weight

Wrangler

• 74" wide
• 188" long
• 118" wheelbase
• 4400lb curb weight

Yeah, it looks like the Edge is totally bloated compared to the Wrangler.

 

[Midnight Blue]

If I'm not mistaken, Ford already has a Suburban-fighter on the market, little need to replicate that.

If I’m not mistaken, Ford already has a Kia Sportage-fighter on the market, little need to replicate that.

They should just call the 2021 Bronco the Bronco II.

 

[ChrispyKC]

The small SUV is a direct hit at Cherokee. It's based on the Escape and the Escape is bigger now than it's ever been. It's going to be a boxy Escape with a lift, more aggressive 4WD system and an A/T tire option.

The 2020 Explorer is close to the size of my Expedition in overall dimensions, but, having driven both (I'm a Ford dealer) and having an Expedition as my DD, I'll tell you that they feel, drive and behave NOTHING alike. Compared to the Expedition, the new Explorer is much more solid in feel, and it truly behaves very much like a sport sedan or large coupe on road. It's clear when you drive the 2011-2019 (I drove one for two years) and then drive thew new RWD platform that you're no longer driving a lifted 4WD Taurus wagon. Steering on the 2020 Explorer is VERY precise and is VERY nimble and it's usually one of the first things people comment about. The driving dynamics of the new Explorer are nothing like the Expedition although they're somewhat similar in size, the Exped center of gravity is different since it's taller and wider, The Exped suspension is VERY soft, the spring rates are not very progressive which leads to some body roll and on uneven highway it feels a little floaty, this is mostly due to it's massive size and weight. The Explorer has grown, but has it's wheels pushed out to the corners (especially out front) and it feels very planted. Comparing both vehicles you'll notice that there is far less overhang in the front and rear than the Expedition. I'm a driver that prefers the behavior of the Explorer over the Expedition, but the comfort of the Expedition on long trips is unparalleled do to the interior width and the amount of rear legroom.

If the 2020 Explorer is ANY indication as to how the Bronco will feel, they've hit an instant home run.

 

[Nanook]

The small SUV is a direct hit at Cherokee. It's based on the Escape and the Escape is bigger now than it's ever been. It's going to be a boxy Escape with a lift, more aggressive 4WD system and an A/T tire option.

The 2020 Explorer is close to the size of my Expedition in overall dimensions, but, having driven both (I'm a Ford dealer) and having an Expedition as my DD, I'll tell you that they feel, drive and behave NOTHING alike. Compared to the Expedition, the new Explorer is much more solid in feel, and it truly behaves very much like a sport sedan or large coupe on road. It's clear when you drive the 2011-2019 (I drove one for two years) and then drive thew new RWD platform that you're no longer driving a lifted 4WD Taurus wagon. Steering on the 2020 Explorer is VERY precise and is VERY nimble and it's usually one of the first things people comment about. The driving dynamics of the new Explorer are nothing like the Expedition although they're somewhat similar in size, the Exped center of gravity is different since it's taller and wider, The Exped suspension is VERY soft, the spring rates are not very progressive which leads to some body roll and on uneven highway it feels a little floaty, this is mostly due to it's massive size and weight. The Explorer has grown, but has it's wheels pushed out to the corners (especially out front) and it feels very planted. Comparing both vehicles you'll notice that there is far less overhang in the front and rear than the Expedition. I'm a driver that prefers the behavior of the Explorer over the Expedition, but the comfort of the Expedition on long trips is unparalleled do to the interior width and the amount of rear legroom.

If the 2020 Explorer is ANY indication as to how the Bronco will feel, they've hit an instant home run.

How would on-road sporty driving dynamics be a home run for a “off-road wrangler capable” vehicle?

 

[ChrispyKC]

How would on-road sporty driving dynamics be a home run for a “off-road wrangler capable” vehicle?

I'm referring to the advancement of the platform translating into the Bronco. Balanced, nimble, and surefooted would also apply to my feelings about the Explorer. The same can be said about driving a JK versus a JL Wrangler. I drove the JL a few weeks back when my JK was in for a recall. The vehicle feels much more solid and agile on the new platform.

 

[Nanook]

Aren’t the next gen ranger and 2020 explorer 2 different architectures?

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

Aren’t the next gen ranger and 2020 explorer 2 different architectures?

Yes. The Explorer shares its new rear wheel bias unibody with the Lincoln Aviator.

The Bronco will most likely be the first vehicle built on a new ladder chassis that it will share with the next model of the Ranger due out in a couple more years (it might actually be preceded by the F150 if this turns out to be a new scalable truck chassis platform as some rumors indicated).

The small utility (baby) shares a compact car unibody platform with the Escape and a couple other small cars sold in other markets.

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

How would on-road sporty driving dynamics be a home run for a “off-road wrangler capable” vehicle?

I would also expect the two body on frame vehicles to have more handling similarity. Especially when you take the idea of soft suspension into account -- Expedition is doing it for that 'floating' sort of road luxury/comfort, and Bronco would do it for articulation.

The small utility might have some of that unibody road precision the Explorer does though.

 

[ChrispyKC]

Yes. The Explorer shares its new rear wheel bias unibody with the Lincoln Aviator.

The Bronco will most likely be the first vehicle built on a new ladder chassis that it will share with the next model of the Ranger due out in a couple more years (it might actually be preceded by the F150 if this turns out to be a new scalable truck chassis platform as some rumors indicated).

The small utility (baby) shares a compact car unibody platform with the Escape and a couple other small cars sold in other markets.

The Explorer, (next gen)Ranger and Aviator will all share the same architecture with the new Bronco.

 

[TeocaliMG]

The Explorer, (next gen)Ranger and Aviator will all share the same architecture with the new Bronco.

Unless you are closer to the product development than me I am quite sure that's not right. The Explorer and Aviator share an all new RWD unibody architecture. More similar to the mustang actually than the trucks/vans. The next gen Ranger and Bronco will still be RWD BOF architectures. That said, I'm sure they will include improved vehicle dynamics both on and off the road. The current ranger is not exactly cutting edge chassis wise.

 

[BroncoMike]

If I’m not mistaken, Ford already has a Kia Sportage-fighter on the market, little need to replicate that.

They should just call the 2021 Bronco the Bronco II.

No matter what they call it, it is becoming increasingly clear that you won't be interested in it.

So, why are you here?

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