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A family friend has a Big Bronco Badlands Sasquatch and offered to take us out on some nearby trails. I thought hey that'd be fun. The intention was to take me on some moderate trails while they lead. What I didn't really know was that this person has never been on this trail before and that they were using the Bronco App which proved to be unreliable.
The trail started out smoothly enough but as time progressed it got harder, steeper, more rocky, more rutted and got to the point where my car absolutely could not go further. I watched this person in their kitted out Big Bronco slide into rut on an uphill pitch, with rocks I knew I would get stuck on and there was just no way. The person was convinced we were near the end of the trail and I was convinced I was going to break my car trying to get over that climb and most likely get stuck. Baby bronco is a great car but it only has 8.8in of clearance and if a Big Bronco on 35 is looking like its having fun on an off-camber uphill pitch....just sometimes you have to draw the line and head back.
So we did. I was firm that was it. What that meant was that we had to go all the way back the way we just came, literally have to spend hours backtracking to get out. But I was ok with that, I knew what we were going to drive, we had done it earlier and I knew it wouldn't break my car. It also meant going back over the bog I got stuck in on the way out, which again I was ok with, because I didn't take the line I wanted to the first time and was very confident (and correctly so apparently) that on the way back I would take it and be fine. I was.
We ended up spending 7hrs and over 30mi on the trails , near continuous driving, a massive variety of terrain including slick rock, muddy bogs (in the San Diego mountains...who knew), riding massive ruts with very real consequences for a fuck up and I was able to give the car a really good work through. Even got stuck once because my spotter gave me a shitty line in a bog. Good times.
My takeaways are that the car is phenomenal for what it is. No its not a purpose built off roader and could use more clearance but I didn't buy it to be a purpose built off roader. The AWD system is stellar, it never overheated, the rear locker worked. Ford really has done good work with that. The liquid cooled transmission/transfer case, I'm sure Mark will correct me, was amazing. The car never once baulked or complained despite getting a fairly good beating, again I was in a bit over my head at the end but no one saw that coming just was what it was I guess. The bump stops on the shocks were very much needed, good job Ford.
I found the GOAT modes a bit unnecessary. I ended up using them just to keep the camera on, but what was really annoying was once I got a bit of experience I prefered driving in normal mode, the front camera would turn off super quick. So I keep it in sand or mud/ruts mode in order to keep it on but that wasn't a perfect compromise as that would keep the revs up which wasn't ideal while going up a technical hill or after descending one.
One thing that made me about crap myself was my dads phone was connect via the usb and he randomly got a call in the middle of nowhere. While the call was being received and we were unaware it was incoming, the car turned down the AC and the radio and it seemed like we had a major problem. This happened twice and gave me a dam good scare each time especially considering we had the dogs in the back (remember we thought it'd be a simple trail ride, it wasn't).
And I feel like I've given this car a fairly good torture test and am almost certain no one will push it that hard. There was some damage, lost a mud flap, there was pinstripping (so much pinstripping the trail got really narrow and on the hills, it was either get pinstripes or fall into a rut and risk damaging the car, didn't like it at first but eventually accepted it was going to happen in order for me to drive the safest line), there were bumps (so many bumps, you learn to drive on top of the rocks not over them) and bruises but no warning lights came on and again the car did really dam well. I would do that trail again just turn around much much earlier and maybe spend more time on the slick rock. The BroncoSport Badlands is fully capable of doing a 2 on the Bronco trail App (like I said we were following the other guy and he had it) but dont be stupid with the car and it'll treat you far better than any little CUV should.
Also, on the first photo, thats a 23 degree pitch. I saw the Big Bronco do it and thought that was impressive, didn't think could do it but I figured what the hell I'll give it a shot. Car did great and climbed up easily. AWD system really worked well there.
Approach angle was good enough, departure angle was problem. Iām certain Iām have damage there.
For or anyone who's read this far, just know the car is incredibly capable, more than any CUV has the right to be and the car will take you places you want to go. No itās not a dedicated off roader but with a lift and bigger tires, it will keep up with the body on frame guys and the Badlands really is an impressive car. I'm glad I got to push it, now I appreciate it more and I genuinely think Ford has done a great job engineering it. Again, the AWD system, the cooling system all fantastic and worked flawlessly. Any car critic and cynic will have a hard time finding flaws in those systems.
I could really talk more about the experience and the car but thats probably enough for now.
The trail started out smoothly enough but as time progressed it got harder, steeper, more rocky, more rutted and got to the point where my car absolutely could not go further. I watched this person in their kitted out Big Bronco slide into rut on an uphill pitch, with rocks I knew I would get stuck on and there was just no way. The person was convinced we were near the end of the trail and I was convinced I was going to break my car trying to get over that climb and most likely get stuck. Baby bronco is a great car but it only has 8.8in of clearance and if a Big Bronco on 35 is looking like its having fun on an off-camber uphill pitch....just sometimes you have to draw the line and head back.
So we did. I was firm that was it. What that meant was that we had to go all the way back the way we just came, literally have to spend hours backtracking to get out. But I was ok with that, I knew what we were going to drive, we had done it earlier and I knew it wouldn't break my car. It also meant going back over the bog I got stuck in on the way out, which again I was ok with, because I didn't take the line I wanted to the first time and was very confident (and correctly so apparently) that on the way back I would take it and be fine. I was.
We ended up spending 7hrs and over 30mi on the trails , near continuous driving, a massive variety of terrain including slick rock, muddy bogs (in the San Diego mountains...who knew), riding massive ruts with very real consequences for a fuck up and I was able to give the car a really good work through. Even got stuck once because my spotter gave me a shitty line in a bog. Good times.
My takeaways are that the car is phenomenal for what it is. No its not a purpose built off roader and could use more clearance but I didn't buy it to be a purpose built off roader. The AWD system is stellar, it never overheated, the rear locker worked. Ford really has done good work with that. The liquid cooled transmission/transfer case, I'm sure Mark will correct me, was amazing. The car never once baulked or complained despite getting a fairly good beating, again I was in a bit over my head at the end but no one saw that coming just was what it was I guess. The bump stops on the shocks were very much needed, good job Ford.
I found the GOAT modes a bit unnecessary. I ended up using them just to keep the camera on, but what was really annoying was once I got a bit of experience I prefered driving in normal mode, the front camera would turn off super quick. So I keep it in sand or mud/ruts mode in order to keep it on but that wasn't a perfect compromise as that would keep the revs up which wasn't ideal while going up a technical hill or after descending one.
One thing that made me about crap myself was my dads phone was connect via the usb and he randomly got a call in the middle of nowhere. While the call was being received and we were unaware it was incoming, the car turned down the AC and the radio and it seemed like we had a major problem. This happened twice and gave me a dam good scare each time especially considering we had the dogs in the back (remember we thought it'd be a simple trail ride, it wasn't).
And I feel like I've given this car a fairly good torture test and am almost certain no one will push it that hard. There was some damage, lost a mud flap, there was pinstripping (so much pinstripping the trail got really narrow and on the hills, it was either get pinstripes or fall into a rut and risk damaging the car, didn't like it at first but eventually accepted it was going to happen in order for me to drive the safest line), there were bumps (so many bumps, you learn to drive on top of the rocks not over them) and bruises but no warning lights came on and again the car did really dam well. I would do that trail again just turn around much much earlier and maybe spend more time on the slick rock. The BroncoSport Badlands is fully capable of doing a 2 on the Bronco trail App (like I said we were following the other guy and he had it) but dont be stupid with the car and it'll treat you far better than any little CUV should.
Also, on the first photo, thats a 23 degree pitch. I saw the Big Bronco do it and thought that was impressive, didn't think could do it but I figured what the hell I'll give it a shot. Car did great and climbed up easily. AWD system really worked well there.
Approach angle was good enough, departure angle was problem. Iām certain Iām have damage there.
For or anyone who's read this far, just know the car is incredibly capable, more than any CUV has the right to be and the car will take you places you want to go. No itās not a dedicated off roader but with a lift and bigger tires, it will keep up with the body on frame guys and the Badlands really is an impressive car. I'm glad I got to push it, now I appreciate it more and I genuinely think Ford has done a great job engineering it. Again, the AWD system, the cooling system all fantastic and worked flawlessly. Any car critic and cynic will have a hard time finding flaws in those systems.
I could really talk more about the experience and the car but thats probably enough for now.
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