AmazingSieve

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My family had been eyeing up a fishing trip to Montana for some time and last Sunday we finally started our journey up there. I would be driving my car, which the dogs would be riding in, and my dad would be driving his F150 which would be carrying the gear, him and my twin brother. We decided the doggies would ride in my car because it honestly is just a good dog car and Hank can see out and watch the world go by which he really likes.

We stayed at a lodge just southwest of Butte near the town of Wise River and the ride up there took two days. The first day of the drive was 12 hours wire to wire from North County San Diego to Provo Utah. We stopped a few times to let the dogs out and get gas but the stops were minimal. It was a long day. So long in fact that during the last hour into SLC I decided it would be a good idea to get there a little quicker....I'm not saying I sped but I heard the car can handle going 95mph pretty well albeit the engine is pushing a bit, it doesn't quite cruise at those speeds.

The second day of the drive went well but I did get stopped at a speed trap in Pocatello. Thankfully the cop let me go with a quick verbal warning. I guess I was out of practice in these smaller mountain towns and I wasn't on the lookout for those kinds of things. Lesson learned...until later in Ennis, MT when I was in a section of road where the speed increased from 35-50 and I was going 50 just yds before the 50mph sign, I'm not exaggerating here it was that close, and Ofc. BillyBob tagged me, this time I did get a ticket.

Second day we made it to our lodge and had an awesome few days fishing, after that my brother and I went to Yellowstone for two nights before heading back.

All in all the journey was about 2600mi and about 45hrs of driving. Doggies were along with me every mile and every hour and did exceptionally a well as did the car. It even saved me in a hairy situation just outside of Cedar City, UT.

On the way there we got caught in a massive hailstorm, true ping pong ball sized hail, if you're bored or curious, look up hail and Cedar City, the photos and reports are there.

As we were driving through this awful hailstorm I was approaching a car in front of me, to slow down I tapped the brakes and immediately locked up. There was so much hail that the road had iced over and there was water on top. It was a no traction situation. I quickly realized that while the abs was working as intended I was not going to stop in time....if I kept going like I was I was going to hit the car in front of me. I intuitively decided to switch lanes, out of the corner of my eye I saw luckily there was not a car in the lane to my right. I began to switch lanes which then resulted in another problem, I was in a tractionless slide to my right. The road was so slippery that simply changing lanes caused me to slide as if I were driving in the snow in bald tires. So now I'm angling off the road. I countersteer to get the car in line, which of course pushed me off course even more. At this point I'm on the grass, which is fine, I can ride it out here but then there was another problem, there was a cedar bush quickly approaching. So now my car is careening to this bush and I decide I need to get out of this, so I turn back inwards to the road, the front wheels grip, and I try to gently pull out of it, no go, back wheels aren't turning. Fearing that I would spin I kind of rode that out. I slide probably 20yds or so at like a 45 degree angle to the road. If I had tried to get the rear wheels in line through either countersteering (which would've put me in a worse situation) or powering out, I would've been screwed. Sliding at an angle in the soft shoulder to the road was my best option. Thankfully the rear wheel dug into the soft dirt and I stopped before the cedar bush. After I stopped I casually moved back into traffic, like nothing had ever happened. I have a photo showing just how deep the rear wheel dug in, you can see the dirt covers the inside of the wheel.

Thankfully there was no hail damage either.

So the car held up great. It managed to carry me and two large dogs to Montana no issues and me and my twin brother from the lodge to yellowstone and back.

TD;LR: The car is remarkably good at speed but the mpg will suffer. Going any faster than 75 and the mpg will tank. I'm not a person who will slowdown to save mpg so I accepted that this would happen. I think I was getting like 17mpg going like 85 in Utah, maybe less, certainly less on the passses. We also had a really good trip and the sport did amazing throughout. Super comfortable, easy to drive, composed at speed.

Ford Bronco Sport Trip Report: San Diego to Montana and back with two large dogs. Screen Shot 2022-10-04 at 9.20.54 AM


Ford Bronco Sport Trip Report: San Diego to Montana and back with two large dogs. Screen Shot 2022-10-04 at 9.21.19 AM


Ford Bronco Sport Trip Report: San Diego to Montana and back with two large dogs. Screen Shot 2022-10-04 at 9.21.39 AM


Ford Bronco Sport Trip Report: San Diego to Montana and back with two large dogs. Screen Shot 2022-10-04 at 9.21.50 AM


Ford Bronco Sport Trip Report: San Diego to Montana and back with two large dogs. Screen Shot 2022-10-04 at 9.22.08 AM
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Escape2Bronco

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Nice write up. I've heard that these Badlands can drive nicely at higher than posted limits as well. I wouldn't know that for fact, but that's what I heard as well. :angel:

Hail is lots of fun to drive thru. Did the same one year coming down 17 out of Flagstaff. Road got slick fast.

Glad to hear the Badlands treated you well.
 
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AmazingSieve

AmazingSieve

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Nice write up. I've heard that these Badlands can drive nicely at higher than posted limits as well. I wouldn't know that for fact, but that's what I heard as well. :angel:

Hail is lots of fun to drive thru. Did the same one year coming down 17 out of Flagstaff. Road got slick fast.

Glad to hear the Badlands treated you well.
There’s something distinctly awful about driving through a big hail storm, hearing the ice pummeling your car, being helpless to stop it and just waiting for it to smash the windshield while knowing it’s likely causing damage to your car
 

AndyMac204

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nice. road tripping in the bronco sport is a great time. we've taken ours on several big trips with zero issue. and our big dog loves it - looks like yours does too.
 

cgparsons1983

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There’s something distinctly awful about driving through a big hail storm, hearing the ice pummeling your car, being helpless to stop it and just waiting for it to smash the windshield while knowing it’s likely causing damage to your car
Yeah driving through a hail storm is generally a BAD idea. You should pull over to a gas station, find cover and wait for it to pass.
 

B. Bumble

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Thanks for your story. My lab seems very comfortable in the back of mine. Once in a while he gets on the front seat and lays his paws across the console though, and can turn the shift dial that I have out of D, so I have to be careful.
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