You might want to talk to Ford and correct their placing the Badlands as the highest trim level. I’m sure they’ll be glad to fix that error.
The panel serves a couple functions -- it protects the fan and wiring, and it has some sound deadening material. There has been much written about it here on the forum.
The OB is the "luxe" trim, with the BB as base and BL as off-road dedicated. The OB is what I'd expect if Mercury were still around, but with less chrome.
I'd forgotten that the Badlands was/is the most expensive trim level.
It wasn't a huge difference in price over the OB, which was in part how we justified it to ourselves. True, many of the electronic features were optional, but we were not particularly interested in them. On the plus side, the Badlands has:
* The 2.0L engine
* A more capable AWD system
* Liquid cooled PDU (vs air cooled)
* Manual shifting
* A front camera
* A full size spare tire
* A more powerful inverter
* Stronger suspension
* Storage space under the rear seat (IIRC that's BL only)
* Rubber rear seatback covers (also BL only?)
* Front tow hooks
* Skid plate (kind of a PITA when changing oil but useful)
Probably a couple other things I'm forgetting.
That doesn't mean it's "better", just that it was a better choice for us. Most people don't need any of that, but where we live it can be useful.
As for whether the BL or OB is a 'higher trim level', if we go by MSRP it's the BL, but I can see how a person who has no need for the BL features but is focused on the electronic options might consider the OB to be a higher trim level.
Those were all standard on my Badlands.
I just bought a 2022 Badlands with 48,000 miles on it. I test drove a blue one that had a slight lift kit on it the dealer said. The white one I bought rode a little smoother than the blue one with the lift kit. The white one I bought had brand new GeoTour tires. I have never heard of that tire but, it rides pretty good. I never test drove an Outer Banks to see if they rode any better/smoother. I say that because people here are saying the OB is the luxury model. Hey, I got the bottle opener at the back end! That's luxury right?!!!LOL
There are a bunch of threads about it. Here's one:
I never am in the passenger side
I’m guessing it’s the piece that would go where the giant opening is?
The under-seat storage is BL only, last I heard, not sure about the rubber rear seat mats.
I'd forgotten that the Badlands was/is the most expensive trim level.
It wasn't a huge difference in price over the OB, which was in part how we justified it to ourselves. True, many of the electronic features were optional, but we were not particularly interested in them. On the plus side, the Badlands has:
* The 2.0L engine
* A more capable AWD system
* Liquid cooled PDU (vs air cooled)
* Manual shifting
* A front camera
* A full size spare tire
* A more powerful inverter
* Stronger suspension
* Storage space under the rear seat (IIRC that's BL only)
* Rubber rear seatback covers (also BL only?)
* Front tow hooks
* Skid plate (kind of a PITA when changing oil but useful)
Probably a couple other things I'm forgetting.
That doesn't mean it's "better", just that it was a better choice for us. Most people don't need any of that, but where we live it can be useful.
As for whether the BL or OB is a 'higher trim level', if we go by MSRP it's the BL, but I can see how a person who has no need for the BL features but is focused on the electronic options might consider the OB to be a higher trim level.
the broncosport was dusinged as a cross over sub with a bit ofoffroadcapability. so camping and getting to fishing lakes and such. peoplewill always use it formore and if your carefull youcan do alittle more. I use mine, aside as my daily comuter, to scout out new lakes to go camping at and such, but out here we don't even thinking of taking them off road as our off roading is different. if I was going off road I would have bought the bullit and bought a full size bronco at minimum. yes they are good for playing dirt roads and a little bit of other stuff, but the suspension parts are not heavy duity enough, there isn't anywhere near enough articulation or ground clearance. so I guess it all depends on what your calling off roading
The BS BL—even before the Sasquatch package—had proven itself to be far more capable than anyone expected. Look at any serious, unbiased off-road journalist and you’ll get a grudging respect at least, and a surprising admiration more often as not.
That's crazy! I wouldn't dare do that to a vehicle I bought!
For every experience like yours, there are many more who are happy with the advice they got.
I have been up (and down the "drop in" at) Hell's gate a handful of times, in a TRX, a 392 Wrangler, and MOST surprisingly, a bone stock latest generation Grand Cherokee (WL) and NOT the Trail Hawk model. It didn't even have electronic lockers like the rear of the BS BL, just the "virtual" lockers - brake torque vectoring and was riding on street tires. The drop in is almost worse than going up. IIRC, we scraped the rockers slightly on the WL on the drop in. We had a hired guide/spotter. He asked if he could drive the WL and we switched seats and ran it a couple more times. Even he was amazed that it tackled it without issue! We were giggling because we had the A/C on, cooled seats on and set to massage mode while we were tackling the obstacle. To be honest, even after driving it several times, I'm not sure I would have the [guts] to do it again on my own without an experienced spotter. It's something that would be challenging to walk up, and it's utterly amazing to ride in a vehicle that can tackle that obstacle, not to mention driving one that can. It's near the very top of the most exciting things I have ever done in a vehicle. I agree that the Bronco Sport Badlands is one of, if not the most capable "soft roaders" in its class . It's 85% of the reason I bought it. I overlooked the less-than-stellar reliability because of this, even though I will probably never do anything THAT extreme with it. It's nice to know you can if you want to.
