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Gladiator vs Bronco.

DocMike

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I'm becoming a doors off fan. I hated it at first. No place for my left arm to rest...

Now, I dig it.
 

gitnit

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I know its not apples to apples. But the pickup truck aspect of a Gladiator is a want not a need.

So for me its between the Gladiator and the Bronco.

The following is a short write up I did for a Bronco group of what I saw yesterday during a static viewing of the Bronco.


I got a chance to sit in and measure a Bronco in person yesterday at Stoneham Ford in MA. Here are some thoughts and observations.

They had 2 - 4 doors. One was a Badlands on 32s, the other was a Black Diamond Sasquatch on 35s.

1) the 12" display is big. and responsive.
2) the interior is relatively narrow compared to the cars we own now. Not bad. But you can definitely feel that its built off a compact/midsized truck and not a full sized truck.

3) the Badlands on 33s looked very nice. It's proportions are very good.
4) I want to know how much the wheel/tire on a Sas weighs? It would not want to change a flat. Though with those tires, id imagine your chances eof getting a flat is pretty slim.

5) My concern with the Bronco was fitting my dog's crate in the back, lengthwise. The cargo area measures ~32" from a closed rear door to the hump at the front of the cargo area. MY dog crate will fit.
6) The MGV was not as nice as I was expecting. It has a brushed almost metallic look to it. I thought it was going to have more of a leather type texture to it. Not a big deal. I'll probably replace with Katzkins saddle leather interior shortly after I buy it.

7) the plastic floor is very nice and is going to be super practical. We have Weather Tech matts in all our current vehicles, so we effectively have a plastic floor now.
8) the Lux sound system sounded "good enough".

9) We will probably use ours with the top up and the doors and side windows off in the summer. (safari mode, the jeep guys call it). The side windows and rear window of the soft top come off very easily.
10) The anti-matter blue was GORGEOUS.

I'm looking forward to driving it within the month. I'm expecting it to drive better than a Jeep on the road. I drove a couple of jeeps recently and have decided that I may not want to live with the poor on-road manners of the jeep as an everyday driver.

The Bronco looks like a Rangerover. There's no way it looks good. Jeep looks like Jeep
 

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riplipper

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The new Bronco is just plain Fugly
I wanted to like it as I had an old 67 model and LOVED it but they missed the mark on this one.
 

cuellar13

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Really? Isn't the transmission the exact thing that people are now complaning about on the Bronco side because it's subpar? I love our transmission and I'm not sure how much better you can do than that. Also, you may wanna get your infotainment checked, mine has never frozen and never should.
Don't know of any complaints about the 10 speed, just my personal experience. Not saying I don't like the drivetrain in my Rubicon, just that the F150 was much smoother IMO. I'll be able to do a direct comparison once my wife gets her bronco. In terms of the infotainment, since it takes 2-3 days for it to happen, I'm waiting for a time when I can be without the JT for a couple of days, so that the dealer can duplicate it. From everything I've read (and this isn't an isolated issue) the dealer will typically order a new head unit, and those that had the problems, have it again. At this point it's more annoying than anything, because it always seems to happen when I'm making the 3 hour drive from Tampa to North FL....
 

cuellar13

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This is more or less my take on `the vehicles after sitting in the same 2 Broncos the OP is referencing.

The fact that I can't verify some of those things given we couldn't drive the Bronco and I like the JT interior much more AND the fact that as of right now the Bronco might as well be vaporware I bought my Gladiator.

I still have my Bronco reservation and had the priority code changed to 99. This way I can always still order a one next year if I get to drive one and decide I like it after all. Figure my Jeep won't have lost much value and I can trade it in.

We'll see. So far Im really liking my Jeep but only have 400 miles on it.
I believe we sat in the same two vehicles as well.
 

cuellar13

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Yeah, I got me some perma-grin when I'm driving anywhere!
My wife actually tells people that I was like a kid on Christmas when I was doing the paperwork for my Rubi. By far my favorite vehicle I have ever owned.
 

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Ford with their infinite wisdom missed the mark by a mile . They teased us with all these conceptual broncos that might actually be cool . Nothing can match the level of looks of a jeep without looking ridiculous.
 

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Is Ford ever going to start making the things though? It seems like you could just have the best of both worlds. Lease the Gladiator, and when the lease is up reserve a Launch Edition Branco. You'll probably only be without a vehicle for a month or 2.
I know, my son got tired of waiting and bought a Toyota 4-Runnet.
 

Sazabi19

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Don't know of any complaints about the 10 speed, just my personal experience. Not saying I don't like the drivetrain in my Rubicon, just that the F150 was much smoother IMO. I'll be able to do a direct comparison once my wife gets her bronco. In terms of the infotainment, since it takes 2-3 days for it to happen, I'm waiting for a time when I can be without the JT for a couple of days, so that the dealer can duplicate it. From everything I've read (and this isn't an isolated issue) the dealer will typically order a new head unit, and those that had the problems, have it again. At this point it's more annoying than anything, because it always seems to happen when I'm making the 3 hour drive from Tampa to North FL....
Ya, that's the thing, it's not using the F150 10-speed (10R80) as far as I can tell, it's using the Explorer's (10R60). People are mad saying that it should have a more robust tranny for an offroader.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/40654...rs-10-speed-transmission-and-fans-arent-happy

I thought I saw somewhere that Ford confirmed this but can't find a source for that ATM. just something to think about I guess?

Your infotainment situation sucks. I had something similar in my Cadenza where the screen would do really fun (not) things. Eventually had it happen and drove about an hour up to them while I was out so they could see it. They tried to replace several things in it because the 1 piece that they thought was bad was like a $4k or $6k piece in the unit and Kia made them do testing of other pieces first. Got it all done under warranty though, free for me plus free rental while they had it for a few days :)
 

IamAlan

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The sports are not the Broncos that the OP is referencing. The ones you are seeing (Sports) are based on the Escape platform, and are mini soccer mom SUVs.
But they are the ONLY ones we are seeing.
 

Papa Jawa

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The Bronco looks like a Rangerover. There's no way it looks good. Jeep looks like Jeep
OK, tinfoil hat. You all recall Ford owned Range Rover from 2000 to 2008? When did they first tease the return of the Bronco; 2004 ish. Look at the Range Rovers of that era. Look at the new Bronco's and the new Range Rovers. They all have the same heritage. There are articles that speak directly to early Bronco engineers leveraging their European development.

In 2008, Ford and Range Rover split ways, divided up the kids and both kept rolling with the development of their similar platforms. They have diverged necessarily, but they have the same genesis.

Oh, and by the way... I think the Bronco looks like a Ford Flex, which is from that era, with a lift and big tires! The Bronco Sport is a straight up modern Ford LR4.

Just saying... And just so you all know, I don't think it's a bad thing. All of it eventually leads to us all having more options and better stuff.

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