Our 2022 Ford Bronco Badlands Sasquatch Has Finally Arrived for a Long-Term Stay

Introduction

It was with arms wide open that we welcomed a 2022 Ford Bronco Badlands Sasquatch for a 40,000-mile test. To say we were excited for it to arrive is an understatement. After the Bronco beat the Jeep Wrangler in a comparison test, we were sure it would make for a worthy addition to our long-term fleet. Really, the minute Ford decided to bring the Bronco back for 2021 we were filled with nostalgia and knew we would want to get our greasy paws all over that thing. It’s just a badass off-roading beast that we can take to the Michigan sand dunes and one that will help us get through our long, cold, snowy winter.

In spec’ing our Bronco, we went with what we thought were some obvious choices. We opted for the four-door model for its extra utility. We also decided to go with the seven-speed manual transmission because, well, we love shifting through those gears ourselves (save the manuals!). With that seven-speed manual comes a lower crawl gear for when you want to do some serious off-roading and need that ultrashort gearing to traverse the terrain. We also went with the Badlands trim, which is one step lower than the Wildtrak near the top of the hierarchy; it adds Bilstein position-sensitive dampers and front anti-roll bar disconnect. That gave our Bronco a base price of $48,185, versus $39,475 for the absolutely cheapest way to get a four-door with a manual transmission (Big Bend trim). If we had stuck with that base Badlands, we would have ended up with an 8.0-inch touchscreen, 33-inch tires, and 17-inch gray-painted aluminum wheels. We decided to add the High Package for an additional $2790, which most notably gave us heated front seats, a 12.0-inch touchscreen, a 360-degree-view camera, and a rear camera mirror. Additionally, we tacked on the Sasquatch package for $4090. The Sasquatch package added 35-inch tires, electronic-locking front and rear differentials, and 17-inch beadlock high-gloss black aluminum wheels. To cap it all off we opted for a hard top in gray ($695), a towing package ($595), a modular front bumper with tow hooks ($575), a cargo-area protector ($120), and all-weather floor mats ($160).

After completing the break-in procedure in the owner’s manual, which nonspecifically says to avoid aggressive or high-speed driving, heavy braking, and towing for the first 1000 miles, we laid into it with our initial instrumented testing. The base engine, a 300-hp turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four, powers our Bronco. It delivered a 60-mph time of 7.4 seconds—the Bronco Raptor did it almost two seconds faster at 5.6. That’s also nearly a second slower than another Bronco four-cylinder automatic, which benefits from a brake-torque launch. It certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort, however, as launches with our manual-trans Bronco started with a redline clutch dump. Our long-termer pulled 0.70 g on the skidpad and came to a halt from 70 mph in 204 feet. This Bronco weighed in at 5073 pounds, making it one of the lighter four-door examples we’ve tested (the Raptor, at 5764 pounds, was the heaviest).

So far the biggest downside to our Bronco is both the wind and interior noise when driving on the highway. With our High package and hard-top option, we got the Marine-grade vinyl seats, and with those seats and our Badlands trim level, a sound-deadening headliner is not automatically included. We could have added it at no cost, but we didn’t, and now we’re wishing we had.

That aside, we look forward to having all sorts of fun with this Bronco over its 40,000 miles with us. Be sure to check back to see where we go and what we do with this awesome off-roading machine.

Months in Fleet: 3 months Current Mileage: 6699 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 16 mpg
Fuel Tank Size: 16.9 gal Observed Fuel Range: 270 miles
Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $0

Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com