[Photos] Get Ready to Get Wild in the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport
Photo: Ford
The rugged crossover segment has been put on notice. There’s a new apex predator in the wild, and it hunts Jeeps as easily as it carves up trails and eats up dunes. And with seating for five and 65.2 cubic feet of max cargo space, hey, you know what? The 2021 Ford Bronco Sport is pretty handy for fruitful expeditions to Bed Bath & Beyond, too.
More on the Bronco Brand: How you can reserve your 2021 Ford Bronco or Bronco Sport
The all-new 2021 Ford Bronco Sport finally broke out of the stable this past week alongside its bigger sibling, the long-awaited Ford Bronco. Based on the same platform that underpins the new Ford Escape, the Bronco Sport shares similar styling cues to the classic Bronco and shares its impressive off-road capabilities to match.
Bronco Sport made for tackling tough terrain
Currently the smallest member of the Ford Bronco family (until the Bronco Hatchback hits, of course), the Bronco Sport delivers bigtime on the Built Wild Promise. It features standard 4×4 capabilities for the base, Big Bend, and Outer Banks trims; the range-topping Badlands and ultra-limited, already-gone First Edition gets an advanced 4×4 system with a class-exclusive twin-clutch rear-drive unit with differential lock feature.
Like the 2021 Bronco, the Bronco Sport features the Terrain Management System with Bronco brand-exclusive G.O.A.T Modes, which hearken back to the first-gen Bronco’s reputation for going over any type of terrain. The Bronco Sport gets seven of the eight modes offered on the Bronco: Normal, Eco, Sport, Slippery, Sand, Mud/Ruts, and Rock Crawl, the latter two of which are available on the Badlands and First Edition.
The Badlands earns the first syllable of its name with upgrades like retuned front struts with hydraulic rebound, 46-millimeter-diameter monotube rear shocks, and softer springs and antiroll bars. Not only does this all make the Bronco Sport Badlands more beastly for busting trails, but it’s also a smoother and quieter ride while you’re doing it.
Power for the base, Big Bend, and Outer Banks trims is supplied by the 1.5-liter EcoBoost, which Ford says will put out 181 horsepower and 190 lb-ft of torque. The Badlands and First Edition get the 2.0-liter EcoBoost, which works with the eight-speed automatic transmission to deliver best-in-class muscle with 245 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque. Unfortunately, there’s no manual option for the Bronco Sport.
Want a Manual? Still available on the world’s best-selling sports car, the Mustang
Perfect for adventuring and upgrading
Because the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport is a smaller SUV with a nice starting price point, it should play well with adventurous families — especially since it should hopefully hit at a point where folks are finally getting back out there and doing things like normal. To make sure it’s up for just about any task, the Bronco Sport gets handy features like class-exclusive LED floodlamps on the liftgate, MOLLE straps for cargo storage, a tall safari-style roof that can fit two mountain bikes stood upright, and a five-way configurable Cargo Management System.
Oh! Oh! And! The 2021 Ford Bronco Sport has a bottle opener built into the cargo area. If that’s not enough to make you plunk down $100 and reserve one now, you don’t have a pulse and should probably see a doctor or a reputable necromancer.
Photo: Ford
Ford is also offering the Bronco Sport with 100 factory and aftermarket accessories on launch, including four lifestyle bundles: Bike, Snow, Water, and Camping.
Oddly, the Bronco Sport gets SYNC 3 rather than next-gen SYNC 4, but Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard across the lineup, which is nice. Also standard across the lineup and making the Bronco Sport a family-friendly option: Ford Co-Pilot360, which is only standard at higher trim levels on the Bronco.
Like the 2021 Ford Bronco, you can make your reservation today for $100 at Ford.com. The 2021 Ford Bronco Sport is expected to hit dealerships by the end of the year.
Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.