Thanks! One thing it does have going for it is the “turning radius” which to your point makes it a hoot to drive around town.
I don't think anyone will fault you for loving your 2 door BL's Bronco. Owning one myself there certainly are a few redeaming attributes but over all quality and fit / finish will never rival Toyota. I've gone deep into mine with a complete suspension overhaul and audio system install so I've become quite familar with it's interior panel fitment and underpinnings. I was one of the unlucky customers who recieved a bronco without half the stereo which is referred to as the "subwoofer delete" in Bronco speak. Suffice it to say my stereo quality was on par with what you might find in a 1979 Pinto. Most 2023 Bronco's are coming this way due to on going parts shortages. I agree 100% you can't expect the noise level to be great on such on off road focused rig with removable top. The LandCruiser will be night and day better so 100% disagree there. This due to non removable top and higher level sound deadening. Try pulling up the carpet in the rear cargo area or remove a rear interior panel where the factory subwoofer lives. What you see will shock you. There's literally nothing in terms of insulation material. In my case the Bronco was ordered long ago and was planned for my son who could have cared less about noise levels. Our Bronco sat at a rail yard for 3 months prior to shipping to the dealer we needed to get my son into something and decided on a new Tacoma. I'm toying around with the Bronco in the mean time waiting for the new LC to arrive.
Truth be told, the LC or 4Runner would definitely make more sense for family trips though.Finally someone mentions the "white elephant" in the room ie (wet belt driven oil pump)!! The 2.7 was never in the hunt for me for this very reason and a few other inherent design flaws. The little 2.3 is based on the Focus RS engine and has and incredibly robust bottom end. It's Achilles heel will be things like the turbo and possible intake valve carbon buildup due to direct injection only. Also, low tension piston rings will lead to oil usage if you run late on oil change intervals. If you can get over the fact that it sounds like a gas powered golf cart it really is a great powertrain. Ad in the fact you can get it with a manual or 10R80 which is a fantastic auto and it's the better choice most people will look past.Day Two (7/14/2020) Bronco Badlands 4dr reservation holder here. I was waiting for years for the Bronco to be released as I was eyeing a truck to replace my overworked, lifted, Impreza I was taking on overland camping trips. Grew up in a Ford family and just assumed it wasn't if, but when with a new Bronco purchase.
Due to some life events; marriage, house, child, the Bronco has been back-burnered, and my reservations were cancelled by Ford but this gave me time to rethink what I want and what OEM I'm going to trust buying a new car with these days. I never was too excited about the 2.3 & 2.7 on the Bronco. I get it, they aren't putting an 8 cyl in these, but I don't know, the powerplant options just always nagged me as kinda uninspiring. They put out good power for their size with respectable fuel mileage considering the weight, shape, and usage case of the Bronco (not to mention the 4.7 ratio & 35s on the Sasquatch) but I just wasn't very enthusiastic considering putting down a new-car premium on the Bronco w/ that engine. Seeing the V8 isn't realistic, I would've really liked to have seen some kind of call-back to the inline-6 as a powerplant on these - I've had many 300 inline-6s in my 78-79 F150s and loved them. Of course, a modern I-6 would have to be much smaller but would have loved some torque-y tractor motor on the Bronco - an Ecoboost version would've been fine for me. The other option I would've liked to see - a Hybrid. Not so much for the fuel mileage, though that is certainly gravy, but the added utility of having a 2k+ inverter in the back to run any gear that I would need off-grid. That kind of power available just gives me the value non-Hybrid power plants can't without bringing power banks or solar.
Enter Land Cruiser, or Toyota in general (as I'm considering an iForce Max 4Runner whenever that's revealed as well). I love the Hybrid idea and there looks to be a lot of attractive standard equipment on the LCs but my decision is really starting to come down on long-term reliability and what OEM I trust most with a complex, force-inducted powerplant. At this moment, it's Toyota so I think that's one of the main reasons I'm being swayed.
As for the Bronco, there's a lot going for it that the LC either doesn't have or we don't know it has:
With all that said, the motor is going to still be a big decider for me - especially when considering dropping a premium on a new vehicle. Also, I recently come to find out that the 2.7 actually has an oil pump belt and not chain or gear driven. Wet belts have been fairly common w/ Ford for a while now, but I really do not like that design change (I believe it was 2018+ where the change was made to a belt on the 2.7). I have a 1.0 Ecoboost Fiesta w/ both a Timing Belt and Oil Pump Belt. Fortunately, at 150k, my belts were not disintegrating "badly" when I got them changed to the tune of $3k at a local shop I went back-and-forth with for about a month to make sure I was comfortable with their competence. My local Ford dealer was quoting $4k, and I had to remind them that I needed the oil pump belt changed too and the quote shot up to over $6k (lol @ having to remind Ford there's two belts in the engine). I've gotten great service out of that 1.0 but I'm of the opinion that a commuter vehicle (Fiesta) and an enthusiast/hard-use vehicle (Bronco & Land Cruiser) are two very different categories and with the horror stories I've come across of these belts breaking (rare) or deteriorating (more reported) and clogging the oil-pickup have me not trusting them so that's another point toward the Toyota option - assuming they don't use the same wet belt tech. I think the Achillies heel of the wet belts is fuel contamination, so I'd say you're probably in a good place as long as the fuel contamination is kept to a minimum w/ strict oil change intervals (I do 5k/6 mos on everything). I see the belt having some advantages for the OEM - costs, quietness, maybe even fuel mileage due to less friction but I just do not like having something inside the engine that is another thing to worry about, that I can't really monitor until it's possibly too late. I'm not eliminating Bronco quite yet, especially when seeing used car prices come down - feels like the Bronco has especially been dropping. Regardless, I'm waiting for official info on the Land Cruiser and 4Runner to drop for a sure way of comparing these two.
- The Front Lockers on the Badlands trim/Sasquatch package
- The 4.70 rear-end gearing on the Sasquatch
- Dana axles front & rear (I'm partial to Dana corp for off-road equipment)
- 17" wheels can be fit on the Bronco (looks like the LC, due to the large Brakes, can only fit 18"+)
- The overhead Aux switches (not even sure if the LC will get an Aux Switch option). Ford has been doing the overhead Aux switches for years now and I feel they have the best design in the most models (Bronco, Ranger, F150, F250, F350)
- The line-of-sight location of lockers & sway bar disconnect switches
- The hydraulic swaybar disconnect on Badlands
- I think we're still a bit uncertain about what the LC will have for a Sway Bar disconnect module, correct? From what I can tell, it may be electric and as I recall, I've heard some complaints about the electrical unit on the Rubicons failing. I suppose I'm going to trust Toyota on the decision making here but I really liked the idea of the hydraulic unit on the Bronco.
- "Trail Turn" function which cuts the rear brake of the side you're turning in order to make tight bends.
- Removable top option - I'll deal w/ the noise.
Thanks everybody for great discussion on the Bronco. I love the look, though haven’t taken one out yet. All y’all’s experience seems to confirm just what I think from my internet research. The full size bronco is a great 2nd or fun car, but wouldn’t offer the refinement I”m looking for to string together multiple days of all day driving to tour the continent in retirement. For that it seems fixed roof is the way to go, & only Toyota offers that, either in LC, or I’ll like to see the GX with the LC power train when it happens. Now for that money I could look at an F150, but then the size limits city driving even if it’s a highway star.
Full disclosure; I had a 2016 Ford F150 2.7 v6 ecoboost and it really was the best engine I've ever had under the hood. I traded the truck in at 100,000 miles because I did'nt trust the 6spd auto tranny. Bronco is on my short list but new LC and new Forerunner are 1 & 2. Driving a 2023 Rav4 hybrid in the meantime. It's awesome so far.
