2025 Ford Bronco Sport adds more extreme Sasquatch, goes screen-heavy

2 months, 3 weeks ago - 28 August 2024, autoblog
2025 Ford Bronco Sport adds more extreme Sasquatch, goes screen-heavy
The little Bronco steals some ideas from its big sibling

The 2025 Ford Bronco Sport puts this little Bronco through its first notable refresh, as it gains a bevy of upgraded tech and a new Sasquatch trim. We even got to drive the new Sasquatch for a short time already, and you can find our first impressions here.

Most Bronco Sport trims will look similar to before, but do note that slightly tweaked fascias in both front and rear are present alongside some new grille designs. It amounts to a nip-and-tuck that most will hardly notice. However, the new Sasquatch model (available to be tacked on both Badlands and Outer Banks trims) visually separates itself from the pack.

The big brush guard up front comes standard on Sasquatch. It also gets unique modular front and rear bumpers with steel bash plates and more underbody skid plates for added protection. You’ll be able to attach all sorts of accessories to the new bumper (that now features Bronco bolts inspired by the big Bronco) such as a light bar or flag for the dunes. Additional recovery points are present, and Ford even adds some sweet front fender-mounted tie-downs – rated for 150 pounds – for your roof accessory needs. All of this is before we get to the actual driving capability upgrades. That list includes the twin-clutch rear drive unit (with improved thermal capacity for 2025), new Bilstein rear shocks with position-sensitive damping and piggyback reservoirs, new springs in front and rear that increase ride height by 0.4 inches and suspension travel by 0.6 inches and more aggressive 29-inch tires. Specifically, the Sasquatch rides on specially developed Goodyear Territory all-terrain rubber.

Other capability upgrades (not exclusive to the Sasquatch) are available for 2025, with some highlights being a new Rally G.O.A.T. mode, a new Trail One-Pedal Drive and a more feature-rich camera suite that now projects your front tire guidelines along your path. The One-Pedal mode is especially interesting, as it’s designed to make off-roading more approachable for beginners by essentially making the throttle pedal behave like an EV’s regenerative brakes, automatically slowing the car down when you lift off and allowing you to divert full attention to the trail ahead instead of the pedals.

As for the powertrains, both the 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder and 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder carry over, but both are downgraded in total output. Ford says emissions are to blame. Final specs aren’t available yet, but Ford suggested both engines will only lose horsepower in the single digits. The eight-speed automatic transmission from before also carries over, and all-wheel drive is still standard.

Turn your attention inside the updated Bronco Sport, and you’ll notice a whole new dash design with a massive 13.2-inch touchscreen infotainment now running Sync 4. Most of the physical buttons there before are now gone, and they’re replaced with touchscreen controls. You do get wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, though. Plus, there’s another big 12.3-inch screen to serve as your all-digital cluster, and it’s full of various views and colors depending on the drive mode. Ford deleted the little tray under the screen it had before, but it’s replaced that with a “Bring Your Own Device” tray situated on top of the dashboard similar to what you’d find in the big Bronco now. You'll also notice new auxiliary switches in the headliner that are pre-wired to designated spots under the hood and ready to hooked up to accessories. And lastly, Ford added some additional grab handles to the center console to help passengers steady themselves during off-road wheeling.

Most driver assistance features come standard now with Ford CoPilot360 Assist+ standard on every trim. The only optional ones left are part of a 2.0 package consisting of a 360-degree camera, rear automatic braking and traffic sign recognition.

Every version of the updated Bronco except the new Sasquatch models will go on sale in November this year. If you want the Sasquatch, though, you’ll need to wait until the first quarter of 2025. Pricing for the whole line will be revealed closer to the on-sale date, but Ford hinted to us that the base model will continue to sticker for an under $30,000 MSRP. Just keep in mind that price doesn't include the destination charge yet, which we're also waiting on.

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