2024 Ford Bronco Sport Free Wheeling
Rumor has it that the Bronco Sport will eventually become the smallest SUV Ford will sell to you.
It might make sense. It is built on the same platform as the Ford Escape. It also shares the same engines – except for the Escape Plug-In Hybrid.
Until this happens, customers are finding the Bronco Sport to their liking. It has a smaller footprint with a more upright design.
This time around, we were treated to something a little different. If you look at the photos in this review, you might notice another retro nod to Ford’s past. They call it the Free Wheeling edition.
The four-color stripes are a nod to a series of Ford vehicles that offered the same package from 1977 to 1981. This package was available on the F-100, F-150, Courier, Bronco, Econoline van, and Pinto wagon. The latter two added a “bubble” window at the rear-most corner of the side roofline.
This Bronco Sport is a nod to those special editions. It is 1979 all over again for this 2024 SUV.
However, the Bronco Sport offers a rugged exterior design language starts with a boxy shape that starts with a simple horizontal bar grille wearing the Bronco name across it. Headlamp units start with a circular main unit with an extended lens area for the turn signal/driving lamp.
The side profile is also boxy, but its side window profile is broken up at the C-pillar with an angular shape. All four doors open wide for occupants to get in and out easily. The liftgate can be open fully or with just the back window to access the cargo area quickly. Vertical LED taillights finish out the rear end design.
Aside from the five-color dark red-to-yellow tone side decal, the Free Wheeling model also gets a gray grille with white lettering on top of a red trim, and 17-inch aluminum wheels with Race Red inserts. The nameplate area on the liftgate gets a gray contrasting panel with white lettering.
The Free Wheeling theme is carried into the interior. Black cloth seats also include the five stripe trim on the seatbacks and contrasting stitching. The front seats offer plenty of support, but they were a bit firm in places. Rear seat legroom was OK, while offering superb headroom.
For the driver, the instrument cluster mixes of analog dials with a 6.5-inch digital center screen with some beautiful start-up images promoting the possibilities of your Bronco Sport. The center stack is crowned by a tablet-like infotainment screen powered by Ford’s SYNC 3. All other controls are logical and easy to understand.
As with most Ford vehicles, the transmission is actuated by a knob on the center console. You also get additional controls for the Bronco Sport’s four-wheel-drive system, including G.O.A.T modes. You will find some bright red trim in key parts of the instrument panel, console and door cards, too.
The Bronco Sport offers up to 29.4 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats. When you fold down the rear seats, you get a maximum of 60.6 cubic feet of squared off volume for many uses.
The Free Wheeling model is equipped with a 181-horsepower turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine putting down 190 pound-feet of torque. This engine is connected to an eight-speed automatic transmission and an advanced four-wheel-drive system.
Overall, the 1.5-liter turbocharged engine does a decent job in keeping with traffic. Acceleration is fine and the Bronco Sport does well within the city. We also observed a fuel consumption average of 27.5 MPG.
This Bronco Sport itself rides pretty firm, but flexible. On rougher roads, the Bronco Sport worked hard to keep from transmitting the bumps and ruts into the cabin. In turn, we felt that the Bronco Sport’s overall handling was soft, with some roll and lean in the turns.
The Bronco Sport actually had a tight turning radius on road. However, on-center feel is soft, but controlled. Braking is pretty decent in all conditions. The pedal feel was fine, while sending a solid response to the wheels.
Pricing for the 2024 Ford Bronco Sport starts at $29,795. You have a choice of five trim levels. Our Free Wheeling tester came with a sticker price of $37,695.
The Bronco Sport is becoming a more common sight on our roads lately. Yet, it still competes in the small-ish-to-compact SUV segment. Its competitors include the Jeep Compass, Subaru Crosstrek, Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Toyota Corolla Cross, Mazda CX-30, Hyundai Kona, Kia Seltos, Volkswagen Taos, and the Ford Escape.
The Bronco Sport has become a proper gateway for not only Ford, but for those looking for adventure in their lives. The Free Wheeling model is simply icing on that cake.
Credits: CarSoup Editors