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Intercooled Turbo Premium Unleaded I-4, Intercooled Turbo Regular Unleaded I-3
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Photo: Ron Sessions
The Ford Bronco Sport competes in the Small SUV market segment. According to data collected from verified new-vehicle buyers for the JD Power 2022 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, 50 percent of new Ford Bronco Sport buyers are male (vs. 42 percent for the segment), and the median age of a new Bronco Sport buyer is 55 years (vs. 54).
As part of the APEAL Study, owners rated the Bronco Sport in 10 primary categories. Listed below in descending order, you'll find their preferences, from their most favorite thing about the vehicle to their least favorite:
In the 2022 APEAL Study, the Bronco Sport ranks highest out of 19 rank-eligible models in the Small SUV segment.
In the following sections, our independent expert analyzes a Bronco Sport Heritage Limited Edition equipped with the optional cargo management system.
The test vehicle's price was $46,400, including the $1,595 destination charge.
Photo: Ron Sessions
A unicorn among Bronco Sports, Ford built less than 2,000 units of the 2023 Heritage Limited Edition. It combines the retro styling touches of the very first 1966 Bronco with the added power and off-road ability (such as a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine, advanced AWD, off-road suspension, 29-inch knobby tires, and underbody skid plates) of the Badlands trim and the comfort and convenience upgrades (including leather seat coverings, heated power front seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and dual-zone automatic climate control) of the Outer Banks trim.
As with its larger, truck-based Bronco sibling, all Bronco Sport models feature the squared-off flanks, tall stance, and short overhangs characteristic of off-road-capable SUVs. Indeed, in the 2022 APEAL Study, Bronco Sport buyers rated exterior styling as their favorite aspect of Ford's retro-inspired compact SUV.
The 2023 Bronco Sport Heritage and Heritage Limited Edition models amplify the way-back feel with the 1960s-inspired front door nameplate script and a white-painted grille, alloy wheels, safari roof, and lift-gate "BRONCO" block lettering.
Retro-look Robin's Egg Blue, Peak Blue, or Yellowstone Metallic exterior paint hues add to the throwback theme.
After driving the Bronco Sport Heritage Limited Edition for a week, it became apparent why buyers rarely choose white for wheels and the grille. After just a few miles, the white trim shows dirt and road grime. If I had a dollar for every insect carcass splattered on the white grille, I'd have been well on my way to a down payment for purchasing a Bronco Sport. Unless washed frequently, the SUV's grille and wheels often looked speckled and soiled, even with most of my time driving the Bronco Sport occurring on paved roads. It's a dirty world out there. That said, when sparkling clean, the Heritage Limited Edition attracts a lot of attention.
One of the primary reasons to opt for the Bronco Sport Heritage Limited Edition model (if you can find one for sale) is its delightful 2.0-liter EcoBoost 4-cylinder turbo engine. With 250 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque on tap, the eager 4-cylinder can take the Bronco Sport from rest to 60 mph in about 6.5 seconds, according to my stopwatch. Also standard with Badlands trim, this engine has good around-town response and plenty of top end for merging onto fast-moving freeways or overtaking on a two-lane road.
And it sounds good in the process with muted but melodious tunes emanating from the engine compartment and exhausts, aided by "performance" sounds piped in via the audio system. The turbo spools quickly, so low-end torque is quite usable if picking one's way over tricky off-road terrain or just poking along with the ebb and flow of the daily commute. An 8-speed automatic transmission changes gears with precision.
Here's the kicker: the 2.0-liter is only available with the Heritage Limited Edition or Badlands trims. All other Bronco Sports get a passable but somewhat agricultural-sounding 1.5-liter EcoBoost 3-cylinder turbo power plant squeezing out 181 hp and just 190 pound-feet of torque. I previously drove a Bronco Sport with this engine, and it needed nearly 9 seconds to achieve 60 mph from rest. It also works with an 8-speed automatic.
Logic would have it that the smaller engine gets better fuel economy, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it does. However, with a combined city/highway rating of 26 mpg, the 1.5-liter doesn't exactly shine as a fuel-economy champ compared to the 2.0-liter's 23 mpg combined EPA rating. During a week of mixed residential and freeway driving, I managed an average of 24.2 mpg in the 2.0-liter-equipped Heritage Limited Edition.
Photo: Ron Sessions
Part of the allure of SUVs is the promise of adventure at pavement's end. The Bronco Sport's standard AWD is a big help on-road in wintery weather and other low-traction conditions. But Ford reserves the real off-pavement capability for the Badlands and Heritage Limited Edition models with their standard all-terrain tires, an added inch of ground clearance, underbody skid plates, and an advanced AWD system featuring a twin-clutch, torque-vectoring rear differential.
The Bronco Sport Heritage Limited Edition's 29-inch, knobby-tread 235/65R17 Falken Wildpeak All-Terrain off-road tires with a tread design that wraps partway up the tire sidewall provided good bite on the rocky and gravel-strewn dirt trails of Southern Arizona's Catalina Mountains foothills. It was reassuring that Ford saw fit to include a full-size spare tire under the cargo floor of this model. It's not the quietest tire for on-road use, but as all-terrain tires go, not too noisy or intrusive at highway speeds.
While the Bronco Sport shares its bones with the Ford Escape soft-roader, the Heritage Limited Edition's extra inch of ground clearance allowed it to pass over most hard obstacles, and on the few occasions the underbody got snagged on a rock or hump, the protective metal skid plates prevented damage to something expensive.
In tighter canyons where previous monsoon rains had pushed larger rocks and boulders into the wash, I made use of the Heritage Limited Edition's Trail Control, a low-speed off-road cruise control that, once set to the desired speed, controls the throttle and brakes, allowing the driver to concentrate on choosing the best path and steering around obstacles.
Another Heritage Limited Edition feature, a low-mounted 180-degree front camera, was perfect for peeking over steep hills before cresting them. With its ability to deliver just the right amount of drive torque individually to each rear wheel based on available traction, the Heritage Limited Edition's twin-clutch rear differential helped keep wheelspin to a minimum over uneven terrain.
Also helpful were the advanced AWD and Goes Over Any Terrain (GOAT) drive modes. Whereas lesser-equipped Bronco Sports make do with Normal, Eco, Sport, Slippery, and Sand modes, available to the Heritage Limited Edition test vehicle were Mud/Ruts and Rock Crawl modes. I used the Rock Crawl mode, which locked the AWD system front to rear and the rear differential side to side and managed throttle inputs and transmission shifts for slow and steady perambulation over one tricky section.
On pavement, the Heritage Limited Edition's off-road suspension delivered somewhat bounding ride motions, noticeable pitching on less-than-even pavement, and body lean in corners. You get used to it after a while, but the ride was more animated than the calm and collected on-road experience in a similarly sized Toyota RAV4 AWD Woodlands Edition I drove shortly after that.
Overall, the Bronco Sport's steering was well-weighted and precise, and its brakes were easily modulated for good control. Still, the top-of-pedal response could be sharper.
When JD Power first reviewed the Bronco Sport in 2021, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) had not published safety ratings for the SUV. Ratings are available now, however.
The NHTSA gave the 2023 Bronco Sport the highest-possible 5 stars overall, with 5 stars for frontal-impact and side-impact performance and 4 stars for rollover resistance. That also tops the full-size Ford Bronco, which achieved only 4 stars for frontal impacts and 3 stars for rollover resistance.
The IIHS also highly rates the Bronco Sport's crashworthiness, giving it the highest-possible Good scores in all crashworthiness tests and Superior ratings in all crash-avoidance and -mitigation categories. The IIHS also gave the 2023 Bronco Sport a "Top Safety Pick+" rating for the 2022 calendar year.
As is the trend with other compact SUVs, the Bronco Sport comes standard with a decent roster of safety and advanced driver assistance systems. The Ford Co-Pilot 360 system includes a forward-collision warning system with automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assistance, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic warning, and automatic high-beam headlights. Optional with the Heritage Edition, Big Bend, Outer Banks, and Badlands trims and standard with the Heritage Limited Edition is Ford Co-Pilot 360 Assist, which includes adaptive cruise control with lane-centering and automatic emergency steering and traffic-sign recognition.
The large glass area of the Bronco Sport generally allows for good outward visibility. However, the center high-mounted stoplight (CHMSL) and rear wiper block rearward vision somewhat. The standard rear cross-traffic warning system is a big help here. Still, only the Heritage Limited Edition comes with ultrasonic rear parking sensors that beep more fervently the closer the SUV's rear bumper comes to an obstacle. And Ford limits all versions of the Bronco Sport to a standard reversing camera; a surround-view camera that gives a 360-degree overhead view of the Bronco Sport and its immediate surroundings is not available.
Photo: Ron Sessions
The Bronco Sport is the Bronco for daily use. You don't have to climb up to get into it, its smaller size helps with around-town maneuverability, the ride motions are more soft-roader than hard-core truck, and its fuel economy, while not sensational, is far better than that of the full-size Bronco. Yet, it's got that classic Bronco kickin' horse look, especially with the new-for-2023 Heritage and Heritage Limited Edition models. Even though the Bronco Sport shares its unit-body construction, transverse engine layout, and most of its underpinnings with the more pedestrian-looking compact Ford Escape crossover, the Bronco Sport's retro-inspired exterior pays homage to the original, rugged, truck-based, first-generation Broncos of the 1960s.
Ron Sessions is a seasoned vehicle evaluator with more than three decades of experience. He has penned hundreds of road tests for automotive and consumer websites, enthusiast magazines, newsletters, technical journals, and newspapers.
