COMPACT Overlander

A LITTLE FORD YOU COULD REALLY ESCAPE IN

- FRANK MARKUS

Every Jeep model carries a spark of the original flame kindled by the iconic WWII Willys original. This makes it way easier to sell Jeeps, even the ones that don’t still resemble the primordial jeep.

Ford (which incidentally built almost as many original jeeps for the war as Willys) wants in on that action. So it’s reviving its own nostalgic icon—the Bronco— and aiming it squarely at the Wrangler. But only one in four Jeeps sold in the U.S. is a Wrangler, and Ford needs its Bronco-mania to entice a wider audience. Behold the Escape-based Bronco Sport.

Escape Bones, Bronco Muscle

Yes, the Bronco Sport shares about 80 percent of its parts with the Escape, not the Bronco pater familias, but the sun never hits most of them. The two trucklets certainly look nothing alike. The 1.5-liter three-cylinder and 2.0-liter four-banger turbo engines and their power ratings carry over from Escape, though torque is downrated slightly for the Bronco Sport (2 and 5 lb-ft, respectively). The eight-speed automatic transmission carries over, too—with calibration changes—and there are two all-wheel-drive systems: the Escape’s and a torque-vectoring one for the Badlands trim level.

The suspension features unique control arms and knuckles that increase the suspension travel and broaden the front and rear track by 0.8 inches, bringing the tires right out even with the bodywork (rendering Bronco Sport unsalable in Europe). Unique springs and special 46mm-diameter monotube shocks greatly increase the oil capacity and hence the heat dissipation of these shocks when running fast over rough terrain.