Ford Bronco Sport revealed

While the new Ford Bronco has taken much of the limelight today, the smaller Ford Bronco Sport has also been rolled out today in the USA.

And sadly again, what shapes as an appealing light-duty mid-size SUV isn’t going to be available to the Australian buying public.

“The Ford Bronco Sport isn’t being offered in right-hand drive, and so won’t be available in Australia or New Zealand,” was the official line from Ford Australia.

Again, it seems the cost of building a small run of right-hand drive vehicles within a production system primarily focussed on mass manufacture of left-hand drivers has tripped up a local opportunity.

Not that it’s technically impossible. The Bronco Sport is based on fundamentally the same monocoque architecture as the new Ford Escape SUV that launches within months in Australia.

But Ford has definitely given the underpinnings a through workover to help the Bronco Sport try and live up to the ‘go over any terrain’ (GOAT) reputation of the nameplate.

Unlike some mid-size SUVs, the Ford Bronco Sport comes standard with all-wheel drive across the line-up (no front-drivers here!) and there’s a twin-clutch rear-drive unit with differential lock at the top of the range.

The Bronco Sport adopts the same characterful model names as the Bronco, coming as a base model, Big Bend, Outer Banks, Badlands and First Edition.

Pricing has only been revealed for North America, starting at $US28,155 ($A40,587), where a $US100 ($A144) reservation can be made on any model in the range from today. US deliveries are expected to start late in 2020.

The Ford Bronco Sport measures up at 4387mm long, at least 1783mm high, 2088mm wide (including mirrors) and rolls on a 2670mm wheelbase. Maximum towing capacity is only 907kg and maximum payload 453kg.

No interior dimensions are given but Ford claims the Bronco Sport can accommodate two 27.5-inch mountain bikes upright. Most people ride 29ers these days … just saying.

The Ford Bronco Sport is offered with the choice of two turbo-petrol engines familiar in Australia; a 1.5-litre triple-cylinder making at least 134kW/258Nm and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder offering 182kW/373Nm, which is reserved for the Badlands and First Edition.

There is no sign of the petrol-electric hybrid powertrain that will launch in Australia with the new Escape.

An eight-speed auto comes standard with the 1.5, while an uprated version with oil-cooler, manual shifting via paddles and Sport mode is offered with the 2.0.

No detail is offered on the range-wide 4x4 system, but the twin-clutch system fitted to the Badlands and First Edition can divert virtually all rear axle torque to either wheel. Up to seven GOAT modes are offered within the Bronco Sport’s terrain management system.

Bronco Sport also offers Trail Control – an off-road cruise control – and Rock Crawl that tunes the electric-assist power steering for precise slow-speed work. An off-road camera with lens washer is available.

Underpinning the Bronco Sport is a combination of MacPherson struts up front and independent semi-trailing arms at the rear. Badlands and First Edition suspensions can be upgraded for improved off-road capability.

The exterior design of the Bronco Sport is obviously inspired by big bro and includes the signature cartridge grille, round headlamps and flat bodysides.

Inside, neat touches include LED floodlamps in the tailgate, zippered seatback pockets and even a built-in bottle opener.

A flip-glass rear window, low-load floor cargo area, overlanding-ready roof rack with capacity to make roof-top tent camping easy, and front fender peaks that allow the driver to see the corners of the vehicle easily from behind the wheel are other design features touted by Ford.

Bronco Sport features a SYNC3 infotainment system with 8.0-inch touch screen and compatibility with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Other available technology features include Ford+Alexa and SiriusXM satellite radio.

The Ford Co-Pilot360 suite of advanced driver-assist technologies is standard across the line-up, including pre-collision assist with automatic emergency braking featuring pedestrian detection.

A bunch more features are available including voice-activated touch-screen navigation, Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control with stop-and-go, lane-centring and speed sign recognition.