Watch Ford bounce the new Bronco around Moab and the Rubicon

The 2021 Bronco is finally here, and now Ford released real-life footage of the new off-roader bouncing though some of the South West’s most iconic trails.

These clips are great for getting a real-world idea of how the Ranger-based Bronco fairs on familiar ground, as those who’ve been there know the bumper-bashing obstacles by feel as much as they do by sight, too. The lines taken by the Ranger will differ from a similarly-specced Wrangler, and both of which will differ than that guy with a Suzuki Samari on 40s. But when you’ve seen dozens of different machines all tackle the likes of Moab’s Golden Crack or Rubicon’s Big Sluice, it’s fun seeing how the new kid on the block sorts everything out, and thanks to Bronco Nation and the Bronco6G forum, we have just that peek into the new Bronco’s chops.

A few things to note: even though the independent front suspension will always be the bottleneck for the Bronco’s rock crawling aspirations, the refined IFS donated by the Ranger has been tweaked into a capable long-travel package. Just look at how much it swallows those 33-inch Goodyear “totally-not-the-Wrangler” all-terrains into the front fenders! The rear axle is still doing most of the work, but the Bronco isn’t teetering on two tires as most trucks and SUVs do once their limited suspension travel is used up. Making that task easier is Ford’s crawler gear, with these manual-trans Broncos having no drama modulating power to the wheels even while aiming for the sky in several of the climbs.

For more videos, check out the YouTube pages for Bronco6G and The Bronco Nation for more clips.