The upcoming Ford Bronco and its baby sibling, Bronco Sport, have been inspiring a lot of dreaming around these parts.
We’re even dreaming of a Bronco that dances.
No, that’s not a quarantine-inspired fever dream. It’s inspired by a new report from Motor1 that suggests that the next Bronco will, indeed, be able to two-step. So to speak.
Seems that yesterday, the folks over at Motor1 reported on a trademark application from Ford for something dubbed “G.O.A.T modes”, as in “greatest of all time” – a phrase sports fans will be familiar with, especially if they’ve ever argued with New England fans (like Sully from Southy) about Tom Brady’s place in football history.
The description in the application details “drive systems comprised of automatic controls for vehicle chassis and powertrain controllers, integrated as an integral part of a passenger vehicle.” Apparently that dry-sounding technical speak has a deeper meaning.
A patent application from Ford that refers to active suspension parts could be related to the trademark filing. It dates back to last June and it’s named Systems and Methods for Vehicle Dynamics Assignment. Bronco isn’t mentioned by name, but there are references to off-road driving, as well as to controls that engage and disengage four-wheel drive, lower or raise the vehicle’s ride height, and allow the driver to disconnect the anti-roll bars. That last element pertains to off-road situations requiring greater suspension articulation, similar to how Jeep offers the ability to disconnect sway bars on the Wrangler and Gladiator.
So even if the name Bronco isn’t mentioned, this system seems tailor-made to the upcoming off-road-oriented SUV.
Sounds like standard modern off-road tech so far. Here’s where the “dancing” part comes in. Sentences in the patent filing include this description of a “Music” mode: “To dynamically adjust a suspension height of the vehicle to achieve a target suspension height computed as a function of characteristics of a music tone or beat that is desired by the vehicle driver.”
And there’s also an Entertainment Suspension Mode described thusly: “…triggered by a vehicle driver’s desire for non-traditional performance inputs, for example, entertaining.”
Other possible modes sound like standard fare – one for hauling a load, another for adjusting to the terrain. Most modern off-roaders and soft-roaders have some sort of drive mode meant to manage terrain. So now we’re back in the world of the mundane, until we see this: Daredevil Mode.
One can only hope an image of Evil Knievel on the dash or mode-selector marks the choice, because here’s what the filing says about it: “the vehicle’s suspension height may be mapped to the target suspension height such that the vehicle can be driven on, for example, two and/or three wheels without overturning to achieve the daredevil driving experience.”
As noted by the forum that first reported on this, that mode may just be meant to get you out of an off-road jam.
It’s not a given these modes will make production, but for the sake of hope for a post-pandemic future that embraces the fun we’ve been robbed of so far this year, we sure hope so.
[Image: BroncoSportForum]
This thing looks like an old Ford Escape.
Good, because that’s exactly what the smaller “baby” Bronco Sport (pictured) is. It shares the chassis and drive train of the Escape/Corsair. The larger Bronco will be the Wrangler competitor.
That’s exactly what I like about it :)
High hopes for this vehicle.
I didn’t really understand all that, it seems like an awful lot of off-road tech for a vehicle that will rarely see any serious off-roading. I would be happy with just a beefier suspension to aid with poor roads and trails
A solid rear axle does the two-step pretty nicely.
I’m sure that’s part of it. Like getting the solid axle to mimic an independent by active suspension combined with sway bar disconnect, while also mimicking a sway bar, which both would enhance control in a high-speed drift.
This page tells me all I need to know about the veracity of any claims made by this source:
https://www.motor1.com/info/about-us/
They spend far more time touting their content management system and the number of FaceSpace likes as they do talking about anything else.
As long as this vehicle does not roll over because it uses Firestone tires, I’ll be more than happy.
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“Music” mode: “To dynamically adjust a suspension height of the vehicle to achieve a target suspension height computed as a function of characteristics of a music tone or beat that is desired by the vehicle driver.”
Can you explain that to me?
Sounds like so much marketing gobblety gook…
Like if a base heavy song comes on the suspension is gonna do what?
If your XM keys up “Hotel California” – then what?
Yawn…just release these two already so we can pan it for being a typical Ford hack job with cost cutting and awful, copy cat styling.
Release the Bronco and skip the “Bronco Sport”.
Why can’t we have both?
Bronco II’s are solid offroad and are fairly spendy nowadays when you find them compared to their competition. I’d argue that with the Twin I Beams out front they are better on the trail than their larger sibling (Remember, the II was never sold alongside the original Bronco) due to their short wheelbase and tidy dimensions. Had a friend with an EFI 5.0 swapped one back when I had my FJ80 and it was a beast. Owned a 2.9 equipped one long ago that was plenty powerful (My heads never cracked but it was an issue…the aftermarket has fixed it now though).
Point being, the Sport may be fun.
I’d only want a Bronco II with a solid axle swap that had a much wider track than stock and some flares to cover the fatter tires. That should make it just a little less tippy.
As someone who suffered with Bronco II ownership as a teen, I am amused by your actual success with this particular Ford. I am happy for you, but your comment was triggering.
Ours defied pretty much everyone else’s experiences. 350k trouble free miles and I had it sideways at about 60 one day and it stayed wheels down.
a prop rod..lol and right in the way, too
It reminds me of an updated Escape…but am interested to see how it pans out.