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Throw in a glossy black grille and an unpainted lower bumper, and there’s just a lot going on. The convex painted panels beneath the headlights clash with the sharp hoodline, while the middle grille looks like an afterthought. However, the front end of the Bronco Sport is a little bit of a mess when it comes to surfacing and materials. The rear end may be a bit simple, but it’s properly handsome and utilitarian. Things look good around the back as well, with pleasantly detailed tail lights, separately-opening rear glass, and a bare rear bumper with no paint to scratch when loading and unloading bulky cargo. While bare cladding is a bit played-out in the compact crossover segment, it fits really well with the Bronco Sport’s aesthetic. Adding to that is the use of chunky unpainted plastic cladding that elevates the visual height of the vehicle. Best of all, it compliments the stepped beltline perfectly to give this small family crossover a pleasingly tall appearance. I’m a sucker for a stepped roofline, and the Bronco Sport doesn’t disappoint here. Let’s start with the squared-off silhouette. What we have here is an upright compact crossover with soft edges and unpainted bumpers, just enough rugged touches to seem active without being overbearing.

While the Bronco Sport draws heavily on ‘60s Bronco styling cues, the silhouette and proportions are more reminiscent of another previous Ford product: The first-generation Escape. The area behind the arch liner seems like a pretty great slush trap in wintry conditions and raises some questions on whether the arch liner design might accelerate corrosion. The rear wheel arch liners on my test vehicle don’t fit particularly tightly around the lower forward edge of each wheel arch. The second is a little more glaring in terms of corrosion potential. While a little bit of exposed primer in certain vehicle areas isn’t the end of the world, the rear chassis rails seem particularly vulnerable to chips given their location inboard of the rear wheels. The first is slightly spotty paint application on the rear chassis rails, a somewhat interesting oversight. Speaking of close looks inside the rear wheel arches, a few interesting decisions stand out. It seems like simple hex hardware holds the front deflectors on, while the rears are attached using a combination of hex hardware and clips. Clearance is impeded by plastic wind deflectors ahead of each wheel arch, although they look fairly easily removable. Taking a closer look at the underbody reveals some curious details. Sometimes simplicity is key, and Ford hasn’t complicated the Bronco Sport’s suspension any more than necessary. There’s nothing groundbreaking going on here, just MacPherson struts up front and a fairly simple independent rear suspension, but this is a mass-market compact crossover so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel here. The rear suspension arms are simple and stamped, the divorced rear coil springs sit nicely inboard, and everything suspension-wise looks very sound in principle. The Bronco Sport does gain special dampers compared to the Escape, but the suspension components are largely similar and thus largely brilliant. Then again, Ford is known for not covering up engines in transverse applications, so this is really just more of the same. There’s no felt hood blanket, no engine cover, just a bit of felt on the firewall and that’s it. Three-cylinder engines aren’t exactly known for being quiet, so it’s a bit of a surprise to see a relative lack of engine insulation on the Bronco Sport. Output-wise, it’s right in the same ballpark as the larger naturally-aspirated engines in the Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4, but features a significantly earlier torque peak. Hitched to an eight-speed automatic and driving all four wheels through a reactive all-wheel-drive system, this motor is a bit of an oddball. It’s a little three-cylinder lump that’s been turbocharged to produce 181 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 190 lb.-ft.

All Bronco Sport models, save for the top Badlands trim, get Ford’s 1.5-liter Ecoboost engine.

#Ford edge front license plate skin#

Given how the Bronco Sport is based on the Escape, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that things under the skin are nigh-on identical. So how well does the Bronco Sport blend on-road refinement with blocky good looks? I borrowed one in Outer Banks trim to find out. It’s more about looking stylish in the Target parking lot than traversing Hell’s Revenge. While the big Bronco is an all-American off-road icon that gets the people going, the Bronco Sport is born to be mild.

Those are the sort of mononymous shoes the Ford Bronco Sport has to fill. Imagine how hard life would be if your parents named you Beyoncé.