“Dude, that’s sick” has to be the unofficial slogan of the 2024 Ford Bronco Everglades, as I heard it from passers by no less than three times in my time with it. With topographic fender graphics, bespoke grey 17-inch wheels carrying 35-inch mud terrain tires, “high clearance” suspension and fenders revealing bright yellow Bilstein shocks, a big intake snorkel, and a legit Warn winch hanging off a heavy duty front bumper, this Bronco does, in fact, look pretty sick.
With all that very functional equipment dictating its style, it is possibly the most badass Bronco available short of a Raptor. No other Bronco comes with a winch, which functions as a badge of legitimacy as much as it does a useful tool. It has about the same water-fording rating as the Raptor, too, with extended breathers to protect its transmission, transfer case, and differentials in up to three feet of water.
Both differentials have electronic lockers, and the rear sway bar has an electronic disconnect for more extreme articulation. Ford’s G.O.A.T. drive modes and a very clever trail control system all help to make mincemeat out of even the most challenging terrain. I sampled the same system in the Ranger Raptor last year and was floored; it’s basically cruise control for off-roading and it’s genius.
On the road, the Bronco Everglades is a steamroller. It rides decidedly firm, feeling as though its massive rolling stock and taut, position-sensitive, remote-reservoir shocks are pounding the road flat. It’s well-controlled and handles its heft remarkably well, and it does a great job making big heaves in the road—like speed bumps, railroad tracks, or the entirety of Toronto’s infamous Gardiner Expressway—feel like nothing. Small stuff feels just like the big stuff; everything is hammered flat with a sharp thud and it’s gone, but it’s not as impressively slick as the setup in the Raptor. This still feels very much like a tough, truck-flavored truck.
Also unlike the Raptor family, the Bronco Everglades makes do exclusively with four-cylinder power. Ford went with its 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbo-four engine in this application to not only partially offset the extra hundred-or-so pounds hanging off the nose on account of the winch, but also because a lighter engine makes for a slightly higher payload capacity. For this same reason, the Everglades is only available as a four-door; this is meant to be the max overlander of the family.
Despite having so much mass to haul around, the four-cylinder never feels inadequate. It sounds surprisingly meaty and happily hustles the big Bronco via shorter 4.7 gearing, acting through Ford’s ubiquitous and hit-or-miss 10-speed automatic—file this one under hit. On cheap gas, it puts out 275 horsepower and 315 pound-feet of torque. It rises by 25 hp and 10 lb-ft on the high-test stuff.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll keep saying it. With these EcoBoost engines, you get Eco or Boost—not both. To be clear, this isn’t limited to Ford by any means, but they branded it. The trouble is that the 2.3L four-cylinder has to boost so much to get this beast to move with any authority that it ends up with a pretty fierce thirst. Maybe it’d do better on premium; I averaged 15.3 L/100 km combined in my abridged time with it.
And on that note, I had to cut my time short with this Bronco early due to a minor, but nonetheless very irritating fault. Something in one of the back doors broke, causing it to rattle like a city bus with the window all the way up. That’s why it’s cracked in some of the photos here; it was that maddening. I’d usually look the other way on small stuff like this, but this isn’t an outside case—and in my experience, this type of minor-but-irritating fault is unfortunately common with the Bronco.
To wit: my mom has a base, two-door Bronco with the manual, and she loves it. It needed a transmission rebuild at 3,500 kilometres to rectify a disconcerting scraping noise in the transmission, determined to be the fault of an improperly installed synchro. It’s a known issue. It went back to the dealer a month later with a failing clutch hydraulic line. This didn’t stop her partner from buying a second Bronco—a four-door Big Bend—which ended up having a problematic passenger seat, a finicky rear door, and failing headliner material. It hasn’t even had its first service as of this writing.
These are charming, lovable, and incredibly capable trucks. The engineering that’s gone into them is second to none. It’s got iconic retro style, unbelievable off-road capability, and extremely impressive road manners given how well-tailored this thing is for off-roading. At $74,915 as-tested, this Bronco Everglades’ price tag isn’t a small ask—and it makes these defects all the more frustrating. Otherwise, it’s actually a pretty excellent value proposition compared to something like, say, the Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter—another purpose-built overlanding rig, albeit with a bed.
The 2024 Ford Bronco Everglades is an impressive, well-executed overland machine. I just wish the build quality was as impressive as the rest of the package, because the work that went into it deserves it. All the more impressive to have heard “dude, that’s sick” so many times given that I only had it for a day, but unfortunately, mine was the wrong kind of sick.
