Most so-called adventure-ready compact SUVs are little more than automotive athleisure. They may look the part, but there’s often little substance to back up the mildly rugged style. The 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch is the exception to that.
Look, there’s nothing wrong with wearing some athleisure when you’re running errands. Trainers are more supportive than Chucks, yoga pants are comfy, and with how lightweight super breathable fabrics are, it feels like you’re wearing nothing at all. And just like there’s nothing wrong with any of that, there’s nothing wrong with running errands in a Bronco Sport — it’s roomy, much cooler-looking than the Escape, way easier to live with than a “real” Bronco, and pretty hardcore with this new-for-2025 Sasquatch package.
What’s new for 2025?
The Bronco Sport gets a mid-life refresh this year. Ford changed up the front and rear end a bit, gave the Bronco Sport some new wheel designs, made a bunch of previously optional safety tech now standard, and swapped out the screens you poke, prod, and stare at for larger units. The new 13.2-inch display protruding from the dash now includes the climate controls, but at least they stay on-screen all the time, and there’s still some physical switchgear down lower on the centre stack, thought the volume knob is a bit of a reach. Finally, a 12.3-inch display for the digital gauges replaces the part-digital, part-analog setup from before.
The big news is the Sasquatch package. You can spec it on the top two Bronco Sport trims — the Outer Banks and Badlands. They look the part, with steel bumpers, a bull bar up front, various chunky tow hooks and tie-downs all over, skid plates underneath, and much more. The Goodyear Territory all-terrain tires are shared with the Big Bronco, albeit with a slightly smaller overall diameter on the Sport, and add to the form and function. What exactly the Sasquatch package adds depends on the trim; for instance, it adds a twin-clutch rear diff to the Outer Banks, but that’s already standard on the Badlands. Conversely, if you want the upgraded Bilstein position-sensitive rear dampers, you’re forced to step up to the Badlands. But that’s OK because you get a lot of extra power in the process.
What’s under the hood?
Beneath it all, the Bronco Sport is still pretty much an Escape, sharing its underpinnings with Ford’s perennial second-best-seller. That continues to mean two powertrain options: the Big Bend, Heritage, and Outer Banks trims still come with a 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine, now revised to put out 180 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque. If that’s not enough, the Badlands gets Ford’s 2.0-litre turbo-four, now bumped to 250 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. Regardless of the engine you choose, all-wheel-drive and an eight-speed automatic are standard.
The turbo-four is much better suited to the Bronco Sport. The three-cylinder tends to run out of breath quickly and the soundtrack isn’t particularly pleasant, but the four-cylinder feels vastly punchier in every single scenario involving the skinny pedal. It shoots off the line with authority, it builds power smoothly and holds steadily all throughout the rev range, and it pairs well to the eight-speed automatic — it’s still eager to downshift when you need the power, and it’ll happily fade into the background when you don’t. Perhaps it’s a placebo effect, but based strictly on the seat-of-our-pants butt dyno, the Bronco Sport feels like it has more shove than the Maverick Lobo, despite packing the same engine and weighing about the same.
A hybrid Bronco Sport would be nice, but Ford’s official party line is that it’ll add to much extra weight to the bottom line. We’re inclined to agree; Ford says a hybrid powertrain will add at least 200 pounds to the Bronco Sport, and that’s before the weight difference between trims. The Badlands Sasquatch is 400 pounds heavier than the Big Bend; imagine an extra 200 on top of that.
Living with the Bronco Sport
Unlike competitors like, say, the Honda CR-V Trailsport — which is admittedly a hybrid, but the off-road dress-up does little to improve capability — the Bronco Sport Sasquatch’s upgrades meaningfully add to its off-road prowess. Beyond the obvious laundry list of upgrades, the Sasquatch also gets better transmission and diff cooling, more suspension travel, and revised tech and software — like Rally and Rock Crawl drive modes, and a 360-degree camera system with tire tread overlays. All this means the Sasquatch can easily do things no cute-ute should, and builds up your confidence while doing so.
On pavement, the Sasquatch is well-mannered. Ride comfort is excellent, with only the nastiest of bumps, potholes, and rough pavement getting past the long-travel suspension and squishy sidewalls. Wind and road noise are surprisingly well-managed considering how aggressive the Goodyear Territory tires look — and they’re 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake rated, too. Even fuel economy is reasonable, coming in at 9.4 L/100 km combined.
Style, interior impressions, and cargo space
Ford didn’t mess with the Bronco Sport’s overall style as part of this year’s refresh. Where the Escape on which it’s based is basically an egg on wheels, the Bronco Sport stands out with a boxy silhouette, retro touches like the round headlights and angled C-pillar serving as throwbacks to the original Bronco, and a vibrant colour palate. Not to mention, the Sasquatch’s chunky tires, bash bar, and steel bumpers up the cool factor.
Inside, the Bronco Sport is strongly influenced by its big brother, but it manages to feel a little more upscale. Visibility and especially excellent thanks to the massive and upright windows, the infotainment is easy to use, and the fully digital gauge cluster modernizes the Bronco Sport nicely among those who prefer a new-school approach to instrumentation. The upsized touchscreen means there’s less physical switchgear than before, but at least there’s still a proper volume knob, it’s crisp and responsive, and the infotainment software remains easy to use.
The tall, almost old-school Land Rover Discovery-like roofline means headroom is extremely generous regardless of where you sit, especially in the back, but legroom for adults can be tight. Similarly, cargo space isn’t class-leading — you get 920 litres with the seats up, and 1,846 when stowed — but it’s usable and keeps the tricks from launch. The glass can flip out independently of the hatch, the floor and seatbacks are all rubber — you can spec a full carpet delete on the Sport Sasquatch, too — but the novelty of the optional cargo divider wore off. It’s a nifty idea, serving as a second level for the cargo floor and it slides out and converts into a picnic table, but there’s no dedicated storage area for this extra piece inside the Bronco Sport. At least, not one that we could find. We almost forgot about it twice when we needed to yank it out and haul some longer items. Also, where’s the power liftgate?!
Final thoughts
Ford’s final tweaks to the 2025 Bronco Sport lineup are to the trim levels. The Big Bend now serves as the entry-level trim, kicking off at $38,795. Our 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch tester, on the other hand, tops out at a hefty $57,020 as-tested. That’s a hefty chunk of change, but remember: where other dressed-up cute-utes talk the talk, the baby Sasquatch walks the walk, too.
