2025 Bronco Sport First Drive Review: Shockingly Good

When we first drove the Ford Bronco Sport on its release in 2020, we were pleasantly surprised at how much it deserved the Bronco name. Since its release, we’ve come across a few out in the wild going places many assume are the reserve of “serious” body-on-frame off-roaders. For 2025, the little off-road-biased crossover gets a big update, and Ford is doubling down on the idea that the Bronco Sport is the Bronco’s smaller sibling. Don’t be fooled by naysayers: the Bronco Sport is an incredibly competent off-road vehicle, and it just got better.

There are new off-road trims, new off-road modes, and an infotainment update on offer based around a standard all-wheel-drive system and a choice of a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine or 2.0-liter turbocharged power plant (exclusive to the Badlands trim). We spent a day with Ford driving trims using both engines on the roads of San Diego County and out on the trails in our home stomping ground, the Anza Borrego desert area.

First Drive events provide our initial impressions of a vehicle in a restricted environment under certain time constraints. Keep an eye on DrivingOnRoad for our comprehensive Test Drive review which will follow soon.

What’s Changed For This Model Year?

The biggest functional updates to the Bronco Sport for venturing off-road are accessory-ready modular bumpers, extra steel underbody protection, and the addition of accessory switches inside to control additional accessories. A new high-performance Sasquatch package is available for Outer Banks models as well as the Badlands trim, which includes a new Rallye G.O.A.T mode for high-speed off-road action, a twin-clutch rear-drive unit to help when things get slippery, and a locking differential. Standard on all models now is the Off-Road G.O.A.T mode and Trail One-Pedal Drive to go with the existing Trail Control mode.

Inside the Bronco Sport is a now standard 13.2-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system which now includes wireless Apple Carplay and Android Autod. Also standard is Ford’s comprehensive CoPilot360+ safety technology suite.

Style: Bulking Up

The Bronco Sport’s revised wheel design and the new modular bumpers add purpose to the crossovers style as well as utility, in the case of the bumpers and extra underbody protection. The Badlands trim comes exclusively with 17-inch wheels as that’s about as big as you would want on an off-road vehicle, so you can fit tires with a thicker sidewall, but other trims have 18-inch wheels available.

One lovely touch which should be extended beyond the Badlands trim are the integrated tie-down latches on the front fenders. They’re there to help tie down gear transported on the rooftop. They’re rated to support 150 pounds, and should become standard, in our opinion.

Interior: Doesn’t Try Too hard

As the Bronco Sport is designed to do double duty as a daily driver and the weekend fun vehicle, the interior doesn’t lean too hard into the off-road aesthetic, but there are telltale signs Ford has thought things through, including a rubber floor underneath the carpet and MOLLE straps and a pouch on the back of the front seats for extra and useful storage. Unlike the refreshed Maverick we also drove over a few days in San Diego, the interior has a lot of plastic but doesn’t feel cheap compared to, say, the Ford Maverick, and the rear cargo space is fully lined with rubber.

It’s also surprisingly spacious until you remember the Bronco Sport is built on the same platform as the Ford Escape. On top of that, the seats are remarkably comfortable for long days out. We spent around four hours on the road in the Bronco Sport with around another four hours bouncing around off-road and at no point found ourselves needing to get out for a stretch and walk around.

Infotainment: Ford Gets It

If you’re driving a lot, a bigger screen is ideal for navigation, so you can just glance to the side, and never have to peer at the map. Like the 2025 refreshed Maverick, the Bronco Sport now has a 13.2-inch touchscreen as standard, along with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. If you’re off-roading and using camera views through the available 360-Degree Camera and trailview, then the bigger screen is necessary. Ford’s Sync 4 infotainment system is well-rounded out and intuitive to use when you need to dig into the menus, and the 12.4-inch digital driver display is one of the clearest and prettiest we’ve used.

Powertrain & Driving: Everything You Need

We drove both the 1.5-liter EcoBoost and 2.0-liter EcoBoost models on and off-road, and the 1.5-liter engine with its 180 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque is genuinely not a penalty engine. The upgrade to the 2.0-liter engine makes a difference with 250 hp and 280 pound-feet on tap, but that’s only going to show if you plan to regularly push the Bronco Sport hard off road (hence why it’s also tied to specific trims). On the street, the 1.5-liter engine matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission is more than capable of getting the little crossover into traffic and up to speed comfortably.

As you would expect with off-road-biased suspension and higher-walled tires, the ride is supple on the road and couldn’t give a factory full of fudge about the state of the road surface it’s riding on. However, the chassis is nicely tuned and we didn’t experience any excessive lean or wallowing through corners. It drives like a well-sorted little crossover, and we demand nothing more on the road.

Off The Road 1.5-Liter EcoBoost

We took our first ride out into the desert with a Black Diamond-packaged Bronco Sport equipped with the 1.5-liter EcoBoost. It was perfectly happy pushing through sandy parts of the trail, only losing traction when pushing through corners with more enthusiasm than we would normally exude without eyes ahead of us on a public trail. When tires started to slide in Off-Road mode, the Bronco Sport’s electronic aids didn’t panic and just helped keep things predictable.

We were directed down a trail into a tight canyon with a warning sign recommending high ground-clearance vehicles only. The different trims have different ride heights, but we got through the rocky area and tight turns without any scrapes as the prominent hood is a great guide as to where the front tires are. We got through the technical area with a rear wheel in the air, but the throttle and brakes where easy to modulate and we left the area impressed.

Off the Road 2.0-Liter EcoBoost + Sasquatch

Our second ride out was on a Sasquatch package-equipped Badlands model, and cruising along easy trails wasn’t a night and day difference. A nice touch is that the (optional) trail camera showing the view from the bumper doesn’t turn off after you reach a certain speed anymore. That’s not useful for driving at speed, but means it doesn’t switch off and need turning on again when you reach a steep obstacle.

We were the car pulled out to tackle a steep, rocky incline, so there aren’t any photos of this specifically, but when sitting and looking up, I did start to question if this was the right vehicle for something so steep and technical. There was about to be a good view of the sky through the windshield in our future and a lot of rock under the tires. “Trust the vehicle,” I was told, and went for it.

This was where the extra torque showed and the suspension and drivetrain had their first chance to show off. There was also a short distance at the top with a big drop on the other side, so it wasn’t a case of just sending it. With way more confidence than expected, the Bronco Sport happily scrambled up the rock face, and we got a nice look at the blue sky. Job done.

Ford, understandably, wanted to show off the Rally G.O.A.T mode and set up an autocross course that went from reasonably firm dirt with a sandy overlay to a deeply grooved sandy area well beaten up already by a succession of enthusiastic journalists. Of course, the little four-cylinder Bronco Sport isn’t going to handle running at high speed like the Bronco Raptor through the desert, but it was ridiculously fun to let the Bronco Sport rip.

Curiously, it does handle to a degree like the Bronco Raptor in the way it turns in and how you can encourage it to turn in with a little braking then push on the throttle and let it hook up in the corner before pushing out again. While it wouldn’t keep up with a Raptor, the Bronco Sport’s nimbleness and hot-hatch level of power makes Rallye mode a lot of fun. What we might have here is the bulked-up hot hatch of the desert.

Verdict & Pricing: Best In Class

While other automakers are adapting crossovers to meet the demand for lifestyle vehicles that can get you to the campsite, hiking trail, lake, and so on, Ford has used its platform to create a crossover capable of going off-road for off-road sake, as well as meeting the lifestyle criteria. The Big Bend trim starts at $29,995 – but there is a catch: it comes with all-season tires and the upgrade to all-terrain tires is $1,820. Instead, we would add the $2,570 Black Diamond package that adds the tires as well as steel bumpers, recovery hooks, the brush guard (easily removed with four bolts) and a bunch of underbody protection along with Class II Trailer Tow Package and a full-size spare.

The Outer Banks trim is $35,295 and will suit most buyers planning to go off-road beyond dirt tracks. The Sasquatch package would add another $3,535, and it’s a big upgrade in terms of drivetrain, suspension, and underbody protection. While the options for trims and packages get a little complicated, Ford appears to have built a structure that can meet almost any need (although, it does want you to have the towing package whether you tow or not). Overall, the Bronco Sport exceeded our expectations.