I didn’t expect to love the 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Sasquatch. Like many car enthusiasts, I underestimated the little crossover before ever I drove it. I joked that it was a Ford Escape, since the two share a platform, and I thought it was a marketing ploy: Ford made a big, hardcore, off-road Bronco and wanted to capitalize on the name downmarket, even if its baby sibling wasn’t nearly as capable.
But if this were a math test, my answer wouldn’t be listed in the multiple choice. That’s how wrong I was.
The Bronco Sport Sasquatch is way more off-roader than most people will ever need, and I no longer joke about it. I respect it.
Why This Little Off-Roader Exists
Ford originally launched the big Bronco in 1965 as a competitor to other utilitarian four-by-fours, including the International Harvester Scout and Jeep CJ. It had roots in military vehicles, but it was built for on- and off-road use.
The original Bronco got a baby sibling called the Bronco II, which was aimed at the compact-SUV market but didn’t last very long. It was based on the smaller Ford Ranger pickup, while the big Bronco was built on the F-Series truck platform at the time.
The big Bronco left the American market in June 1996, and more than two decades later, Ford launched the new, sixth-generation Bronco SUV to compete with the Jeep Wrangler on the hardcore off-roader market. With it came the Bronco Sport, a modern-day baby sibling. While the big Bronco rides on a modified version of the Ford Ranger body-on-frame platform, the Bronco Sport shares one with the unibody Escape crossover.
From 2025 onward, the Bronco Sport comes with an optional Sasquatch package — a more hardcore off-road treatment that’s been available for the big Bronco for years. The Bronco Sport Sasquatch has features like a twin-clutch rear-drive unit, a locking differential, steel underbody protection, Bilstein rear shock absorbers, and more.
The Bronco Sport is a smaller, more practical crossover that borrows some branding and talents from the big Bronco, ideally to make crossover buyers feel more capable and outdoorsy — even if they never use those capabilities. The Sasquatch treatment takes that mission even further.
2025 Ford Bronco Sport: The Basics
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Price: $29,995 (Bronco Sport base), Sasquatch (listed below)
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Engine: 1.5-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine or 2.0-liter, four-cylinder EcoBoost engine
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Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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Drivetrain: All-wheel drive (AWD)
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Power: 180 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque (1.5L) or 250 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque (2.0L)
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Body Style: Five-seat unibody crossover
In 2025, the base model Bronco Sport starts at $29,995. Ford is adding the Sasquatch as an optional package on the top two trims, the Outer Banks and Badlands.
The Outer Banks model starts at $35,295, and has the 1.5-cylinder engine with 180 horsepower. The Sasquatch package costs an extra $3,535.
The Badlands starts at $40,115, and it has the 2.0-liter engine with 250 horsepower. On it, the Sasquatch package costs an extra $2,990.
What It Looks Like
The Bronco Sport Sasquatch rides on big, 29-inch all-terrain tires, with steel underbody protection and a front brush guard curling up toward its nose. It also comes in great colors: red, blue, forest green, light sand, and more. The more I think about Bronco Sport modifications and builds, the more I realize people will probably see these as super quirky on the used market in a few decades.
When the Bronco Sport debuted, I didn’t love the exterior. It looked like a big Bronco smashed up like a slab of ice cream on a cold stone. Something about it — the proportions, the styling — felt uncanny, like it was a Bronco derivative from a parallel timeline.
But the bigger the Bronco Sport and its tires get, the more I’m into it. The body and underbody protection make the Bronco Sport look more hardcore, transforming it from “normal crossover” to “mini off-roader.” And we all know that miniature models are almost always cuter.
What About The Inside?
Like the big Bronco, the inside of the Bronco Sport is utilitarian but not underwhelming. It’s the right amount of usability, comfort, and style. Many of the surfaces are hard, rubberized, and grippy, but not in a cheap way — in a “You’ll need to use this, so we made it usable” way.
I’m rarely worried I’m going to scratch or stain things in the Bronco Sport, aside from maybe the light-colored seat options, because everything can easily be sprayed or wiped off. That’s what you want from an adventure vehicle.
The infotainment screen in the Bronco Sport Sasquatch is big and responsive, and one of my favorite parts of the interior is the driver instrument cluster: Not only does it tell you helpful information like what angle your vehicle is at while you’re off-roading and rock-crawling, but also, every time you switch drive modes, a new Bronco Sport in a new environment — rocks, mud, sand, and more — splashes across the screen. It looks beautiful.
The only thing that could use a major change inside the Bronco Sport is the headliner color. Light-colored headliners are common in cheaper cars, whether they match the rest of the interior or not, and the headliners in the Sasquatches I drove were a light tannish-gray. Every time I looked at them, I thought: “If this car got dusty, muddy, or otherwise dirty, I’d hate to stain that.”
When you’re buying or driving an off-roader, you don’t want to think about stains. You want to think about exploring the Earth, no matter what nasty-colored substances you may splash through. Changing the color of the Bronco Sport’s headliner would go a long way.
How It Drives
I drove an early-model 2025 Bronco Sport Sasquatch off-road for the first time last year, but there was no on-road driving allowed yet. This year’s event was my first time on-road in the car, and it rode well on the highway. It was quiet and took bumps well, where you could feel them under you but also feel the car dampening them.
The 180-horsepower, 1.5-liter engine lacks power on the road, and you barely get a response when you stomp the gas pedal. But for rock-crawling and other low-speed activities, I didn’t notice it. The 250-horsepower, 2.0-liter engine isn’t fast but has adequate power, and it’s the one I’d recommend.
Off-road, the Bronco Sport Sasquatch can tackle a ton of terrain. That might be surprising to some, because the Bronco Sport is unibody — a car-like build where a vehicle’s body and frame are together. This creates a lighter, more efficient vehicle, but it lacks the flexibility of a body-on-frame vehicle. Off-roaders are traditionally body-on-frame because flexibility helps you tackle more terrain.
But we’re seeing more unibody off-roaders these days, like the Bronco Sport Sasquatch and Honda Passport Trailsport. The Sasquatch may not be body-on-frame, but it has a big off-road feature: a twin-clutch rear-drive unit.
The unit has two clutch packs, which control each rear wheel independently and allow them to move at their own speeds. That means if three of your wheels are without traction, a single rear one can propel the car forward on its own. Many normal cars have an open differential, which sends power to the wheel with the least resistance — spinning the wheel without traction and leaving you stuck.
The twin-clutch rear-drive unit can also act as a locking differential, which is a common feature on off-road vehicles. It ensures that the wheels are moving in lockstep, allowing you to get out of tricky situations that could otherwise leave your wheels spinning.
Ford took us to the desert in the Bronco Sport Sasquatch for lead-follow off-roading, and when you’re on a planned course, you know the company won’t take you anywhere the vehicle can’t handle. But the climbs and rock crawls we drove were steep enough to make me nervous as a novice off-roader, and before I drove the Bronco Sport for the first time, I never expected it to take certain rock crawls more confidently (and comfortably) than me.
Does the 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Sasquatch Fulfill Its Purpose?
Every time I drive the Bronco Sport Sasquatch, I remember how much I discounted the Bronco Sport at first, and how I thought it was just a cosplay Bronco. The Bronco Sport Sasquatch isn’t the big Bronco, but the truth is that a lot of people don’t need the big Bronco. The little guy is more off-roader than most people — including the ones who buy the big Bronco — will ever need.
The Bronco Sport Sasquatch is great for people who want off-road capabilities mixed with the comfort of a car. And should those people use their Bronco Sport to become even more hardcore off-roaders, the big Bronco will always be there in the future.
While this vehicle definitely inspires more confidence to go places than most CUVs, I would be really curious to see it side by side with “regular” AWD CUVs on all of this terrain. Where would this continue and the others stop? I’m guessing sand would be the biggest difference maker, but I really don’t know.
To sum things up,
Ford’s Off Roader Delivers
I’m curious why reviewers talk about how the Bronco sport is more offroad capable than the average user will use (or some variation of that) and then spend almost no time taking about how it drives on road.
I had a rental Bronco Sport with the 2.0L, and it was pleasant to drive in city/highway mix. I liked the total package much more than the RAV4 and various Hyundai CUVs I’ve rented in the same area.
It had adequate power, rode great on the TERRIBLE Pennsylvania roads I was on, and had decent fuel economy. The interior and infotainment were great as well.
I’ve done all the offloading I ever need with a Mazda CX-5, which is the same basic platform. The first generation ones have 8″ ground clearance and dealt with the lumpy and potholed, used to be roads of Central Oregon just fine. I’m sure the Bronco Sport is more capable, but I don’t want to spend that kind of money since I either walk or bike the really rough stuff
The CX-5 is not on a Ford platform.
The 2013-16 CX-5 was based on a version of the global C1 platform shared with the Mazda3, Mazda5, Focus, Escape etc. That’s why Forscan works on the pre 2016 Mazda platforms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Global_C-car_Platform?wprov=sfla1
They didn’t diverge until the following generations developed after the separation in 2008.
You forgot one thing Alanis — how many Alanises will fit in the cargo area? 🙂
So the one you want is $43,105 not including destination. Yikes. The “Big Bronco” Big Bend edition has 300HP and the Sasquatch package and is $39,360. So, you have to really like the cute little one to spend this much.
That’s before discounts too. Ford over corrected after the initial Bronco frenzy and made way, way too many. Pretty much every one within an hour of me has $3-5,000 on the hood and some have even more. If you’re in or around a major urban area you can easily find the exact Bronco you want at a discount.
Which is one of the many things that profoundly confuses me about the Bronco Sport. Are people really paying $40,000+ for these things? Surely people must be leasing them, right? I actually like the Baby Bronco, but once you get past the mid to high 30s it’s just an awful purchase.
Maybe some people are, as one commenter below said, his friend’s wife really likes hers. Happy wife, happy life, I guess; maybe the Bronco is just too big for her or something. I’m with you, there are probably some good lease deals.
Just as a small percentage of buyers will actually take their “manly” Jeeps and 4Runners off-road, an even smaller percentage of BS owners will ever take their Escape-in-drag off the road unless it has a pothole or two.
Our S-AWC Outlanders will do just as well if not better in the conditions noted in this blog and pics above than this poor excuse for a reliable vehicle.
If you hate new car smell just wait til you drive a Bronco Sport Sasquatch!
“The original Bronco got a baby sibling called the Bronco II”
Huh? I distinctly remember the original Bronco a being pretty small, and the Bronco IIas sort of bloaty in comparison.
The original Bronco and the current one seem like the original Mini vs the new Mini.
By the time the Bronco II came out, the Bronco was based on the F150. The Bronco II was based on the Ranger.
I think you are confusing the Bronco II with the 2nd gen Bronco. The 1st gen Bronco was pretty small as you said, being built on a Bronco-specific platform. The 2nd thru 5th gen Broncos were all based on the F150 platform and were much bigger than the 1st gen. The Bronco II was introduced with the Ranger and was pretty close to the 1st gen size. The 2-door new Broncos (6th gen) are a wee bit smaller than the 2-5 gens, while the 4-doors are about 9 inches longer than those F150-based 2-doors. The Sport is between the original/II size and the 6th gen.
I guess I wasn’t paying attention. I thought those F150s were just a trim level.
I’d save some money (assuming no markups) and get a Rav4 hybrid woodland. It has all the offroad capability I need plus gets decent gas mileage.
I think that’s the best rav4 trim too. I wonder what they’ll have for the upcoming hybrid standard next generation.
I always just thought it looked like a ~2005 Escape.
The big miss for me is the touchscreen HVAC controls. A vehicle that’s out doing what this is supposed to do should mostly rely on chunky knobs and other physical controls. HVAC controls do not belong on a screen generally, but even more so in an application like this.
I’ve said pretty much since the Bronco Sport debuted that it’s what the third gen Escape should have been, instead of the lifted Focus nonsense that didn’t even manage to get meaningfully better mileage than the boxy ones it replaced.
The Escape still gets quite a bit better mpg than the Bronco Sport across all engine choices, and it’s not even close with the hybrid. I don’t understand the Bronco Sport at all unless you’re really into the look of them.
The look is enough for a lot of people, especially for people who want off-road capabilities they won’t actually use. The boxy one looks more capable. If you don’t know much about off-roading and probably won’t go any farther off-road than a logging road, that’s probably enough to make the purchase.
I had a coworker specifically choose one because she lives up in the hills and “needs” 4WD to be sure she can get down to work in the winter. The Escape might have been better for her needs, but she saw the Bronco Sport and decided it had the capability she needs (and it is plenty capable for her, even with the 3-cylinder).
I do like the look well enough, and would love to see it offered in a hybrid/PHEV.
I would have chosen a Bronco Sport hybrid over the Escape PHEV I bought a couple of months ago.
I will look for these stuck on the trail or in the off road park when newbies overestimate the capabilities. These are very expensive and actually overlap lower trim Wranglers that would be better off road.
That’s my question about all the CUVs. What I care about most is when I reach the end of it’s capabilities. As in what’s going to break when I high center it? When it gets stuck on a rock? Will the axle break? Anywhere to safely tow it?
Yes! They seem overly complex to be taking off road with there rear drive units with separate cooling systems etc. Something like a Jimny is small and capable.
Mmmmmmmm…Jimny
I like this over say the Crosstrek Wilderness due to the real transmission, optional engine upgrade and locking diff but not for $6000-$10000 more. The lack of hybrid on this refresh is interesting too. I think I’d ultimately get the Maverick for the hybrid reason.
Also, Subaru’s are not NEARLY as reliable as people think.
I’d hardly call WRX’s spinning bearings, other EJs puking head gaskets, and a huge amount of FB engines needing new motors just outside of warranty a reliable company.
^My 2012 Impreza needed a new FB engine at 40k, my friends WRX spun a bearing, and my in-laws subaru’s needed head gaskets before 100k.
Ford is… Ford for reliability. But at this point I think I’d trust the Bronco Sport for reliability over a Subaru.
Yeah but Ford is king of the recalls right now. The FB engines have left the head gasket issues behind, that’s old news. Just bought a ‘25 Forester, with no plans to take it off-road, but it sure is comfortable. I keep cats forever so I guess I’ll find out.
Right.. FB’s didn’t blow head gaskets… but they did need short blocks.
A short block is worse than a head gasket. They probably have that sorted out now with the FB’s… but it was a very large problem for a large amount of vehicles (including mine).
IDK, my wife has a 19 Crosstrek with 80k: regular oil changes, new set of tires recently.
My 19 Escape with 80k: regular oil changes, new set of tires, new engine due to ‘2.0 coolant intrusion’ defect. Plus side, I have the newer design engine now w/ 55k less miles than car (was 2mo from running out of factory warranty, otherwise I would have been very PO’d). I do still love the 2.0 Ecoboost w/ AWD.
Hey I do hope you guys have good luck, the above examples are just my experience and the experience of the people around me.
That 8F35 trans in the Bronco Sport sucks though and the 1.5l would be better off with a CVT. Agreed on the hybrid though, I don’t see any reason to get a Bronco Sport over an Escape or Maverick hybrid unless you’re really into the look of them.
I was today years old when I realized the Bronco and Bronco Sport are two different platforms not just trim levels
But a lot of people dont….
The naming scheme is terrible. Bronco Colt would have been leagues better
No ‘Bronco’. It has absolutely nothing in common with a Bronco.
They have four wheels, at least until the take them off road lest they lose one.
Eh, I get what Ford is trying to do by making “Bronco” a sub-brand and this is the watered down accessible version. Jeep does similar things with their Renegade
“Boxy Escape” would be truthful.
Which is exactly why Ford named this what it did. I had a number of people who are at least moderately knowledgeable about cars point out Bronco Sports to me when they first launched, thinking they were full Broncos.
Yep, it’s honestly not really more disingenuous than Jeep’s lower-end models, IMO. You just get used to it.
I’m more curious about the marketing side, or how many owners “accidentally” bought one Bronco over the other, not realizing. It’s a strange exercise.
The option most needed in the Bronco Sport is the Hybrid AWD drivetrain from the Escape / Maverick. 23 mpg (2.0L) / 27 mpg (1.5L) doesn’t cut it anymore.
Unfortunately they’ll never do it for the same reasons Hyundai won’t offer a hybrid Santa Cruz, Honda won’t offer a hybrid Passport, etc. Battery resources are finite and manufacturers are going to keep putting them in their highest volume commodity cars…not to mention it’s painfully obvious that all these lifestyle/soft roader vehicles have been focused grouped into another dimension.
I’m sure that if you got a room full of Wrangler and 4Runner owners together they’d all laugh at you if you implied fuel economy was even a vague concern…but those folks aren’t the ones who buy this stuff, normies who want to look cool are, and they care about gas mileage. A lot.
Very true.
I was trying to encourage my parents to get a hybrid as one of their vehicles, but they are pleased with the fuel economy on their 4Runner because it is better than they get with their Tundra. They put some miles on, too. 6 hour drives almost monthly, drive to work 3 times per week, and any shopping or anything is an hour drive away. A hybrid could save them a bunch of money, but fuel economy isn’t a concern. They don’t even go off-road!
We are entering into a period of battery oversupply in North America. About 10 new battery factories were built or are under construction to supply an EV ramp up that is going slower than expected.
In the relatively near future almost every ICE vehicle will be a hybrid – especially with EPA Tier 4 and CARB emission regulations requiring particulate filters for gasoline DI turbos. Hybrids are a cheap way to meet emission and CAFE requirements while increasing HP and torque vs tiny 3 cylinder turbos paired to 8 to 10 speed transmissions.
I think if they put the Hybrid in the Bronc Sport, they could just stop selling Escapes.
Next they’ll make one in white called the Yeti, then a yellow one called the Pollo Loco, then pastel pink and call it the Crocket and Tubbs….. anything to charge extra for vinyl stickers….
Not vinyl stickers, but body cladding, needs more body cladding so people can feel like they’re driving a tough real off roader (?!).
I feel like manufacturers handicap these type of tough-looking “off-roaders” on purpose, by not giving them a low range transfer case.
Every other offroady bit is included that looks good in a catalog, like cladding, higher ground clearance, offroad tires, bull bar, twin-clutch rear unit.
Not that it hasn’t been done but these don’t have a longitudinal engine layout. They are FWD most of the time and adding some sort of clever reduction gear to a FWD/AWD transaxle for a single option package is just not practical.
How did it handle sustained usage off road? When David went to a Ford event for the Bronco Sport a few years ago it kept going into limp mode due to drivetrain components overheating.
It sounds like this was another Ford event (although it seems to be lacking the usual Autopian disclaimer…), and it’s unlikely they were going to repeat the mistake of taking them somewhere too difficult for the drivetrain.
I’ve always felt the Bronco Sport was missing safari windows. Would have been great. Very mini LR Discover Series I/II looking.
I own a 2022 Bronco Sport with the 1.5L engine. It has been a comfortable capable little SUV for the almost year I’ve owned it. I get 27-28 mpg commuting back and forth to work. It has been off-road exactly zero times in my ownership and in all honesty won’t anytime soon. The only grass it’s driven over is cut grass on my driveway or the road. Mine has some pep and I don’t get the it has no power comment. If you work the throttle and keep the revs around 3000-4000 rpm it accelerates just fine. Faster than most other traffic around it. But if you are the type to mash the peddle and hope for the best you will be disappointed. 5000 or 6000 rpm makes plenty of noise but not much else. At those elevated revs torque has dropped off quite a bit and torque does the work. I really think that reviews have become less about real world use and expectations and more about comparing the vehicle to a sports car and some theoretical performance threshold.
$38K??? not even
Well it’s certainly a better trim/package name than TREMOR.
I actually don’t hate the premise of these sorts of vehicles, the compact crossover with extra equipment to make them what they are. Do we really need more people on the road that would be well served by this opt for an actual Bronco instead? Yeah I get it, these will mostly be driven from driveways to parking lots and back, but in my mind the more people who decide this is good enough versus the monster trucks that seem so prevalent, the better.
I know we’re going to have a lot of people claim that you can get _____ for ____ more money but that’s the same logic that gets people who would be well served by a Corolla into F-150s. At some point you have to stop climbing that seemingly endless ladder. This thing is expensive, but if you can manage to get one for 40k with all this equipment in a world where most base crossovers actually start in the low to mid 30s? It’s really not that bad of a deal.
Cool idea, but way too much money for what it is. By the time you option these out they’re hovering at around 50 grand and at that point you can get a very well equipped regular Bronco, 4Runner/Land Cruiser, etc. If you’d rather keep the refinement of a crossover the new Passport is here now too and it’s much bigger, more practical, probably as capable, similarly cool looking, and offers that Honda NA V6 longevity.
I think if they offered the Sasquatch package on a super base spec AWD Bronco Sport in the mid to high 30s it would be a very compelling product. But they’d never do that when they can charge you luxury car money for a gussied up Escape now, would they? There’s also the soon to be market defining Forester Hybrid in this segment too…and you can get a fully loaded one for basically the same price as this.
I actually like the Bronco Sport because it’s a cheerful little thing and has enough capability for literally 100% of its buyers. But once they crest the 40 grand mark they’re a terrible buy. The cuteness and rugged image can only take you so far. Once you’re up against desirable BOF off roaders this loses its luster.
And the better 2.0 engine is only available in the higher trims.
This is poor value stacked next to the upcoming Passport. The Honda will invariably hold its value better and probably have a lower TCO long term.
This thing faces the same problem as the higher level Maverick trims- at the end of the day, it’s a $43k+ vehicle built to the same standards as the $30k base level and Ford packages stuff in bullshit ways to persuade you to opt for that next trim level up. My friend’s wife loves her Bronco Sport so apparently I’m just not the target buyer but it just doesn’t make sense to me.
‘You friend’s wife’ is exactly who I typically see driving the Bronco Sports. Bit of buyer overlap between these and Subarus.
It will be hilarious if someone makes aftermarket ‘Samsquanch’ badges for these.