Compact crossovers rarely aspire to dirt. The 2026 Ford Bronco Sport ignores the segment’s suburban mandate and seeks adventures off the pavement. Or at least it looks like it aspires to. We test the Black Diamond package on the trail, examine an engine bay equipped with a carry-on-sized three-cylinder, and catalog a rear hatch designed to measure fish and open beverages. Does it possess actual off-road capability?
Learn more about the 2026 Ford Bronco Sport: https://www.caranddriver.com/ford/bronco-sport
00:00 The off-road crossover exception
00:21 Powertrains
01:16 Black Diamond package
01:39 Tailgate and cargo features
02:41 Full-Size spare
02:57 Trail and terrain modes
03:27 Interior features
03:46 Highway driving and towing capacity
04:55 The Bronco badge
Wife bought a 2024 Badlands last year with no frills after her beloved 17 Jeep Renegade stick blew its engine at 79k miles. Faced with a car payment, we tested every competitor plus even some non-competitors. The Badlands easily beat them all, including the vaunted borig RAV4 (garbage interior) and damn nice CR4 Hybrid. She likes power so it had to be the Badlands trim, the others trims with the 3 cylinder were just adequate and I was worried about 3 cylinder turbo reliability. Her has the "cloth" seats made out of the same material as wetsuits and has the rubber floor/carpeted mats. I dislike SUVs, but man I love this thing. It's so good looking, so powerful, and so comfortable inside. I honestly can find no faults. It swallows a ton of stuff and with the rubber mat in the cargo area has made dump runs a mess-free affair. And my wife absolutely loves it, and has put 16k trouble free miles on it on our brutal Vermont dirt roads. If you're going to spend 40k+ on a vehicle, get off the Toyhonda bandwagon and drive everything, including this little beasty. This thing will capture your heart.
Made in Mexico. Say no more
Keep it up boys with this kind of content. 5 minutes to describe a car and show us around it. I would watch every make and model.
Those 3 cyl are disposable pieces of 💩
I own a 25 Badlands and it’s an amazing and incredible vehicle! It manages easily on every type of road and weather!
This should Ford bring to Europe instead of bland looking Kuga. Ford the off-road brand we need more rugged looking SUVs here in Europe like this Bronco Sport
Get a Camry instead with hybrid engine.
It needs a hybrid engine.
They look a heluva lot better than the Escape, I can say that at least!
Will this BRONCO SPORT survive New England potholes and other bad road issues without being destroyed?
When will most people stop overestimating their need for an off-road vehicle? 90% of these will only see a driveway, a highway, and grocery store parking lot. It’s cosplay
Has Ford resolved the durability problems with the paint-shaker 3 cylinder engine? I'd personally only take the 2L turbo 4….
We had two of these for weeks last year while our Maverick Hybrid was getting repaired. It handles like a vehicle twice its size. The 3-cyl got poor fuel economy and generated an unbelievable amount of heat underhood . The safety suite was infuriating….the car would randomly jam on the brakes backing out of our steep driveway because I guess it sensed an impact was coming? And having a giant screen controlling every function is just miserable.
Junk
Narrow trail LMAO
FORD BRONCO