Bronco Vs Wrangler: Which Is The Best Off-Roader For Daily Driving?
The Jeep Wrangler has long been the off-road champion and it traces its roots back to the Willys MB Jeep that fought the Nazis and Imperial Japanese forces in World War II. Even going into the 2024 model year, the Jeep is a boxy truck purpose-built for thrashing through sand, mud, and rocks. It's one of the most popular and recognizable vehicles ever made for good reason: it does exactly what it says on the box. Not to be outdone by Jeep, Ford resurrected the Bronco in 2020 to beat the Wrangler at its own game. You can also remove the doors on the Bronco, and it too comes with a number of features for off-road enthusiasts.
On the trail, the Bronco and the Wrangler are fairly evenly matched. Jeep has a longer history of rock crawling and the aftermarket support to prove it, but the Bronco — barely a few years old — has a lot of time to catch up. However, how are both vehicles to drive on the road and live with? After all, unless you live in the Amazon Rainforest, you likely won't be off-roading every day.
Powertrain choices
When it comes to engines, the Wrangler wins hands-down for one really big reason: the Jeep is available as a plug-in hybrid and the Bronco isn't. That may not seem super important on an off-road SUV, but the electric motor on the Wrangler 4xe comes in handy when you need low-end torque and you need it now. Plus, the hybrid drivetrain allows you to go upwards of 21 miles on battery power. That's not as much range as, say, a Prius or a lot of other plug-ins, but certainly useful. Other powertrain choices include a 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, a 3.6-liter V6, and a 6.4-liter V8.
The Bronco has no such technology onboard and is instead only available with different variations of Ford's EcoBoost engine: a 2.3-liter four-cylinder and a 2.7-liter V6. Additionally, a 3-liter V6 is standard on the Bronco Raptor. The hybrid Wrangler 4xe gets better fuel economy than any version of the Bronco, but the gas mileage is roughly the same across the range for other versions of both the Bronco and the Wrangler, achieving about 20 combined miles per gallon, according to the EPA.
Availability of options
There's no doubt the Bronco is a capable off-road vehicle, and it's relatively popular as Ford sold 117,057 Broncos last year. But it still pales in comparison to the Wrangler, of which Jeep sold 181,409. As it stands, there are nine trims for the Bronco, all for the two-door or four-door versions, so there are plenty of options from Ford — although it should be noted that the Base trim level is currently unavailable to order, according to Ford's website.
Across both the gas engine and 4xe models, there are a total of 13 different Wranglers, which, frankly blows the Bronco out of the water. Additionally, prior generations of Wrangler have decades of aftermarket backup with new parts and packages coming out every day. The newest 2024 models may not have a lot of depth in the aftermarket category, but given the Wrangler's complete dominance over the market, it's only a matter of time before an entire suite of accessories comes to market.
Conclusion
Unfortunately for the Bronco, it can't quite stand next to the Wrangler; the boxy Jeep has it beat with its available hybrid drivetrain and an overall wider variety of engine choices. Additionally, there are more ways to customize the Wrangler from the factory compared to Ford's offerings and the availability of aftermarket parts makes the Wrangler an easy option at least until the Bronco market catches up.
Lastly, there's the question of price. Realistically, you will likely be paying more than MSRP as dealerships for both models like to play fast and loose with the pricing for enthusiast cars like the Bronco or the Wrangler. But in a perfect world, the base model two-door Bronco starts at $34,890 and the four-door will set you back $38,040. The Wrangler, on the other hand, starts at $31,895 for the lowest trim level two-door, and the four-door version clocks in at S35,895. So not only does the Wrangler win out in most other categories, it beats the Bronco when it comes to your wallet.