Ford vs. FCA, Part 1: Bronco v Wrangler Battle to the Death! (On Paper)
Join us as Ford’s newest Bronco begins to wage war against its chief rival, the Jeep Wrangler.
With the introduction of the 2021 Ford Bronco and 2021 Ford Bronco Sport, Ford has basically declared war on FCA. A year from now, dedicated off-road vehicles with the Blue Oval badge will be competing head-on with products from Jeep. It’s part of Ford’s move to pivot away from passenger cars by building more lifestyle vehicles.
The question is, how do the new vehicles underneath the Bronco umbrella stack up against their long-running rivals? In the first of a multi-part series, we’ll be comparing how Ford’s latest trucks and utility vehicles compare to their counterparts at FCA. Today’s match-up pits the new Bronco against the Jeep Wrangler. We’ve chosen to evaluate their powertrains, features, and capability.
Bronco v Wrangler: Powertrain
Standard on the new Bronco is Ford’s 2.3-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost. Like the Ranger, it will offer buyers 270 horsepower and 310 Ib-ft of torque. Shoppers can opt for a new 7-speed manual transmission or upgrade to the 10-speed automatic for an additional cost. Optional is the ubiquitous 2.7 liter V6 EcoBoost that’s offered on a number of Blue Oval vehicles like the F-150. In this particular application, Ford rated the engine at 310 horsepower and 400 Ib-ft of torque, solely mated to the 10-speed.
As for the Wrangler, Jeep offers 3 engines. The Pentastar 3.6 liter V6 is standard as is a six-speed manual. FCA’s TorqueFlite 8-speed automatic is optional. Jeeps rates the engine at 285 horsepower and 260 Ib-ft of torque. A mild hybrid system dubbed eTorque is optional for the engine but power figures remain unchanged. There’s also the new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. Mated exclusively to the 8-speed, it puts out 270 horsepower and 295 Ib-ft of torque. The eTorque variant is also available, but like the V6, it only improves fuel economy. Additionally, Jeep now offers their 3.0-liter EcoDiesel on the Wrangler. Offered only with the automatic, output is a healthy 260 horsepower and 442 Ib-ft of torque.
Winner: Bronco
While Jeep deserves a shout out for offering a diverse engine lineup, they can’t match the one-two punch of Ford’s EcoBoost engines. The standard 2.3 liter EcoBoost boasts significantly more torque than Jeep’s gasoline powerplants. Plus, with two extra gears in the automatic, the Bronco will be able to use more of that power. The range-topping 2.7 EcoBoost absolutely wrecks the gasoline engines in the Wrangler lineup with its robust output. And while it may be down 42 pounds in torque, it’s not going to be a $6,000 upgrade option like FCA’s diesel. And again, the two extra gears on the 10-speed are key.
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