I know this is an old thread, but, I think that perspective is in order. I've not driven the new Bronco, once owned a Bronco II. It was a sporty little truck. I used to have a blast out on dirt roads with that little car. But, that being said, it's hard to compare one vehicle of one class to a vehicle of another.
I used to be the tire guy/jack man on a USAR team. Got into a discussion with some fans. They were dissapointed our cars were slower on their local track than the late models they watched every weekend. Our cars had over 150 HP more than their late models. We were heavier, we had a narrower tire. They were making lap times a second faster on a 3/8 mile track. Put them on a 3/4 mile sweeping oval, we'd waste them. It's not that our cars were slow, it's that our cars were designed for bigger tracks. We put on one Hell of a race, they all agreed. Our pole time was just slower than they anticipated.
The point is, some vehicles are designed to be plain old passenger cars. Then there are the performance vehicles. To be a performance vehicle, they have to pick an area they're going to excel at and design the vehicle to be the best at that. The Bronco is not designed to be a street racer. Sure, they gave it power, and probably most of it's owners will NEVER take it off road. But, that's what the vehicle was designed for. From what I've seen, they would make an Explorer look pathetic crawling rocks.
