Bronco Sport

Make
Ford
Segment
SUV

Now that the new Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport have been officially unveiled, it's clear that the tougher Bronco is getting the lion's share of the attention. But the Bronco Sport shouldn't be discounted - it looks good, is cheaper than the Bronco, and still comes with enough off-road hardware to cater to the needs of most adventurers.

Now that Ford's online configurator is live, we decided to hop on it and build a fully loaded Bronco Sport to see how enticing we could make the new SUV. While we would ordinarily have started with the top First Edition trim, reservations are already full for this version, which is exactly what happened with the Bronco First Edition. So instead, we started with a Bronco Sport you can actually still order: the $32,660 Badlands trim, which sits just below the First Edition.

We started by picking the Cyber Orange paint at $595, which contrasts nicely with the Sport's black upper body and black bumpers. Low gloss alloy wheels are $300 more. Once inside, we opted for leather-trimmed seats which required Ebony-Brown upholstery. The Badlands already includes the bigger 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine - shared with the First Edition - so no upgrades were necessary here.

At $2,595, the Badlands Package is one of the major upgrades, adding the likes of a power moonroof, power-adjustable front seats, and a B&O sound system. We also added the Ford Co-Pilot360 Assist 2.0 Package which equips the Bronco Sport with adaptive cruise control, evasive steering assist, and speed sign recognition.

Finally, we added available accessories like the Yakima hitch-mounted bike rack which can carry two bicycles. In total, the options and accessories added $6,388 to the base price. Coupled with a destination charge of $1,495, our fully-loaded Ford Bronco Sport Badlands came in at $40,543. That's nearly $2,000 more than the option-free First Edition, which starts at under $40,000.

Of course, the Badlands already comes with uniquely tuned front struts that have hydraulic rebound stops for superior off-roading enjoyment, along with 28.5-inch all-terrain tires. It's far from cheap, but it's the most capable Bronco Sport you can get, and with Ford's existing discounts, now could be the best time to order yours.