Ford has unveiled a new redesign for the Bronco amidst anticipation from the automotive world. The Bronco DR is aiming to be the most powerful model yet, intended for the all sorts of off-roading. Heavily modified from the Ford Bronco 4-door SUV, it’s been designed to take on the Baja 1000 Motorsport race.
What we do know from Ford’s announcement is that it will be equipped with various body and chassis customizations made for desert racing. The Coyote 5.0-Liter V8 Engine gives the Ford Bronco DR the power it needs to clear the dunes, borrowed from another one of Ford’s vehicles. The company is aiming for 400 horsepower, channelled through a 10R80 transmission with an electric “shift-on-the-fly” transfer case. Four-wheel disc brakes with upgraded pads have been brought over from the current generation of Bronco Trucks.
A set of 37-inch BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 all-season tires and beadlock wheels, allowing for better grip as drivers race on the sands. These tires are made from an advanced compound, Krawl-TEK, made for increased grip on rocky and slick surfaces. On the upper side and roof, large air intakes provide additional cooling to the rear-mounted radiator. The Bronco DR carries a 65-galllon fuel tank below the cargo bay.
Many of the design features integrated onto the Bronco DR is made for form rather than function. Competition-ready, it’s been customized to serve as a full-on racing machine. The Bronco’s fiberglass race body has been inspired by rally cars, implementing Ford Performance’s touch onto to create their vision of the best off-road machine. Even with the racing inspirations, the Bronco DR still keeps the four-door body structure. However, the air-conditioning system, glasswork, and other interior features and amenities have all been removed for optimization and weight reduction. It sports the stock round head and taillamps, trail sights, and a single-piece grille.
Multimatic, a constant collaborator of Ford Performance, have enhanced the Bronco exclusive High-Performance Off-Road Stability Suspension with the addition of Positional Selective DSSV Dampers. When compared against the Bronco models in production today, the Bronco DR is expected to have a front suspension travel of 15.8 inches and rear suspension travel of 17.4 inches. This gives this Bronco a lot more capability to navigate rough terrain.
The two-person cabin is encased by a safety cage made of integrated OE ACCRA tubes, with racing seats and a Motec C187 display installed. The display can be used to track performance data, with cloud-based data access being an optional installation.
Mark Rushbrook, Performance Motorsports global director for Ford, states that “(the) Bronco DR is our ultimate turnkey off-road racing SUV, engineered to put enthusiasts behind the wheel of a desert racing force”. He says that this modified Bronco DR was a joint effort between Ford Performance and Multimatic, starting all the way back with Rod Hall and Larry Minor’s 1969 overall Baja 1000 win in a stock Bronco.
The Ford Bronco DR is scheduled to release for the 2023 production year, with the starting price expected to be above the $200,000* mark.