2025 Ford Bronco Sport First Look: The Soft-Roader Hits The Gym

A couple of years ago, I went to Drummond Island near the United States-Canada border in northern Michigan to experience one of Ford's most beastly of horses, the 2022 Ford Bronco Everglades, on a day-long off-roading adventure. Along with the 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor, the Everglades was the Blue Oval's declaration that their biggest horse could truly take on all the great outdoors had to offer — whether by roaring over the desert plains at high speed or fording rivers and climbing rocks out in the woods — all from the factory. And even if the factory solutions weren't a perfect fit for some Bronco fans, at least they could take more inspiration from these two brutes to make their own big horses truly theirs from the aftermarket.

Meanwhile, the big horse's smaller sibling, the Bronco Sport, could handle some of the lighter off-roading adventures, but it wasn't going to go to where the big Broncos played, let alone where the Everglades and Raptor hung out. Until this upcoming model year. Ford recently flew me out to Knoxville, Tennessee to spend a couple of hours getting a sneak peek of the 2025 Bronco Sport's newest off-roading packages, the Big Bend Black Diamond, Outer Banks Sasquatch and Badlands Sasquatch, at Ford's newest (and still in-construction as of this writing) Bronco Off-Roadeo site in nearby Maryville. 

Along with some new upgrades for the entire Bronco Sport line in 2025, this major refresh will give fans of the smaller horse a new outlook on what all the stallion can do now, while also attracting newcomers who might not have otherwise considered the compact soft-roader before.

"Bronco Sport customers love the outdoors and go off-roading 3.5 times as often as the owners of competitive vehicles, and camping twice as often," Matt Simpson, Ford Enthusiast Vehicles general manager, said of the launch of the 2025 update. "They want to know they can overcome obstacles that come their way, which drove our designers and engineers to push Bronco Sport to a new level of capability and performance to let our customers do more and have more fun off-road."

Another fun fact I learned upon arriving at the new Bronco Off-Roadeo site south of Knoxville — set to open to all of Ford's Bronco, Bronco Raptor and Bronco Sport owners on October 4, 2024 — is that a lot of new Bronco Sport customers are coming to the stables from full-size trucks. According to Bronco brand manager Mike Weller, the typical Bronco Sport customers are those who "seek out challenges" like climbing mountains and overcoming obstacles "because it gives them a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment."

That profile, he says, also matches truck owners who've turned to the Bronco Sport because no other compact soft-roader offers such experiences in the marketplace, adding that among the consumer conquests Bronco Sport has made since introduction, the top two customer sets are those who owned full-size trucks; he didn't specify which full-size trucks, mind. With the new features arriving for the 2025 model year, the appeal the spiritual successor to the 1980s Bronco II holds will only intensify, likely drawing more full-size truck owners to the herd.

The biggest change for the Ford Bronco Sport in 2025 will be bringing the big horse's DNA into the little horse for improved off-road capability, in the form of the Big Bend Black Diamond, Outer Banks Sasquatch, and Badlands Sasquatch. For starters, the off-road-focused packages come with seven G.O.A.T. modes, including one for high-speed desert running like the Bronco Raptor called Rally. 

The off-road modes are augmented by a 360-degree camera with Trail View plus Split View, which show width-accurate tire overlays on the 13.2-inch center touchscreen, and the front tires from the side view mirror cameras, respectively. Those tires, by the way, are 29-inch Goodyear Territory all-terrains made specifically for the Black Diamond- and Sasquatch-equipped 2025 Bronco Sports, and come with reinforced sidewalls and open-tread designs for maximum off-road domination.

Cameron Aubernon/SlashGear

More features exclusive to the Black Diamond and Sasquatch packages include exterior tie downs mounted in the front fenders for further securing roof cargo, upgraded skid plates, a standard front bumper brush guard, and accessory-ready front and rear bumpers with cast accessory-ready tow hooks (front) and cast D-rings (rear) for off-road recovery. New springs and rear Bilstein shocks with position-sensitive dampening and piggyback reservoirs boost the Bronco Sports off-road prowess to new heights, to the tune of 8.3-inches of front suspension travel and 8.7-inches of rear travel. Finally, towing is increased to 2,200 pounds for the 1.5-liter EcoBoost turbo-three, 2.700 pounds for the 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbo-four.

Behind the wheel of any 2025 Ford Bronco Sport will be an all-new 13.2-inch LCD center screen with Ford's SYNC4 infotainment system and wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, replacing the original 8-inch unit with SYNC3. As seen above, the physical controls for the HVAC from 2022 through 2024 are now located within the new touchscreen, which might disappoint those who preferred as many physical controls as possible to operate basics like the radio and the heating/air-conditioning. 

The driver also receives a 12.3-inch, Bronco Raptor-inspired digital instrument display, which displays off-roading info from whatever mode is chosen. Black Diamond and Sasquatch packages also add a set of roof-mounted switches for any aftermarket off-roading gear needed.

Ford

The interior gets a few new upgrades for 2025, too, such as a new grab bar for the front passenger on the center console, taken from the big Bronco along with the aforementioned toggle switches. Also from the big horse is the Bring Your Own Device tray, located on top of the dashboard behind the center touchscreen. The tray has two USB-C ports, which are two of six total inside the updated Bronco Sport. The tray also has Bronco Bolts for greater customization, as does the grab bar, which can be replaced with another bar or accessory. There wasn't much info about interior trim mentioned during the brief visit with the 2025 Bronco Sport, but it does appear the Badlands Sasquatch trim does include some neat textured panels for the front seats with neon yellow inserts and stitching, as seen above.

Two hours may not be enough time to truly experience an update as significant as that for the 2025 Ford Bronco Sport, maybe a ride or two at best. Yet, Ford provided everyone who attended the sneak peek the opportunity to drive pre-production Black Diamond- and Sasquatch-equipped versions of the Big Bend, Outer Banks and Badlands trims through the trail built for the newest Bronco Off-Roadeo site. I hopped in a black Badlands Sasquatch with one of the Bronco Sports engineers in the front passenger seat to guide me along the 15-minute trek around the trail while also pointing out all of the things the updated crossover can now do.

While there were no deep waters to ford or fenders to accidentally snag on a fallen tree this time around, driving the Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch through the short trail reminded me more than a bit of driving the Everglades. The little horse in Off-Road mode crawled along through the muck with no issue at all, the 360-degree camera views helping me squeeze through some tight turns along the way. The Rock Crawl mode made short work of a portion of the trail where articulation was needed while also plunging into some significant puddles. 

Rally mode, meanwhile, showed off the speed and prowess the Bronco Sport can put down upon the beaten and rutted path. Finally, for those who will be learning the ropes of off-roading at any of the five Bronco Off-Roadeo sites around the U.S., Trail One-Pedal — which allows the driver to control the speed with just the accelerator — delivers a confidence boost over the rocks and mud for beginners like myself.

"While other small SUVs simply look rugged, Bronco Sport is engineered rugged from the inside out and top to bottom," insists Eddie Khan, Bronco Sport Vehicle Engineering manager. "Bronco Sport has earned the right to call itself 'Built Wild' with Sasquatch."

Despite the short time spent with pre-production units of the 2025 Bronco Sport's hardcore off-road packages, it was enough to suggest Khan's statement may well be true. For those interested in owning a Bronco, but find the big horse too big for their desires (or budget), the upcoming model year will deliver to them a truly capable machine in a compact package. From the base Big Bend to the refined Outer Banks and the rugged Badlands, the Bronco Sport with its newly acquired off-roading skills will draw in everyone who wants more from this crossover segment than just a soft-roading weekend adventure on the easiest of trails.

Ford

Of course, we will need more than 15 minutes on the trail with a fresh-off-the-line model to give our verdict on this major makeover for the Bronco Sport; stay tuned for that report. Pricing for the 2025 Bronco Sport — which also includes 2025 edition of the retro-homage Free Wheeling and Heritage trims — will be announced closer to when the crossover hits showrooms. All versions will hit the dealerships in November of 2024, with the Sasquatch package arriving in the first quarter of 2025; no word as of this writing on when the Big Bend Black Diamond will arrive.