Ford Bronco Sport Is Not Smaller Than The Bronco Where It Matters Most - A Dimensional Analysis

The new Ford Bronco Sport and Bronco are two of the most exciting new SUVs on the market. We may even extend that statement to “three of the best” new SUVs, since the Bronco is available as either a two or a four-door SUV. We’ve been fortunate enough to test both the Bronco Sport and Bronco two-door for over a week at a time. We put them through the paces of normal driving, and will let the dedicated outdoorsy publications show you just how capable these rugged new SUVs are off-road. Let there be no doubt that both are among the best in their respective segments in many ways.

Related Story: 4 Ways the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport Is Amazing and 1 Thing Missing

Baby Bronco? That Would be the Bronco Two-Door
One misunderstanding being widely circulated on the social media groups we participate in is that the Bronco Sport is the “Baby Bronco.” We can only assume that Bronco fans who have never actually driven a Bronco Sport are the ones propagating this myth. The truth is, the Bronco Sport is larger inside than either the two-door Bronco hardtop or Bronco four-door hardtop. Calling the Bronco Sport smaller or a “baby” is nonsense.

Bronco Sport vs. Bronco - The Tale of the Tape
The chart above shows the internal and external dimensions of the Bronco Sport vs. the two-door Bronco and the four-door Bronco. In addition to being larger inside than either the two-door or four-door Bronco, the Bronco Sport also has 50% more cargo volume behind its first row than the two-door bronco. This became apparent to us in testing when we planned to take four people on an overnight trip and the two-door Bronco’s cargo area was simply too small for even basic overnight bags, food, and miscellaneous stuff. We opted for a larger-inside compact crossover instead.

Size Is Relative
Size can be viewed in a number of ways. We would always prefer a vehicle be as large inside as possible and as small outside as possible. Particularly off-road, where external dimensions matter for maneuverability. The Bronco Sport is the best of the three with regard to compact exterior dimensions while offering a larger passenger space than the Bronco hardtops.

If you consider a greater height to be important in a vehicle, we simply don’t understand your viewpoint. It makes the vehicle less maneuverable and implies a higher center of gravity. Feel free to offer your thoughts on the size comparison of the (larger inside) Bronco Sport vs. the (smaller inside) Bronco in the comments below.

John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. John's interest in EVs goes back to 1990 when he designed the thermal control system for an EV battery as part of an academic team. After earning his mechanical engineering degree, John completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers, in the semiconductor industry, and in biotech. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American news outlets and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on TikTok @ToknCars, on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin