Ford Bronco Sport Loses Standard Spare Tire, But Gains Another Reason to Choose Badlands Trim

The Bronco Sport is Ford's most rugged crossover SUV. It has an endless list of off-road and utility-oriented features. However, for the new generation (or refresh if you prefer), beginning with the 2025 model year, the standard compact spare in the trims below Badlands has gone away. Instead of a spare tire, Ford is instead putting a tire mobility kit inside the cargo space where the prior generation’s standard spare was located. 

Shoppers have noticed this change and reported it in social media clubs dedicated to this popular model. Nobody is happy about this change. A spare tire is a safety feature in all scenarios, and it is a downright necessity when off-roading or towing. Tire mobility kits are absolutely worthless if you tear a sidewall or suffer a large puncture. 

There are really two visions of the Bronco Sport. All of the trims aside from Badlands are equipped with different powertrains and have other important differences. For 2025, Badlands still comes with a standard full-size spare tire, just as the first-generation model year Badlands did. Those who opt for Sasquatch packages will also have a spare tire.

The 2025 model year Bronco Sport is still very new, and dealer employees we spoke with have not yet seen any. Torque News turned to the online Build tool for Bronco Sport to see if it was possible to add a compact spare tire to the Big Bend, Free Wheeling, Heritage, and Outer Banks trims. Nowhere that we could find was this a feature that a shopper could add and pay more for if ordering.

We phoned a local Ford dealer, and the very helpful person in parts told me that ordering a compact spare from a prior model year is not something he has ever seen. He reports that the compact spares don't wear out, and he has never seen one purchased as a replacement. As an added bit of info, the sealant in mobility kits has an expiration date. It costs about $50 to replace. 

An experienced sales associate checked for us and confirmed that there is no accessory compact spare tire for sale via dealerships for the Bronco Sport (of any year). 

Badlands has a standard full-size spare tire of the  225/65/R17 size the vehicle comes standard with. Like in prior years, if the shopper opts into the slightly larger 235/65/R17 tires, the spare stays 225 in width. 

In related Bronco Sport tire news, the Pirelli A/T tires have been replaced by a Continental model as the standard on Badlands. The optional 235-width tire is now a Goodyear A/T tire. The much loved Falken WildPeak A/T3W option is no longer available. Ford highlighted the change to the Goodyear tire in its marketing materials, saying, “Bronco Sport Sasquatch rides on 29-inch 235/65/R17 Goodyear Territory All-Terrain tires that are the largest in the class.” What Ford did not point out is that the prior Falken WildPeak tires were actually a smidge larger in diameter than the new Goodyear tire. For more on this please see our prior story, Nitpicking Ford’s New 2025 Sasquatch Trim For Bronco Sport - Is It Really Better?

We plan to update the story as this information becomes available, so check back for ongoing updates. It sure looks like Ford is giving shoppers yet another reason to opt for the top-trim Badlands. 

Note: Torque News would like to acknowledge Bronco Sport shopper Wendy A. for raising this issue and alerting other shoppers in the 2021+ Bronco Sport Owners Club on Facebook. We heard of this issue first from her. 

Image of full-size spare in 2023 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands by John Goreham. Screenshot of Ford Bronco Sport Tire specs courtesy of Ford. 

John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ Grammarly grammar and punctuation software when proofreading.