2021 Bronco Badlands Podiums at Mexican 1000 Rally

Jason R. Sakurai
by Jason R. Sakurai
2021 bronco badlands podiums at mexican 1000 rally

A stock 2021 Bronco Badlands finished third in the NORRA Mexican 1000 off-road rally, driven by two Ford engineers. The podium finish came in the Pre-Runner Truck class.

Bronco engineer manager Jamie Groves and Seth Goslawski, another Bronco engineer, drove the majority of the 1,141 mile race across the Baja peninsula. Brad Lovell, a Bronco advisory panel member and prior NORRA winner, helped navigate and drove one stage during the five-day event.

“Bronco has a long, successful history racing down here so we wanted to put the new one to the test as our final Built Wild extreme testing validation. It exceeded our every expectation for performance across this treacherous environment,” said Groves. “This race is a key final pre-launch check box for what the Bronco can do.”

The Bronco Badlands used the factory 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6, 10-speed SelectShift transmission, and 4WD with the automatic on-demand transfer case. The high-performance off-road stability suspension system on the Badlands features long-travel, coil-over Bilstein shock absorbers. A roll cage, harness belts, racing seats, and fire extinguishing system were racing additions.

The Badlands used stock 33-inch BFGoodrich all-terrain tires. A Dana 44 M220 rear axle, and M210 independent front suspension with Spicer electronic lockers is included. The Badlands’ front sway-bar disconnect and Terrain Management System was particularly helpful traversing the unforgiving Mexican countryside.

“We topped 100 MPH in some dry lake beds,” Groves said. “The Bronco’s Baja mode was especially helpful. It keeps shift points at the right rpm, and the turbos spooled up so power is there when you need it. The brakes are more aggressive to slow quickly for rough terrain.”

The 2021 Bronco two-door and Bronco four-door SUVs arrive this summer. It will team up with the 2020 Bronco Sport that is available in showrooms now.

[Images: Ford]

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  • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on May 11, 2021

    Okay that is a great action shot there.

  • Slow_poke Slow_poke on May 11, 2021

    I thought the deal w/ these was the clutches in the “on demand transfer case” were sized for “occasional” off road work. I thought that was documented. Therefore, if it was stock then this course could be run primarily as a front drive event w/ 4wheeling help as necessary. Does that track? If you’re driving fast on sandy dirt big front drive tires would be sufficient??

    • See 1 previous
    • Slow_poke Slow_poke on May 12, 2021

      @Ol Shel Yeah, maybe so., my BAD.... I’ve heard so much hype about these things and was honestly getting a bit excited, but just saw one in real life and it didn’t really live up to the hype for me. SUV box. Again. Anyway, didn’t mean to disparage. I feel now that w/ all the SUV’s, CUV’s, “lifted sedans???”, that the “amount of mass required to get me to the grocery store” has doubled in the past 10years and that seems like the wrong direction. Got no good answer for that aside from taxing mass? .

  • Lou_BC Once again, Mustang is the last pony car standing. Camaro RIP, Challenger RIP.
  • FreedMike Next up should DEFINITELY be the Cadillac Eldorado. On the subject of Caddies, I saw a Lyriq in person for the first time a couple of days ago, and I'm changing my tune on its' styling. In person, it works quite well, and the interior is very nicely executed.
  • Probert Sorry to disappoint: https://robbreport.com/motors/cars/tesla-model-y-worlds-best-selling-vehicle-1234848318/and any list. of articles with a 1 second google search. It's a tough world out there - but you can do it!!!!!!
  • ToolGuy "We're marking the anniversary of the time Robert Farago started the GM death watch and called for the company to die."• No, we aren't. Robert Farago wrote that in April 2005. It was reposted in 2009 on the eve of the actual bankruptcy filing.The byline dates are sometimes strange/off with the site revisions (and the 'this is a repost' note got lost), but the date string in the link is correct (...2005/04...). Posting about GM bankruptcy in 2005 was a slightly more difficult call than doing it in 2009.-- The Truth About Calendars
  • Kat Laneaux Agree with Michael500, we wasted all that money just to bail out GM and they are developing these cars in China and other countries. What the heck. I understand the cheap labor but that is just another foothold the government has on their citizens and they already treat them like crap. That is pretty disgusting to go forward to put other peoples health and mental stability on a crazy crazed, control freak, leader, who is in bed with Russia. Thought about getting a buick but that just shot that one out of the park. All of this for the greed. They get what they lay in bed with. Disgusting.
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