Hello All - new forum member. Just saying hi. I have found the forum to be very helpful as I spec out my 23.5 order (once we know what is changing).

I have a day 1 Bronco (2 Door Badlands) and have decided to buy a Defender 90 with most options/upgrades. I like my Bronco but I want something with better interior quality and a quieter ride. I have been watching the new Defender since its release. Overall I think JLR did a great job with the new Defender. I only have 2 minor complaints. I wish the front design paid more homage to the original defender. I think Ford did a better job here with the Bronco. I also think the center control console (shift handle area) is too much plastic for a $80K+ truck at the higher level trims. But these are nits and I am looking forward getting my Defender eventually. And the way market is right now I will probably sell my Bronco for a profit.

 

I have a '22 Defender X-Dyn HSE. My son has a '22 Bronco Outer Banks. I've driven both extensively. You are making a good decision of you want fit, finish, comfort, quiet, solid, and refined.

The only thing I'm jealous of is the soft top but there is absolutely no way I would trade.

 

I had read that the soft top on the Bronco is noisy. What is your experience driving it, especially at highway speeds? And judging from some previous posters here with A-pillar issues concerning noise, I would think that if that noise bothers them, then I don’t know how they would tolerate highway speed noise from the Bronco soft top. My Boxster, being a soft top, is much quieter than I would have expected before I purchased it, but there is no comparison between a hard top and a soft top on the highway. Being that, it is almost exclusively driven with the top down around town at middle speeds, the main reason I bought it, but I certainly wouldn’t want to drive it at highway speeds for any length of time with the top up. Or down for that matter either, unless I want a headache that lasts all night.

 

I test drove a 110 and it convinced me to switch. Again - I really like the Bronco styling but the interior quality is low-end plastic and the it is loud driving even with a hard top.

 

I only have a hard top and it is louder than my 2018 Jeep 2Dr Rubicon with a soft top. Ford has not figured out the removable top either hard or soft. I had Jeep hard/soft tops for years (TJ, JK, and JL). Jeep finally got it right with the current version. The Bronco drives better on road vs the Jeep but I find it louder than the Jeep.

I had a Boxster 10 years ago - great sports car!

I did not have the A pillar issue. The Bronco motor (V6 with twin turbos) is nice.

 

We expected it to be on the louder side. Some say they can't have a conversation or hear the radio in theirs. When we first drive it we were very surprised at how "not loud" ours really was.

I think a lot has to do with how well you attach the soft top. It's not the most intuitive and the sides are a little tricky to seal. If you attach it properly it's very easy to hold a conversation at highway speeds. Heavy rain is a totally different story. That's loud.

One thing that I really love, when you do want the top down, is the Bimini top add-on. It gives enough shade to drive comfortably in Florida sun, drops the interior temp a lot and let's the ac keep up, cuts wind noise at least 50% and it cuts wind in the cabin down drastically. I think it was a couple hundred $.

 

You're dead right about the Bronco interior. I went to test drive the 2-door and broke the seat handle trying to get into the back. Test drive over, and Bronco removed from my short list.

 

Had a Bronco First Edition. It was a huge POS - roof leaking, trans replaced upon delivery, windows didn’t roll down fast enough and caught the top in the cold, lurching while driving (hunting), the list goes on and on and on. And that’s not including the general discomfort/noise issues.

Sold it while the mania was still present and didn’t lose anything money. Bought a Jeep 392 to replace it - far better put together vehicle. Trust me, as I’m not a Jeep guy really, it shocks me to say that.

Love my Defender, though.

 

We switched the other way, from a 22 110 S to a 22 Wildtrak Sasquatch. The Bronco's turbochargers died after 18 miles of total driving:

 

I've got both, a 2021 P400 and a 2022 Wildtrak with all the options that caused build delays (hard top, tow, lux package and leather).

I really like both of them, in different ways. The Defender is clearly much more sophisticated, but the Bronco is excellent and it's also a lot of fun to drive and own.

Both well worth their purchase prices, the Defender is worth the price premium over the Bronco. Bronco gets a lot more attention if you care about that. Perhaps because it's Cyber Orange...

If I decided to sell one of them, I could not tell you right now which one it would be.