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I’ve must have had six Explorers over the last 30 years. Some years were better than others. I had a 2003 Explorer that I loved and a 2006 Explorer that I hated. Currently I have a 2015 Explorer that I like a lot. They wouldn’t sell me a V8 (big downside) with the features I wanted.

Ford has the Edge, Escape, Flex, Explorer, and Expedition. While each of these is slightly different in size, weight, towing, etc., they’re all variations of the same thing. I can’t see the Bronco being much difference than anything else they have or where the Bronco will wind up in this line-up.

Ford’s new Eco-Boost engine, which is in my Explorer and Mustang, has a lot of zip but I wonder if it’s durable. I suspect this is what will go into the Bronco. The max you’re going to get in the Bronco is a V6 is my guess. I long for the V8.

Well... I went to a site that has a great comparison of the 2015 Explorer vs. the 2015 Outback:

http://www.thecarconnection.com/car-compare-results/ford_explorer_2015-vs-subaru_outback_2015

The Outback’s AWD is FAR superior in dicey conditions, it has over an inch more ground clearance, and it can tow 700 lbs. more! (2700 lbs. vs. 2000 lbs.)

Ford just flat out has nothing, presently, in the way of a mid-size SUV, that I’d take on a camping trip, or out in 10+ inches of snow. So, even though it’s blocky, nearly throws one out of the vehicle making the turn onto the road my Mom used to live on (paved, but a rough surface), and has more things poorly executed than I have time to list, our 2008 Explorer IS a better SUV, for SUV purposes, than is the 2015 Explorer. The latter is really just a big “crossover”.

The Expedition kinda “gets you there”, but it’s huge and inefficient. (I did say “mid-size SUV”.)

If I was Ford, I’d go after Jeep (and to some degree the Toyota Sequoia), give the new Bronco AT LEAST 5000 lbs. of towing capacity (in at least one version focusing on “utility”), at least 10” of ground clearance, and get as close to the performance of Subie’s AWD as they can.