Key Takeaways
- 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands upgrades offer a more rugged appearance in key areas.
- The Badlands stands out as a capable off-road alternative among mid-size crossovers.
- Ford’s recent price cuts make the entire Bronco Sport lineup a more appealing choice.
The 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands was caught completely uncovered ahead of its debut. The model isn’t seeing many drastic changes for the 2025 model year like its Maverick sibling, but the changes it does see are upgrades to the off-road presence of the vehicle that should be welcomed by those shelling out for the top trim of the Bronco Sport lineup.
Starting at $38,390 for 2024, Ford’s nostalgic crossover is mainly for those customers who want all the comforts of a regular crossover in a package that stands out from the rest. As the peak of the Bronco Sport lineup, the Badlands offers skid plates, all-terrain tires, a 4×4 system with 7 different terrain modes, and more. It’s certainly one of the more capable crossovers on sale, so let’s check out what’s different for 2025.
More Rugged Appearance
Looking at the pictures, the most obvious changes are in the front and rear bumpers. The metal skid plates stand out much more now on the bottom of the bumper and stretch up into what looks like similarly-colored trim that almost reaches up to the grille. In the rear, you have a similar situation with the silver trim giving it a much more rugged look.
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Both have cutouts for tow hooks, which is what indicates this is the Badlands model as it’s the only one with the feature. We expect the rest of the exterior to remain unchanged, although a new wheel or color option could be added. On the inside, we’re expecting the crossover to get a larger infotainment screen and a 360-degree camera. Performance is expected to stay the same, with either the 1.5-liter EcoBoost producing 181 horsepower and 190 lb-ft of torque or the 2.0-liter Ecoboost making a much more significant 250 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque.
Off-Road Crossover Alternative
Ever since Jeep cut down its lineup, there haven’t been many options in the mid-size crossover space for vehicles with solid off-road performance besides the Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness. Now, we wouldn’t recommend you take on the Rubicon in what’s essentially an Escape with a few more bells and whistles, but it should treat you nicely for your next weekend camping trip.
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What’s even better is Ford recently cut prices on the entire Bronco Sport lineup, making the entire lineup a much more enticing option, though the base Big Bend trim is going to offer very little in the way of performance. If we had to pick one, we’d go with the Heritage edition and its lovely aluminum retro-inspired wheels because when you’re buying something with the Bronco name on it, it’s best to lean into nostalgia. We expect the facelifted Bronco to offer more of the same special trims.