We’ve been blessed the past few weeks with lots of fresh snow! After our latest storm we went hunting for fresh tracks in our long term Ford Bronco First Edition, and Tommy’s 2-door Jeep Wrangler Willy’s.
Fresh Tracks
In our experience, having some wheel spin is what allows you to get going in the snow. Luckily the Bronco has a ton of different driving modes. Roman started off in Baja mode, which allowed him to break tracks with a lot of speed. The Jeep on the other hand, is much more basic: no drive modes, no advanced off-road tech, and a manual transmission.
Further up the trail Roman slowed down the speeds and relied on his tires to carry him up and around Hell’s Turn. The Bronco made the climb look ridiculously easy. Tommy took the turn with much more speed. He sprayed a lot of snow and it looked a lot cooler, but both made it to the top no issue.
The Steps (or Lumps)
This obstacle really pushes the articulation of a vehicle. Roman locked both axles and disconnected the sway bar. The Bronco started sliding towards a tree, but Roman stayed in the throttle and made it through. Once again, Tommy was much more limited with his off-road tech. He does have a limited slip diff, but no lockers, disconnect-able sway bar, or anything like it. This is where the Jeep really started to struggle. First of all, the manual transmission showed its downside, as Tommy stalled on his first go. After adjusting his line and adding more speed, the Jeep crawled right up. A front locker would’ve made a huge difference here. You can option a Wrangler with one, but for much more cash than Tommy paid for his Willy’s.
Truth or Dare
After getting stuck traveling between obstacles, Roman knew he had to power up truth or dare with a lot of momentum. He opted for the harder dare side of the trail, and made it up without stopping. This part of the trail really points out the difference in wheelbases between these two vehicles. The shorter Wrangler was able to pick its way back and forth much quicker than the Bronco, and just looks lighter on its feet. It is important to remember that both the Bronco and Wrangler are available in both 2 and 4-door configurations.
Getting Really Stuck
Both rigs made it to the top of the snow covered trail. Our Bronco was about $63,000, and Tommy’s Jeep, $33,000. That just goes to show you that you do not need a fully loaded Jeep Wrangler Rubicon to get out in the woods. While both rigs made it to the top, only one got stuck at the top and had a hard time turning around. You’ll have to check out the full video to find out which rig got stuck, and how we managed to get it unstuck. And as always, head over to TFL-studios.com for all the latest off-road stories.
