2025 Ford Bronco Sport Sasquatch Review: Mythically Capable
Is the Ford Bronco Sport a Good SUV?
- Equipped with serious all-terrain rubber, undercarriage armor and a clever all-wheel-drive system, the new 2025 Ford Bronco Sport Sasquatch is likely the most adventure- and off-road-capable compact SUV available.
How Does the Ford Bronco Sport Compare With Other SUVs?
- If it’s off-road gumption you’re after, the Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness is the closest competitor, but with less power and available terrain tech. On a wider scale, look for serious commuter competition — but less character — from the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V and Nissan Rogue.
If you’re in need of a compact SUV with genuine, real-deal off-road capability, you’d better ‘Squatch your Sport. Ahem — that is to say, ensure you order your 2025 Ford Bronco Sport with the new Sasquatch off-road package. It is, in my estimation, just about the most down-‘n-dirty, go-anywhere SUV you can have short of picking up something with true four-wheel drive.
2025 Ford Bronco Sport | Cars.com photo by Melissa Klauda
Related: How Much Is the 2025 Ford Bronco Sport?
I mean it. A day spent bounding through the Mojave desert at Ford’s invitation in the updated Bronco Sport impressed me far more than I expected and realigned my perception of what all-wheel-drive platforms are capable of. There are still limitations, of course, but that fabulously named Sasquatch Package goes a long way in making sure you won’t think twice about tackling that alarmingly remote trailhead. (Per our ethics policy, Cars.com pays for all travel and lodging at such manufacturer-sponsored events.)
2025 Ford Bronco Sport | Cars.com photo by Melissa Klauda
What Is the Bronco Sport Sasquatch?
We’ll start with the Squatch, especially since Ford’s gone to great lengths to make what might be the most confusing cross-trim package I’ve seen. It’s available on just two trims: the uplevel, comfort-oriented Outer Banks and the range-topping, dirt-hungry Badlands. Regardless of trim, all Squatches add aggressive all-terrain tires on 17-inch wheels and steel skid plates, along with a few bits of utility hardware like a front brush guard and metal bumpers. That’s the easy bit.
The Sasquatch treatment brings the Bronco Sport Outer Banks’ capability closer to a base Badlands thanks to its trick twin-clutch rear differential. This is the first time the twin-clutch unit has been offered in conjunction with the Bronco Sport’s turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine.
Tick the Sasquatch kit when ordering your Badlands, and you’ll find that the rear shocks have been swapped for a set of position-sensitive Bilstein dampers. All Badlands variants also get a new sand-focused Rally mode in addition to the existing portfolio of driving modes. So, if the off-road capability of the standard Badlands wasn’t up to snuff, the Badlands with the Sasquatch pack should conceivably be the ultimate all-terrain adventure compact SUV.
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What Is the 2025 Bronco Sport Like to Drive?
I started in the heart of downtown San Diego, facing down a roughly hour-and-a-half drive to the off-road basecamp. A Bronco Sport with the Black Diamond off-road package was the assigned sled, and it painted a solid picture of the refreshed Bronco Sport’s on-road character. Only, outside of the Sasquatch Package and some new driver-assist features, the Bronco Sport’s tarmac capability hasn’t changed one bit; the rest of the refresh was primarily a tech upgrade, with every Bronco Sport now fitted with a standard 13.2-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system and a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel. The infotainment system runs on Ford’s Sync 4 digital architecture that’s fast, intuitive, and supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The Badlands Sasquatch was first up for an off-road sand scrub. Our guided, follow-the-leader conga line of Badlands started with a trivial march over some pebbled hard pack that soon gave way to a field of soft sand, where we were encouraged to engage the new Rally mode. Now, in this mode, engine rpm is kept higher and accelerator response is sharpened, in addition to the stuff that happens behind the scenes to the AWD system and traction control parameters. Rally mode is good for some (reasonable) tail-out antics, but this sandy scramble was just a short obstacle to reach our first semi-technical challenge.
I picked the trickiest of three ascents offered, with the moderately steep climb of crumbled sandstone providing an opportunity to upset the Bronco Sport’s traction. The Sasquatch’s 29-inch Goodyear all-terrain tires bit hard, with clear power transfer in the AWD system that had me up and over the crest with little issue. That said, I did notice a little clutch smell from it.
About the make
Ford
Ford is a company selling a range of popular trucks and SUVs (but just one car) in the U.S., including the bestselling F-Series pickup.
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1 / 172025 Ford Bronco Sport | Cars.com photo by Melissa Klauda
Next was a rather severe low-speed descent, necessitating a team of spotters and careful corner placement. The updated hill descent control was just the trick, maintaining a 1 mph trail cruise without any driver inputs save steering. Seriously impressive stuff for a compact SUV, especially considering not one of us got even remotely stuck.
The Sasquatch’s special rear Bilstein shocks are the biggest change for the Badlands. Ride quality over washboard surfaces and through the slower, more precarious stuff was remarkably composed and significantly improved over the Outer Banks Sasquatch’s setup. Speaking of the Outer Banks, that was up next, with its separate loop starting much in the same way with hard, gravely trails.
The Bilsteins were immediately missed — especially by Cars.com videographer and backseat passenger Max Bednarski. The overall capability, however, wasn’t far off the top Badlands, with both trims having the same tires and twin-clutch rear differential. This was a less intense route, though, with only a single instance of three-wheel seesawing providing a challenge beyond point-and-shoot driving.
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2025 Ford Bronco Sport | Cars.com photo by Melissa Klauda
Should You Buy a Bronco Sport Sasquatch?
Great little adventure vehicles, these. The Bronco Sport is already one of Ford’s more popular vehicles, but it’s almost a shame Land Rover isn’t still under the automaker’s purview — a Bronco Sport rebadged as a Discovery Sport would do crazy numbers.
Seriously, unless you find yourself in situations necessitating low-range 4WD and locked differentials, I reckon a 2025 Ford Bronco Sport with the Sasquatch Package to be all the SUV you’ll need. And that is about the highest praise I can bestow on a unibody AWD compact SUV.
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
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2025 Ford Maverick Hybrid and Lobo Review: The People’s Perfect Truck
By Conner Golden
April 8, 2025
2025 Ford Maverick Hybrid and 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo | Cars.com photo by Melissa Klauda
Is the Ford Maverick a Good Pickup Truck?
- Small interior touches, a fresh face, a new Lobo performance trim level and the addition of available all-wheel drive for the existing hybrid drivetrain make the updated 2025 Ford Maverick one of the most compelling affordable vehicles on the market.
How Does the Ford Maverick Compare With Other Pickup Trucks?
- Competition in the compact truck class is scarce in the U.S. For now, it’s just the Hyundai Santa Cruz facing down the Maverick, and the Ford is far, far more compelling from a presentation, packaging, capability and affordability standpoint.
Oh heck yeah. The 2025 Ford Maverick finally offers all-wheel drive with its hybrid powertrain, and there’s a new performance-oriented variant? Talk about listening to your customers. These major additions, along with a larger standard infotainment screen and some minor stylistic tweaks, significantly elevate what was already one of the most compelling sub-$30,000 vehicles on the market.
Related: 2025 Ford Maverick: Mini Truck, Max Utility
1 / 72025 Ford Maverick Hybrid | Cars.com photo by Melissa Klauda
What Engine Does the Ford Maverick Hybrid Have?
Let’s kick it off with the hybrid. The powertrain is untouched, the core of which remains a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine augmented by a transmission-mounted electric motor, a setup Ford calls an “eCVT.” Unlike traditional belt-driven continuously variable transmissions, Ford’s eCVT is simply a planetary gearset with an integrated electric motor, making it both simpler and more robust than its belted cousins.
That’s old news, as that’s been in the front-wheel-drive Maverick hybrid since day one. Now, this same powertrain can incorporate a mechanical clutch and driveshaft that routes power to the rear wheels when slippage is detected. This is a welcome alternative to the e-AWD systems found in some hybrid models like the popular Toyota RAV4 Hybrid; though certainly effective in some environments, the rear-electric-motor-based e-AWD system has proven less flexible and adaptive than the classic driveshaft-based setup.
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How Does the Ford Maverick Hybrid Drive?
Not that you’ll notice much difference during day-to-day driving. After putting close to 1,000 miles on a FWD Maverick hybrid when it launched a few years ago, the differences in character with the new AWD system are nearly imperceptible. And, that’s just the way I like it; the FWD electro-Mav remains one of the better-driving affordable hybrids on the market.
The handoff between the initial surge from the electric motor to the gas four-cylinder is near-seamless, with the combined 191 horsepower providing more than enough gumption for relatively confident merging and attentive passing. It ain’t quick, but there’s plenty of motivation for virtually any daily scenario, even while hauling a passenger or two.
If you do end up constantly burying the accelerator pedal, you won’t simultaneously reach for hearing protection as you might in other budget-oriented, CVT-backed vehicles. The 2.5-liter engine is well isolated from the cabin, and the eCVT is less screamy than a traditional belt-driven CVT powertrain like the kind in, say, an autowriter’s personal Subaru Crosstrek Sport.
1 / 72025 Ford Maverick Hybrid | Cars.com photo by Melissa Klauda
About the make
Ford
Ford is a company selling a range of popular trucks and SUVs (but just one car) in the U.S., including the bestselling F-Series pickup.
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Brake blend between pure regenerative resistance and the physical brakes is excellent, too. I believe the customer overlap between trucklet-seeking Maverick buyers and dedicated hybrid seekers is fairly narrow, so a low hybrid learning curve is ideal for the typical Maverick driver. Do you feel the mass of the AWD system’s extra 200-ish pounds? Maybe, but the bulk adds minimal heft to the Maverick’s crossover-like handling character, with the only thing reminding you of the truck bed out back is a glance at the rearview mirror.
Everything else is right where you left it in 2024, including the terribly clever interior packaging and rugged materials. However, fuel efficiency does take a small hit when you jump from FWD to AWD, with EPA-estimated combined gas mileage dropping from 38 to 37 mpg.
What Is the Ford Maverick Lobo?
So while the new AWD Maverick hybrid offers big benefits with little change in the truck’s real-world character, elsewhere in the lineup, the new Lobo sport trim seeks big change with its suite of performance-minded upgrades. It’s been repeated ad nauseam at this point, but think of the Maverick Lobo as a descendant of the sport compact trucks of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, a time when automakers infused small trucks like the Ford Ranger and Chevrolet S-10 with style and performance packages.
1 / 92025 Ford Maverick Lobo | Cars.com photo by Melissa Klauda
Naturally, this followed the vibrant mini- and sport-truck subculture that saw passionate enthusiasts swappin’, slammin’ and airbrushing their trucks to match the contemporary hot-rodding trends. This era arguably hit its apogee in the ‘90s with the GMC Syclone and first-generation Ford F-150 Lightning, where power and presence were prioritized over handling.
The Maverick Lobo switches this up. It’s offered exclusively with the Mav’s available turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 250 hp and 277 pounds-feet of torque, but this engine’s familiar eight-speed automatic transmission has been replaced with a seven-speed automatic shared with the European Focus ST. Also from the Focus are the front twin-piston brake calipers, complemented by a revised steering rack and a suspension drop of 0.5 inches in the front and just over 1.1 inches in the rear that adds both stiffness and visual rake.
The Lobo also uses the twin-clutch rear differential from the Maverick Tremor and certain iterations of the Bronco Sport — and, if you go back far enough, you can trace some of its DNA from the bygone Focus RS. The differential’s torque-vectoring capability is active when the track-focused Lobo mode is engaged. Lobo mode also reduces stability-system intervention.
Is the Ford Maverick Lobo Fast?
All this and some style thanks to a unique front end, special interior accents, body-color trim and wicked monobloc-style 19-inch wheels. It’s quite the compelling sport trucklet on paper and in person, but I’m afraid it’s far from the hot hatch (hot tailgate?) both myself and other enthusiasts wished for.
Despite the new transmission, the Lobo feels no quicker in a straight line than a regular turbocharged Maverick, which accelerated from 0-60 mph in 6.4 seconds when we last tested a 2022 model. The engine sounds a bit gruffer when on the move, but the tone is neither very aggressive nor particularly “cool.” Steering is modestly improved in terms of weight and feel, and the reworked suspension does cut down on some body roll, but the Lobo still feels very much like a vehicle forced to exercise when it really, really doesn’t want to.
Rainy conditions meant I didn’t get to smash ‘n scream through an autocross course, but a good eight or so hot laps riding shotgun with a Ford dynamics engineer proved its capability is indeed elevated above a non-Lobo Maverick. Still, it’s also no match for any hot hatch.
1 / 102025 Ford Maverick Lobo | Cars.com photo by Melissa Klauda
I asked one of the Ford engineers why the Lobo doesn’t wear the vaunted ST badge, considering the automaker’s Explorer three-row SUV offers an ST variant. He told me the ST development team is a close-knit one and that there are internal directives and checklists that an ST product must meet for approval. Considering the semi-parts-bin nature of the Lobo treatment, it starts to make sense.
I’m glad the Lobo exists, and I’m sure there are plenty of Ford and Maverick enthusiasts who are counting down the minutes until their order is fulfilled, but I wish it went a bit further — especially with the Focus RS’ 350-hp, turbo 2.3-liter four-cylinder sitting right there. Alternatively, I bet there’s a way to crank the truck’s turbo 2.0-liter up a bit.
Actually, I’m sure of it, and I think Ford is, as well. The Lobo feels purpose-built for the nascent Maverick tuning community, and I expect the aftermarket will have an absolute field day with the long-proven powertrain. This makes a whole lot more sense to me than how the Lobo is right out of the box; get some real tires, a bigger suspension drop, a reflash, a gnarly turbo and a comprehensive exhaust, and you should be picking on Ford Mustang GTs in no time.
Don’t get it twisted — the Lobo is still a Maverick, which means it’s a fantastic little truck. It still possesses all the brilliant packaging, excellent ‘round-town usability and weekend-warrior utility that’s ensconced it as Ford’s affordable giga-hit. Now, with a sport-oriented trim sitting pretty with the off-road Tremor, luxe Lariat and AWD hybrid models, there’s truly a Maverick for everyone.
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Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
