Love the Ford Bronco but wish it was faster and capable of taking on the Finke?
Well, you’re in luck because Ford has just unveiled the Bronco DR – which stands for Desert Racer. It’s a limited-edition, purpose built off-road racing Bronco powered by a Coyote V8.
But the engine is only part of the story, because Ford has partnered with Multimatic – the same engineering and motorsport firm that helped it create the latest Ford GT – to ensure the Bronco DR is tough enough to tame the Baja 1000.
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“Bronco DR is our ultimate turnkey off-road racing SUV, engineered to put enthusiasts behind the wheel of a desert racing force,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford chief product platform and operations officer. “This collaboration between Ford Performance and Multimatic continues the Bronco desert racing legacy that dates back to Rod Hall and Larry Minor’s never-repeated overall Baja 1000 win in a stock Bronco in 1969.”
Based on the four-door Bronco, the DR is stripped of everything it doesn’t need and rebuilt with the parts it needs to take on racing in the harshest conditions on the planet.
The 5.0-litre V8 is tuned to make 300kW of power which sends its grunt to all four wheels, befitting the Bronco’s legacy as the only 4×4 to ever win the Baja 1000 outright.
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Underneath the chassis has been strengthened and there are Multimatic’s highly-rated Positional Selective DSSV dampers to soak up the punishment from rocky roads.
The Bronco’s off-road capability has been improved too, with new bumpers and underbody protection allowing for a 47-degree approach angle, 37-degree departure angle and breakover angle of 33 degrees.
The Bronco DR rides on 37-inch BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain tyres, wrapped around beadlock wheels.
“Bronco DR exists to give hardcore off-road enthusiasts a Built Wild, turnkey 4×4 to compete in desert racing events, including the unforgiving Baja 1000,” said Mark Rushbrook, Ford Performance Motorsports global director. “It started with the Bronco four-door – the platform and chassis are production true, and then we modified and optimized every aspect and built the vehicle hardcore off-road enthusiasts want.”
Ford will produce an initial run of 50 Bronco DR, with deliveries to customers due to begin by the end of 2022 ahead of the 2023 off-road racing season.
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