With its body-on-frame underpinnings, standard four-wheel drive, and torque-rich turbocharged engine, the base 2021 Ford Bronco is a formidable off-road machine right out of the box. But let’s say you want even more off-road capability from the Blue Oval’s new SUV while still staying within a budget outside, say, the higher-end 2021 Bronco Wildtrak. Enter the Sasquatch package.
Available across the line—except on the Wildtrak, which comes standard with its goodies—the Sasquatch package turns even the entry-level, Bronco into an all-terrain monster. Credit for the transformation goes to 17-inch beadlock-compatible wheels wrapped in 35-inch mud tires, an electromechanical transfer case, locking front and rear axles, larger fender flares, additional suspension clearance, and heavy-duty Bilstein shocks. For better or worse, the package requires checking off the option box for the Bronco’s 10-speed automatic transmission. Sorry, stick shift fans.
Bronco Sasquatch or Wrangler Willys?
The closest thing the 2020 Jeep Wrangler offers to a Sasquatch-equipped base Bronco is the Willys Sport trim, which adds 17-inch wheels wearing 32-inch mud tires, the shocks and rock rails from the more capable Rubicon trim, a limited-slip differential, and the Sahara and Rubicon models’ beefier brake calipers and rotors to the entry-level Wrangler Sport.
Admittedly, the Bronco’s Sasquatch package and Wrangler Willys Sport are as much about go-anywhere style as the ability to actually go anywhere. After all, what’s the purpose of driving Ford’s reborn Bronco or Jeep’s Wrangler if either model looks only slightly more capable than the average SUV? No surprise, then, that both sport black-painted wheels to further separate each from the herd. Additionally, Jeep fits its special Wrangler model with various black accents and kitschy decals, while Ford merely tacks on a set of wider fender flares over the Sasquatch-equipped Bronco’s beefier tires.
Until we have the chance to compare a base Bronco equipped with the Sasquatch package and a Wrangler Willys Sport, we can only declare buyers of these SUVs the real winners of this theoretical showdown. Ultimately we’re fans of any automaker that sees fit to offer piles of true performance equipment on the most affordable trim of a given model—be they off-road-oriented rigs like the 2021 Bronco or Wrangler or more street- and track-friendly toys like the Ford Mustang or Dodge Challenger. Now we wait to see how much the Sasquatch gear will cost—watch this space, which we’ll update just as soon as price for the package is available.
