2021 Ford Bronco leaks: center stack revealed, 7-speed manual confirmed

A TFLcar reader sent that site an image thought to be the center stack in the 2021 Ford Bronco, and dished a little goss on what might be the country’s most anticipated off-road SUV. An infotainment screen tops the stack, wholly enclosed in the instrument panel and separated from two rows of buttons below by a short plinth. The jutting part of the dash connects the full-size Bronco design to that of the Bronco Sport, which uses a similar motif, but the infotainment screen in the Bronco Sport is a freestanding unit that sits atop the dash. Beyond that, the big Bronco’s system has most in common with that in the coming F-150 pickup. The leaked Bronco display doesn’t look quite as large as the 15-incher in the F-150 — TFLcar suspects the SUV’s unit is 12 or 13 inches, still plenty of real estate. Underneath, four knobs and two rows of buttons control features such as climate control, heated seats, a 360-degree camera system, auto stop/start, and parking sensors.

The source of the photo also confirmed a seven-speed manual transmission that’s been rumored for more than a year, which is actually a six standard gears and a crawler ratio. Recently, a Magna Powertrain slide on the supplier’s Ford page revealed a few specs on the presumed unit. This could give the Bronco competent crawling capability before accessing the potential in a two-speed transfer case; Magna says the potential gear ratio spread goes up to 11 with the seventh cog. The 10-speed automatic in the Bronco’s platform-mate, the Ranger pickup, offers a spread of 7.38, the six-speed manual in the current Jeep Wrangler Rubicon has a gear ratio spread of 7.1 before shifting into low range. Now we await word on the addition of a two-speed transfer case, which would be a boon to hardcore off-roaders, as will the front and rear locking diffs a dealer referred to as a “warthog addition for the climbers.”

Another bit of intel is that the Bronco will offer two tire widths that copy Jeep’s template. One Bronco tire package comes with 255-millimeter rubber, the same as the urban-focused Wrangler Sahara, while a second package will fit 285-mm rubber, same as the Wrangler Rubicon. We’re in the dark on wheel sizes, but if Ford follows Jeep’s lead all the way, which wouldn’t be a bad thing, the narrower tire will wrap 18-inch wheels, the thicker units will wrap 17-inchers. Regardless, there are rumors that the Bronco can fit 37-inch tires without modifications, something the Wrangler Rubicon needs a two-inch lift to achieve.

Head to TFLcar to check out the leaked center stack. The 2021 Ford Bronco’s production has been pushed back two months, but the debut shouldn’t be that far away.