Ford is offering a wide array of suoer-cool off-roading features on the new Bronco. One of the coolest is the seven-speed manual transmission, which has a special low-speed crawler gear; another is the Sasquatch Package, which offers Bilstein shocks, 35-inch tires and locking front and rear axles. Pairing those two options together feels like the obvious off-roader enthusiast play, right?
But there’s one slight problem: you can’t. Ford will offer the Sasquatch Package with the smaller turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder that has the optional stick shift, as well as the larger twin-turbo 2.7-liter V6 that comes exclusively with a 10-speed automatic. But according to Ford, you can’t get the package with the manual transmission. Not yet, at least.
Fortunately, the door may not be entirely shut. In his Twitter post regarding the stick-and-Sasquatch paring, Ford North America Product Communications manager Mike Levine noted that the Blue Oval is “open to feedback” — which suggests not offering the Sasquatch Package with a stick was a choice, not an impenetrable technical barrier the way, say, offering a manual on the outgoing Cadillac CTS-V was. If they get enough feedback from buyers, they may revisit the matter. (Mr. Levine is very active on Twitter, should you like to message him about it.)
Why didn’t Ford offer these two together? We’re guessing they didn’t think there would be much demand for it. Most of the buyers plunking down to load up their Bronco with the Sasquatch package are probably going to opt for the more powerful V6 with the 10-speed automatic. Even with the old-school Wrangler, the manual take rate is about 10 percent. And when Jeep gave enthusiasts the diesel they’ve long craved, they didn’t bother adding a stick.