Off-roading through the Saudi Arabian desert in a Ford Bronco DR
Racing isn’t solely to be done on track
Race cars are awesome. We know this. They’re what happens when the shackles of road regulations, speed limits, and all the boring bits of driving are put neatly to one side, leaving fun to win the day. The Ford Bronco Raptor is fun, but the Bronco DR is…funner (it’s a word now, don’t @ me).
Deep in the Saudi Arabian desert, Ford racer Brad Lovell was waiting with a Bronco DR gently warming itself in the sun. Lovell has won everything worth winning, and knows every inch of the DR, so is best placed to give me a run out and show just what happens when you throw nearly $300,000 at an SUV.
Bronco DR breakdown
For your money you don’t get a windscreen, opening doors, or any boot space. You can’t even drive it on the road. What you are treated to is a set of chunky Multimatic dampers designed to take a kicking from anything short of Everest itself, a 5.0-litre V8 that sounds like a Volcano with a hacking cough, spades mounted to the back in incredibly unlikely event it gets stuck, 37 inch BF Goodrich tyres capable of dragging the DR through anything, a ten-speed automatic gearbox, a strengthened chassis, suspension travel so tall you could fly a helicopter into the wheel arch, a wider track than is strictly necessary, and colossal brakes.
Lovell explains that the Bronco DR is a car for racers who want something they can buy, get in, and go racing in. For Ford Performance, which has loyal fans (and customers) all over the world, it makes sense. You can see your favourite car go out and spank the competition over the weekend, and feel smug about your SUV of choice during your commute the next day.
Get in and make yourself comfortable…ish
Getting in is a matter of threading yourself through the window, which, even after occasional glances at a yoga mat, is not a dignified process for the uninitiated. Once in the cabin passengers sit low, and are clamped into a snug race seat so the terrain can’t fire them out of where a windscreen would be. The lack of screen is a logical one - stones and such might shatter it, which would make racing unpleasant. Instead you wear a full face helmet, giving stones a harder target to hit.
Lovell’s kept the DR warm for our ride, starting at a leisurely pace while there were people around, but as soon as he’s got space he floors it. The V8 bursts into life, making what I like to call ‘The Good Noise’ as loudly as it can. Even though the surface beneath is slippery, it keeps traction and heads to the horizon.
Still a road car at heart
As Lovell attacked lumps and bumps, the shocks just brushed them off. I’ve no idea how fast we were going (very), but the DR felt solid. Lovell found a tree, flicked the wheel, and the rear sprayed sand as we slid around it effortlessly, finding traction once the fun was done and haring off to the next obstacle.
The Bronco Raptor can take inclines with ease, but it’s still a road car at heart. The DR simply looks at them and goes ‘and what?’ Lovell lined himself up at a slope that’d make you and I wheeze even thinking about, pinned the gas, and up we went. No mess, no problem. We crested it, clambered through some narrow-looking gaps, and made our way down the other side at speed.
With gravity and a thacking great V8 on our side, we flew over the rocks, again with unbothered suspension, until we got to the sandy desert floor where Lovell pulled off a bog, silly drift before slamming on the anchors and swapping me out for his next passenger.
The whole thing was an assault on my senses (even taste because sand gets EVERYWHERE), and a glorious one at that. I think I need to go off-road racing, and soon.
words: Alex Goy
