Lucas Bell 
We all are familiar with the old adage that says that racing technology trickles down into the street cars that we drive. Well, Ford has just posted a video to the Bronco Nation YouTube channel highlighting how the Bronco R impacted the road-going truck’s development. In doing so, the company has also just confirmed the presence of the 2.7L EcoBoost engine in the Ford Bronco two door and four door SUVs.
The video posted to the Bronco Nation page shows the Ford Performance engineers testing the Bronco R racer out in Arizona before its debut at the last Baja 1000, which it ultimately didn’t finish. While there is plenty of interesting information in the video about how the off-road race helped to shape the Bronco’s off-roading software and hardware alike, the engineers finally put to bed a rumor that has been swirling for months at this point. The Ford Bronco will offer the 2.7L EcoBoost V6 and 10R90 10-speed transmission as at least powertrain option, as the team states they used a production ready engine from Ford’s Lima Engine Plant in Ohio for the Bronco R.
The Ford Performance engineers also stated that the Ford Bronco will be shipped with the company’s 10-speed automatic transmission backing up the motor. Both parts of the powertrain were given the ultimate stress test while racing at Baja, and the team said during the video clip that the testing helped with improving cooling solutions on the SUV.
In its current F-150 spec, the 2.7L EcoBoost V6 known internally as Nano produces 325 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. These figures would be a welcomed addition to the Ford Bronco, as they dwarf the output ratings from any of Jeep’s current Wrangler powertrains. That said, it is still likely that the 2.7L EcoBoost V6 will act as an optional powertrain, with rumors still suggesting the off-roading SUV will arrive with a turbo-charged four-cylinder as the base engine.
