Ford Bronco vs Toyota GR Yaris

What's the difference?

In many respects the reasons the Bronco is not available to Australian buyers are clear and understandable - demand remains high in the US market and it’s unclear just how many Ford Australia could sell. A pessimist would point to the modest sales of the Jeep Wrangler but an optimist would point out the sales gap between the Ford Ranger and the Jeep Gladiator and ask why Ford doesn’t think it could out-sell its competition.

Having spent so much quality time with the Bronco it’s clear it would have some major appeal to Australian buyers. The strong sales of the Ranger and Everest, as well as the entire off-road SUV market - the likes of the Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, etc - it’s obvious we love a rugged, adventurous vehicle.

Ford’s strength in that area, with the Ranger/Everest combination, would seemingly strengthen the case for the Bronco to join its ‘T6’ siblings, but only time will tell.

Having spent an extended period behind the wheel I’m more convinced that the Bronco would find a strong market in Australia. Both with the off-road set and those who like a Land Rover Defender to take the kids to school. 

This is an SUV with capability and personality and that should be enough to make it a success in Australia. But for now, we need to play the waiting game…

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The GR Yaris GTS with the Aero Performance Package is a so wonderfully special with its brilliant engineering, mind-blowing dynamics and fun-to-drive nature. The new aero package makes an already angry beastie look furious, making it the perfect enhancement that's also functional.

The only lower marks here are for warranty, fuel use and practicality. But if there was a score for fun it'd be a 10/10.

While we don’t have a history with the Bronco in Australia, it’s an iconic model in the US that was introduced in the 1960s to compete with the likes of the Jeep CJ-5 and Toyota LandCruiser.

It evolved throughout the 1970s, ‘80s and into the ‘90s eventually becoming an F-150-based SUV before being discontinued in ‘96.

For this revived Bronco Ford has gone back to its roots, taking inspiration from the ‘60s and ‘70s but also creating a car that is also very much contemporary.

It’s a great example of using retro design elements without getting lost in nostalgia.

It’s also hugely functional, with a removable roof and doors, which is a popular feature in the US where it’s legal to drive without the doors in place, and has deliberately short front and rear overhangs for improved approach and departure angles.

The Heritage edition takes this a step further with its pumped out Sasquatch flared guards, which are both functional and add to the chunky look of the Bronco.

Notably, the Bronco does not feature a Ford ‘blue oval’ badge, instead it only uses the ‘F-O-R-D’ on the grille and the rest of the badges are the ‘bucking Bronco’ - an alternative take on the ‘striding Mustang’ logo used for the iconic pony car.

The interior of the Bronco is interesting, showing very little commonality with the Ranger and instead embracing its unique history and design language.

The Heritage version also pops with its Oxford White dashboard inset, complete with bright red ‘Bronco’ lettering in front of the passenger.

The GR Yaris exists so that Toyota could go racing in the World Rally Championship. As with many racing series it required Toyota to build a road-going version of their Yaris race car, also known as a homologation vehicle. It’s a good deal, they get to race, you get a race car for the road. And so the GR Yaris was born. 

Wildly different from a regular five-door garden variety Yaris, the GR Yaris is a hand-built three-door hatch with a wider track, wider and lower body and the use of forged carbon and aluminium for lightweight construction.   

The GR Yaris already looks very angry, but the GTS Aero Performance Pack makes it look furious. It adds a huge adjustable rear wing, fender ducts that channel air, a front spoiler lip that aids stability, a giant bonnet scoop to help release air, and rear bumper ducts to reduce drag. 

The GR Yaris’s cabin was redesigned for the 2025 update and that saw the dashboard angled more to the driver much like in a race car, but it's more functional than fancy and it’s all very plain.

Still, we’re not complaining. The seats are lovely and the red stitching is a nice touch but this isn’t a Lexus. It’s supposed to favour function over form and so the design is absolutely fitting. And by function I mean dynamics and not practicality.

The Bronco is a big vehicle so you do need to climb up into it, but Ford has considered that and integrated handles into the side of the dashboard to help you in.

That’s just one of several small but thoughtful touches around the cabin that show the company has been very considered in designing the Bronco.

The option to have either removable soft- or hard-top is another one of those design touches that show Ford was determined to ensure the Bronco appealed to a broad market of buyers.

It does mean some peculiarities, though, such as the window and mirror controls being on the centre console, instead of the doors.

It also cuts down on small item storage space, as the doors only have small netted areas rather than any meaningful space.

In fact, small item storage is limited to just two cupholders and two small areas up front and in the car there are no cupholders at all in the rear.

Instead, rear passengers are left with the small nets in the doors and nothing else. However, rear passengers do get a USB and power outlet which will no doubt come in handy for owners.

Back in the front the instrument display combines an analogue speedo with a small digital screen that displays the rest of the information.

It’s not a particularly clear layout, with a vertical rev counter next to several other readouts making it tricky to glance at on the move, and unfortunately it cannot be changed like some other digital displays.

The 8.0-inch media screen is a good size and offers Ford’s intuitive SYNC 4 operating system, which is a plus.

In terms of space the Bronco offers reasonable interior room, albeit less than you might expect when you look at how big it is outside.

The front seats are comfortable and offer good visibility of the road ahead, while the rear offers adequate legroom and generous headroom thanks to the tall and squared-off roofline.

The boot measures a very healthy 1008 litres according to Ford, which seems generous based on our real world experience.

It certainly coped well, accommodating several large suitcases and smaller bags, though, so it doesn’t lack for luggage capacity even if its on-paper claim may be grandiose.

Obviously there’s the full-size spare mounted on the rear tailgate in case you need it. The tailgate itself opens in two parts, with the lower half coming out to the side while the glass lifts up, which is necessary because of the removable roof (with the glass section coming off with the top).

The regular Yaris is small, the GR Yaris is smaller at 3995mm end-to-end and with two fewer doors. As a tall person (I’m 1890mm end-to-end) the space on board is adequate up front with just enough knee, head and elbow room.

The GR Yaris is a four seater with the two rear seats accessed through the front doors. There’s not much room in there for adults and not even my lanky 11-year old would be happy in there. Still if you need to carry three other people, technically you can.

Cabin storage is limited to fairly large door pockets and two cupholders between the front seats. There is a little shelf carved into the dashboard which is great and a small glovebox below it.

Boot space is tiny at 174 litres but again this is a small car with other priorities. 

The GR Yaris GTS Aero Performance Pack sits at the top of the model range with the six-speed manual version listing for $64,990 before on-road costs, while the automatic is $67,490. That’s $4500 more than the standard GTS without the aero pack

The aero pack significantly toughens up the look of the GR Yaris, and also improves its dynamics. So if you plan to use the GR Yaris as a track car and drive it hard and fast, the kit will help.

That's thanks to improved down force from the giant rear wing, air ducts in the fenders to improve steering under braking, a front splitter for stability, underbody cladding to maximise airflow and a bonnet scoop to help release hot air from the engine bay.

The rest of the high-performance equipment comes on the regular GTS including a Torsen limited slip differential, high performance suspension tune and 18-inch forged wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres.

Standard features are the same as the regular GTS and include heated GR sports front seats with suede leather upholstery, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, leather-wrapped steering wheel, aluminium pedals, dual-zone climate control, proximity unlocking and push-button start.

There's also an eight-speaker, eight-inch media screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and an eight-speaker JBL sound system.

The value is actually great considering all the high-performance engineering around you in the GR Yaris, and it will save you money from being tempted to go down the aftermarket route and buy equipment that hasn't been designed for the car by the people who made the car.

There are some nice comforts, too, like the leather seats, although the media screen is small.   

The Heritage edition is powered by Ford’s EcoBoost 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine and can be paired with a 10-speed automatic. 

However, our test car was equipped with a seven-speed manual gearbox, but not in the way you might think. Instead of seventh gear being an overdrive for highway cruising, the extra ratio is actually for extremely low-speed off-road use.

Known as the ‘Crawler’ gear Ford says it makes the Bronco ‘almost unstallable’ when you find yourself in a tricky spot.

Specifications for the engine aren’t quite as straightforward as you’d like, with Ford offering power and torque figures for US standard and premium grade fuels.

With the former the 2.3-litre makes 205kW/427Nm, while if you put better petrol in you’ll get 223kW/440Nm - so it will pay to spend a bit more at the pump.

It still boggles my mind how 221kW and 400Nm is extracted from a 1.6-litre three-cylinder petrol engine but here we are. The GR Yaris has this set up with this output, along with all-wheel drive. 

Thanks to lightweight materials such as forged carbon and aluminium the GR Yaris weighs nothing in car terms - just 1300kg - so acceleration from 0-100km/h is a rapid 5.1 seconds.

I’ve already detailed the juicy engineering bits the GTS Aero Package is fitted with, from the limited slip diff to the adjustable rear wing, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that not many small hatches are this gifted with this kind of genius.

Our test car has an eight-speed automatic, which is easy to drive in city traffic. However, I'd opt for the six-speed manual because if you've come this far you may as well go the whole way.

Not surprisingly a large SUV powered by a relatively small, turbocharged petrol engine is not particularly fuel efficient.

The USA’s Environmental Protection Agency estimates the EcoBoost four-cylinder will use 11.7 litres per 100km on the combined urban/highway cycle.

That didn’t ring true in our real-world test, which did include long highway stretches as well as a lot of urban running around, with the car’s trip computer saying we’d used 13.6L/100km.

While that’s not particularly miserly, at least there’s a 64-litre fuel tank to provide a driving range of nearly 550km, so you can cover some distance.

The GR Yaris is a hungry beastie that eats through its 50L petrol tank fairly quickly and then wants more. Toyota says you should see 9.1L/100km of 98 RON used in the automatic and 8.2L/100km with the manual over a combination of driving conditions. 

Stop-start city driving in traffic saw fuel use increase dramatically to 13.0L/100km in the auto. According to our car's trip computer, my own testing used an average of 14.5L/100km after mainly suburban driving.  

The Bronco is designed for off-road use, it isn’t a ‘soft-roader’ and has been created specifically for those who enjoy getting off the beaten path.

Ford claims an approach angle of 43.2 degrees, a breakover angle of 29.0 degrees and a departure angle of 37.2 degrees, plus 294mm of ground clearance and up to 850mm of water fording capability. 

We, unfortunately, didn’t get a chance to drive the Bronco that way, instead spending three days behind the wheel driving it through US cities, along highways and winding our way through some picturesque mountain roads.

But despite being out of its element, the Bronco felt perfectly at home.

The fundamental qualities of the ‘T6’ platform, that makes the Ranger such a capable and popular offering with Australian buyers, shines through with the Bronco, too.

It steers with accuracy and has nicely weighted steering, rather than feeling too heavy and slow as some off-roaders can.

The ride is comfortable, too, which isn’t too surprising as it rides on 17-inch alloy wheels with huge 35-inch tyre, with bumps soaked up with ease.

Ford’s drive select system has modes for on-road - 'Normal', 'Sport' and 'Eco' - as well as off-road - 'Mud/Ruts', 'Sand' and 'Rocky' - so you’re covered whatever you want to do.

As for the powertrain, the EcoBoost engine does an admirable job most of the time, feeling powerful enough around town to move this sizable SUV.

However, there are times it will struggle and labour, most obviously when needing to overtake or climb a hill. There were several instances when we found ourselves shifting down from sixth to fourth gear to keep momentum up.

There’s been a multitude of electric cars through the test garage over the past six months and the GR Yaris is like a diamond found in a tub of Lego when it comes to driving.

So much sound. The three cylinder snarls on start up sending vibrations into the cockpit and up through the steering wheel, the transmission can be heard engaging gears, the big brakes creak as they’re released. And we’re hardly even moving yet. There’s so much theatre. It’s all real and I love it!

I even love that in the first 10 minutes of driving, a message appears on the instrument cluster asking that excessive acceleration be avoided while the engine is cool. You don’t get that beautiful inconvenience in an electric car.

But when you can excessively accelerate (on a race track of course, right?) it's wonderful and it's loud. Lift off, and the wastegate lets out a little "weeee!" in excitement.

I don't need to tell you that the GR Yaris handles better than just about anything in this price range and while the ride is firm and speed bumps feel like you’ve hit a gutter I still drove the GR Yaris every day, even to do the school run, because it is so much fun. Meanwhile my hybrid long0term test car looked lonely in the driveaway all week...

Being an automatic makes it easy to drive in traffic and the small size makes finding parking spots quick and simple.

Visibility is good, steering is excellent, the seats are big enough to accommodate me but snug enough to offer good lateral support, too.   

The GR Yaris has not been crash tested by ANCAP and the score for the regular Yaris can't be applied to the GR version.

Still the GR Yaris comes equipped with an array of advanced safety tech such as auto emergency braking (AEB), lane keeping assistance and a blind spot warning.

There are six airbags, two child seat ISOFIX points and two top tether anchor mounts in the rear row.  

These are questions for another time unfortunately, with Ford Australia still unlikely to add the Bronco to the range in the near future.

The GR Yaris is covered by Toyota's five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty which is lacking compared to many other mainstream manufacturers’ seven-year-plus warranties. The good news is that the engine and driveline is covered by an extra two-year warranty.

Servicing is capped at about $300 for the first six visits, although services are six months apart which means that after three years you’ll run out of capped-price servicing.

Still, Toyota’s reputation for reliability does provide some peace of mind.