Ford presents Performance Shift Light Indicator display for Shelby GT350

Anyhow, getting back to task at hand, the GT350 and GT350R will have racing-inspired customisable shift light indicators to help drivers optimise their track times. Traditional shift lights either obscure part of the forward view or force drivers to look down to the instrument cluster, not far from the tachometer itself.

Interestingly, the idea of the head-up display shift light indicator came from Ford engineer, Mike Makled.

The shift light in the heads up display for the 2015/2016 Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang is controlled through the driver information center, using the buttons on the steering wheel.

In tach mode, the lights move left to right, track mode has the lights moving from outside to inside in a straight line, and drag mode flashes all the lights when the rpm limit is hit. In Track mode, the LEDs will light up from the outside ends to the center until the shift point is reached, then the whole bar flashes.

Finally, there is also a Drag mode, which works pretty much like the aforementioned yellow light in a dragster: as long as the RPM is climbing, nothing is happening.

Watch a video of the Performance Shift Light Indicator in action below. As the system bounced projected light against the reflective inner surface of the windshield, he had a “Eureka” moment. “This got him thinking”, states Ford. “I thought, wait a minute, why don’t we use that technology for our shift light on the GT350?”, Makled said. “‘They loved it”, he stated, and they called it a “brilliant reimagining of existing technology”.

Makled then worked with a supplier for the next three months to build a prototype, marking the beginning of the new Performance Light Shift Indicator. Ultimately, they dialed-in the system and had is ready for the new Shelby GT350 and Shelby GT350R.

If so, the feature will aid Focus RS drivers when speeding.