US automotive giant Ford has armed its Shelby GT350 Mustang with Performance Shift Light Indicator to help drivers focus on road and eliminate the need for watching a tachometer.
The technology draws from race in which a similar system communicates to the driver the requisite engine speed to ensure maximum acceleration and lower lap times.
Unlike other systems that come in way of forward view or installed low in the instrument cluster, the shift light drivers are placed on the Shelby GT350 Mustang in such a way that drivers could focus their minds on road. The Performance Shift Light Indicator comes with Shelby GT350 and GT350R.
Shelby programs electrical engineer Mike Makled said: "Given the conditions of a drag race, we found drivers wanted maximum simplicity in a performance shift light."
"All of our drivers love this feature... They can't believe how much it reduces the distraction of having to look away to a tach or a shift light in the cluster."
Makled conceived the idea when he had to trigger a quick stop in traffic while driving his Ford Taurus SHO and the car collision warning beamed upward projected light against the reflective surface of windshield, drawing his immediate attention.
Finding expression in a heads-up display in front of the driver, the Shift Light Indicator can be controlled via gauge cluster and the drivers can provide a customization through shift points, light intensity, choose from three different options and turn it off when not required.
While the Tach mode triggers amber LEDs to light up sequentially from left to right for a conveniently viewable tachometer when the engine revs build, the Track mode initiates a lighting pattern from the outside ends to the center till the attainment of shift point.
The Drag mode comes into action in the event of a driver setting the shift point, effecting a repeated flash of LEDs, when the engine clocks a preset rpm threshold, after staying dark for a while.
