All-New Ford GT Supercar’s Digital Instrument Display Is The Dashboard of the Future
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All-New Ford GT Supercar’s Digital Instrument Display Is The Dashboard of the Future

DEARBORN, Mich. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — January 11, 2017 — Like the glass cockpit in airplanes and race cars, the all-new Ford GT features an all-digital instrument display in the car’s dashboard that quickly and easily presents information to the driver, based on five special driving modes.

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Like the glass cockpit in airplanes and race cars, the all-new Ford GT features an all-digital instr ...

Like the glass cockpit in airplanes and race cars, the all-new Ford GT features an all-digital instrument display in the car’s dashboard that quickly and easily presents information to the driver, based on five special driving modes. (Photo: Business Wire)

To view a video of the Ford GT all-digital instrument display, click here.

The innovative 10-inch wide digital instrument display is far advanced from the original Ford GT, when the cockpit was hardwired with a fixed set of analog gauges, buttons and knobs across the dashboard that had to address almost every situation.

“Driver focus and attention are key with such high performance,” said Jamal Hameedi, chief engineer, Ford Performance. “We’ve designed the GT with a sleek digital instrument display that changes depending on driving mode in ways that are important and usable to the driver.”

Ford engineers and designers created the state-of-the-art 10-inch wide digital gauge cluster to be customizable, elegant, and able to tailor information to each drive mode, to help ensure customers taking the Ford GT to its limits are provided the data they need to make critical decisions behind the wheel in the most efficient possible way.

Defining the visual future of in-car data

The Ford GT program presented a unique opportunity to reimagine the instrument cluster, further expanding what a connected car can be and previewing the future of Ford vehicles.

Its layout is designed around which data is most important, when to present it, and how to show information in a way that’s most expedient for a driver to process.

The design is executed on a high-resolution display that matches the sleek, purpose-driven cabin. Data is conveyed in crisp, high-contrast graphics.

To test the initial design, Le Mans winner Scott Maxwell of Multimatic® was invited to the Ford GT simulation lab to offer feedback. Maxwell suggested changing the tachometer to provide an expanded view of the EcoBoost® V6 redline approach for greater peripheral visibility. The race car driver also recommended tweaks to the prioritization of performance information.

Getting every pixel perfect

As advanced design work transitioned to putting prototypes on the road, Ford Performance reached out to suppliers at the cutting edge of data display.

Ford designers and engineers worked closely with Pektron (for electronic design, development, implementation and manufacture) and Conjure (for graphical design) to create forward-looking renderings that are painstakingly animated, include highlighted font, color and responsiveness, and avoid driver distraction and eye strain.

The five drive modes are easily accessed through steering wheel-mounted controls, to help keep eyes and attention on the road and hands on the wheel.

Each mode presents information differently – prioritizing what is crucial for each environment and tailoring the display to the given context.

How information is graphically displayed with each drive mode:

“We spent an enormous amount of time getting this just right,” says Nick Terzes, Ford GT engineering supervisor. “The result is simple, but achieving simple perfectly can be a challenge.”

Joey Hand, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of Ford GT, raved about the different drive modes recently on a visit to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “This is exactly what I want to see when I want to see it,” he said. “You guys did a great job.”

Dashboard of the Future

GT isn’t the only Ford vehicle that will receive full digital instrument display technology. This innovation is coming to other future Ford vehicles – another example that Ford continues raising the performance bar while ultimately improving vehicles for all of our customers.

For more information, visit www.FordGT.com.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is a global automotive and mobility company based in Dearborn, Michigan. With about 203,000 employees and 62 plants worldwide, the company’s core business includes designing, manufacturing, marketing and servicing a full line of Ford cars, trucks and SUVs, as well as Lincoln luxury vehicles. To expand its business model, Ford is aggressively pursuing emerging opportunities with investments in electrification, autonomy and mobility. Ford provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products and services, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.

For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and video, visit www.media.ford.com.



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