When Ford’s former head of vehicle engineering, Steve von Foerster drove home a Shelby GT350 Mustang, his neighbour in the suburban Detroit neighbourhood was not happy with the thunderous noise from the 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V8. When von Foerster was backing out from his drive way, a neighbour actually called the cops on him for disrupting the neighbourhood’s peace.
However, instead of confronting his neighbour with a clenched jaw, von Foerster, who now leads Ford’s user experience team in product development, went back to the drawing board and explore ways to give driver’s more control over the engine’s sound. Thus, the “Good Neighbour Mode” is born.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1q0ivrhPto
Available on Mustang GTs with a 5.0-litre V8 lump, the “Good Neighbour Mode” allows drivers to mute the engine and exhaust volume on the fly which is especially helpful when driving past neighbourhoods during ungodly hours. In Quiet Exhaust mode, selectable through the steering controls, the exhaust drops 10 decibels to 72 dB, equivalent to the volume of a household dishwasher.
In addition, the Quiet Start function allows drivers to set within a designated time frame for example from 8pm to 7am, where the engine will come to life without the signature V8 roar.
The “Good Neighbour Mode” will be available on all new Mustang GT models from next year onwards. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the Ford Mustang GT 5.0 that GC Mah tested a while ago does not come with the new exhaust function. Watch how he fill up the mountains and valleys with the glorious V8 noise here:
