Even the Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang Shift Light is Special (Video)

When Ford designed the 2015 Shelby GT350 Mustang, they put a great deal of effort into making it the best performing Mustang of all time. In addition to a body that offers incredible aerodynamic properties through a collection of unique, lightweight components from front to rear, the new Shelby Mustang is the first American production car with a flat plane V8 engine. This is also the first American production car to use the high tech floating brake disc design and it is the first American production car to come with carbon fiber wheels, in the case of the GT350R. The new Shelby is also the first Mustang to come with an adaptive suspension setup, so every aspect of the drivetrain is either an American industry first or a Mustang first – and that should lead to record-setting performance levels.

However, Ford didn’t stop there, as they wanted to add some high tech razzle dazzle that offered as much usefulness as it does aesthetic appeal, so they have fitted the new Shelby GT350 Mustang with a heads up display with an integrated shift indicator.
You might be thinking that lots of cars have heads up displays with shift indicators or digital tachometers, so Ford went one step further, adding three different modes for their shift light feature – Tach Mode, Track Mode and Drag Mode.

3 Mode HUD Shift Light
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. The feature is technically called the Performance Shift Indicator and when turning it on, the driver can pick the shift RPM, and brightness of the indicator on the windshield, the display mode and whether or not there is an audible chime when it is time to shift.

The GT350 Mustang shift light can be set anywhere between 3,000 and 8,200 RPM and when activated, a row of amber dots appear on the windshield. In Tach Mode, the amber dots light up left to right as engine RPMs build. In Track Mode, the dots start on the left and right, both extending towards the middle as RPMs come up and when the shift point is reached, the entire row of dots flashes. Finally, in Drag Mode, the lights all light up and flash at once, only when the desired shift point is reached.

While many racers can shift by ear rather than by looking at the tach or waiting for a shift light, there is no question that having a shift indicator can help make the shifts more accurate. This should help make the Shelby GT350 and GT350R more consistent on the road course and the drag strip, while also adding a little extra high tech wow factor for those who just like having gadgets in their toys.