OUT OF TUNE

ENCRYPTED ECUS WILL MAKE THE UPCOMING S650 MUSTANG HARDER TO TWEAK, SAYS FORD ENGINEER AND LOCAL TUNERS

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WITH the announcement that Ford plans for its Mustang to remain piston-powered even beyond the life of the S650, Blue upcoming, seventh-generation Oval fans have plenty of reasons to be excited for the future of the iconic pony car.

This includes a homologation version of the new Dark Horse variant, which Ford hopes will make the Mustang competitive with the likes of Porsche and Ferrari at Le Mans.

But one piece of news is sure to cause some furrowed brows for prospective S650 owners - particularly those hoping to tweak their new purchase in the way the Lord intended.

Ed Krenz, the Mustang's chief engineer, told the Ford Authority website that the new model will be "much more difficult" to tune than previous iterations.

The culprit? The Mustang's encrypted electrical system, which is programmed to shut down if it detects any third-party interference. This feature is primarily a cybersecurity measure to prevent hacking, according to Ford Authority: "Krenz explained that the seventhgeneration Mustang uses the automaker's new Fully Networked Vehicle (FNV) electrical architecture, which brings various benefits like over-the-air updates and much-needed cybersecurity, [...] but it also largely locks down the vehicle from being tuned as well.