“I love the sound of the V8 engine, but it can be loud, and you can’t annoy people like that in your neighbourhood,” says Steve, formerly an engineer but now leading Ford’s USA user experience team.
Good Neighbour Mode allows new Mustang drivers to schedule a full-throated roar just for when they won’t bother anyone, or to shave around 10 decibels off the soundtrack, so ensuring they stay on friendly terms with their street.
While some sports cars, such as Porsche, already offer a loud button which inhibits exhaust systems, Mustang’s “Good Neighbour Mode”, or Quiet Start, claims to be first to allow scheduled times via a toggle menu.
The active valve performance exhaust system on the new Mustang adjusts decibel levels of the exhaust note according to different drive modes, from Normal and Sports up to Track mode that emits 82 decibels.
Ford stresses there are worse sounds than a Mustang clearing its throat: “Sounds upwards of 80 decibels can irritate, such as a coffee grinder, or lawnmower.”
Quiet Start muffles the new Mustang GT to 72 decibels, but what’s your take… is this motoring mindfulness or more control for the killjoys?
Simon Hacker, Avon Tuning Journalist.
