Ford GT Display Development

As you are unlikely to ever be in one of these:

(and I’m not implying my odds for getting there are much better), you’re unlikely to ever see this, the 10-inch wide all-digital display in the Ford GT:

Speaking to the development of TFT LCD display, Jamal Hameedi, chief engineer, Ford Performance, said, “Driver focus and attention are key with such high 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.”

There are five modes the screen can go into; modes are selected via controls on the steering wheel. The primary difference between the modes is the way that the information is presented on the screens, as different driving conditions require different informational priorities.

That is, in Normal, the speedometer is centered, the gear selection is on the right and the fuel and temperature displays on the upper left. There is a hockey-stick shaped tachometer, with an emphasis on the range from 3,000 to 7,000 rpm, because the engine revs so fast, below that is quickly passed.

Wet mode is more of a cosmetic change, with the layout being like Normal, but the graphics are meant to evoke wet conditions.

Sport mode puts the gear selection in the center and the speedometer to the right. Here the graphic theme is orange.

Track mode has a black background and a red theme. The key information are gear selection and engine speed. Coolant temperature, oil pressure and temperature, and fuel level are at the bottom right.

Then V-Max has a large centered speedometer, with other information being subordinated and minimized (e.g., the tachometer is simply a line with an indicator dot). After all, when the goal is nothing but high speed. . .

To develop the display, Ford designers and engineers worked with Conjure on the graphics and Pektron to bring it into production reality.

And even in the event that we ever get behind the wheel of a Ford GT, few of us will ever go fast enough see this: