Manoli Katakis 
Ford Motor Company has motioned to trademark “G.O.A.T. Modes” for “drive systems comprised of automatic controls for vehicle chassis and powertrain controllers, integrated as an integral part of a passenger vehicle.” The United States Patent and Trademark Office filing happened March 25th. The cryptic acronym could be used for the Ford Bronco SUV and other off-roaders down the pipeline. Ultimately, we have questions, and we’re sure you do, too. But that’s just the start.
Most commonly the G.O.A.T. acronym is used to identify the Greatest Of All Time at something. But as a driving mode? Surely it stands for something else. Goats, however, do love to climb things. Seemingly impossible things. That would make sense, then, for certain off-road driving settings to be designated as G.O.A.T. modes.
Maybe it’s “Get Over Any Terrain”.
According to Motor Trend, G.O.A.T. Modes are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what’s likely in store for the suspension system of the 2021 Ford Bronco, which was supposed to have been officially revealed by now. Nevertheless, the magazine outlines an electronically adjustable suspension system patent that utilizes a monitoring system that follows everything from traffic patterns, to weather, to terrain. Strangely, this patent even outlines how the vehicle’s suspension settings will change on the fly based on the music occupants are listening to. It can all be turned off, as well.
This is called Anomaly Mitigation Suspension Mode. How it relates to G.O.A.T. Mode is still unclear.
According to the patent, as outlined by MT, A.M.S.M. is smart enough to automatically adjust ride height based on the surface of the terrain, and will even adjust the nose of the Ford Bronco by lowering the front suspension only for improved visibility in various off-road scenarios.
Based on the patent, the system offers more than just several off-road settings, which could mean that the technology could be found in other Ford vehicles that aren’t the Bronco.
There’s Entertainment Mode, Music Mode, and Daredevil Mode, for example. According to the original report, Entertainment Mode controls the Music and Daredevil modes. Music mode, as crazy as it sounds, will adjust the vehicle’s ride height to match whatever’s coming out of your speakers. Does this mean that the Ford Bronco will perform a dance? Maybe!
As for Daredevil mode, things get even more interesting. According to the patent, “the vehicle’s suspension height may be mapped to the target suspension height such that the vehicle . . . can be driven on, for example, two and/or three wheels without overturning.” Daredevil, indeed.
This mode could be best used in off-road situations, as it could articulate the suspension system preemptively, and could aid in climbing taller obstacles. Why didn’t they call this G.O.A.T. Mode then? Yes, we still have questions.
Here’s a breakdown of the 21 other driving modes, as Motor Trend describes them:
Mobility (the Avoidance, Traffic, Freight, and City Mobility modes fall under the Mobility umbrella)
Avoidance (adjusts to deliver quicker responses from the suspension)
Traffic (basically a comfort mode)
Freight (sounds like load leveling, in which the suspension accounts for a heavy cargo load)
City Mobility (sets the vehicle up for “aggressive” driving)
Cooperative (matches ride height to that of a nearby vehicle to facilitate transfer of cargo between them)
Utility (the Office, Towing, Cradle, and Rest modes fall under the Utility umbrella)
Office (a quiet, comfort-focused mode geared toward remote working within the car)
Towing (optimises the suspension for towing)
Cradle (no joke, this “assigns a low-frequency movement to the vehicle” to soothe a baby)
Resting (similar to the office setting, this makes the ride quiet and squishy)
Suspension Minder (the haptic and safety modes fall under the Suspension Minder umbrella)
Haptic (driver alerts can be registered by body motions / vibrations induced by the suspension)
Safety (maximizes suspension stability for safe avoidance maneuvers, similar to “avoidance” above)
Driver (Novice and Expert Driver functions fall under the Driver umbrella)
Expert Driver (if the vehicle determines the driver to be more experienced, it sets up the vehicle accordingly)
Novice Driver (if the vehicle determines the driver to be inexperienced, it sets up the vehicle accordingly)
Fun-to-Ride (this delivers a “rough ride” for a “fun-to-ride sensation for vehicle occupants”)
Fun-to-Drive (sets up the suspension for aggressive on-road driving)
Quiet (works “in tandem with, for example, active noise cancellation to reduce road-induced noise and/or detected vehicle vibrations)
Vigilance Boosting (similar to the Haptic function, this detects driver fatigue and can buzz the car via the suspension to wake him or her up)
