Zac Quinn 
The new S650 Ford Mustang has plenty to get excited about with its chiseled good looks, high tech interior, and improved performance that any muscle car fan can excited about it. Of course, anyone planning on buying one may already be devising ways to get even more power out of the engine. However, that comes with a few parameters.
S650 Ford Mustang Tuning: Details
During a recent interview with MC&T, Ford Mustang Chief Engineer Ed Krenz revealed that the new S650 Ford Mustang will largely be locked down when it comes to modifying the engines.
“No.” was the answer from Krenz when asked if just any third party company will be able to “tune” the new engines of the S650 Ford Mustang. “There are new requirements within the software. Regulatory driven. That is going to restrict access to aftermarket tunes. This is cross OEM, which has to do with CAN message authentication,” explained Krenz.
It doesn’t mean engine performance upgrades for the S650 Mustang GT with its new 5.0L Coyote V8, or the new Mustang EcoBoost with its re-worked 2.3L turbo engine won’t be impossible. Going forward, Ford will work with “authorized” tuners to further unlock the performance of the new pony car.
“It is likely that we will continue to make available tunes for the ECUs,” said Krenz. “There will be tunes, both Ford and outside of Ford. But you’ll probably see a reduced variety of them, based on constraints that cyber security, CAN message authentication, and all of that put into the software.”
Going off of that answer, it sounds like the control units for S650 Ford Mustang are encrypted. However, Krenz wasn’t willing to use that specific term.
Until tunes for the S650 Ford Mustang are released, customers will still be able to enjoy a minimum of 480 horsepower in the GT and a minimum of 500 ponies in the Mustang Dark Horse, which is plenty of power for burnouts and the thrill of driving a fast car that also sounds incredible.
Across the aftermarket, some companies have managed to work around the increased cybersecurity measures from OEMs. This is especially the case with the C8 Corvette, as the mid-engined supercar’s notoriously encrypted engine control unit thwarts anybody without the ability to install an interceptor controller (Lingenfelter), a “piggyback” controller (Late Model Racecraft), or acquiring direct access from General Motors (Callaway).
Ford Performance has already been working with select third parties so as to satisfy customers that seek out more power from their products in other vehicles. The best examples include Roush Performance, as well as Whipple. Both companies offer impressive supercharger upgrades for the 14th generation Ford F-150, which also has fortified cybersecurity measures. Meanwhile, Ford Performance officially offers tuning packages for EcoBoost-powered SUVs such as the Ford Bronco and Ford Explorer ST.
