Ford Video Shows How Mustang FP350S Creates Elite Engineers
The company has around 11,000 Mustang test drive engineers. Only about 20 or so have what it takes to be ‘tier-four’ drivers.
Is there a cooler job than a test driver? Believe it or not, Ford employs around 11,000 test drive engineers. But of those, only about 20 or so have what it takes to be “tier-four” drivers. And those are the ones who get to hoon Ford’s performance offerings around tracks all day. Talk about a dream.
According to Ben Maher, technical specialist, global driver safety and leader of Ford’s internal driver qualification program, a committee of peers nominate tier-three drivers for the rigorous tier-four testing. While he doesn’t come out and say it, we’ve got a feeling that not everyone passes muster. “Not only are these elite Ford Performance drivers the best of the best,” he says, “many of their peers believe they have the company’s coolest jobs in that they get to bring their enthusiasm, technical know-how and racing expertise to work every day.”
As for a classroom, these potential elite drivers run through the gauntlet in a Mustang FP350S, Ford Performance’s $100,000-plus turnkey race car. Inside, a special 50-channel data acquisition system maps out everything the driver does. From steering angle to transition time between the throttle and brake pedal, it’s all analyzed. According to Maher: “The performance limits of the FP350S are so high that to master it, vehicle control needs to become automatic.” From there: “High-limit driving becomes intuitive to the point that when one of these drivers gets in another vehicle, they are freed up to observe more of what’s happening at the vehicle level.” In other words, if drivers can master this wild ‘Stang, they can master anything.
From there, tier-four drivers are cycled back across Ford’s development team. So engineers may have had a hand in models like the Shelby GT350, F-150 Raptor, and Ford GT. Now, they’re dialing in more common models like the Ford Edge and EcoSport. It’s proof that Ford is serious about bringing performance to its entire lineup. As Hermann Salenbauch, Ford Performance’s global director says: “It’s an age-old industry mindset, you can’t create great performing products without the commitment and passion of the people behind them.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
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