Why Ford's New Mustang Puts USB Ports Above Your Head
In 2022, USB ports are nothing new in a car. They're convenient for keeping your phone's battery topped up, plugging in a dashboard camera, or powering performance recorders. Cable management has always been an issue for enthusiasts when wiring up their car with cameras and recording devices for the track, though, and it's there that the new 2024 Ford Mustang brings a unique solution.
Ford has put extra USB ports above the driver's head. That may seem like an odd place for charging ports, but it starts to make sense when you consider the enthusiast crowd. Draping USB cables all over the dash for cameras isn't exactly the safest practice, especially when racing. Ford hopes they'll eliminate that problem altogether with the overhead port placement.
With the newest generation of Mustang, Ford has put a ton of finishing touches on the car that are uniquely geared towards enthusiasts. Past generations of Mustang have always been friendly to performance-minded individuals, but Ford is taking it another step further with the 2024 Mustang, making track day prep a lot less painful and a little safer.
Making track day safer and easier
Ford has built in convenience features along these lines in the past, with the new Bronco including a number of mod-friendly tweaks in addition to the ability to remove the doors and roof entirely. The front dash has a rack specially made to mount GoPro cameras, phone holders, and a litany of other devices, while a bank of accessory switches are pre-installed for controlling aftermarket parts like light bars and winches.
The bring-your-own-GoPro strategy is a different one to that we've seen Ford's rivals embrace. At the moment, for example, Ford is not offering any onboard recording devices on the new Mustang, a feature that some Chevy models like the Camaro and Corvette have had for a few years now. While that means you need to provide your own action camera, and don't get the built-in drive metrics collection of the Chevrolet Performance Data Recorder, it does make adjusting camera angle a possibility unlike with the fixed view of the Corvette's system.
It looks like Ford has put a lot of effort into making the new Mustang a go-to car for enthusiasts who like to live on the track. Quality of life and safety improvements can go a long way when you're trying to push a car to its absolute driving limits. When the 2024 Mustang starts showing up at track days and drag strips across the country, it'll be interesting to see how these new improvements perform in real-world racing scenarios.