√2023 Ford Mustang V8 will be harder for speed shops to hack

If you want a local workshop or engine tuner to unlock more power from the new Mustang when it arrives next year, Ford has some bad news.

Independent mechanics and speed shops who want to extract more power from the 2023 Ford Mustang V8 will be thwarted by encrypted technology designed to stop hackers and keep engines in tune with their design limitations.

Speaking to US publication Ford Authority, Ed Krenz – Ford’s chief engineer for the new Mustang – said the muscle car’s advanced electrical architecture will make it “much more difficult” for smaller workshops and aftermarket tuners to unlock and make changes to engine software.

In 2021, Ford released its Fully-Networked Vehicle (FNV) electrical architecture in the F-150 pick-up and Mustang Mach-E electric SUV, reportedly providing better cybersecurity protection for owners by encrypting all of the car’s data – including information from its Engine Control Unit (ECU), or engine management computer.

Independent mechanics, speed shops and engine “tuners” are known to unlock more power by connecting to a lap top computer to a car’s engine control unit and changing its aspects of its software, altering data relating to factors such as the fuel injectors, knock sensors, boost pressure and ignition timing.

In many cases, it can take tuners months or years to “crack” a new car’s engine management system – and embedded encryption software – to make unauthorised modifications.

When global deliveries of the R35-generation Nissan GT-R began in late 2007, the Japanese car-maker claimed its engine management computer would be “untunable”. By April 2008, Cobb Tuning became the first aftermarket company to access and alter the car’s onboard data.

As reported by Ford Authority, the FNV electrical architecture can shut down certain components or the whole car if it detects a “break” in authentication – such data which has been altered without permission.

Ford Authority claims Ford is “open to collaborating with tuners looking to modify vehicles” such as the new Mustang, although it could offer its own performance modifications in-house for customers chasing more power.

Last month, Ford Performance released official tunes for the Explorer ST and Bronco EcoBoost in the US, delivering more power and torque across the two models.

As previously reported, the 2023 Ford Mustang has been confirmed for Australia, with local buyers set to be offered updated versions of the 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder and 5.0-litre V8 petrol engines which are currently available in the sixth-generation model.

Ford Australia expects the first seventh-generation Mustang deliveries to arrive in late 2023.

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