Ford to introduce car performance limiting keys for teenagers

Goliath

Goliath

Goliath

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Not sure how I feel about this, can definitely see the benefits but it's a bit big brother for my taste:

Ford announced today a new technology called MyKey that will be standard on the 2010 Focus Coupe and quickly spread to the rest of the Blue Oval's lineup. MyKey can do three basic things: allow parents to limit a vehicle's top speed to 80 mph and/or the stereo's volume up to 44% of its max, and set a sustaining chime if the seatbelts aren't being used. Clearly targeted towards worry wart parents, the MyKey system is meant to keep teens safe despite their protestation that a system like this curtails their kiddy freedoms. Ford did some polling and found that 67% of teens didn't like the idea, though that number fell to 36% if the MyKey system led to parents letting the kids use the car more.

The MyKey system uses off-the-shelf technology from within Ford, particularly the SecuriLock passive anti-theft system, to identify which keys are in the ignition and therefore which driving mode to enable. It's certainly feels a lot like Big Brother, but we suppose parents have the right to play Big Bro' when the safety of their children is at stake.

Other things the MyKey system can do is permanently enable the traction control system and set chimes for when the car reaches 45, 55 or 65 mph. This technology will likely make the Ford Focus Coupe a popular choice for both parents and teens, the latter of which may be appeased by the SNYC system that's also available in these cars.
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Source: www.autoblog.com
 
how utterly pointless

wont every new car produced have a seatbelt chime, and i hardly think that 44 % of max stereo volume is quiet. Nor is too much noise a problem for teenagers with standard stereo systems

If they want to go round cruising with volume up at full blast, their unlikely to have a standard stereo system / head unit anyway.

and the 80mph limit is pointless, its still fast enough to die and doesnt stop them doing 60 in a 30 and killing themselves when they plow into a lamp post

It just gives parents a false sense of security imho.
 
Wont teenagers just swap the stereo for their own with twin 12inch subs or something else OTT.
Surely 80mph limit is not needed......especially when the limit in the UK is max 70. That is about as useful as japanese cars being limited to 115mph....they are stil lway over the limit anyway!

Simple solution......Ban certain ages on having higher output engines. Maybe a 80hp cap on teenagers?? Yet even then, my 59hp micra handbook says the max speed is 96 iirc, so any engine can go fast enough.
 
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mglover070588 said:
Simple solution......Ban certain ages on having higher output engines. Maybe a 80hp cap on teenagers?? Yet even then, my 59hp micra handbook says the max speed is 96 iirc, so any engine can go fast enough.
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ford need to adpot a system similar to that in the M5 / veyron that can change the ammount of power available

If it shut down 2 of the cylinders or something like that when your son got in, it might have some use. But at the moment its just a funky toy like automatic folding wing mirrors.

no doubt they wont because it will be cost prohibitive, which is why only supercars seem to have such a system.
 
mglover070588 said:
Wont teenagers just swap the stereo for their own with twin 12inch subs or something else OTT.
Surely 80mph limit is not needed......especially when the limit in the UK is max 70. That is about as useful as japanese cars being limited to 115mph....they are stil lway over the limit anyway!

Simple solution......Ban certain ages on having higher output engines. Maybe a 80hp cap on teenagers?? Yet even then, my 59hp micra handbook says the max speed is 96 iirc, so any engine can go fast enough.
Click to expand...

I think the whole point is that its a shared car with their parents. The parents want some sort of control over the kids when they are using their car. The kid cant exactly swap subs into the parents jalopy now can they? Aimed more at america methinks.
 
Could be a great idea to get cheaper insurance on the parents car as a young driver too, although there is that trust issue they use the MyKey thing. But it could mean the parents can buy a more powerful car and still let the sprogs use it.
 
Not all that different to teenagers being restricted in BHP on their bikes.

As a 30 something I think its a great idea. When I was a teenager I'd have done anything possible to hack/circumvent it.
 
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