Ford are about to release their new face-lifted Ford Focus at the
2014 Geneva Motor Show, equipped with a range of newly updated style and technology features. One interesting update that's making it's debut in the Ford Focus is Ford's MyKey technology which it released back in 2010, mainly focused at the US market.
So what is the MyKey® technology? Well the official line from Ford is that it's
'technology helps parents encourage teenagers to drive responsibly. In essence it's the same technology that TV manufacturers have developed to limit the channels that their kids can view. How it works is that you can turn the spare key that you receive with your Ford into a parental controlled key, that's programmed with settings that limits certain criteria from within the car, once the car is powered by that key.
Here's what can be controlled:
1 - Seat belt chime (Named Belt Minder by Ford) - gives a 6-second reminder chime every 30 seconds and mutes the audio system until the front passengers fasten their safety belts. The message screen also displays a “Buckle Up to Unmute Radio" message.
2 - Earlier 'Fuel Low' warning - Dashboard warning that appears once fuel levels go past a certain level. Usually this is set to 80km, however it's increased to 120km with the MyKey settings.
3 - Top Speed Limiter - Probably the most attractive feature for parents is the ability to limit the speed of the car to either 100, 112, 120 or 130km/ph.
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| Speed Limiter - Ford MyKey® |
4 - Radio volume limiter - Enables you to limit the volume of the radio to 44% of the total volume (no idea where 44% came from, but we're guessing rigorous testing!)
5 - Driving aids can't be de-activiated - Features like Park Aid and Blind Spot Information System can not be turned off by the driver. Also the Advance Trac, which stops the car's wheels from spinning on take-off, can also not be deactivated.
Here's the official video from Ford that gives some more detail.
