Ford GT gets five drive modes, including V-Max for maximum speed

While some may see this as a negative – and it can be if you're the type who likes to wrench on your own car in your own garage – there's a reason for all those lines of code. Today's automobiles are faster, safer, and more efficient than ever before. For enthusiasts, it's that faster part that we're most concerned with, and, with its 216-mile-per-hour top speed, the upcoming Ford GT is the fastest car the Blue Oval has ever made.

Turns out that ludicrous speed (sorry, Elon) necessitates the turn of a steering wheel-mounted knob. There will be five positions on that F1-inspired dial. Normal is for everyday driving duties, and Wet is also pretty self explanatory. Then there's the ever-present Sport mode "for more spirited ventures," says Ford. The last two are the most interesting. There's a Track mode optimized for the twists and turns of a racetrack, and finally V-Max mode for ultimate straight-line speed.

Each of these five modes alters things like throttle calibration, stability and traction control, transmission tuning, suspension stiffness, and ride height. Track mode changes the car's aero bits, automatically deploying the rear wing and closing the front air intakes. V-Max mode tucks all those aero bits away to reduce drag, but keeps stability control active. No matter what mode the car is in, the air brake activates under "moderate braking" at speeds over 75 mph. Sounds like a pretty good idea, considering the performance this 647-horsepower supercar is capable of.