Ford adds race ready TracKey to Mustang Boss 302, leaves no doubt about who's in charge,Ford adds race ready TracKey to Mustang Boss 302

Ford adds race-ready TracKey to Mustang Boss 302, leaves no doubt about who's in charge

The use of a second key to unlock extra potential in a vehicle isn't exactly new: Bugatti's mind-blowing Veyron has a special tumbler-tickler that will let it hit 253mph; the Segway PT offers different fobs for different speeds. But such high-tech foppery on a Mustang? Yes, Ford continues to impress as the domestic marque with the techiest toys, announcing that buyers of next year's Boss 302 can purchase an optional TracKey package, shown after the break. Take the standard black key and you'll have a rip-roaring, 444hp monster. Take the red key, though, and you'll see how fast that pony can run down the rabbit hole. The car detects a different RFID chip in the fob and loads a secondary, track-specific engine tune, tweaking 200 ECM parameters to boost everything from throttle response to engine braking. It'll turn a semi-civilized muscle car into a completely track-ready monster, including launch control. When it's time for a more leisurely cruise users can just switch back to the black key, return to daily driver status, and leave Wonderland -- for a little while, at least.