- The 2024 Ford Mustang offers a feature that lets users remotely rev the engine using the car’s key fob.
- While Remote Rev is bound to entertain some people and annoy others, the new function is only the latest innovation in the Mustang’s key history.
- Ford lists the first double-sided key in 1967, the first optional key fob in 1994, and factory remote start in 2015 as other milestones.
Whether you think it’s a cool feature or a dumb one—or both—the 2024 Ford Mustang is now available with a key fob that lets the user remotely rev the engine, thus the name: Remote Rev. We covered this feature when the seventh generation was revealed last year, but now Ford is bringing renewed attention to it now by releasing a video of it in action, along with a list of other key milestones the company thinks are significant. First, let’s see this thing in action.
As shown in the video above, Remote Rev works by first remotely starting the engine when the holder presses the lock button on the Mustang’s key fob once and then presses the remote start button twice. Activating the rev function requires pressing the unlock button and the lock button in that order. Repeating that step fully engages the feature so revs spike at 3000, 4000, and 5000 rpm. What the video doesn’t show is a Cars & Coffee crowd cheering or annoyed neighbors shaking their fists.
Mustang Key Milestones
Long before anyone dreamed of revving their Mustang using a key fob (or even knew what the heck a key fob was), Ford wanted to give the original pony car a little extra flair, so in 1965 the company released a key for the coupe model with a pony on it. A couple years later, in 1967, Ford introduced double-sided keys that could be inserted into the tumbler either way. At the time, these key innovations were at the cutting edge, but it would be almost three decades before any other key changes.
Fast-forward to 1994 and for the first time people could option a Mustang with a key fob. Ford followed that up by introducing a passive anti-theft system called PATS that was linked to a transponder in the key. The next notable milestone waited until 2012, when the Mustang Boss 302 became available with a TracKey that loaded software into the car’s PCM to improve performance.
The first model with factory remote start arrived in 2015, and the following year saw the introduction of FordPass, which is an app that lets people control vehicle functions from their smartphone. In 2018, a pulsating light was added to the Mustang’s push-button start in attempt to look like a beating heart.
Besides the recent debut of Remote Rev, the Mustang’s last key-related milestone was the phone-as-a-key that was introduced on the electric Mach-E. Will everyone agree that every branch of Ford’s key family tree is notable? Probably not, since people don’t agree on anything nowadays, but a revving 5.0-liter V-8 is music to our ears whether its done by fob or foot.
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Senior Editor
Eric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.