“I’m especially proud to be part of the team that brought the new Mustang Dark Horse SC to life. It’s the first project I’ve been part of from the onset — from helping create the initial seating concepts to seeing the seats come out of production and into the vehicle. Like most people, I hadn’t thought much about seating before joining Ford, even though it’s the part of the car used perhaps more than any other,” said Diya Nuxoll.

“Early in my career, I spent time at manufacturing facilities, watching seats being assembled and inspected. I learned how decisions made early in the design process play out in the final product. Now, I work to anticipate potential manufacturing or quality concerns before they become issues in production. Seats are surprisingly complex. It’s one of the only parts of the vehicle where engineers are thinking about critical safety features, comfort, and appearance. Color and materials matter just as much as the engineering because it all has to work together while looking good.

“How a fabric moves or stretches has a big impact on the mechanics of a seat. How a customer feels opening the door, sitting down, and hitting the start button are all influenced by the seat, even if they don’t know it. From comfort to color, all the details matter. For the convertible, we have two interior colors, Space Grey and Black Onyx. Before seeing it in person, I preferred the Black Onyx seats, but I’ve been converted to a Space Grey fan: I think that the light seats pop nicely against a darker exterior, especially with the top down. Depending on whether a customer wants features like heating, cooling, memory, or massage, a seat can have hundreds of parts.

“Long before any of that work begins, though, our team spends time thinking about the person who ultimately sits in the driver’s seat. We have a conversation to determine: What does the customer care about? Is that driver interested in optimal features? Do they want comfort for long trips? Or do they need the grip of a seat designed for track racing?

“With the Dark Horse SC, they’re very possibly planning to go out to the track on weekends. That means they’ll want a lightweight, bare-bones seat that also offers them the kind of lateral support they need when they’re taking a curve at high speed. The seats in the Dark Horse SC are designed with performance in mind. The bolstering is firmer to provide that lateral support when the car is pushing through corners, and we’ve provided extra headroom space for drivers wearing helmets on the track. The challenge for the engineers is to make a performance seat that can keep a driver firmly planted during a turn on the track but comfortable enough for an hours-long road trip. It’s a constant balancing act,” said Diya Nuxoll.