VIDEO: Incredible 360-Degree Interactive Free-View Of A Ford Mustang V8 Hot Lap

Alright, we’ll just admit it, this is pretty awesome. So, ever wondered how it would be like to sit alongside a professional driver on a track, spanking a Mustang V8 on a hot lap? Us too. The trouble with conventional video is that you’re at the whim of the camera’s perspective. In this case, up, down, left, right, diagonal - it’s up to you. 

The new interactive video experience allows viewers to look where they want, in real time, as the car laps the Silverstone circuit using their mouse cursor, seamlessly tuning their perspective, while also including interactive gauges and displays that show the Mustang’s position on the track, speed and RPM.

“This video is a lot of fun, it makes you feel like you’re behind the wheel of a Mustang,” said Tom Barnes, Mustang vehicle engineering manager, Barnes has spent countless hours on the track developing the new Mustang. “You have complete control of your view as if you’re actually driving on the track.”

The 80-second footage was done using six specially mounted GoPro cameras on the passenger seat, front and rear bumper cameras and another camera carried by a drone, while driver Paul Swift piloted the V8 muscle car.

All that technology and software trickery amounts to one of the most immersive automotive experiences around, giving audiences the next best alternative from actually being there, physically, to experience the car. We wonder if other manufacturers will employ something similar. Perhaps, in time, this sort of interactive ‘tour’ will be standard fare for new cars. Hopefully, Ford will do the same for their upcoming GT as well.

You can experience the full immersive interaction here, or alternatively view the interior camera via Youtube below. However, the Youtube playback excludes the gauges and drone-view. Still awesome, though.