The standard 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster and 13.2-inch infotainment screen in the 2024 Ford Mustang grab at your attention like a bug zapper calling in mosquitos. Stretching across two-thirds of the dashboard under a single piece of glass, with video-game-like graphics animating the startup sequence and drive mode changes, these screens dominate the new Mustang's cabin and any discussion of it.

But the first time I slip into the driver's seat of the new Mustang GT, my eyes scan across the big electronic billboards before stopping on something more analog. Mustang chief engineer Ed Krenz doesn't have to read my mind to know what's happening. He sees my hands reaching. "There's a dude on [the design] team named Mike Arbaugh that is as passionate about the steering wheel as any individual was about any part in the vehicle," Krenz says. "He's a Mustang enthusiast and his view was we needed a thicker-rimmed section. We spent a tremendous amount of time sampling different rim sections, and what you see there is actually a little bit thicker than even [today's] Shelby."

You can literally feel the passion that Arbaugh, chief interior designer, and his colleagues poured into this steering wheel. It's evident in the flat-bottom design, in the way your thumbs hook over the spokes and curl around the meticulously sculpted sections at 9 and 3 o'clock, and in the supple leather used on the Performance-package Mustang GT pictured here.

The cockpit of the seventh-generation Mustang has been reimagined for the age of the digital car, but look closely at the details and it's clear that the engineers and designers that created this car know what kind of driver buys a Mustang. For us speed-loving, knuckle-dragging gearheads that still savor the roar and rush of a naturally aspirated V-8, the new Mustang's interior isn't about the screens.

In higher trims, there's a USB-C port hiding behind the rearview mirror that could theoretically be used to power a dash cam or a racetrack data logger, but let's not dance around the obvious: it's more likely to be used for a radar detector. To create a titanium shift knob for the 480-plus-hp Mustang Dark Horse that won't send you to the ER with third-degree burns in the summer, Ford 3D prints the part to reduce the thermal mass and incorporate cooling fins. And the new electronic parking brake pulls double duty as a drift brake that can be used to initiate big, smoky slides.

The driver-first approach is evident in the most elemental aspects of the interior. Designers walked away from the dual-brow dashboard design of Mustangs past in favor of an asymmetrical layout that cants the infotainment screen and center stack toward the driver. Unfortunately, the focus on screens comes with a ruthless culling of physical controls. Only the volume knob and a handful of buttons survive, with nearly all of the audio and climate controls relegated to the central touchscreen. At least that screen presents large icons, clear graphics, and logical menus.

Beneath the center stack and ahead of the shifter, there's finally a spot to stash your phone—two of them actually. The main landing pad features optional wireless phone charging. Just ahead of that, there's a small shelf for standing a phone on edge with the screen angled up toward the driver and passenger—a clever idea that would have even more clever ten years ago, before cars had built-in screens this big and beautiful and functional. With the Mustang's wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility, the only people likely to be looking at their phones in this pony are the dimwits who watch YouTube during the rush-hour commute.

From the steering wheel or the touchscreen, drivers can flip between Slippery, Normal, Sport, Track, Drag, and Custom driving modes that tweak the throttle map, automatic-transmission shift strategy, and steering calibration, along with optional equipment like the MagneRide dampers and active exhaust. Custom allows owners to save six profiles for different drivers, weather, or roads.

The digital instrument cluster features five different designs that can be tied to the drive mode or independently chosen. Along with Track, Sport, Normal, and the minimalist Calm screens, there's a modern reinterpretation of the gauges found in the 1987-1993 Fox Body Mustang. Ford's Sync 4 infotainment system can be updated and upgraded over-the-air, leaving the door open for more downloadable (and, perhaps, improved) retro design themes in the future.

Mustang owners, who are known for always driving responsibly and maintaining control of their cars, are sure to find new and exciting ways to go viral with the drift brake that's included with the Performance pack. Engineers worked with pro drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr. to calibrate the system, which momentarily locks the rear wheels to initiate a slide.

In most circumstances, the handbrake lever simply actuates an electronic parking brake—pull it up to engage the brake or push down to release it. A driver can turn it into a drift brake with the tap of a finger from the track apps screen in the center display, which also holds the keys to the launch control and line lock features that carry over from the outgoing model. With the drift brake active, yanking the lever uses the ABS pump to brake the rear wheels quicker and more forcefully than you could with a cable-operated parking brake. The handle is mounted with two exposed bolts (etched with "Mustang" on the heads) to make it easy for owners to replace the handle with a custom piece.

Eagle-eyed readers will spot evidence of penny-pinching in the carry-over parts from the sixth-generation car, including the door handles and grab bars. The outgoing model's genuine aluminum trim has also been replaced by plastic pieces styled with a carbon-fiber-inspired pattern. Nevertheless, the new Mustang feels like a significant upgrade over the current car, thanks in large part to how modern it looks and feels.