How can I tell if my P85D's "Software Update Available" is this cf44833? If it is, I won't plan on installing it because I love the heavy regen braking.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
How can I tell if my P85D's "Software Update Available" is this cf44833? If it is, I won't plan on installing it because I love the heavy regen braking.
All right - finally I had an opportunity to check out AP2 on an X75D through an overnight test drive. I drove around 200+ miles most of it using AP. Went through the same route that I take every day on my commute and some more. Most of my driving was on the highway and a few on the local roads where I am usually comfortable driving with AP.
Now, I have driven close to 30k miles on AP1 in my S85 and I am very familiar with AP1. Armed with that knowledge and with a dose of basic common sense - which some seem to lack here - I turned on AP2 with a lot of apprehension. My first 30 odd miles were a bit nervous watching the road and the dashboard like a hawk. Most of that nervousness was due to the excessive time I spend here reading the experiences of folks who have driven AP2 and how it tried to kill them. But to my disappointment, it never tried to kill me.
- It drove pretty much like AP1 on the highways. I simply can't tell if I am driving AP1 or AP2 just by driving on the highway.
- it centered the lane quite nicely for the most part even in sweeping turns. Agreed I didn't have any sharp 90 degree turns on the freeways I drove.
- Never experienced any ping-pongy stuff - as long as the lanes are clearly visible. Just rock solid like driving on tracks even on sweeping curves. Take a look at the video below.
- Did not experience any slow down due to over passes, but then I admit the overpasses I went under may not have been challenging enough. BUT I did notice a slow down once on a curve with traffic going much slower on my adjacent lane, and it got confused. Never had that happen with AP1.
- was able to drive for much longer distance and for more time without being harassed to 'hold the wheel' This was especially surprising in construction areas, whereas in AP1 it wouldn't let me drive without holding the wheel for more than 15 seconds. It did not even ask me once to hold wheel the entire 3 mile construction zone I drove (121/Airport), whereas in AP1 I would have had alteast 5 warnings on that same stretch.
- It seems to detect cars in front of you from quite a distance and slows down better than AP1, but the final stop seems abrupt. I can understand how it can leave an uneasy feeling. Starting from a stop is also painfully slow that it leaves a large gap in front before it catches up. I often end up pressing 'gas' to keep the gap as little as possible.
- Changing lanes - no different from AP1. Sometimes no hesitation at all. Sometimes a lot of hesitation and it gets annoying.
- The lack of AP cancel push button switch is a pain.
- Once driving at around 60, someone cut in front about just a feet away and it never detected although his tires were mostly in my lane. I had to press the brakes myself and take control. I have seen AP1 do this too.
- The lack of cars on the display in adjacent lanes is a clear lack of parity with AP1.
- few times the display car on the dash was riding right on the lane lines or very close to it, but the car itself was much closer to the center than the display leads you to believe. My video below has an example of that.
- on backroads though it was a mixed experience. It seems to detect faint lines much better than AP1, which is a good thing. This means I was able to use AP2 on areas I cannot use AP1. But I guess it was also the source of a few heart stopping moments, because it was detecting multiple spurious lanes and was getting confused. It detects crack as lanes. Detects shoulders as lanes. Detects tar lines as lanes. So sometimes it ends up taking a path which is actually not a lane. They need to calibrate the lane detecting algo to be not so sensitive. This is a clear negative compared to AP1
- Lanes on the display bounces often which is unsettling. But the good thing is, it still drives pretty steady and neat. So I am guessing it is just a display thing.
Bottom line: Love my AP1, perhaps the most important reason why I bought a Tesla and still love driving it. I was initially skeptical if I get an X then perhaps I am better off looking for an AP1 (inventory or CPO). Now I have zero hesitation switching to AP2. It does everything quite well, in what I like and use most in AP1.
Of course your usage patterns in your current AP1 might be different. Your expectations on what an Autopilot should do might be different. Your ability to use common sense when using a driver assistance like AP might be different. But as far as I can see AP2 is pretty close to AP1 parity. Pluses and minuses are insignificant.
Now, I have driven close to 30k miles on AP1 in my S85 and I am very familiar with AP1. Armed with that knowledge and with a dose of basic common sense - which some seem to lack here - I turned on AP2 with a lot of apprehension. My first 30 odd miles were a bit nervous watching the road and the dashboard like a hawk. Most of that nervousness was due to the excessive time I spend here reading the experiences of folks who have driven AP2 and how it tried to kill them. But to my disappointment, it never tried to kill me.
- It drove pretty much like AP1 on the highways. I simply can't tell if I am driving AP1 or AP2 just by driving on the highway.
- it centered the lane quite nicely for the most part even in sweeping turns. Agreed I didn't have any sharp 90 degree turns on the freeways I drove.
- Never experienced any ping-pongy stuff - as long as the lanes are clearly visible. Just rock solid like driving on tracks even on sweeping curves. Take a look at the video below.
- Did not experience any slow down due to over passes, but then I admit the overpasses I went under may not have been challenging enough. BUT I did notice a slow down once on a curve with traffic going much slower on my adjacent lane, and it got confused. Never had that happen with AP1.
- was able to drive for much longer distance and for more time without being harassed to 'hold the wheel' This was especially surprising in construction areas, whereas in AP1 it wouldn't let me drive without holding the wheel for more than 15 seconds. It did not even ask me once to hold wheel the entire 3 mile construction zone I drove (121/Airport), whereas in AP1 I would have had alteast 5 warnings on that same stretch.
- It seems to detect cars in front of you from quite a distance and slows down better than AP1, but the final stop seems abrupt. I can understand how it can leave an uneasy feeling. Starting from a stop is also painfully slow that it leaves a large gap in front before it catches up. I often end up pressing 'gas' to keep the gap as little as possible.
- Changing lanes - no different from AP1. Sometimes no hesitation at all. Sometimes a lot of hesitation and it gets annoying.
- The lack of AP cancel push button switch is a pain.
- Once driving at around 60, someone cut in front about just a feet away and it never detected although his tires were mostly in my lane. I had to press the brakes myself and take control. I have seen AP1 do this too.
- The lack of cars on the display in adjacent lanes is a clear lack of parity with AP1.
- few times the display car on the dash was riding right on the lane lines or very close to it, but the car itself was much closer to the center than the display leads you to believe. My video below has an example of that.
- on backroads though it was a mixed experience. It seems to detect faint lines much better than AP1, which is a good thing. This means I was able to use AP2 on areas I cannot use AP1. But I guess it was also the source of a few heart stopping moments, because it was detecting multiple spurious lanes and was getting confused. It detects crack as lanes. Detects shoulders as lanes. Detects tar lines as lanes. So sometimes it ends up taking a path which is actually not a lane. They need to calibrate the lane detecting algo to be not so sensitive. This is a clear negative compared to AP1
- Lanes on the display bounces often which is unsettling. But the good thing is, it still drives pretty steady and neat. So I am guessing it is just a display thing.
Bottom line: Love my AP1, perhaps the most important reason why I bought a Tesla and still love driving it. I was initially skeptical if I get an X then perhaps I am better off looking for an AP1 (inventory or CPO). Now I have zero hesitation switching to AP2. It does everything quite well, in what I like and use most in AP1.
Of course your usage patterns in your current AP1 might be different. Your expectations on what an Autopilot should do might be different. Your ability to use common sense when using a driver assistance like AP might be different. But as far as I can see AP2 is pretty close to AP1 parity. Pluses and minuses are insignificant.
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you very much for this comparison! My memories from AP1 are admittedly fading (traded in March), but my recollections match what you're experiencing too. Especially on the highways, AP1 and AP2 are quite close to being equivalent, with some advantages going to AP1 and other advantages going to AP2.
They definitely "feel" a little different (e.g. AP2 likes to make higher frequency corrections while AP1 likes to make slow gradual adjustments, leading to the sensation that AP1 is more "confident" than AP2 though I'd frankly call that stubbornness, not confidence)
Right now the biggest gap is, with all puns intended, when there's a gap in the lane markings. AP2 has been gradually improving in that scenario but is still far behind AP1.... AP2 loves to pick up on the faintest of lane lines (which tends to be diagonal nonsense in the middle of an intersection) and then jerk the steering based off that initial belief. Perhaps now that the "Atlas" mapping engine seems more functional in 2017.32.6, this might begin to change...
Thanks for a thourough report.
With the sentence "Of course your usage patterns in your current AP1 might be different.", do you mean that other owners might have different road layouts and conditions where AP1 excels but AP2 does the opposite? That is what I experience, quite a lot of roads where AP2 is not working good, on others it works excellent.
I also wonder if the higher camera placement in the X is more suitable for AP2 than in the S, anyone discussed that?
Thats right. I don't have a need to use AP in twisting, windy mountain roads, with a steep cliff on one side and bottomless ridge on the other side, with only two lanes and opposing traffic. I will not use AP in a road with opposing traffic unless there is a lane in-between. I don't care for using AP in back roads where lanes often disappear and will be confusing to pure camera based system. I don't use AP exclusively on right most lanes in an highway and complain about how it hesitates and dives to an exit sometimes. As an engineer I can understand how an exit lane that has a very shallow angle from right most lane could be confusing to the AP system.
And most critically, I don't have a need to merge at 91 mph and complain that AP has locked me out for my transgression.
I've got an S with AP2 and I'm happy with its performance. We've got highways here with sweeping curves too and I think it handles them fine.
Are there cases where I feel like I could drive smoother than it drives? Yeah, from time to time. But I separate smoothness discrepancies from egregious misbehavior / safety.
As humans I think we have the tendency to criticize when observing. Some people more than others. Autopilot allows everyone to be a backseat driver ;-)
Are there cases where I feel like I could drive smoother than it drives? Yeah, from time to time. But I separate smoothness discrepancies from egregious misbehavior / safety.
As humans I think we have the tendency to criticize when observing. Some people more than others. Autopilot allows everyone to be a backseat driver ;-)
