After 5-weeks, I turned FSD Beta off!

After years of waiting I finally got my FSD Beta! After 6-weeks I turned it off.

I found the promise of the FSD Beta to be overblown. Yes it is very cool that the car will navigate on city streets to a destination. But the car is far too timid to be usable. It is worse than driving with a student driver. Also, the car’s hesitation causes a lot of problems with other drivers who get confused when they see the car stop or slow, when it should not. But that is not what made me turn it off.

I turned it off because it made the overall driving experience annoying, and more dangerous.

With the beta turned-on, the car makes speed changes at nearly every speed limit sign, even when only running TACC. Not only is this annoying but these changers often alarm my passengers and sometimes surprise the cars behind. The car does not do this when the FSD is disabled.

And then there is a notice at nearly every traffic light that one is coming, even when running only on TACC. I find I am spending time clearing nuisance alerts instead focusing 100% of my time on driving the car. And the sudden speed changes, if you miss one of the alerts, is just another version of the phantom breaking problem with the same set of issues for the cars behind. Note that I have this feature disabled under AP. This does not occur if FSD is disabled.

Next we have speed based lane changes. I disabled this under AP and the FSD stack just ignores this as well, and there is no way to tell it not to do so.

So overall, the benefit of having FSD is very minimal, while the negative impact to quality and enjoyment of driving is very real. I definably will not be buying FSD on a future car, unless these problems are fixed.

"Tesla Autopilot Engaged in Model X" by Ian Maddox is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

 

[st_o_p]

You are making it so much harder than it is.
If you have bought FSD and have the beta turned on, then it will cover highways and surface streets. I do both all the time.
To enable, double click right stalk when the car can see the line in the road.

Is the car driving itself, look at the steering wheel icon in the upper left, is it there and is it blue?

...

Yes - I know all that. Except that it doesn't work.
Works for autopilot on a highway. For some reason - not for FSD on regular street. Like 3 out of 4 or 5 out of 6 times I tried to turn it on it didn't work.

Looking for some tiny steering wheel somewhere on the display to see if it's blue - while you're on a winding street means you have to take your eyes off the road. In the meantime you cannot steer - cause you'll turn off auto-steering if it did work. So the car is going any which way in the meantime. If you're on a huge straight boulevard - no problem. But in many places it's not like that.

Hey - I'm sure I'm not the biggest 1diot out there. If it's aggravating me - I can tell you that a lot of the expected Tesla customers will write it off and never look back.

 

[ewoodrick]

Yes - I know all that. Except that it doesn't work.
Works for autopilot on a highway. For some reason - not for FSD on regular street. Like 3 out of 4 or 5 out of 6 times I tried to turn it on it didn't work.

Looking for some tiny steering wheel somewhere on the display to see if it's blue - while you're on a winding street means you have to take your eyes off the road. In the meantime you cannot steer - cause you'll turn off auto-steering if it did work. So the car is going any which way in the meantime. If you're on a huge straight boulevard - no problem. But in many places it's not like that.

Hey - I'm sure I'm not the biggest 1diot out there. If it's aggravating me - I can tell you that a lot of the expected Tesla customers will write it off and never look back.

Are you sure that you have FSD turned on?

I believe that the following is close to the current view

See the blue steering wheel above the speed limit. Once you know where it is, it is pretty easy for most people to glance at.
First, don't learn on a winding street, but if I'm on a winding street, it's no big deal, that's because the car is steering.
If the car is going "any which way" then it should be obvious that it the car isn't driving. Many times, when you first enable FSD, the car may jerk just a little bit, as it moves to the center of the lane.

Go start on a less travelled road. Turn the set speed down with the right scroll wheel. Get up to 20-30mph and double down click the right stalk. You should hear the dong dink indicating that FSD has been enabled. You can let go of the wheel and the car should start controlling.
But you can't keep your hands off the wheel, because you have to add a little torque to the wheel after a few seconds. Not too much that it thinks that you are taking control, but enough to let it know that you are still there. It takes a little getting used to.
If the car starts to speed up, the speed limit probably changed, just roll it back down to something comfortable.

If when you double down click the right stalk it doesn't turn on, maybe you aren't pushing it down far enough. Do you hear the chimes?

 

[st_o_p]

Are you sure that you have FSD turned on?

I believe that the following is close to the current view
View attachment 920682
See the blue steering wheel above the speed limit. Once you know where it is, it is pretty easy for most people to glance at.
First, don't learn on a winding street, but if I'm on a winding street, it's no big deal, that's because the car is steering.
If the car is going "any which way" then it should be obvious that it the car isn't driving. Many times, when you first enable FSD, the car may jerk just a little bit, as it moves to the center of the lane.

Go start on a less travelled road. Turn the set speed down with the right scroll wheel. Get up to 20-30mph and double down click the right stalk. You should hear the dong dink indicating that FSD has been enabled. You can let go of the wheel and the car should start controlling.
But you can't keep your hands off the wheel, because you have to add a little torque to the wheel after a few seconds. Not too much that it thinks that you are taking control, but enough to let it know that you are still there. It takes a little getting used to.
If the car starts to speed up, the speed limit probably changed, just roll it back down to something comfortable.

If when you double down click the right stalk it doesn't turn on, maybe you aren't pushing it down far enough. Do you hear the chimes?

Thank you - I appreciate you trying to help.

Like I said - I've given up, I'm not trying anymore. As for "Go start on a less travelled road" - that's a good advice if I had time to waste for testing Tesla FSD. Instead - I tried wherever I happened to be driving at the time, several times. The results were not great. And yes - everything was enabled.

But really - wouldn't kill Tesla to have something like "FSD engaged" voice feedback coming from the speakers. My radar detector can do it, I'm sure a car can. And why do we need to double-click? Like when ever has someone turned the drive on but not the auto-steering. Anyway that's just feedback/rant for Tesla.

 

[ewoodrick]

Thank you - I appreciate you trying to help.

Like I said - I've given up, I'm not trying anymore. As for "Go start on a less travelled road" - that's a good advice if I had time to waste for testing Tesla FSD. Instead - I tried wherever I happened to be driving at the time, several times. The results were not great. And yes - everything was enabled.

But really - wouldn't kill Tesla to have something like "FSD engaged" voice feedback coming from the speakers. My radar detector can do it, I'm sure a car can. And why do we need to double-click? Like when ever has someone turned the drive on but not the auto-steering. Anyway that's just feedback/rant for Tesla.

It DOES provide a FSD engaged indication it's a lower beep followed by a higher beep (dong ding). And the other direction (ding dong)when it becomes disabled.

While there are a number of people that have decided that they don't like FSD, I think that you are one of the few that are having issues engaging it.

Just listen for the tones.

 

[Dewg]

I believe there may be a hardware issue. Either a camera is going out, a loose wiring harness, or something like that. I'm sure he knows how to engage the system.

Try this:

Engage the system. When you get the loud alert and the system disengages immediately, press the voice button and say "bug report". Open a service ticket and note the bug report date/time. That gives the service people logs to go off of and diagnostics they can run.

 

[Electroman]

I think that you are one of the few that are having issues engaging it.

It is an attitude problem.

 

[gnuarm]

After years of waiting I finally got my FSD Beta! After 6-weeks I turned it off.

I found the promise of the FSD Beta to be overblown. Yes it is very cool that the car will navigate on city streets to a destination. But the car is far too timid to be usable. It is worse than driving with a student driver. Also, the car’s hesitation causes a lot of problems with other drivers who get confused when they see the car stop or slow, when it should not. But that is not what made me turn it off.

I turned it off because it made the overall driving experience annoying, and more dangerous.

With the beta turned-on, the car makes speed changes at nearly every speed limit sign, even when only running TACC. Not only is this annoying but these changers often alarm my passengers and sometimes surprise the cars behind. The car does not do this when the FSD is disabled.

And then there is a notice at nearly every traffic light that one is coming, even when running only on TACC. I find I am spending time clearing nuisance alerts instead focusing 100% of my time on driving the car. And the sudden speed changes, if you miss one of the alerts, is just another version of the phantom breaking problem with the same set of issues for the cars behind. Note that I have this feature disabled under AP. This does not occur if FSD is disabled.

Next we have speed based lane changes. I disabled this under AP and the FSD stack just ignores this as well, and there is no way to tell it not to do so.

So overall, the benefit of having FSD is very minimal, while the negative impact to quality and enjoyment of driving is very real. I definably will not be buying FSD on a future car, unless these problems are fixed.

View attachment 904010
"Tesla Autopilot Engaged in Model X" by Ian Maddox is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

The choir is giving you an AMEN! I've turned off FSD because of the same reasons. I found it works worse than the simple autopilot... much worse.

One "feature" I think is actually a bug, is when setting my cruise control speed by a single down press on the stalk, it initially sets the cruise speed to my present car speed as it's supposed to do. But after a second or two, it bumps the speed up to the speed limit plus the five mph margin I've programmed it for. Why does it change the damn speed after I've set it???

I think many features in the Tesla are downright dangerous, starting with goofy things like this, but also including using the touch screen for nearly everything in the car. I have no doubt at all, that the touch screen is responsible for many accidents, even if it doesn't show up in the statistics. It's just too distracting and awkward to use when driving.

 

[gnuarm]

Thank you - I appreciate you trying to help.

Like I said - I've given up, I'm not trying anymore. As for "Go start on a less travelled road" - that's a good advice if I had time to waste for testing Tesla FSD. Instead - I tried wherever I happened to be driving at the time, several times. The results were not great. And yes - everything was enabled.

But really - wouldn't kill Tesla to have something like "FSD engaged" voice feedback coming from the speakers. My radar detector can do it, I'm sure a car can. And why do we need to double-click? Like when ever has someone turned the drive on but not the auto-steering. Anyway that's just feedback/rant for Tesla.

If I am not on a highway, the display in the instrument cluster is way different in FSD than in autopilot. It shows bold, bright red lines by the road edge and bright, bold yellow lines between lanes. Autopilot doesn't show any of this. FSD also doesn't show it on highways.

Then there's the mode where it takes over the instrument cluster. It doesn't show anything more. It just blocks the other two areas of the display. Very odd, but very consistent with FSD.

 

[ewoodrick]

The choir is giving you an AMEN! I've turned off FSD because of the same reasons. I found it works worse than the simple autopilot... much worse.

One "feature" I think is actually a bug, is when setting my cruise control speed by a single down press on the stalk, it initially sets the cruise speed to my present car speed as it's supposed to do. But after a second or two, it bumps the speed up to the speed limit plus the five mph margin I've programmed it for. Why does it change the damn speed after I've set it???

I think many features in the Tesla are downright dangerous, starting with goofy things like this, but also including using the touch screen for nearly everything in the car. I have no doubt at all, that the touch screen is responsible for many accidents, even if it doesn't show up in the statistics. It's just too distracting and awkward to use when driving.

Because it sees a speed limit change and updates the speed accordingly.

 

[gnuarm]

Because it sees a speed limit change and updates the speed accordingly.

That makes no sense. "Accordingly" means speeding up 10 mph? No, I don't think so. If I set the cruise speed, why should it change that for literally no reason? This is just the software being stupid. It's a bug. No, it's yet another bug.

 

[ewoodrick]

That's not the way that the Tesla cruise control works. It's mor intelligent than that. You'll have traffic aware cruise control which will follow other cars at a distance and it adjusts for speed limit changes.
So yes, if it sees a speed increase of 10 mph, it will increase the speed to the speed limit =- whatever you have the option set for. I believe that +5 is the default.

 

[gnuarm]

That's not the way that the Tesla cruise control works. It's mor intelligent than that. You'll have traffic aware cruise control which will follow other cars at a distance and it adjusts for speed limit changes.
So yes, if it sees a speed increase of 10 mph, it will increase the speed to the speed limit =- whatever you have the option set for. I believe that +5 is the default.

I don't know what "speed increase" you are talking about. I set the speed using a single down stroke of the stalk. The car set the cruise control speed to the speed of the car. Then, after a pause, it changes that to 5 above the speed limit which was some 10 or more MPH faster than I had been going. I believe you are thinking of how it works if you move the stalk upwards to set the cruise speed. That will be set according to the speed limit, plus the offset you have programmed. I didn't move the stalk upwards.

No, this is not how it is supposed to work. It never did before I started using FSD. This is one of several reasons why I turned off FSD. It's not ready for prime time. But I was told, when I bought the car, they did not guarantee FSD would ever be useable. So, no real surprises. Half the features on the car are still BETA after nearly five years.

Autopilot is much more predictable and consistent. Saying a product is better than the Tesla autopilot is not saying much, but saying a product is worse, is a huge statement!

 

[ewoodrick]

I don't know what "speed increase" you are talking about. I set the speed using a single down stroke of the stalk. The car set the cruise control speed to the speed of the car. Then, after a pause, it changes that to 5 above the speed limit which was some 10 or more MPH faster than I had been going. I believe you are thinking of how it works if you move the stalk upwards to set the cruise speed. That will be set according to the speed limit, plus the offset you have programmed. I didn't move the stalk upwards.

No, this is not how it is supposed to work. It never did before I started using FSD. This is one of several reasons why I turned off FSD. It's not ready for prime time. But I was told, when I bought the car, they did not guarantee FSD would ever be useable. So, no real surprises. Half the features on the car are still BETA after nearly five years.

Autopilot is much more predictable and consistent. Saying a product is better than the Tesla autopilot is not saying much, but saying a product is worse, is a huge statement!

Speed increase is the right scroll wheel that adjusts the cruise control speed limit.

I thought that it had always worked that way with all versions of the software. Evidently, I was wrong, but I guess it may work that way now. AFAIK, speed limits have always adjusted the set speed.

 

[gnuarm]

Speed increase is the right scroll wheel that adjusts the cruise control speed limit.

I thought that it had always worked that way with all versions of the software. Evidently, I was wrong, but I guess it may work that way now. AFAIK, speed limits have always adjusted the set speed.

You need to read my posts. You are responding to things I never said, and ignoring what I did say.

Meanwhile, I turned off the FSD and returned to autopilot. It does not duplicate the aberrant behavior, of refusing to accept, unaltered, a cruise control setting made by a single down stroke of the control stalk.

 

[melmalinowski]

After years of waiting I finally got my FSD Beta! After 6-weeks I turned it off.

I found the promise of the FSD Beta to be overblown. Yes it is very cool that the car will navigate on city streets to a destination. But the car is far too timid to be usable. It is worse than driving with a student driver. Also, the car’s hesitation causes a lot of problems with other drivers who get confused when they see the car stop or slow, when it should not. But that is not what made me turn it off.

I turned it off because it made the overall driving experience annoying, and more dangerous.

With the beta turned-on, the car makes speed changes at nearly every speed limit sign, even when only running TACC. Not only is this annoying but these changers often alarm my passengers and sometimes surprise the cars behind. The car does not do this when the FSD is disabled.

And then there is a notice at nearly every traffic light that one is coming, even when running only on TACC. I find I am spending time clearing nuisance alerts instead focusing 100% of my time on driving the car. And the sudden speed changes, if you miss one of the alerts, is just another version of the phantom breaking problem with the same set of issues for the cars behind. Note that I have this feature disabled under AP. This does not occur if FSD is disabled.

Next we have speed based lane changes. I disabled this under AP and the FSD stack just ignores this as well, and there is no way to tell it not to do so.

So overall, the benefit of having FSD is very minimal, while the negative impact to quality and enjoyment of driving is very real. I definably will not be buying FSD on a future car, unless these problems are fixed.

View attachment 904010
"Tesla Autopilot Engaged in Model X" by Ian Maddox is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

It would always be helpful to include the FSD Beta version in a post. I received 11.3.6 on May 29th, 2023 for my Y LR 2023, and drove 6100 miles with it in 5 weeks. Generally good results, and found it useful especially for long freeway cruises. I did have several phantom braking events, and also several cases where it tried to change lanes into a right turn lane inappropriately. But generally quite good and impressive. I wish Tesla would let me download the new 11.4.2, but for some reason it is not allowing that.

 

[ATPMSD]

It would always be helpful to include the FSD Beta version in a post. I received 11.3.6 on May 29th, 2023 for my Y LR 2023, and drove 6100 miles with it in 5 weeks. Generally good results, and found it useful especially for long freeway cruises. I did have several phantom braking events, and also several cases where it tried to change lanes into a right turn lane inappropriately. But generally quite good and impressive. I wish Tesla would let me download the new 11.4.2, but for some reason it is not allowing that.

This was the initial release of FSD to everyone.

 

[clydeiii]

This was the initial release of FSD to everyone.

Yeah we can't keep track of all of the versions and when they came out for which cars. It's been like 5 months since your Jan original. Have you kept trying FSDb on and off since then?

 

[ATPMSD]

Yeah we can't keep track of all of the versions and when they came out for which cars. It's been like 5 months since your Jan original. Have you kept trying FSDb on and off since then?

Using FSD Version 11.4.3

When FSD was released to the masses it broke a lot of the controls in TACC and AP. The consolidated stack has fixed many of these issues and I now use TACC and AP. But…

I do not use FSD to navigate. The car is still too timid when making turns, especially left turns, and is still not good enough on the highway to change lanes to exit and merge into traffic if it is anything other than light.

Frankly, I will not purchase FSD with my next car as I simply do not use it. I am fine letting the car maintain speed and lane keeping; I take control when it is time to “navigate.”

 

[JB47394]

I received 11.3.6 on May 29th, 2023 for my Y LR 2023, and drove 6100 miles with it in 5 weeks.

Could you rephrase that? There aren't 5 weeks between May 29 and June 16.

I ask only because I put 4400 miles on Navigate on Autopilot during a 7 day trip, and since then I've gotten FSDb right after the YouTubers. I'm guessing that Tesla prioritizes people who put lots of miles on their software (and generate reports).

 

[ATPMSD]

Allow me to post the obvious. I assume you have gone to the Software Menu and you have customized how often you want to receive software updates by touching Software Update Preferences?

I have mine set to “Advanced” and I am not a high mileage driver. I get each update within a day or two of a new release.