I received 2017.44 firmware a week ago, just in time for a 1400 mile two-day drive from Phoenix AZ to Portland OR. I've been disappointed with AP2 performance (as many of us have) and the improvements I've seen in the past 11 months have been slow. OK, we've pretty much all covered that. **BUT** on this last drive I verified some almost "super human" abilities that AP2 now has. seriously!
First: lane following in curves with appropriate speed adjustment is now 90% good; occasionally on tight curves like I-5 north of Grants Pass (mountain pass, tight curves). Previous versions would radically slow down, forcing disconnects. This time it was quite good with only 10% of the overrides I previously saw.
Second: keeping pace with traffic is now quite smooth (usually with distance set to 2) at 70-85 mph. During the whole 1400 miles I had only two unexpected slowdowns. Both were from overpasses at the top of a substantial hill that fooled the radar. But it didn't last very long and I just accelerated to avoid screwing up the traffic behind me. Pretty good really.
Third: (this is where the super human senses kick in) driving in heavy rain, dark night, 75 mph along I-5 was PERFECT. I could hardly believe it. This was along I-5 between Eugene and Salem where there is no highway lighting, dark night, low clouds, fog, heavy rain and being splashed severely by trucks in adjacent lanes. I mean - I could BARELY see the adjacent lanes and was quite stressed about the trucks drenching me with water and temporarily blinding me.
However, to my amazement, the TACC and Steering kept on speed and within the lane just like the weather was clear and sunny. Wow! Of course I kept my hands on the wheel and hovering over the brake because it just seemed too good to be true.
I truly felt safer with the EAP driving than I would be driving myself. My night vision is good but not perfect and although the road is pretty straight, the radar seeing thru the splashing and heavy rain did a perfect job of keeping in the lane and adjusting speed to follow the (pretty much invisible) traffic ahead.
It would be cool to have some phone pictures showing the poor visibility outside the car but no way was I going to not be holding the wheel and peering intently around me. You'll have to accept my description of how little visibility I had.
One other thing: earlier in the day after a supercharge where it was raining quite heavily in Grants Pass, getting back on the freeway the TACC would not engage at first, message said something about sensor blocked. I thought crap, no AP until I stop and clean off the front radar. Well..... as I drive along at 75 manually I tried it again in about 5 miles and this time it engaged and stayed engaged. I think that the water build up on the radar cleared itself from wind after those 5 miles at speed even though it was raining. This turned out to be important to me as it gave me confidence (or at least an excuse) that the EAP would keep working during those heavy splashes I encountered. And indeed the system seemed to work very very well with no disconnect, slow downs, lane departure or scary behavior.
So I award AP2/EAP with this version my first **SUPERHUMAN** abilities award!
First: lane following in curves with appropriate speed adjustment is now 90% good; occasionally on tight curves like I-5 north of Grants Pass (mountain pass, tight curves). Previous versions would radically slow down, forcing disconnects. This time it was quite good with only 10% of the overrides I previously saw.
Second: keeping pace with traffic is now quite smooth (usually with distance set to 2) at 70-85 mph. During the whole 1400 miles I had only two unexpected slowdowns. Both were from overpasses at the top of a substantial hill that fooled the radar. But it didn't last very long and I just accelerated to avoid screwing up the traffic behind me. Pretty good really.
Third: (this is where the super human senses kick in) driving in heavy rain, dark night, 75 mph along I-5 was PERFECT. I could hardly believe it. This was along I-5 between Eugene and Salem where there is no highway lighting, dark night, low clouds, fog, heavy rain and being splashed severely by trucks in adjacent lanes. I mean - I could BARELY see the adjacent lanes and was quite stressed about the trucks drenching me with water and temporarily blinding me.
However, to my amazement, the TACC and Steering kept on speed and within the lane just like the weather was clear and sunny. Wow! Of course I kept my hands on the wheel and hovering over the brake because it just seemed too good to be true.
I truly felt safer with the EAP driving than I would be driving myself. My night vision is good but not perfect and although the road is pretty straight, the radar seeing thru the splashing and heavy rain did a perfect job of keeping in the lane and adjusting speed to follow the (pretty much invisible) traffic ahead.
It would be cool to have some phone pictures showing the poor visibility outside the car but no way was I going to not be holding the wheel and peering intently around me. You'll have to accept my description of how little visibility I had.
One other thing: earlier in the day after a supercharge where it was raining quite heavily in Grants Pass, getting back on the freeway the TACC would not engage at first, message said something about sensor blocked. I thought crap, no AP until I stop and clean off the front radar. Well..... as I drive along at 75 manually I tried it again in about 5 miles and this time it engaged and stayed engaged. I think that the water build up on the radar cleared itself from wind after those 5 miles at speed even though it was raining. This turned out to be important to me as it gave me confidence (or at least an excuse) that the EAP would keep working during those heavy splashes I encountered. And indeed the system seemed to work very very well with no disconnect, slow downs, lane departure or scary behavior.
So I award AP2/EAP with this version my first **SUPERHUMAN** abilities award!