Autopilot....meh

[Stan Moraski]

I am in agreement about not needing AP. i bought a pre AP CPO P85 one year ago, and for the first time in 42 years of driving, I am excited to drive again! Most luxurious, fastest, quitest and smoothest riding pleasure to drive car ever. Hopefully, more people will disagree which will leave more non AP CPO's available in four years when I get my NEXT P85. Which I will.

 

[AirKuhl]

I love it even with it's limitations. I use it 5 days a week during boring parts of my commute.

Interesting to see the split in opinions. I think those of us that see it as an occasional driver aid like it and those that expected a driver replacement are, not surprisingly, disappointed.

 

[Btrflyl8e]

I don't see AP is a day-to-day thing.

I use AP on long distance trips, with hundreds of miles on the highway going down a long stretch of road. Boring.

I would never use autopilot on a windy road (not because it can't handle it... well it can't actually), but because it's much more fun to drive myself.


Also, AP is decent in stop and go traffic too. It's a little rougher than I would drive, but OTOH I just have to make sure AP doesn't rear end the car in front of me.

Set the stopping distance to 4 and it will smooth right out.

 

[Plan B]

I don't see AP is a day-to-day thing.

I use AP on long distance trips, with hundreds of miles on the highway going down a long stretch of road. Boring.

I would never use autopilot on a windy road (not because it can't handle it... well it can't actually), but because it's much more fun to drive myself.


Also, AP is decent in stop and go traffic too. It's a little rougher than I would drive, but OTOH I just have to make sure AP doesn't rear end the car in front of me.

Ditto.

 

[mbhforum]

I use AP 1.0 for 90% of my
30 mile commute every day. I had a loaner without AP for a week and I absolutely couldn't wait to get my car back.

 

[Max*]

Set the stopping distance to 4 and it will smooth right out.

Unfortunately, doesn't work in the DC area. With a gap of 4, everyone will cut in front of you, it'd drive me up the wall

 

[MS16]

First, I promise I am not a troll. I have owned two Model S since 2013. Love the company and my car.

I am curious though....am I the only one out there that could take or leave the autopilot feature? I get that it's a technological feat...but I have it and I rarely if ever use it. I'd just rather drive the car myself. Is there anyone else out that that could really care less about autopilot?

I like the concept but I don't like Tesla's poor execution.

A driver assist system should assist the driver, not fight the driver.

 

[Btrflyl8e]

Unfortunately, doesn't work in the DC area. With a gap of 4, everyone will cut in front of you, it'd drive me up the wall

Yeah, it took some getting used to here, but it's no DC...

 

[Mihai]

Using it every day on my commute here in Nederlands. Highway driving is very boring here. 60MPH speed limits everywhere, speed cameras and almost no way to overtake anything during my commute. Autopilot helps me relax.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Autopilot won't make any sense until Tesla implements pothole avoidance. I see no sense in the car auto steering itself if it can't avoid potholes. I routinely have to avoid those things when I'm out and about, and they often require swerving to avoid. Autopilot would barrel right over them and ruin my alignment.

 

[cab]

As others have noted, this seems to come back to "your use case" as much as anything else. For me, with a pre-AP car, I sometimes wish I had it but, in reality, I am finding I wish I had the "idea" of it more than anything simply because my 90% in town driving use case doesn't warrant it. Indeed, I had a loaner a while back with it and used it a few times and then blew it off. If I commuted long distances in stop and go traffic or made long boring road trips (i.e. a different use case) - I would probably feel differently. Two of my buddies own AP cars and one thinks it is the best thing ever and the other thinks it is mostly a gimmick and not that much different than his last car with adaptive cruise control. The "teenage driver" comparison is made often.

Possibly we will see dramatic improvements with AP2, but we all know that train is just now starting to leave the station.

 

[croman]

Possibly we will see dramatic improvements with AP2, but we all know that train is just now starting to leave the station.

The conductor hit the sauce too hard as well and needed some sobering up so the train is late.

 

[dmode]

Autopilot won't make any sense until Tesla implements pothole avoidance. I see no sense in the car auto steering itself if it can't avoid potholes. I routinely have to avoid those things when I'm out and about, and they often require swerving to avoid. Autopilot would barrel right over them and ruin my alignment.

I am surprised you have pothole issues in Arizona. Phoenix has some of the best highway pavement conditions in the country, at least that's how I remember it when i used to live there a while back. I don't remember a single pothole on the highways there.

 

[Electroman]

AP is the only reason I bought a Tesla, and still the only reason why I am thinking of getting an X. There are two types of cars in the world - "AP1.0 Tesla" and "meh.. cars"

 

[derekmw]

For me, the biggest benefit of Autopilot is in stop and go traffic. If you live in California, you probably encounter those daily. It has really helped me feel less fatigued during my tragic commute.

I couldn't agree more. I use it everyday when stuck in traffic. Stop and go traffic is just tiring. Not having to do anything is so nice. When you're in stop and go traffic. The constant switching between gas/brake or hovering over either one, is just tiring.

On a side note, I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but I set my distance to the max (7 car lenghts) and noticed the car stops/drives much smoother and less jerky compared to when it's at the lowest distance. when at 1 car length, the car seems to lunge forward to catch up when the car in front pulls away, then stops really hard when it catches up.