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Cant stand the driving visualizations on the screen

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I love driving my 2021 Model 3. I knew it would probably be quicker than my 2015 Mustang--and it is. But I wasn't expecting the suspension to be as sophisticated as it truely is. The Mustang handled incredibly well due mostly to the enormous sway bars. It had zero body roll at the limit of adhesion and beyond, but the springs were a little soft probably because I'm just accustomed to super stiff springs. However, on super rough one lane backroads, it was brilliant. The Model 3, by way of contrast, stunned me. It would be unreal with some sway bars, but otherwise the suspension is both very firm and yet totally controlled, even supple. It handles everything the road can throw at it, as well as the horrible undulations on Bay Area freeways that at high speed can launch a muscle car or exotic off the road. The spring compression is just right and the rebound control is better than anything I've ever experienced. The torque from the single motor pulls the car through an on-ramp and on to the freeway with great authority. To be honest, it pulls away from everything else on the road (except other Tesla's). I thought I would miss the sound of the internal combustion engine, but I don't at all. For a long-time driving enthusiast--this is a great car, so much fun to drive, and so stable on the road---far beyond my expectations. Did I mention the black and white interior that looks like it belongs more on a Lear Jet (or dragon crew capsule) than a car, made with materials unique AND beautiful?

There is one little problem however--a dangerous little problem for someone who doesn't want to be chauffeured from one place to another by another person, and certainly not by technology unless I'm on a train. I don't want a little video game distracting me on the left side of that beautiful 15 inch screen, and I especially don't want ANY kind of autopilot. I want to DRIVE the thing. Sorry, but no amount of sophisticated little chips and sensors can even come close to competing with a 3 pound quantum computer we call the human brain, that nature spent just under 4 billion years creating and perfecting. When I'm driving, I like ALL of my attention on the road. I don't want my phone in the car. I have a mental image of every car in every lane around me far ahead and far behind and their relative speeds compared to mine. Drivers who have taken a competition driving course and have spent some time on the track know that on a busy California freeway, which is so very different from a track environment, that hitting the brakes in an emergency situation doesn't save you; instead, it will most likely seal your fate. You will hit the car in front of you and someone will hit you from behind at a high rate of speed, giving you neck and spine injuries despite beautifully designed seats and headrests. In contrast, a flick of the steering wheel immediately gets you out of harms way. If you turn the steering wheel at freeway speed and hit the brakes at the same time, YOU WILL ROLL THE CAR. You may have some idea where I'm going with this...

The very last thing I want is for my sweet little Model 3 to brake right at the moment I'm turning the steering wheel hard and probably applying some juice (formerly the gas), to get out of a bad situation, that one, two, or three other drivers are causing. I know how to defeat the AED, but it resets itself the next time I back out of my driveway (out of great respect for my safety I am told). This is fine at up to 20 to 25 mph while I'm driving my son to school through the neighborhood and I haven't had my coffee and he's distracting me. I'm cool with that. But at freeway speed automatic emergency braking is deadly to someone who is actually DRIVING the car. It takes less than a quarter of a second for my visual cortex, motor cortex, and muscle fibers to identify an emergency situation and respond. It takes almost a full second for the Model 3's alarm and flashing red little car on screen to respond to someone cutting me off, and by the time that very loud alarm is screeching in my ear, the car is already gone and I'm more concerned with the car behind me (the alarm will go off for him sometime later when he's already at a full stop and I've punched it so he can't hit me though he's making a real concerted effort at it. This is very distracting to say the least, and my emotional response to the alarm is to get tunnel vision which really doesn't help a lot. The only time the alarm DOESN'T go off (on) is when I start to change lanes into someone in my blind spot, and that's the one time I REALLY want it to work! The other time it didn't work was when an 18 wheeler changed lanes so close to the front me that the rear of the trailer was actually over the nice low nose of my Model 3 as I exited, stage right. I guess since the radar or whatever is being using now is aimed at the rear bumper of a car, it shoots underneath a large truck and doesn't see it at all. Needless to say, I've turned off the proximity warning alarm.

In the end, driving a car and feeling totally mentally and physically connected to it creates a state of heightened awareness that is unlike anything else--and is a uniquely human experience--that the last few million years of evolution has afforded us that no other creature will ever know. I suppose it is probably my second favorite thing in life. I've never wanted to be a passenger--literally or metaphorically--just let me take full responsibility for my driving. Don't insult my intelligence by telling me that AI will someday surpass the human brain at real thinking and decision making. We were designed by evolution to have incredibly quick reactions and precise physical responses to avoid being eaten by predators--all of which works, just by chance incredibly well when behind the wheel of a car. AEB is wonderful for people who are unintentionally or intentionally asleep at the wheel. Just let me permanently disable the damn thing---because I love driving my new model 3. I should have that right--at least the option--as a thinking, feeling, human being.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: Keester97
If you mash the accelerator pedal it inhibits AEB so I'm not sure what your complaint is.

It is extremely rare that a dangerous situation is improved by accelerating out of it, and that you want to do this routinely suggests that the standard of your driving is probably not as good as you think it is.

M3P has a track mode where you can turn this stuff off if it bothers you. The rest of us would be grateful if you slowed down a bit when driving on public roads.
 
  • Funny
Reactions: jfore60
Need a TLDR. Good grief.
Agreed!

I get people have their own opinions- but this reminds me of the people who say they don't use seatbelts because they can trap you in a sinking car if you drive off a bridge or if there is a car fire. In the event of a head on crash- the plan is to hop in the backseat. These imagined scenarios... Come on with it. AEB and swerving gonna make your M3 roll? Ha- so, sir.

My opinion is that the OP needs to slow down and rethink their driving style for the sake of everyone- or use Autopilot, FFS
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jo060