Driving distance setting in stop and go traffic

[ishareit]

Most of my commute is stop and go traffic with speeds varying between 0 and about 40 mph and I am trying to figure out what is the best TACC/AP distance setting for such a traffic.

I typically set it to 7 to reduce moving and stopping too aggressively and to give the car plenty of time to react, but noticed that a lot of times when the car in front of me slows down, my car kind of brakes a little too hard for the person behind me to slow down. Honestly, I would be annoyed if a car in front of me was braking so hard with plenty of room available to brake softly.

What is the distance setting that you guys use that works well most of the times for you and other drivers behind you?

 

[Tam]

...What is the distance setting...

Until the technology is perfected, I prefer to have a further safe distance than 7.

 

[jelloslug]

I leave it on 7 all the time.

 

[bhzmark]

2 works well in most cases for me. sometimes increase to 6 or 7 if speeds are on the higher end. But in stop and go it is wasteful to pollute the highway with so much empty space between you and the car in front of you. If everyone did that the traffic would move even slower -- fewer cars handled per mile per minute per lane.

 

[chillaban]

Generally, 2 or 3 in my daily driving conditions. In heavy traffic, settings greater than 2 in California results in a lot more people attempting dangerous cut-ins which then creates a more dangerous Autopilot scenario where I have to decide whether to disengage on a moment's notice.

At faster speeds in more open traffic, 4 or 5 sets a following distance that doesn't feel like tailgating.

 

[Saghost]

I find that 1 isn't close enough to prevent east coast drivers from cutting in - but that anything less than 3 means that in typical merges I have to break out of AP to avoid a collision (or possibly near collision if it reacts to Ultrasound fast enough) before the car gets fully merged into the lane.

So I leave it at 4 most of the time, which gives a smoother ride and allows them to merge safely, as much as the merges annoy me (especially the ones who come from behind me to do it - like they don't realize I'm following him at a fixed distance already.)

 

[ishareit]

I will try 4 on my way back home today and see how well that works.

 

[ecarfan]

I leave it on 7 all the time.

So do I. Works great! I love TACC, it's an incredible feature.

@sumitkgarg please note that the 1-7 scale does not represent a "distance" and the numbers have no units as far as anyone outside of the Tesla AP engineering team knows. As I'm sure you have observed, the TACC interval varies on the same setting depending on your speed.

 

[Saghost]

So do I. Works great! I love TACC, it's an incredible feature.

@sumitkgarg please note that the 1-7 scale does not represent a "distance" and the numbers have no units as far as anyone outside of the Tesla AP engineering team knows. As I'm sure you have observed, the TACC interval varies on the same setting depending on your speed.

I thought it was supposed to be approximately half seconds of time, though the car is slow to accelerate and also late to brake for maintaining intervals.

 

[akraut]

I use 2, occasionally 3 for the majority of my driving, but I often flip it to 7 when I'm trying to let a car change into my lane. Once I see their car show up on the dash, I flip back to 2.

 

[ReturnZero]

When I had my X I went between 1 and 2. In stop and go traffic I'd always have it in 1, as I was always just creeping along anyway.

Drivers in Dallas are extremely aggressive, if I left the car in 7 in traffic I'd get shot.

 

[gjunky]

3 seems to be the sweet spot for me in busier traffic but will change it to 5 or 6 if speeds are higher. Setting at 3 keeps the space short enough not to annoy people but far enough to let an occasional person merge in front. If they match speed, the X will adjust speed very smoothly these days and not panic. Of course if they merge and hit the brakes the car will do the same. I don't think it will cause accidents but I do keep a close eye on it and will cancel AP every so often

 

[ecarfan]

I thought it was supposed to be approximately half seconds of time, though the car is slow to accelerate and also late to brake for maintaining intervals.

I am not aware of any evidence to support that contention.

 

[kort677]

at slower stop and go speeds 1 or 2 works well for me, at over 25 mph stop and go I would go up to at least 4 or 5.

 

[The Duke]

I stick with 4, not too many cutting me off and usually they need to get over (not weaving in and out). Give a setting some time, you need to trust the car's reactions. Until you are sure what your car will do no setting will seem "right".

 

[idoco]

1-2 in stop and go
7 at highway speeds (except when I think someone might cut me off in which case I'll decrease it until the opportunity passes).

 

[arcus]

at slower stop and go speeds 1 or 2 works well for me, at over 25 mph stop and go I would go up to at least 4 or 5.

Same.

 

[MacGreiner]

If there was a 0.5 I'd use that. Just too many cut ins and then really sudden braking events if anything more than 1 in these parts.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

I use 2 for stop-and-go traffic, 3 for higher speed freeway driving, and 4 for open highway. I'll add +1 to those settings if it's raining for extra safety.

 

[Tinky]

Most of my commute is stop and go traffic with speeds varying between 0 and about 40 mph and I am trying to figure out what is the best TACC/AP distance setting for such a traffic.

I typically set it to 7 to reduce moving and stopping too aggressively and to give the car plenty of time to react, but noticed that a lot of times when the car in front of me slows down, my car kind of brakes a little too hard for the person behind me to slow down. Honestly, I would be annoyed if a car in front of me was braking so hard with plenty of room available to brake softly.

What is the distance setting that you guys use that works well most of the times for you and other drivers behind you?

I would recommend that Tesla add a constant display beside The speedo showing the distance setting