If you have both hands on the steering wheel in the proper place there is “hardly” ever any torque on either side. A major flaw as a 4 time Model S owner I can
say as fact.
Yes, the torque sensing is terrible and it would probably be much better if it detected the presence of two hands on the wheel (I don't know the reasons for why they didn't go with a touch sensor).
However, it's quite easy to hold the wheel properly and apply torque, though obviously a bit annoying. If it weren't possible then it wouldn't be possible to steer when holding the wheel properly! That being said, to avoid fatigue with the constant torque application (which is different than normal driving), it's helpful to brace an elbow on the door arm rest when torquing to the right, or bracing on the center arm rest when torquing to the left. This naturally leaves your hand slightly below the 9 and 3 positions. And it means minimal fatigue, and it is easy to modulate torque (I hear a lot of people going with one hand to prevent torque cancellation, and the bracing method allows you to avoid that less safe position).
(No idea on the yoke. Seems hopeless.)
The picture is a little lower than that,but used to be called Italian position.
It looks pretty clearly to me that it is at 5 and 7 or so, or lower, when looking at the center position of the hands. We cannot just call all positions the same…
I could see 8 and 4, with bottom edge of hands at those positions, as being roughly close to 9 and 3, but that is much different than what is pictured.
In any case you can’t steer the vehicle effectively in the position pictured. Try making a high speed turn with hands in that position! Remember that you have to be ready to react and provide correction to FSD instantly at any time.
there is no difference in ho the airbag would strike them in the 10-2 vs 9-3 position
The airbag tends to be aimed slightly upwards according to the various articles on this, so the design presumably assumes a neutral wheel position for the airbag to work best (if wheel is cranked to left it would tend to come out slightly to the left I guess?). Anyway, it’s a continuum of positions. If your hands are higher on the wheel your arms will be more likely to be lifted by the airbag. So there’s not “no” difference. It’s a small difference, with 10-2 being somewhat higher risk.
I just defer to all the insurance companies and NHTSA on this I guess.
any evasive maneuvers you would likely be doing would instantly negate any supposed advantage anyway.
Many times people just pile into things with no steering input. Likely by far the most common scenario. If your arms are lower on the wheel you’ll be less at risk even if you have applied some steering input because your hand is less
likely to be in the way of the airbag.
Regarding FSD, I've found that keeping my hands at 10 & 2 (or 9 & 3) never works well anyway. On long straight sections I either don't have enough torque to make it happy or I try to adjust it to get enough steady torque and end up disabling it
See above for bracing technique which allow you to torque the wheel while maintaining both hands on the wheel without fatigue. It also allows for good control of the amount of torque to apply rather than operating in free space, which is challenging to get right, because it is harder to measure the torque without an “anchor.” And no fear of being above 9 and 3.
Anyway, I have zero strikes and I rarely see warnings to apply torque with this method (when I do see the warning it is because I am not using the method).
If you're turning then all bets are off.
Yeah when turning sharply you’re often having to let the wheel slip a bit (in gradual turns torque can be easily applied), but these are just brief periods and in the beginning and end of the turn you’ll be able to torque. Disengagements are fine in turns in any case; that’s why you’re steering the vehicle! Doesn’t matter for FSD if you disengage! (Just be ready to cancel TACC.)
Again, since you’re driving the vehicle, it’s not difficult to go through the correct motions during corners. If FSD gets it exactly right, you won’t disengage. If it makes a quick correction mid turn and you disengage, no harm done and likely for the best. This happens to me all the time, but it’s nearly always because FSD was not turning correctly.