davewill
Active Member
That wasn't my purpose. My purpose was to point out that a relatively short delay in gratification would bring more choices to the table. It's up to the individual whether that interests them.
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AZ Desert Driver
Rare combination
uhhh. notice I said "if you had $10 mill....." not that I do. But RogerScott said it very right - having thumb-rules let me get going toward that lofty goal. So, I endorse Thumbs entirely, and think they are well worth adopting.
Electricfan
Active Member
I'd say the majority think AP as it is is wonderful! But there's a minority who expected more, and I like to voice that to people thinking of buying, so they at least consider that AP might not be "perfect" before they buy. How "imperfect" it is I guess is in the eye of the beholder. But I don't think a single AP user can say the car has NEVER needed to be stopped before it caused an accident. Or an accident occurred, for those sensitive to the implication AP might cause and accident.
My car has:
crossed lanes on top of other cars that were there
ping-ponged back and forth between the lane markings
drifted onto the shoulder of the highway and happily, on AP, driven down the shoulder of the highway
not braked in time to avoid re-ending a car in front of me
and lots more.
AP is not ready for prime time, in my opinion and I hope the OP reads this before buying. The Model S is my favorite car on the road. But not the AP part.
mikeash
Active Member
RogerHScott
Active Member
Driver Assistance feature. Assistance. Not "replacement". Is it safe to zone out and just let it do whatever it's going to do? No.
Does it do the right thing so much of the time that you only have to devote a fraction of your usual driving attentiveness to "supervising"
it? Yes. Is that awesome on a long, mind-numbing highway trip? Yes. Is that really kind of fun on lesser roads that it's not even really
intended for? You betcha. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. Do I wish they'd waited until it was much more "polished" before
making it available (assuming that's even possible without putting it out there for at least some people to try)? No.
I'm all for informing perspective buyer of limitations of the AP systems, and things it screws up on. Such as not always braking for a stopped car since the radar can't see a stopped car.
But, at the same time it's important to separate out AP into it's components. It's not fair to say TACC isn't worth it when TACC performs brilliantly. If you were to compare it to other cars you'd be hard pressed to find one that performed better. It performs WAY better than adaptive cruise control systems of yesterday. Sure you still need to be vigilant when people cut in, and when there is disabled car on the road. It's value to someone really depends on their use case. It's without question worth $2500 to me, and I would caution someone against wasting $500 by trying to be cheap (not getting it, but then realizing you made a mistake during the 30 day trial period). My commute is about the same as the OP, but TACC proves itself invaluable while on trips or simply going through Seattle where there is hellish traffic.
Lane-steering is very much a work in progress, and it that itself was $2500 I'd so no way. The truck lust alone has prevented me from using it as fully as I would like. Aside from that I haven't had too much issue with it. I don't think I'll be fully happy with it until my next Tesla with AP 2.0.
Summons/Parking assist I use every day. Would I spend any money on it? Nah. But, it works great for certain situations. I just use because I'm too lazy to bother hooking a tennis ball up in my garage.
The other thing that others might fine a bit silly was last year AP was fun because features were still being added. There was this great sense of adventure when getting a new update to see what changed. So in some ways AP was worth the $2500 just in this sense, and not even counting TACC (which my car had to begin with). This doesn't count when it comes to the OP because I think Tesla is done adding anything to it till the AP 2.0 hardware. So more than anything if autopilot is extremely important to him he should wait for the Model 3. It doesn't look like it is so I think the OP could go either way and he'd be happy.
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I'd confirm its squirrelly and needs more tweaking. It will veer, it will stop or rapidly slow down sometimes for no apparent reason, it *seems* sometimes that if I hadn't taken over it will hit a car or center divider but I'm always on alert with it. I don't find it relaxing but I do find it fun.
AZ Desert Driver
Rare combination
wow, what a range of opinions. I used to have a motorcycle with "Cruise Control" that was a simple throttle clamp. I found it useful - relieving wrist cramps. A substitute for being a driver? ah, that would be No. I view AP as an assistant, something that will make it safer for me to drive when I have a kink in my neck. Safer when my mind is not fully focused on the driving task. ANY thing is an improvement over what I have now. As I age and get more feeble, little assistance may be life saving.
I do not yet own a Tesla, but I have a MS60 configured, and a M3 reserved. I'll be pulling the trigger soon. My expectations of AP - I'd like to believe in magic, but as an engineer, I recognize the reality.
My question was - and still is - when will the AP2 hardware leave the factory (probably in Stealth Mode). How long should I postpone picking up my MS? Sept? Christmas? Valentine Day?
I am persuaded by this discussion that I should jump now and upgrade with a new car down the road in a year or so.
I do not yet own a Tesla, but I have a MS60 configured, and a M3 reserved. I'll be pulling the trigger soon. My expectations of AP - I'd like to believe in magic, but as an engineer, I recognize the reality.
My question was - and still is - when will the AP2 hardware leave the factory (probably in Stealth Mode). How long should I postpone picking up my MS? Sept? Christmas? Valentine Day?
I am persuaded by this discussion that I should jump now and upgrade with a new car down the road in a year or so.
Well AP 2 hardware may not be so far on the S.. Elon said there was going to be an event at the end of the year regarding AP "we are going to do the obvious thing". I can't imagine him present all these things that a $35k car can do while leaving out the S?
That assumes of course that there is AP 20. Maybe the current hardware is sufficient to move from beta to stable? Reading all the posts here it seems that no it is not possible but I do not know the details as to why.
That assumes of course that there is AP 20. Maybe the current hardware is sufficient to move from beta to stable? Reading all the posts here it seems that no it is not possible but I do not know the details as to why.
Don't performance enthusiast prefer RWD? I wish I could drive both cars unfortunately the rwd was not avail for test drive..
nexsuperne101
Closed
RWD in the old days of ICE was the preferred choice, as there were less parasitic losses than you get with a 4wd drivetrain. Its nice to go sideways in a RWD, but powersliding a 4wd is so much better
This whole dual motor EV thing has really changed the game. Nowhere else can you have 2 propulsion units and get better efficiency and performance.
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
We used to drive 4WD for better winter traction ... then we moved to FWD with Winter Tyres, which was fine ... but for me AWD and Winter Tyres would be the best solution. We only get occasional-winters here, although icy, unsalted, country roads are reasonably common in winter - Winter tyre usage is not common here, but personally anything that helps / increases safety is high on my Wants-List.
STbreaker
Member
Traditionally, RWD is preferred by enthusiasts because AWD is known to result in understeer. The extra traction makes it harder for the rear of the car to rotate. Of course the extra parts also add weight.
Does any of that stuff matter if you're not on a track? I don't think it does. If anything, you want the extra grip for accelerating that AWD provides. I live in a place where winter happens so I'll take any advantage I can get.
Drucifer
Active Member
Often the way you wind up with such assets is you inherit them or have a trust fund.
It's not that the current hardware can't do a better (perfect?) job for the things the car does now - it's that the car is already doing most of the things it can see well enough to do.
Without additional sensors, it will never be able to decide when it can go at a stop sign, or whether it is completely safe to make a lane change.
The car needs to be able to see to the front sides and to the rear at long distances as a minimum - and it can't today (for whatever reason, the backup camera is not physically linked to the AP module.)
RogerHScott
Active Member
I'm assuming there was an implied smiley with that. If not, I ask all of the Tesla owners on this forum who have trust funds to raise
their hands. C'mon, all of you! Anyone?
Drucifer
Active Member
Smiley, or a side of snark with that. Just saying that not everyone had to come from humble beginnings and build their own success. Some of us had to work our way there and some of us would be there whether we worked hard or not at all.
I think it is a mistake to assume that there are not people who would be here in any event, and income from work, or use of "rules of thumb" are not a factor.
nexsuperne101
Closed
Slightly off on a tangent, but my Wife has finally accepted that I am getting the Model 3 for definite (Model S maybe), but wants to know what I am getting after that. I replied nothing, as it ticked all the boxes and some (a first for me).
She has been with me 12 years, and I have had 9 cars in that time (Before we met I used to get through about 6 a year as got bored easily).
Anyway, she has finally worked out that after the S or the 3 has had its time my next "car" will be the flying version (look on youtube).
There is a giant electric powered quadcopter big enough for 4 adults, with a touch screen display in the middle that you just click on where you want to go. It then takes off, flies at 400 feet (under the 1000 ft limit for commercial aircraft), in a straight line avoiding airspace limitations. No traffic. Lands on the road. How quick will that be!
She may know me after all!
She has been with me 12 years, and I have had 9 cars in that time (Before we met I used to get through about 6 a year as got bored easily).
Anyway, she has finally worked out that after the S or the 3 has had its time my next "car" will be the flying version (look on youtube).
There is a giant electric powered quadcopter big enough for 4 adults, with a touch screen display in the middle that you just click on where you want to go. It then takes off, flies at 400 feet (under the 1000 ft limit for commercial aircraft), in a straight line avoiding airspace limitations. No traffic. Lands on the road. How quick will that be!
She may know me after all!
