I just drove 800 (highway) miles on FSD v11.4.9 and it was really, really good.

[RNHurt]

I haven't spent much time on recent FSD builds in quite a while so I was quite surprised with some of the new functionality. The first thing was that I noticed it moved over for upcoming on-ramps. it always bothered me that my MX would stay in the rightmost lane even when cars were trying to merge onto the expressway; now that is no longer a concern. Another nice feature was that it would move out of the "passing" lane whenever someone came up behind me. That is definitely a "new" feature for me and I really enjoyed it.

As for the downsides, I didn't have any significant false braking moments but it did have some slight bits of jerkiness in some places. I might attribute to tree shadows on the road or possibly wet spots, but it was only noticeable because I was looking for it. It was also pretty insistent to move into the faster lane whenever possible, even when my exit was coming up. Maybe that's just me but I like to stay in the right-hand lane for a couple of miles before the exit, especially if there is a lot of traffic.

Overall, it was a great trip. FSD really helped me complete the trip and I'm grateful to have it. I think this is the first time that I've felt (mostly) comfortable letting the car drive and not worrying too much about every little thing. It even drove most of the way through the West Virginia Parkway with lots of traffic (including lots of tractor trailers) without too much trouble.

I can't wait until v12 hits and I can use FSD around town.

 

[Twiglett]

it can do that sometimes, then the following day it figuratively puts the laundry in the microwave

 

[DoctorWTF]

My primary near-term (that is, before Tesla gets regulatory approval for level 3+ autonomy) interest in FSD was for complex highway setups where it may not be clear which lane you should be in.

 

[RNHurt]

My primary near-term (that is, before Tesla gets regulatory approval for level 3+ autonomy) interest in FSD was for complex highway setups where it may not be clear which lane you should be in.

I'm not sure it's quite there yet. It did pretty well most of the time but there were some times where I would have made a different choice. The problem areas (in my drive) were when it needed to be in a specific lane (ie upcoming off-ramp) and it didn't move over into the right-hand lane. It could see that there were 3 large trucks ahead and but didn't know that we would not have time to get ahead of them before needing to exit the expressway. Instead, it wanted to pass those 3 large trucks because they were going slow.

Maybe I'm being too conservative in my driving though.

 

[RTPEV]

My primary near-term (that is, before Tesla gets regulatory approval for level 3+ autonomy) interest in FSD was for complex highway setups where it may not be clear which lane you should be in.

I'm not sure it's quite there yet. It did pretty well most of the time but there were some times where I would have made a different choice.

It may not be perfect, but it's at least another set of "eyes" on the road. I do use it in this fashion quite often, with good results. That said, I'm backing it up (or is it backing me up?) with my own set of eyes and understanding of what lanes it should be in in those situations, but it's nice to have it there to anticipate whether the lane you are in is an exit only (before you can confirm that with your own eyes) or whether there are two or three lanes that take the exit you want (and make sure you are in one of them).

 

[zoros]

RNhurt - based on your experience using FSD in anger so to speak - can you see a time in the next 10+ yrs when driverless cars will be used where the occupant is genuinely a passenger only (IE: no steering wheel etc)?

 

[RNHurt]

RNhurt - based on your experience using FSD in anger so to speak - can you see a time in the next 10+ yrs when driverless cars will be used where the occupant is genuinely a passenger only (IE: no steering wheel etc)?

I'm not sure we'll ever get to 100% L5 FSD. Not necessarily because of the technology but probably because of human nature. I'm not sure humans will ever trust the computer, even if/after it proves itself. When the first major accident / injury / death that occurs because of FSD the media will explode with shocking, horrible, news about the dangers of robot cars. That will probably reset the clock to another 10+ years before we can try it again.

Honestly, after all the FSD hype that's been going on lately I've been paying more attention to human drivers on the roads and I can't say that I'm impressed. Sure, most people are fine but there are some drivers that really shouldn't be behind the wheel. I would much rather a computer take over for that person.

Interesting thought; what if we can have it both ways? If you're a (proven) good driver you can drive your car manually. However, after a number of traffic violations (speeding, reckless driving, etc.) they take your steering wheel away from you for 6 months and you have to let the computer drive. Actually, it might go so far as to teach you how to drive better.

 

[DoctorWTF]

Interesting thought; what if we can have it both ways? If you're a (proven) good driver you can drive your car manually. However, after a number of traffic violations (speeding, reckless driving, etc.) they take your steering wheel away from you for 6 months and you have to let the computer drive. Actually, it might go so far as to teach you how to drive better.

And then there are all the elderly/disabled individuals who simply aren't capable of driving manually, for whom self-driving cars would represent a major quality of life improvement. Once they start to reap the benefits, it'll be hard to speak out against this technology without looking like an insensitive clod.