Magic Isolation Button

[BuggDDS]

Ok hear me out. A button where your car stays the maximum distance from cars in front and behind you on the highway. You set a range of speed limits to stay within and your car adjusts your position in the traffic flow...

 

[BHouse]

I wish I could tell my car to stay 3 seconds behind the car in front instead of car lengths. It knows how far the car ahead of me is and it knows how fast Im going. I feel like that would be easy to do.

 

[Super Slim]

I agree to the 3 seconds as the faster you going , the longer the distance between cars!

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I wish I could tell my car to stay 3 seconds behind the car in front instead of car lengths. It knows how far the car ahead of me is and it knows how fast Im going. I feel like that would be easy to do.

Adjust the Following Distance

To adjust the following distance you want to maintain between Model 3 and a vehicle traveling ahead of you, press the steering wheel's right scroll button to the left or right to choose a setting from 1 (the closest following distance) to 7 (the longest following distance). Each setting corresponds to a time-based distance that represents how long it takes for Model 3, from its current location, to reach the location of the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead of you.

 

[BHouse]

Wow, thanks! I just got my first Tesla on Friday and had no idea

 

[whataboutbob]

Aka the social distancing button.

 

[LACALawyer]

1 doesn't follow closely enough for me.

 

[LACALawyer]

If you set your car to 3, stay the HELL out of the left lanes.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

It would be nice if they were programming AP for defensive driving.

 

[UncertainTimes]

If you set your car to 3, stay the HELL out of the left lanes.

But I dont have FSD so I can’t change lanes.

 

[megant113]

I want the following distance to automatically adjust for the type of vehicle in front of me, 7 for semis, 1 for anyone else.

 

[KenC]

I wish I could tell my car to stay 3 seconds behind the car in front instead of car lengths. It knows how far the car ahead of me is and it knows how fast Im going. I feel like that would be easy to do.

I'm pretty sure it already does that. The increments are ½ second, so to get a 3 second gap, you set the car to "6".

 

[run-the-joules]

I'm pretty sure it already does that. The increments are ½ second, so to get a 3 second gap, you set the car to "6".

no, the gap for each number is variable based on speed.

 

[run-the-joules]

If you set your car to 3, stay the HELL out of the left lanes.

I set it to 4 usually and if the people behind me don’t like it, they can suck it.

left lane is for passing (or HOV), and if I’m there I’m going to follow at a safe distance, just like every other lane. Tailgate me and I’m gonna change it to 7.

 

[TraumaDoc]

no, the gap for each number is variable based on speed.

Just going to point out that you can both be right - If the distance and speed vary proportionally, then the time will remain constant....

 

[JulienW]

In order to "set the distance from cars behind you" would require some type of magic.

 

[Gasaraki]

I wish I could tell my car to stay 3 seconds behind the car in front instead of car lengths. It knows how far the car ahead of me is and it knows how fast Im going. I feel like that would be easy to do.

3 is not three car lengths. It's 3 seconds.

That's why if you have it set to 1 on the highway, it doesn't follow the car in front of you only 1 car length away...

 

[DopeGhoti]

If you set your car to 3, stay the HELL out of the left lanes.

Why? Are you only allowed to use the passing / HOV lane if you're following at a certain distance? I think not. The faster I go, the more space I want between myself and anything in front of me. I will concede that I rarely follow the "four second" rule, but I acutally tend to keep my car at a distance setting of 7 as it's comfortable for me and, yes, allows for room for people who need to be in the same lane as I to merge in ahead of me. I also keep right except when passing or when availing myself of the HOV lane.

If I am toodling along at 72 MPH behind another vehicle toodling along at 72MPH, anyone who cares more than I do about how much room I have ahead of me isn't thinking things through properly. And if folks to direct their cars into the room ahead of me, I don't mind slowing down to crate a new safety distance. "Better late than never" is never more true than in a two-ton metal box on a narrow strip of molded stone moving faster than humans were designed to handle.

 

[KenC]

no, the gap for each number is variable based on speed.

Nothing you just wrote contradicts what I wrote. The gaps are time-based. The faster you drive the bigger the gap. That’s what time-based means. The gaps are based upon ½ second increments. A “1” is ½ a second. A “3” is 1.5secs. A “7” is 3.5secs. A 3.5sec gap is longer on the highway than it is on a city street.

 

[run-the-joules]

Nothing you just wrote contradicts what I wrote. The gaps are time-based. The faster you drive the bigger the gap. That’s what time-based means. The gaps are based upon ½ second increments. A “1” is ½ a second. A “3” is 1.5secs. A “7” is 3.5secs. A 3.5sec gap is longer on the highway than it is on a city street.

I understand that but in my experience the gap doesn't correlate with nice intervals like that, it's something else. That said, it's changed a number of times over the year so it may in fact be currently time-based.