Motor Trend buries dramatic "Tesla wins" results in new self steering comparison

[calisnow]

The anti-Tesla media bias continues. Motor Trend published a very detailed comparison of Autopilot vs 2016 MBZ Drive Pilot vs Hyundai vs Cadillac. It's actually a very detailed and interesting piece - I recommend the read.

However the most dramatic test result is their comparison of the cars' steering accuracy on a winding two lane road with poor lane markings, shadows, etc. The results humiliate Mercedes - but they are published at the very end of a very long piece with no accompanying comment.

But of course MBZ advertises, don't they? So does Cadillac - which was included in the comparison drive for no other reason than some future version will have GM's Super Cruise - even though this one doesn't. Can't piss of GM too much can we?

The photo is a graph of the number of times testers had to touch the steering wheel when the cars "began to cross the lane markings, or we became nervous."

The fact that Tesla creamed the other cars on the most demanding section of the entire test is never mentioned once in words in the entire article - it's left for careful readers to discover at the very end, literally the last graph in the last comparison.

Testing (Semi) Autonomous Cars With Tesla, Cadillac, Hyundai, and Mercedes - Motor Trend

 

[Chopr147]

While it's true Motor Trend probably does not want to piss off their advertisers, at least it appears to be a legit test with accurate results. IDK if I would lump MT in with the media bias. They just had the Model 3 on the front cover and did a complete report on Tesla and the future of EV's. With plenty of photos from the Gigafactory. I have a Lexus with the lane assist. It is basically useless
Nowhere near the Tesla AP but also not advertised as such

 

[ecarfan]

But of course MBZ advertises, don't they? So does Cadillac - which was included in the comparison drive for no other reason than some future version will have GM's Super Cruise - even though this one doesn't. Can't piss of GM too much can we?

I think you nailed it. Right on.

 

[ggnykk]

Cool, so Tesla Autopilot is the best system out there. I wonder if the new Mercedes E class system is better than the S Class system being tested in the magazine.

 

[Todd Burch]

Cool, so Tesla Autopilot is the best system out there. I wonder if the new Mercedes E class system is better than the S Class system being tested in the magazine.

The new 2017 E class system was tested by a Norwegian car magazine. It performed horribly compared to the Tesla. Search for the "2017 E-class Still Inferior to Autopilot" thread...a screenshot from the article is posted in there.

 

[Todd Burch]

I don't see an anti-Tesla bias here. I actually think the article gushes quite a bit over the S--if you read a bit between the lines.

I love how this test was actually pretty scientific--and it shows a clear winner.

 

[ecarfan]

I read the MT article. To be fair, near the beginning of the article the author describes just how well the Tesla Autosteer works, and he's pretty clear about how impressed he is, quote:

"At first the flakes streaked horizontally, a stutter of headlight shooting stars, the landed ones gradually windswept into a pile along the road’s sagebrush edge. I could still see the left lane markings, but as the ink night clouded to a white smear, it struck me. I’m doing 70 mph against a hard, quartering wind into snow flurries, the steering wheel is making robotic corrections in front of me, and I think this car is driving better than I could right now"

 

[xav-]

What do you guys expect? That motortrend is going to upset big advertisers like GM and Mercedes?

This is why nobody ever loses. Watch Camaro vs Mustang vs Challenger.. Challenger comes last but still is awesome. The tracks are of course cherry picked to favor straight lines over curves.

Of course you watch any of those 3 cars on Top Gear UK everybody falls asleep by the time the stig finishes the lap.

Thankfully we have guys like Consumer Reports to make up for that. No, no I was just kidding.

 

[jcaspar]

MotorTrend always seems to be very anti-American. I think this is just one more example. I loved when they compared the Mustang GT to the BMW M3. GT had faster 1/4 mile, stopped faster and pulled more G's on the skidpad than the 26,000$ more expensive M3. Award went to the M3...

 

[Adm]

Sorry, but Motortrend is VERY positive from start to finish in this article about Autopilot. I know Tesla is under attack often, but let's not get paranoid!

 

[VanillaSwirl]

Sorry, but Motortrend is VERY positive from start to finish in this article about Autopilot. I know Tesla is under attack often, but let's not get paranoid!

Kind of what I was thinking!!!!

 

[Todd Burch]

Yeah, let's not forget that when the Model S came out it was Motor Trend who awarded the Model S with Car of the Year--unanimously.

 

[Todd Burch]

The bigger question is this: if the Tesla performed so much better (an order of magnitude better, in fact!) than the next-best car with a system marked as Beta, and the others did so much worse with a system NOT marked as beta, where is the public and journalistic outcry about the dangers of those systems?

Are they not MORE dangerous than autopilot?

If there haven't been deaths on the other systems, it's probably because they perform so much worse that people use them far less frequently and in much less challenging situations.

 

[cronosx]

The bigger question is this: if the Tesla performed so much better (an order of magnitude better, in fact!) than the next-best car with a system marked as Beta, and the others did so much worse with a system NOT marked as beta, where is the public and journalistic outcry about the dangers of those systems?

Are they not MORE dangerous than autopilot?

If there haven't been deaths on the other systems, it's probably because they perform so much worse that people use them far less frequently and in much less challenging situations.

That's the point.
Since they are so unreliable you aren't lulled in a false sense of auto-driving experience, so they don't have this kind of problem.
Of course they have the problem that they are dumb..

 

[whitex]

If there haven't been deaths on the other systems, it's probably because they perform so much worse that people use them far less frequently and in much less challenging situations.

I think you hit the nail on the head here. The fact that Tesla's AP works so well is its biggest danger - it lures the unsuspecting user into a false sense of security. Even users fully aware of the limitation (e.g. unable to stop for some already stopped objects) like myself find it hard to keep the brain from disengaging after hours of seemingly flawless AP operation. AP need at least the ability to detect all stopped objects and truck trailers, which unfortunately requires better or more sensors, which unfortunately means AP 2.0 or later, which means current AP doesn't get any of these benefits.

 

[cronosx]

I think you hit the nail on the head here. The fact that Tesla's AP works so well is its biggest danger - it lures the unsuspecting user into a false sense of security. Even users fully aware of the limitation (e.g. unable to stop for some already stopped objects) like myself find it hard to keep the brain from disengaging after hours of seemingly flawless AP operation. AP need at least the ability to detect all stopped objects and truck trailers, which unfortunately requires better or more sensors, which unfortunately means AP 2.0 or later, which means current AP doesn't get any of these benefits.

the problem with the truck or stopped objects lies in the software, since for now they aren't sure of what it is, it's better not to act. i greatly suspect than a new software update can solve this problem almost completely.
the new HW is needed for prevent and hard-breaking, when there is low visibility or similar, but it's probably not the case of the truck

 

[siai47]

I recently drove a new "Volt" with GM's basic lane keeping assist. If you ever used it, it was an annoyance at best, somewhat disconcerting at worst. It drives like a bumper car going from the shoulder to the centerline (if it sees either at all). Would get you a DUI if police were watching. Worst of all, if you forget to use your turn signal to change lanes, it tries to nudge you back into the lane. Easy to overpower, easy to turn off, but the technology used is not even "beta" capable. I know it isn't anything like the Tesla system, but something that is useless is a waste of money and resources shouldn't be put on the market. Regulators, lawmakers, lawyers, the press and concerned citizens are all luddites when it comes to something new and innovative but it takes time and common sense to perfect the technology that will lead to the goal of autonomous driving vehicles. I just hope we don't revert to something like the light aircraft industry where mainstream powerplant development stopped in the 1920's. Every time something new was tried, it was blamed for whatever happened during an accident. Even modern glass cockpit composite aircraft are still pulled along by inefficient air cooled piston engines sparked by magnetos, and fueled by leaded gasoline controlled by (at best) archaic fuel injection systems.

 

[LetsGoFast]

Sorry, but Motortrend is VERY positive from start to finish in this article about Autopilot. I know Tesla is under attack often, but let's not get paranoid!

Yeah, I thought this was an extremely pro-Tesla article throughout.

 

[Az_Rael]

I recently drove a new "Volt" with GM's basic lane keeping assist. If you ever used it, it was an annoyance at best, somewhat disconcerting at worst. It drives like a bumper car going from the shoulder to the centerline (if it sees either at all). Would get you a DUI if police were watching. Worst of all, if you forget to use your turn signal to change lanes, it tries to nudge you back into the lane. Easy to overpower, easy to turn off, but the technology used is not even "beta" capable. I know it isn't anything like the Tesla system, but something that is useless is a waste of money and resources shouldn't be put on the market.

I think you were misunderstanding the purpose of lane keep assist. It is not meant to drive the car in the lane, only stop you from unintentionally drifting out of your lane.

I recently rode in a Suburban with lane keep assist and a crew of coworkers for a work trip. The guy driving was a terrible distracted driver. He kept trying to answer emails and texts on his phone while he was driving the rest of us! The lane keep assist kept returning him to his lane every few minutes since steering the car was the last thing on his mind. I ended up being glad to have even that basic safety system on the trip. (The next time we had to do that trip, I rented my own car and drove separate. Never again, ugh)

 

[thegruf]

I read the charts at the end as Tesla's system actually works and is usable, the other are mostly pointless as you may as well drive it yourself.

Guess what - that matches my experience too.

Just recently gave a lift to a guy who has a brand new S Class coupe.
He was incredulous at how effective the Tesla AP was compared to his.
Basically he said he could only use it on a well marked motorway (highway) but didn't bother anywhere else.