New owner and new FSD Beta user guide, tips, and wisdom

I got FSDb for the first time yesterday. After a drive and watching it like a hawk, I learned a few things that caused me to search for more information on FSDb, but I did not find any comprehensive lists or videos in one place, so I will start one. This post includes the little I know and questions. Please chime in and share whatever you can, as well as correct or add to anything I write below. Since there is a new wave of FSDb users, this can be helpful to them and keep the roads safer. For the experienced, items here may cause eyerolls and"no duh" reactions, but please keep in mind that this is for people new to Tesla and new to FSDb. Thanks.

--Parking lots are generally not supported (although I have seen videos where FSDb is operating in parking lots)
--The gray wheel on the upper left corner indicates FSD availability
--Down double tap right stalk to engage FSD and single tap talk up to disengage
--Accelerator can be used to get the car to go if there is slight phantom braking
--When red steering wheel appears, immediately disengage to avoid a strike (is this true?)
--If overtake steering wheel, auto-cruise remains on
--Try different drive profiles (chill, average, assertive) to see how the car behaves
--Scroll wheels can be used in lieu of torque on the steering wheel
--A slight press on the accelerator can get the car to move at an intersection
--"Minimal lane changes for current drive" can be useful if you want more lane control, but resets after the drive
--Use waypoints to change route--for example, a large mall may have different entrance, you might want a specific entrance
--You can drag the screen to the right to get full visualization
--You can tap the turn signal to get the car to change lanes (although it might go right back on its own)
--Check for the number of car-initiated disengagements (strikes) under the FSDb control menu
--Strikes resets after the next software update (although I read it resets "in about two weeks", not sure which is true)
--Use profiles to quickly switch between FSDb and Navigate on Autopilot

Questions:
--What are all the icons associated with AP and FSDb and what do they mean?
--What are the causes of a red steering wheel?
--I see a gray leading line when FSDb is not engaged and blue when FSDb is engaged. What does the gray line mean?
--Will the car change lanes across double white lines when turn signal is pressed (e.g., getting out of HOV)
--The car seems to like to hug the curb even though there is more room on the left side. Is there a way to change this behavior?
--Can FSDb be toggled on and off at will without the implicating of losing beta? I read that strikes using Navigate on Autopilot do not count toward the 5.

 

[Tam]

--When red steering wheel appears, immediately disengage to avoid a strike (is this true?)

If it's a computer crash, then it's not a strike.
If the computer does not crash because it escalates the alert to a red steering wheel icon, then it's a strike.

Once you got it, it's too late. It's either a crash or a strike. There's no way to avert either of those once you see the icon.

--What are all the icons associated with AP and FSDb and what do they mean?

It might be helpful if you can show a picture of the icons in question.

--What are the causes of a red steering wheel?

1) Computer crash. Any computer can crash but they might have a built-in redundancy system so users might not notice. There's no redundancy system in Tesla so when it crashes, you can see that right away.

2) Glares. Sunrise/sunsets give me lots of a red steering wheel icon without notice.

3) A strike warning for inattentive driving.

--I see a gray leading line when FSDb is not engaged and blue when FSDb is engaged. What does the gray line mean?

Blue=active. Gray=not active.

--Will the car change lanes across double white lines when turn signal is pressed (e.g., getting out of HOV)

Auto Lane Change used to cross a solid line but not anymore since mid-2018 in my experience.

--The car seems to like to hug the curb even though there is more room on the left side. Is there a way to change this behavior?

I don't think so, unless you can join Tesla to fix it yourself.

--Can FSDb be toggled on and off at will without the implicating of losing beta? I read that strikes using Navigate on Autopilot do not count toward the 5.

I haven't experimented on this but some people think it doesn't matter what you want to toggle on or off: If you are not in manual driving, the system will rack up strikes on you.

 

[Yelobird]

Red steering wheel is wearing that the vision system believes you are not paying attention to the road, have wandering eyes, or that your hands are not on the steering wheel. Not a computer crash??

 

[KenC]

Since I had EAP, most of the above was the same; but I noticed the car wanted to drive my 1/4mile dirt road at up to 25mph, when I generally drive it between 10 and 15mph!

There were several dings while on the dirt road, and I'm not sure what they were, plants that were too close? I'll pay more attention today. Okay, I watched the video of the car driving down my dirt road when it was dinging, and I think it was related to me not paying enough attention.

Whenever I tried to take a photo of my car driving, it told me to pay attention!

A few years ago, I mapped, using OpenStreetMap, the hospital parking lots, where I'd take my mom, and used Smart Sentry to get the car to come to the front entrance, does the FSDb use OSM?

I have a 10hr drive coming up tomorrow, mostly backroads, so I'll get a chance to thoroughly test out the FSDb:

Yes, last weekend of skiing!

 

[snovvman]

Once you got it, it's too late. It's either a crash or a strike. There's no way to avert either of those once you see the icon.

I guess it's a good thing that the reset period now is around two weeks.

2) Glares. Sunrise/sunsets give me lots of a red steering wheel icon without notice.

In this case, I suppose there is nothing to do to mitigate the strike? I would seem like FSDb should detect glares as something outside of your control and give you an opportunity to take over rather than an automatic strike.

Blue=active. Gray=not active.

Does gray indicate anything other than inactive (e.g., FSDb is available but not active)?

Thanks!

 

[Tam]

In this case, I suppose there is nothing to do to mitigate the strike? I would seem like FSDb should detect glares as something outside of your control and give you an opportunity to take over rather than an automatic strike.

Computer crash due to the sunrise/sunset driving is not a strike. You can have unlimited red steering icons for these scenarios because it's a software /hardware problem and not an inattentive issue.

Does gray indicate anything other than inactive (e.g., FSDb is available but not active)?

Sounds reasonable to me.

 

[snovvman]

Computer crash due to the sunrise/sunset driving is not a strike. You can have unlimited red steering icons for these scenarios because it's a software /hardware problem and not an inattentive issue.

I didn't realize that a red steering icon does not always mean that it's a strike.

 

[Supcom]

Auto Lane Change used to cross a solid line but not anymore since mid-2018 in my experience.

FSDb will definitely cross a single solid white line, which is legal. It does not cross double lines (white or yellow) except for extenuating circumstances like going around a stopped vehicle, taking a curve a bit too fast or, as I experienced today for the first time, avoiding debris in your lane (road kill in my case while doing 60 mph).

 

[electrikcuban]

I'm also a new FSDb user, and have noticed that coming out of my subdivision, if there is any debris on the side of the road, the car will stop completely for a few seconds and then proceed with the route.
It's also very cool to see it safely give extra space to bikes/pedestrians on the side of the road. Also how it moves away from big trucks and busses

 

[Ali-Tesly]

That’s awesome. I have a Model 3 RWD and I have not yet bought that feature good to hear more about it.

 

[noobla3]

New subscriber to FSD Beta. Subscribed on 2023.12.9 and received the update for 12.10 (11.3.6) about 8 hours later. (Not new owner, for clarification).

Few observations and questions in Chill mode both in FSD and car settings.

1. Not looking far enough ahead for speed moderation. I noticed the car will aggressively follow and reach max speed in all traffic conditions. I feel uncomfortable when the car is aggressively accelerating off a stop to end up aggressively stopping while clearly th camera can see there is stopped traffic ahead. I would normally creep up to a stop in those conditions. This happens off a stop and go, and also while cruising and coming to a stop.
2. Accelerating INTO turns from stop or slow start speed. The car tends to aggressively make right turns out of a stop to reach the max speed, and does it in the midst of the turn. Which is not how human (or at least I) would execute the turn. I almost feel like a bit more and I would fish tail. Exaggerating to illustrate my point.
3. Passive start out of Stop signs. On the flip side, coming out of Stop signs sometimes the car is very passive and hesitates unnecessarily. I need to push GO to avoid ticking off other drivers.
4. Not following lane markings. I have encountered several instances of the car following grooves on the road with clear lane markings. Came within 3-4 feet to th car in the next lane until I had to pull the steering back.
5. Unnecessary lane changes on highway. FSD likes to change lanes randomly not to pass slow cars, or to prepare for route changes. I end up changing over and changing back shortly after. No other cars around.
6. Overreaction to pedestrian near roadway. I often come nearly to a full stop while people are near the road, sidewalk, getting into their cars, etc, when there's clearly enough space or doesn't obstruct route path. Safety first I suppose. Being ready in case people unexpectedly goes into roadway.

Is this the current state of things? It is there any configurations I can improve on?

Thanks.

 

[JB47394]

Is this the current state of things?

That's the prior wide release of FSDb and that's the way it works. Version 11.4.2 is improved in pretty much every area you mentioned. When I was driving 11.3.6, I considered it entirely an academic treatment of autonomy. It was obviously not ready for the big time, but it did some clever things. Now that I'm driving 11.4.2, there's enough competence there for me to imagine what riding in a self-driving car would be like.

 

[electrikcuban]

Hopefully we'll get 11.4.2 on the 2023.12 branch soon. I'm hoping to use it on our trip from FL to WI in July

 

[noobla3]

When will 11.4.2 go wide? Hope I can experience it in my current subscription month.

 

[JB47394]

When will 11.4.2 go wide? Hope I can experience it in my current subscription month.

Even if it goes wide, it'll only do so for people who own FSD. Owners have priority for FSD updates, and everyone else has priority for infotainment updates. Tesla is trying to get the two groups onto a single set of software, but they aren't there yet.

If you want to follow deployment numbers, check out the TeslaFi site.

TeslaFi.com Firmware Tracker

 

[Supcom]

When will 11.4.2 go wide? Hope I can experience it in my current subscription month.

The standard answer is, "in two weeks." But that's two Elon weeks, which might translate to two months of real time. But the truth is, nobody can give you a meaningful schedule for anything FSD related.