Obvious features/functions that weren't obvious to you

[ceekz]

Did you know, that if you try to drive the car with the mirrors folded, they'll pivot out on their own?

I think they unfold at around 30 mph. My MINI unfolded at 25, which made more sense when driving through my neighborhood.

I wish I had a setting to select autofold when my garage door opens.

 

[Iowa2]

It's dumb that it doesn't say it can't/won't change lanes. I just sit there with the turn signal on for miles, waiting for it to decide it's OK to do.

It does "say" it won't change lanes but the lane indicator will not turn to a dashed line if it can't change/won't change lanes. It will only attempt a lane change when the lane indicator shows as a dashed line. And in the latest software it will show a red lane indicator if there are any dangerous reason to not attempt a lane change such as a vehicle in the area.

 

[tomharrisonjr]

Odd - that's been my experience too - even on limited access roads (speed limit 45 and limited entrances/exits), it still just sits there with the turn signal on.

The manual says nothing about this, only that you have to be going over 30mph.

I thought you could change lanes as long as AP recognizes one to the left or right (based on the lines, presumably).

 

[lstroyan]

Not exactly a hidden feature, but I'm one of those people that has problems with the phone connecting to the car for unlock and I found that if I press the power button on my phone such that the screen is on as I'm walking up, it's almost a hundred percent reliable. I don't even have to unlock it, just turn it on to the lock screen.

Also, regarding the pressure needed on the steering wheel... this issue I have is that it's not hard if you tend to rest your hands on the top of the steering wheel, but I tend to rest mine on the bottom. That makes the torque needed to left in vehicle no I'm there, awkward. The (very first world! ) problem I have is that the torque that is required makes it hard to relax when my hands is free floating (requires regular effort /response) , but I found that if I put the steering wheel as far toward me as it goes (I'm short) , and bend and rest my left leg up against the driver's door, then I can rest my left hand on my leg, and just holding the steering wheel from that more stationary point will be enough resistance to let it know I'm there. I still rest my right hand on the wheel, but it floats with the wheel and takes over when needed, it just doesn't need to periodically pull on the wheel.

 

[JenkinsEar]

Pushing left/right on the left steering wheel dial goes back/forward radio stations or songs (except no back for streaming).

When tapping outside edge buttons on the dashpad I'll sometimes use my thumb so I can have my fingers to hold the back of the screen for support.

I renamed Trip 2 as "Lifetime" so I can keep track of my overall efficiency.

I also renamed mine "Lifetime"! There ought to be an optional additional "Lifetime" line on the Trip screen, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[JVI100D]

Pushing left/right on the left steering wheel dial goes back/forward radio stations or songs (except no back for streaming).

While streaming, if you press and hold the back button, it will jump to your other saved stations, FM or streaming. So you can surf your favorites, but backwards.

 

[JenkinsEar]

Is there a quick 1 tap to get back to the map? I am often in my EQ settings and it’s 3 or so taps to get back to the map.

Can't you hit the red arrow icon on the top row? May take a random tap to make that row show. That's V8 - V9 will have the map up all the time.

 

[c1ph3rd]

I think they unfold at around 30 mph. My MINI unfolded at 25, which made more sense when driving through my neighborhood.

I wish I had a setting to select autofold when my garage door opens.

And auto-Unfold when my garage door closes! I have tight garage doors.

 

[T.Antony]

Pushing left/right on the left steering wheel dial goes back/forward radio stations or songs (except no back for streaming).

When tapping outside edge buttons on the dashpad I'll sometimes use my thumb so I can have my fingers to hold the back of the screen for support.

I renamed Trip 2 as "Lifetime" so I can keep track of my overall efficiency.

Clicking it straight in pauses the song too.

 

[JenkinsEar]

Indeed, press "Skip" is EXACTLY what I do when the car commands inappropriate door open/close. But that relies on ME to notice when it "auto opened" my already open door.... which then closes it as I am backing out and looking in the side/rearview mirrors for crossing traffic as I back into my street. And yes I am grateful for the "boink" noise when a homelink command is sent, that is my final warning to pay attention if I don't expect to hear it.

Hence my wish for homelink logic to "verify" by using camera to verify door open/close status. Kind of like "blind spot" warning.....

Homelink doesn't have the capability to transmit door status, AFAIK. I like your idea of using the camera, but it would take some pretty good s/w to decipher the front camera. For instance, if I was inside the garage, facing a blank wall, the door was open, and I wanted to close it - would the s/w let me?

 

[Iowa2]

I thought you could change lanes as long as AP recognizes one to the left or right (based on the lines, presumably).

Please note my response #142. I do want to clarify that response slightly. The lane indicator does not change to dashed until you use the turn signal. But it will not turn to dashed line as I have stated earlier when all conditions are not met such as when obstacles (vehicles) are present or you are not on a limited access section of highway.

 

[JenkinsEar]

My Model 3 is at Tesla for due bill so I can't try out on my car but in our Model S when the driver leaves the car, the passenger just has to touch the MCU screen and music and fan/AC will come back on.

This works when the driver leaves with the fob? (Too lazy to go out and try it ...)

 

[pilotSteve]

Homelink doesn't have the capability to transmit door status, AFAIK. I like your idea of using the camera, but it would take some pretty good s/w to decipher the front camera. For instance, if I was inside the garage, facing a blank wall, the door was open, and I wanted to close it - would the s/w let me?

Not saying its trivial (neither is adjacent vehicle icons from camera/ultrasonic/radar fusion). But it the scheme of deep learning systems with those same sensors, it's much simpler. I wouldn't rank it very high on their dev priority list (rather have the media player bugs fixed!!!) BUT it would be another "wow" feature that no other car offers, and its a safety feature that saves damage/cost from a moment's inattention, much like a fender bender.

 

[mark80908]

Pushing left/right on the left steering wheel dial goes back/forward radio stations or songs (except no back for streaming).

When tapping outside edge buttons on the dashpad I'll sometimes use my thumb so I can have my fingers to hold the back of the screen for support.

I renamed Trip 2 as "Lifetime" so I can keep track of my overall efficiency.

The Denver service center reset both my trip counters twice telling me the car saves a lot of data for each one that bogs down the computer. IMO Either they are operating on superstition or some programmer should be fired. The Utah service center agreed that the trip counters do not need to be cleared. Hope Tesla will properly train the folks in Denver real soon!

 

[JenkinsEar]

I actually like and use the mirror tilts all the time. They're great for making sure I stay between the lines and not getting too close to a curb when reverse parking in spaces.

I agree. As an aside, however, if we had birds-eye view on cameras we could position ourselves between parking lines way easier than having to click around on mirror controls. Just sayin'.

 

[Twiglett]

It's dumb that it doesn't say it can't/won't change lanes. I just sit there with the turn signal on for miles, waiting for it to decide it's OK to do.

It tells you precisely what it can do on the display.
Lane change is available when you’re using autopilot and the display shows the lane markers for the lane you want to change into.
It’s in the manual on page 70

 

[SMAlset]

My Model 3 is at Tesla for due bill so I can't try out on my car but in our Model S when the driver leaves the car, the passenger just has to touch the MCU screen and music and fan/AC will come back on.

This works when the driver leaves with the fob? (Too lazy to go out and try it ...)

With our MS it does. I've been in the car many times when my husband is driving and leaves to run into a store while I wait in the car.

Now that I think of it though I also have my fob for the car on me... Guess I'll have to check it out later...

 

[BruceBrew]

I'm thinking this belongs in "Model S Software/Firmware wishlist", but I don't want to put these there if someone has already solved them:
1. sort my FM radio presets by frequency instead of the order they were added.
2. When using navigation, left dash area replaces power graph with the nav view. Occasionally, I don't need that nav on the dash, and would prefer to bring up the real-time power graph. Especially if there are no turns in the next few hours as I drive through the mountains.

Thoughts?

 

[mmccking]

And the password is for what?

Not exactly a hidden feature, but I'm one of those people that has problems with the phone connecting to the car for unlock and I found that if I press the power button on my phone such that the screen is on as I'm walking up, it's almost a hundred percent reliable. I don't even have to unlock it, just turn it on to the lock screen.

Also, regarding the pressure needed on the steering wheel... this issue I have is that it's not hard if you tend to rest your hands on the top of the steering wheel, but I tend to rest mine on the bottom. That makes the torque needed to left in vehicle no I'm there, awkward. The (very first world! ) problem I have is that the torque that is required makes it hard to relax when my hands is free floating (requires regular effort /response) , but I found that if I put the steering wheel as far toward me as it goes (I'm short) , and bend and rest my left leg up against the driver's door, then I can rest my left hand on my leg, and just holding the steering wheel from that more stationary point will be enough resistance to let it know I'm there. I still rest my right hand on the wheel, but it floats with the wheel and takes over when needed, it just doesn't need to periodically pull on the wheel.

Not to take this too far off topic, but we had a similar problem with my wife's iPhone. Solution: reinstall the app and accept the location prompt. If you have an Android phone, make sure Battery Saver isn't stopping the app.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I created a "Sleep" user that reclines my seat for auto napping. Just be sure to not enable Easy Entry otherwise you'll be woken up after a few minutes My son was disappointed when he couldn't do that for the passenger seat.

I use Screen Clean to dim the display for napping...however, after 20-30 minutes it can cause the screen to flicker. Disconcerting, but it eventually goes away. SC thought it might be a bad display so they replaced it, but didn't solve the problem.

 

[Electric Joe]

Okay, obscenely inappropriate related topic: Recently my wife and I went to a gas station (yes, I know) in her fart car and we both got out to chat while pumping gas. I unscrewed the cap and slipped it into the slot on the inside of the fuel cover door and she stopped talking and stared— and admitted she never in her life saw anyone do that and had no idea that there was a slot to hold the gas cap. This is extra funny to me because my wife is super observant and this sort of thing never happens with her.