Tesla Steering wheel on autopilot

[meTezla3]

I recently got my m3 this last month, and it's a very first time I own a Electric car.
My model 3 run normal, but when on autopilot, once it warn me to apply turning force to keep the autopilot, I felt like I have to turn it's a lot and sometimes it doesn't register my turning too. Is it because of me or the steering wheel defect. I did try to wiggle it a little bit to make sure, but it doesn't register or somewhat don't know that's I already apply steering force. Plus, when I using 2 lbs sandbag trick, the autopilot didn't warn me about put my hand on steering wheel, and it just terminated autopilot feature till next drive

 

[D Good]

Make sure you apply counter pressure. It doesn’t respond well to wiggling the wheel. Rest your elbow on the armrest and grab the wheel on its 3 or 9 o clock position and let the weight of your arm apply the pressure. Works like a charm!

 

[Tronguy]

Second @D Good. I’m on the FSD Beta, which is kind of aggressive about making sure that hands are on the wheel. As he said, one way that works is to put one hand on the wheel and kind of hang on. The weight of your arm and the normal jiggling with road bumps does the trick.

Driving with one hand has always bothered me, though: From Driver’s Ed onwards, I’ve always been a two-hands guy, which is supposed to be safer. So, been working at doing it two-handed when in autopilot. It’s doable, but one has to apply torque on the wheel, left or right without too much bouncing back and forth. Kind of a touch.

Finally: it’s a new car. It’s probably you, since plenty of people have noted the torque issues and getting used to it before you posted. But if you’re truly having a bad time with this, run it past Tesla Service in the app. Might be some steering wheel sensor issue.

 

[Twiglett]

One way to make sure you're applying just the right amount of pressure is if you can feel the small wheel movements that the car is making when autopilot is engaged.
Basically, if you can't feel the car turning the wheel, then the car can't detect you.
The idea is to allow the car to steer without putting too much resistance and disengaging.

 

[CharleyBC]

Second @D Good. I’m on the FSD Beta, which is kind of aggressive about making sure that hands are on the wheel. As he said, one way that works is to put one hand on the wheel and kind of hang on. The weight of your arm and the normal jiggling with road bumps does the trick.

Driving with one hand has always bothered me, though: From Driver’s Ed onwards, I’ve always been a two-hands guy, which is supposed to be safer. So, been working at doing it two-handed when in autopilot. It’s doable, but one has to apply torque on the wheel, left or right without too much bouncing back and forth. Kind of a touch.

Finally: it’s a new car. It’s probably you, since plenty of people have noted the torque issues and getting used to it before you posted. But if you’re truly having a bad time with this, run it past Tesla Service in the app. Might be some steering wheel sensor issue.

Yes. Early on with AP I hated the nags. Now I never get them, having refined the one-hand technique. For me, it's usually my left hand with my thumb hooked over the 9 o'clock spoke, and holding only loosely. This provides enough torque for the car to know you're there, without yanking the steering away from the computer.

Using both hands at the same time is likely to apply both clockwise and counterclockwise torque. These cancel out, and the car is likely to think you're not supervising as you should.

I agree about two-handed driving. That's how I was taught, and it clearly affords greater control. When I'm driving manually, it's both hands. And in a situation where I take control away from AP, my other hand pops instantly into service.

 

[m25nyc]

Suggest you check out this thread which includes hacks that seem to provoke ire of some TMC members but in my experienced solved this and let me keep two hands firmly but gently on the wheel without nags:

Apply light force to steering wheel 5 seconds after applying force to wheel

I will apply rotational force to the wheel almost enough to break autopilot then less then 10 seconds later it will tell me to apply slight turning force to steering wheel. It makes it pointless to use autopilot.

teslamotorsclub.com

When I got FSD beta, I got the nags way more often than enhanced AP (paid full FSD / in queue for FSD beta so effectively at enhanced AP). I'm also a two-handed very light touch for safety. I also tried the one hand technique didn't work for me either still nags. May be because I prefer comfort mode for driving not sport mode.