I make a point of test driving an FSD car ever year or two, in the Bay Area. A few years ago it could go far less than one block along a calm residential street before trying to hit a trash bin or parked car, and I gave it quite a few chances.
The time after that (three years ago?) it really could not deal with traffic control features in intersections.
Last year it drove itself happily along the Tesla shop’s recommended route, went several miles including freeway driving, flawlessly. And then, on the way back, it tried to get back on the freeway by turning left from a lane that was clearly and unambiguously not the left turn lane, with a green light (but not a left arrow), and would have gotten T-boned by an oncoming car if I had not taken over.
So I rank it as “not ready”.
Also, the mere existence of Mad Max mode makes it very hard to respect FSD.
I'm in Los Angeles, which can be a challenging place to drive. Each time they give me a free trial of FSD for a month, I enable it and test it with excitement and optimism. Each time I only use it for a day or two before it does something dangerous enough to scare me.
It's interesting seeing people in the same geographic areas report completely different experiences.
I think the fanboys self select for above-average risk tolerance / want their toy to succeed.
I recall years ago when I still had a Tesla and frequented forums, often after every FSD/Autopilot release the boosters would declares "this is it, its finally great and I barely need to intervene". However almost as often, they would quietly concede that their girlfriend/wife (cuz it was always dudes pumping the car) refuses to ride with them when the use it due to the ride quality, lol.
amluto|3 months ago
The time after that (three years ago?) it really could not deal with traffic control features in intersections.
Last year it drove itself happily along the Tesla shop’s recommended route, went several miles including freeway driving, flawlessly. And then, on the way back, it tried to get back on the freeway by turning left from a lane that was clearly and unambiguously not the left turn lane, with a green light (but not a left arrow), and would have gotten T-boned by an oncoming car if I had not taken over.
So I rank it as “not ready”.
Also, the mere existence of Mad Max mode makes it very hard to respect FSD.
doph|3 months ago
steveBK123|3 months ago
I think the fanboys self select for above-average risk tolerance / want their toy to succeed.
I recall years ago when I still had a Tesla and frequented forums, often after every FSD/Autopilot release the boosters would declares "this is it, its finally great and I barely need to intervene". However almost as often, they would quietly concede that their girlfriend/wife (cuz it was always dudes pumping the car) refuses to ride with them when the use it due to the ride quality, lol.
DarmokJalad1701|3 months ago