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David Havasi and I recorded the following Tesla Full Self Driving (guided) test drive a few days ago. It was perhaps the most fascinating of these weekly test drives we've done since FSD version 12.3 came out (although the first one where FSD managed to get some roundabouts was quite exciting). I think it's best to watch the video in full to get a full, unedited, authentic view of how FSD works. Nevertheless, I'll summarize a few key points below the video and add timestamps for those moments.
The first notable part of the ride was in my opinion about 7:45 p.m, when the car was supposed to get into the left turn lane – a long lane that it could have turned into slowly and carefully – but cut it off so close to the curb at a fairly high speed (69 km/h) that I decided I had to do quick release. We've heard of cases of people getting rim rash with FSD, so chances are I might get that too, or maybe not, but it was too close for comfort and I reluctantly decided I had to take it.
A few minutes later, around midnight, the car had to cross three lanes of very fast traffic on a highway to quickly get to one of the lanes to the left. FSD definitely did a good job. David and I were shocked, or at least extremely impressed, and we're pretty sure the car made the ride smoother and better than any human could possibly do.
At approximately 35:23, we entered a very strange, tricky 4-way stop with an island in the middle. It's one of the strangest I've ever seen. The car made it.
Unfortunately, a minute and a half later, there was an instance where the two left lanes took you to I-75, we wanted to go straight (and the navigation let us go straight), the traffic moves very fast and there is a lot of it, and FSD would basically be trapped put us in the far left lane and potentially put us in a very dangerous situation or force us onto I-75. I tried to get us into the right lane, but I couldn't wait too long and decided I had to pull out.
Finally, a few minutes later, we turned left off that same highway onto a smaller road that would take us back to the mall where the new Tesla store and service center (and David's car) are. There are three lanes to the left next to that highway, and we were supposed to be on the left, but we were put in the right. After making the turn we were supposed to move into one of the lanes on the left, but we didn't do that until we got to the light. Interestingly enough, there is a median at this location that ultimately separates the two left lanes from the lanes going straight at the traffic light. FSD decided that even though he was in a straight lane and there was a thin median with foliage next to us, he would stop there at the green light and try to make an illegal left turn somehow. When it almost came to a stop and the traffic came behind me and absolute Since I didn't expect to stop there, I decided I had to switch off to get the car moving with the flow of traffic again.
These are of course just five highlights (and low points) from 45 minutes of Tesla Full Self Driving (supervised) tests. I recommend you watch the full video for more!
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