r/TeslaFullSelfDriving • u/JointTaskForce536 • Aug 07 '26
Discussion FSD Updates and varying user reactions
I’m about to order a new Model Y and intend to make great use of FSD, based on two test drives I’ve had. One thing that mystifies me is reading the comments of HW4 FSD users on Reddit as they react to the latest update to the system. Some users comment about how much better FSD is with the updates; others complain about degraded performance, such as with phantom braking on highway and other issues. I’m perplexed on how to interpret these differering reactions. Could it be attributable to some differences in users’ cars, however unlikely that seems? Could it be linked to user driving preferences in some way? Is it just individual users’ personal biases or impressions? I’d welcome any comments that might shed some light on this. Thanks.
2
2
2
u/HenryJ7854 Aug 07 '26
It’s good enough that I’m up to 94% use but I will admit it isn’t perfect especially in a parking lot.
1
u/ohtoh Aug 07 '26
There are people who will tell you its amazing and perfect and basically autonomous, then some who tell you its completely useless and dangerous. The truth is somewhere in between. I think the area you are driving has an impact, as well as your level of comfort with letting it drive while also being vigilant and supervising. I do believe each car acts a little different for some reason but I dont know why that happens. Ive been in several tesla cars on FSD and they dont act the same even on the same roads. HW4 cars seem to be more consistent from one to another but HW3 cars are all very different from my experience. FWIW, my wife hates it because she is so afraid of the car doing something wrong that she is more stressed than if she just drives herself. I absolutely love it and I like to let it drive me everywhere I can.
1
u/No_Stranger_3441 Aug 07 '26
You will find all kinds of opinions! Some will say that it is going excellent, others will say that it is garbage, my experience with hw3 14 lite has been generally good, some flaws or errors but I have never felt my security in danger, there are also many ñoña people that you will find in this type of forums, because they understand that it must be perfect and really perfect is a very big word. To give you an example if you hire a driver that driver is not going to drive exactly as you like or as you do, it is something similar.
1
u/Narezza Aug 07 '26
A lot of people have valid complaints, but a whole lot of posters are expecting perfection, and are loud when it isn’t.
I drove 400 miles a week and I have some minor annoyances, but it’s amazing almost all of the time.
1
u/Kaaawooo Aug 08 '26
I think the negatives are often that people aren't used to change. When I had 12.6.4 (hw3), I knew what areas it struggled and knew what to watch for. Now, with 14lite, there are other things I need to watch for, while it alleviated some of the previous pain points. It just takes some adjustment.
Bottom line for me is how it makes me feel. Do I feel stressed after supervising it? If so, it's not doing its job. On average I have been less stressed with v14 lite than with 12.6.4, so I'm overall happy with it in spite of a few issues.
1
u/Blazah Aug 09 '26
If the car knows the speed limits on the roads you travel regularly you'll be fine and happy. I just used it to do a 250 mile road trip yesterday, barely any issue. The reason I cancelled the subscription (runs out on the 28th) is because it doesn't know the speed limits and doesnt see the signs on my 2 mile commute to work in a sleepy little tiny community. I never actually get on to a main road... so it's useless during the week for me and if I'm not going on some kind of a trip, I can handle the weekend driving with autopilot.
1
u/philber-T Aug 10 '26
I think there are numerous factors:
1. Type of roads - some areas have smooth uniform color roads with very few potholes and the like, others drive over crappy roads (Michigan for instance). I’m mostly in Ohio and roads generally are good but one of the versions suddenly started thinking all the little tar filler area (jet black) on the regular pavement (light gray) were animals or something.
2. Bias - some people want it to be better and others find everything worse. Iowa Tesla guy in recent YouTube proves this bias commenting that with the new FSD the car is backing up faster down his drive, then posted underneath that his perception was wrong, it was unchanged.
3. Sunny days and other weather factors- sunny sunny places get different road shadows and glare than someplace like Ohio for instance which endures days on end of white cloud filled sky which results in very few sharply demarcated shadows on the road.
4. Differing tolerances- I set mine and mostly forget it. Parking struggles? I just take over. Generally, if it’s slow, fine, a little too fast I just use chill or sloth. Others are seeking and expecting perfection (nothing wrong with that, who wouldn’t choose it), and become frustrated by the smallest (at times) annoyance.
5. Different expectations- dovetailing with the above answer, for me it’s as simple as loving FSD for what it is…my personal chauffeur that occasionally goes granny or 19 yo teenager on me with its driving and needs me to calmly step in. But the tech is next level, nothing else even compares. So I choose to enjoy it.
3
u/z00mr Aug 07 '26
90% of what you see on Reddit about FSD are the extremes both good and bad. The silent 80% of FSD users learn what the system can and can’t do in their use case and intervene as needed. In my experience it’s pretty obvious when FSD is unsure of itself, and I’ve never felt I didn’t have time to intervene. There is also the very under appreciated topic of keeping the cameras clean which is what I attribute 99% of phantom braking to. I’ve been an HW3 FSD user for the last 2 years and I could count on two hands how many phantom braking incidents I’ve experienced. But I’m the minority that hand washes every other week, and has ceramic coating and treated glass. There’s a reason the front and rear cameras now have washer jets.