FSD 12.3.3 first drive - safe, super boring

[Arth Denton]

Got a 30-day FSD 12.3.3 free trial on my 2 year old Model Y. Strangely, my 2024 Model 3 which was supposed to have it 2 weeks ago (transfer) when I took delivery still doesn't have it. But that's another topic. So here are my conclusions after a 25-30 mile test drive to Sam's Club (closed) parking lot and back home on a Sunday afternoon:

POSITIVES

• definitely safe, unless you feel unsafe when everyone else on the road seems to be in more of a hurry than your car
• good 0-40 acceleration as the light at the intersection turns green

NEGATIVES

• no longer obeys 'speed' settings. Max speed is no longer the speed it attempts to achieve. It seems to be happy to stay at the posted speed limit - will maintain a posted speed limit if you are driving on an empty road - unless other cars in front of you or to your right/left move faster. I felt intense frustration while on FSD 12.3.3.
• lane changes take significantly longer to complete as the car appears to be more hesitant/less confident
• slammed on the brakes at a yellow light through which FSD 11.x would have passed without hesitation
• still missed moving into a long left turn lane (same as FSD 11.x) and it was 2 lanes to the right of that lane at the time it was supposed to change into turn lane
• was extremely confused (jerky maneuvers) at the large, 95% empty, Sam's Club parking lot
• no longer spells out on the screen the reasons behind its behavior, probably because of its mostly mindless 'neural net' training where it does things because other drivers do it but has no idea why it does it (is this really the future of AI?)

To conclude, I no longer miss not having the promised FSD on my 2024 Model 3. Between 'it' and the available Enhanced Autopilot, I would probably pick the EAP if the car had FSD 12.3.3.
I do understand that 'everyone' is supposed to be getting this so Tesla is super-cautious. It's also an early 'all neural-net trained' version of FSD so... looking forward to getting FSD 13.x now? ).
If FSD 11.x behaves as a fresh, impulsive and insecure teenage driver, FSD 12.3.3 would be a healthy, super cautious, 90-95 year old.

 

[Kimmi]

FSD version 42.0 will be the one that works perfectly.

 

[CDennis100]

FSD version 42.0 will be the one that works perfectly.

…and that will be out in two weeks.

 

[Arth Denton]

FSD version 42.0 will be the one that works perfectly.

…and that will be out in two weeks.

Are you sure it's not FSD 69.x.x.x?

 

[AceG8tr]

You can turn off the auto-speed setting in Driver Settings.

 

[DCGOO]

You can turn off the auto-speed setting in Driver Settings.

Yes, I need to try that. 12.3.3 out of the box is fast!, like 45 in a 30 MPH local street. I only have 12.3 on my X, , and auto speed there is reasonable. I missed out on 12.3.2.1, jumped over me I guess. Otherwise VERY sweet. I spent an hour today, letting it drive me around. Did not have to touch it once.

 

[Arth Denton]

Yes, I need to try that. 12.3.3 out of the box is fast!, like 45 in a 30 MPH local street. I only have 12.3 on my X, , and auto speed there is reasonable. I missed out on 12.3.2.1, jumped over me I guess. Otherwise VERY sweet. I spent an hour today, letting it drive me around. Did not have to touch it once.

So, to make the car go faster than the posted speed limit I need to turn off the setting that tells the car to go faster than the speed limit?
It's not a rhetorical question. It's my first FSD 12.x experience and I can see how Tesla would do that but is my interpretation above correct?

 

[legendsk]

You can turn off the auto-speed setting in Driver Settings.

Perhaps 'you' can, but that is not available in my 2022 MYLR!

 

[DCGOO]

So, to make the car go faster than the posted speed limit I need to turn off the setting that tells the car to go faster than the speed limit?
It's not a rhetorical question. It's my first FSD 12.x experience and I can see how Tesla would do that but is my interpretation above correct?

There is a setting under Autopilot "Automatic Set Speed Offset." Turn that off, and it disables the Max Speed Auto that now shows up in the dash. I haven't tried it yet, but I assume it will remove the sort of "Bat outa Hell" mode it feels like now.

 

[Arth Denton]

Okay, did another test drive. Drive style was set to 'assertive', by the way.

• with Automatic Set Speed Offset (set to +10 mph) car went as fast as 57 mph on a 55 mph road
• with Automatic Set Speed Offset disabled, reverting to the +20% over speed limit setting, car did show 65 mph as the MAX speed on that 55 mph road but only went as fast as... 56 mph. I found that, if I had empty road ahead and I pressed on the accelerator to make the car go faster it would maintain that speed for as long as it didn't have to slow down but then in would not accelerate back to the higher speed so I would have to press on the accelerator again
• strangely, it would go as fast as 40 mph on slower 35 mph roads

Still work in progress, I guess...
Oh, and it tried to drive us into a car coming from the opposite direction while making a left turn at a simple, traffic lights-controlled intersection (because we had the green light?) and, for about half a second, it flashed 'road toll detected' on the screen with no toll roads within 100 miles, as far as I know but that's minor.

 

[aerodyne]

Are you sure it's not FSD 69.x.x.x?

More like it.
Sorta Full Self Driving will always be coming "Tommorow"

 

[DblOSmith]

I eagerly downloaded 12.3.3 today. ... Now Elon. You know I love you... I've forgotten about that whole thing in college. IT'S BEHIND ME OKAY!?

... but yeah. I live in a mid-sized city with well-marked infrastructure. The first 3 decisions FSD had to make resulted in disengagements.

1. System was engaged in my driveway. The very first thing the car did upon engagement is try to drive over my lawn/curb to get to the street. I took control.
2. Once onto the street, I re-engaged. About 100ft down the road, I came to a 4 way intersection with 2 lanes. My car straddled the middle lane confusing the car behind me.
3. The very next intersection, I needed to make a right on red turn onto a busy 60mph street. The car inched forward cautiously, then very slowly turned onto the street in the middle of traffic. I had to take over and accelerate hard before I was rear ended.

Damn. I was very hopeful for it, but for me, it's not here, yet. Not even close. For me, I can only recommend something if it makes my life easier. I can't recommend on promises and against my own experience. Currently, it is much more stressful to monitor and correct FSD bumbles than it is to just drive myself. So, for now, FSD is a nice party trick, but not a useful tool. I'm not O'Dowd-ing and thinking it's going to kill us, but yeah... no thanks.

 

[DCGOO]

Okay, did another test drive. Drive style was set to 'assertive', by the way.

• with Automatic Set Speed Offset (set to +10 mph) car went as fast as 57 mph on a 55 mph road
• with Automatic Set Speed Offset disabled, reverting to the +20% over speed limit setting, car did show 65 mph as the MAX speed on that 55 mph road but only went as fast as... 56 mph. I found that, if I had empty road ahead and I pressed on the accelerator to make the car go faster it would maintain that speed for as long as it didn't have to slow down but then in would not accelerate back to the higher speed so I would have to press on the accelerator again
• strangely, it would go as fast as 40 mph on slower 35 mph roads

Still work in progress, I guess...
Oh, and it tried to drive us into a car coming from the opposite direction while making a left turn at a simple, traffic lights-controlled intersection (because we had the green light?) and, for about half a second, it flashed 'road toll detected' on the screen with no toll roads within 100 miles, as far as I know but that's minor.

Automatic Set Speed Offset is a on/off toggle. As near as I can tell, the speed offset has no effect on "auto speed." The offset probably is there for Interstate Highway (freeway) only, where auto does not apply. I also could not detect any behavior difference with the profile setting. Even when set to Chill it still went 45 in a 30 zone.

 

[Arth Denton]

Automatic Set Speed Offset is a on/off toggle. As near as I can tell, the speed offset has no effect on "auto speed." The offset probably is there for Interstate Highway (freeway) only, where auto does not apply. I also could not detect any behavior difference with the profile setting. Even when set to Chill it still went 45 in a 30 zone.

You guys do drive fast in Indiana, I remember that . Maybe FSD adapts to what it imagines may be local driving patterns so... Florida, being full of retirees... But that's a myth. At least in SW FL, where we live, nobody bothers to slow down to less than 10 mph over the posted speed limit with cops present so driving 56 mph on a 55 mph road you become a traffic hazard.

 

[Huntfortelsa]

The biggest drawback with 12.3 was this dumb speed limit thingy. I was hopeful that 12.3.1 will take care of it. Now the version is 12.3.3 and no one at Tesla realizes it’s a mistake? Who the hell thought it was a good idea to take the current speed option away - this is a huge step back for what seems like very minor improvements with the overall drive. FSD is essentially useless for city driving now.

 

[popgodazipa]

So, for now, FSD is a nice party trick, but not a useful tool.

That sums it up. This is my first experience with FSD on my MSLR 2024. It worked ok but honestly enjoy driving the car vs supervising if that's what you call it. Maybe a long road trip would change my mind.

 

[garydoe]

Who are these replies really coming from.
I drove from South Carolina to NJ on 12.3 this week and it was great. My wife actually insisted to keep it engaged. In NJ I took several trips and found little to no issues. The slow speeds are easily increased by pressing the accelerator.
My daughter, an EV skeptic was laughing and screaming when I left my hands of the wheel. She was won over when the car stopped for a goose crossing the street. I can’t identify with most of the comments here. FSD is not a video game, grow a pair.

 

[aronth5]

The biggest drawback with 12.3 was this dumb speed limit thingy. I was hopeful that 12.3.1 will take care of it. Now the version is 12.3.3 and no one at Tesla realizes it’s a mistake? Who the hell thought it was a good idea to take the current speed option away - this is a huge step back for what seems like very minor improvements with the overall drive. FSD is essentially useless for city driving now.

Disable the auto speed setting to see if that helps.
For me I drive on a lot of small, narrow secondary roads. Auto speed is very helpful since it will reduce your speed below the posted speed limit when needed. And yes normally posted speed limit signs are too low. Before auto max I simply turned FSD off on several roads so for me it's a mixed bag. Overall V12.3.2.1 speed control is ok and I'm not using accelerator nearly as much as with V12.3. So I would not agree with you that this feature is a mistake. I expect Tesla will continue to improve it like they just did.

 

[DblOSmith]

Who are these replies really coming from.

Long time Tesla owner, Tesla enthusiast, and auto fan for 30 years. Not a Tesla sycophant. My experience was different than yours. Why? I don't know. Deal with it.

 

[aerodyne]

Long time Tesla owner, Tesla enthusiast, and auto fan for 30 years. Not a Tesla sycophant. My experience was different than yours. Why? I don't know. Deal with it.

Probably it does a lot better on long highway trips like mentioned in prior post.

For said trips, AP3 works fine.

Some have mentioned problems that went away with camera calibration or rebooting.

I'm sure SFSD is great, until it isn't, and one is not prepared when it "Does the worst thing at the worst time"