It's been over a month now and nearing a month and a half. I changed my mind about paying for one more month. I don't feel I've given it enough time. But a month at a time and at $99 worth continuing the experiment. So I did continue. The software has been updated twice.
I'll try to summarize and update my experience after all this time.
I still get egregious errors with various categories of normal driving situations.
U turns, normal ones, necessary here.
A few times FSD stopped the car in the left / passing / high speed lane instead of moving into the turn around area in the median for the U turn. I have to step on the gas to get the car off the road. U turns, which are necessary here are done very, very poorly, erratically, sometimes not at all. Occasionally it does it but poorly. Sometimes it doesn't get over into the U turn lane, I put on the directional. It moves over and I never know what it will do. When it does make the turn and only after prompted by a bump to the pedal, it doesn't seem to know that the rear end hangs out in the passing lane. I have to bump the pedal more. Sometimes the car doesn't even bother to get over to the left lane of this highway to make the turn. I often have to use the directional to move it over, to prepare for the U turn. The U turn is in the navigational plan and on screen in every case.
Traffic lights.
Many times it acted very confused about light changes from green to yellow. Often it stopped properly. Sometimes it 'slammed' on the brakes. Often it does a stutter, brake and slow but then change mind and go. But once it went through a red light and stopped in the middle of the intersection. In the middle of the intersection, stopped, with cars now coming at me, the car gave up, alarmed and gave the driving back to me!
Rarely but at times it drives dangerously at cars.
One or two times it accelerated rapidly when I knew the traffic ahead was stopped at a light. Then it didn't slow down, I thought we'd crash, so I took over.
Cutting corners.
When turning it cuts corners as a normality for current FSD.
Often it's not an issue. But sometimes it takes me and the car into harms way.
More than once, actually regularly it sends me into a hole at the edge of the road. I lost the tire from one of these incidents. Now I'm buying a new set of tires.
Another time it cut the corner so sharply we were going to hit a rollaway trash container. I took over to avoid wiping out the side of the car.
In each case, damage to the car was likely or actually occurred.
Turning off the highway to a small side street.
It handles this poorly. I often turn on the turn signal earlier so that traffic in the 60 MPH roadway has more time to see that I'm turning. The car takes it's sweet old time. It seems totally oblivious to the dangers.
Lane changes, never know what I'm going to get.
Sometimes it turns on the directional to change lanes, begins to move, then changes its mind and moves back!
Often times it turns on the directions to change lanes, begins to move, then moves back, then finally changes lanes. Weird!
Inability to "look far ahead and predict".
Consistently FSD seems unable to do what I do normally. It cannot seem to observe and predict traffic flow, except for "close in". Humans can watch traffic and predict dangers, changes in flow, etc. FSD falls far short in this regard. For example, it seems to stay in a lane even though traffic is flowing freely in other lanes. I realized that I normally glance quite far ahead to try to understand and predict probabilities. FSD doesn't seem to do this at all.
Strangely as this may sound.
I'm getting "used to" FSD. And overall I want to have it. It's like a misbehave partner. When she's good, she's very good, but when she's bad she's terribly awfully bad.
It often sees better than I can see. In very complex driving situations I often feel safer by having a "second expert opinion" with much better eyesight and much better perspectives than I have. It's made many amazing driving decisions.
Each drive, is always somewhat different.
It's more human than human at times, and sometimes acts "emotional".
My wife borrowed my car because she had to go over an hour away from here and wouldn't get home till after dark. The car "drove her home" in the pitched darkness and through pouring rain. My wife couldn't do it but the car did. If it weren't for that pothole...
I am frankly surprised that the famous testers on YouTube don't see any of the serious errors I am seeing here. This makes me think that localities are not handled with the same level of proficiency.
This is interesting, to say the least.