TACC stopping time too short for comfort.

[kimwin]

I use the basic TACC (commonly called adaptive cruise control) very frequently when my itinerary goes thru lot of long sections of straight roads(.
When it comes to an intersection with car(s) already stopped there, the M3 RWD does not start slowing down until it is about 5 car length from the one in front.
That gives my wife as a passenger a sense of discomfort.
I know that TACC is meant for highway driving but I found that it really helps me in city too. And I ALWAYS stay ALERT, ready to take over control in less than a second.
Is there a setup that tell the car to start slowing down about 8 or 10 car length from the car in front ?

 

[heavymetalm8r]

I don't think that can be adjusted. I always keep my following distance to 7 but that doesn't seem to have any effect on timing that it slows down for stopped cars. I typically disengage AP when approaching stopped cars like that and smoothly regen brake to the line of cars. Unfortunately, the farther-ahead planning for smooth stops was not passed down from FSD. I tried FSD and it starts to slow much sooner in this situation. One could hope they implement such improvements in basic AP someday.

 

[Dr. D Flier]

I use the basic TACC (commonly called adaptive cruise control) very frequently when my itinerary goes thru lot of long sections of straight roads(.
When it comes to an intersection with car(s) already stopped there, the M3 RWD does not start slowing down until it is about 5 car length from the one in front.
That gives my wife as a passenger a sense of discomfort.
I know that TACC is meant for highway driving but I found that it really helps me in city too. And I ALWAYS stay ALERT, ready to take over control in less than a second.
Is there a setup that tell the car to start slowing down about 8 or 10 car length from the car in front ?

I agree - I like TACC and Autopilot better than FSD beta but the issue you describe is also a complaint I have. I typically either disengage it when approaching an intersection with stopped cars or scroll down the speed as I approach then scroll back up when within the follow distance and I always keep it on 7.

 

[kimwin]

From the two answers above, I have to accept the current annoyance and live with it. Tesla only passes down the early slowing from FSD when competitors are doing it as standard features (which I hope).
In reality, EVs such as Chevy Bolt only provide adaptive cruise control on more expensive models, not on basic models. At least Tesla is better in this aspect.

 

[ATPMSD]

When it comes to an intersection with car(s) already stopped there, the M3 RWD does not start slowing down until it is about 5 car length from the one in front.

In my view, this is a shortcoming of Tesla vision - it is really not so great at determining closure rates. Either that or braking is poorly tuned to closure rates. Like others, I just turn off TACC when I see this situation looming.

 

[E90alex]

It doesn’t work that well when coming up on very slow or stopped cars. Waits until the almost last second and slams on the brakes.

If you don’t feel it’s slowing down as soon as you would like your only option is to cancel it to slow down manually and start it again later.

 

[kimwin]

In my view, this is a shortcoming of Tesla vision - it is really not so great at determining closure rates.

How do I know that my car 2023 M3 RWD , is a model that uses Tesla Vision and not sensors ?

 

[ATPMSD]

How do I know that my car 2023 M3 RWD , is a model that uses Tesla Vision and not sensors ?

Because it does not have radar, Tesla removed it years ago and more recently removed Ultrasonic Sensors, so all that is left is Tesla vision.

 

[DeltaOne]

I use the basic TACC (commonly called adaptive cruise control) very frequently when my itinerary goes thru lot of long sections of straight roads(.
When it comes to an intersection with car(s) already stopped there, the M3 RWD does not start slowing down until it is about 5 car length from the one in front.

I think this issue came up in this week's "Ride The Lightning Unofficial Tesla Podcast." About 2/3 through the podcast the host runs a few listener-provided tips and tricks. The listener had the same complaint as you. Their solution was when approaching a stoplight, knowing the car would brake too late, they would use the scroll wheel to quickly start lowering the speed setting. This would slow the car down and make the braking seem more natural.

I've never tried this and maybe I mis-read your question, just throwing it out there in case it helps anyone.

 

[heavymetalm8r]

I think this issue came up in this week's "Ride The Lightning Unofficial Tesla Podcast." About 2/3 through the podcast the host runs a few listener-provided tips and tricks. The listener had the same complaint as you. Their solution was when approaching a stoplight, knowing the car would brake too late, they would use the scroll wheel to quickly start lowering the speed setting. This would slow the car down and make the braking seem more natural.

I've never tried this and maybe I mis-read your question, just throwing it out there in case it helps anyone.

I've used the scrollwheel method too. It's a bit challenging because it's linear. But it does produce a smoother slowing if you time it right. It's sort of a mini-videogame. But I do find the smoothest stops in these situations is manually with regen.

 

[kimwin]

I tried the scroll wheel already. But I found that by touching the brake pedal slightly to turn off TACC also start slowing down the car, similar to stopping at traffic lights with no car in front. Then using the accelerator or brake pedal to stop at 1 car length is also easy to do. But TACC need to be activated again.
This also works when trying to make a 90 degree (or more) turns.

 

[zoomer0056]

TACC and Autopilot

Do you mean TACC and Autosteer? Basic AP has two features, Autosteer and TACC. Saying "TACC and AP" doesn't make sense since TACC is part of AP. From tesla.com:

 

[Dr. D Flier]

Do you mean TACC and Autosteer? Basic AP has two features, Autosteer and TACC. Saying "TACC and AP" doesn't make sense since TACC is part of AP. From tesla.com:
View attachment 1024972

When I refer to TACC I mean just TACC alone (no autosteer). When I say Autopilot I mean using the two elements of Autopilot together (TACC plus Autosteer).

I frequently use TACC alone (one stalk press) as we have a bunch of crappy roads and I want it to maintain speed but not stay in center of lane since that is full of pot holes and you will end up with damaged tires/rims/suspension.

When the road is decent then I use Autopilot (TACC plus autosteer - two stalk presses).

For the above reasons I did not enable single press Autopilot. I want the option of TACC alone based on road conditions and when towing trailer (which turns off autosteer automatically).

I like both modes better than FSD 11 beta. Maybe 12 will be better - I will try it once available.

 

[ATPMSD]

. Maybe 12 will be better

You are not going to like this, no more TACC alone in V12:

Tesla FSD Beta v12 Auto Parks, Completes U-Turns, But Removes Traffic-Aware Cruise Control Ability

Tesla FSD Beta v12's new features: Park Mode, U-turns, streamlined controls, and real-world performance insights.

www.notateslaapp.com

 

[heavymetalm8r]

You are not going to like this, no more TACC alone in V12:

Tesla FSD Beta v12 Auto Parks, Completes U-Turns, But Removes Traffic-Aware Cruise Control Ability

Tesla FSD Beta v12's new features: Park Mode, U-turns, streamlined controls, and real-world performance insights.

www.notateslaapp.com

This was a letdown for me as well. I use TACC alone sometimes for the same reason (potholes, etc). Also when the road widens, like for an exit before lines, Autosteer likes to center instead of staying to the left.

 

[tm1v2]

You are not going to like this, no more TACC alone in V12:

Tesla FSD Beta v12 Auto Parks, Completes U-Turns, But Removes Traffic-Aware Cruise Control Ability

Tesla FSD Beta v12's new features: Park Mode, U-turns, streamlined controls, and real-world performance insights.

www.notateslaapp.com

Yikes, that's horrible! Now I wouldn't want FSD even if it was free. Okay, I do see that FSD Beta can be disabled in-car and that reopens access to standalone TACC, but still, for me there'd be no point in having FSD Beta then.

Even though Autosteer has improved a lot in the past decade, it's still overall more stressful to babysit than to just steer the car myself, in my experience. For those with very straight highways and consistently wide lanes, I imagine it works pretty well now though.

 

[kimwin]

Even though Autosteer has improved a lot in the past decade, it's still overall more stressful to babysit than to just steer the car myself, in my experience. For those with very straight highways and consistently wide lanes,

AGREED, I feel the same way , Auto Steer I'd only good on long roads without difficult curves.
BTW, if the car does not have FSD, or FSD disabled, the screen should display "Adaptive Cruise Control" or ACC, and "lane keeping". TACC and Auto Steer are confusing. I know Elon want to set a new standard terminology, but no others follow that for many obvious reasons, "my way" is one reason !!!

 

[zoomer0056]

"Adaptive Cruise Control" or ACC, and "lane keeping". TACC and Auto Steer are confusing.

For Tesla, it's always been that basic AP included two features: Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC) and Autosteer. Using street slang just confuses the matter.

 

[heavymetalm8r]

Autosteer has improved a lot in the past decade

Can you elaborate on that? Have there been any release notes saying that Auto steer (or TACC for that matter) has improved since they were released?

I'm curious because I've only had a Tesla for just over 16 months. I don't know if they actually updated the basic AP software since release besides switching to vision-only. I thought they had only done two things: reduce AP max speed to 80mph(?) and increased minimum following distance to 2. We're there any changes, good or bad, besides those? I have had my 2023 Model Y with EAP since late '22. I didn't start paying attention to Tesla AP changes until I started driving one.

 

[tm1v2]

Can you elaborate on that? Have there been any release notes saying that Auto steer (or TACC for that matter) has improved since they were released?

@heavymetalm8r I've driven many revisions of Tesla Autopilot HW + SW over the years, going back to the original Mobileye-based AP1. Our Model S is pre-AP but we've had lots of loaners with AP over the years, and eventually got a 2021 Model 3 as a second car, which came with basic AP.

In those early AP years, anytime I tried Autosteer on our highways here, it would fail to stay in the lane on virtually any curve, and often fail to follow the (admittedly bad) lane markings even on straighter sections. Nowadays, in AP2+ cars (I haven't driven AP1 in a long time), it seems to mostly stay in lane and do an impressively decent job - most of the time. On any given long drive though, it's likely to fail to stay in lane around a curve at some point. Hearing the Lane Departure Warning (LDW) beep while Autosteer is doing the steering is kind of amusing, but really not a good thing.

The other aspect is that I've never found steering a car to be bothersome at all. There's nothing to "fix" about having to steer a car, unless/until true self driving where I don't need to even pay attention, which Autosteer obviously isn't, nor is FSD Beta.

TACC / ACC is a whole different story. It's physically painful for me to hold an accelerator pedal for long periods of time, so TACC / ACC is a godsend. Unfortunately TACC has gotten worse in recent years, correlating with radar removal / disuse. Some other automakers have IMO better ACC now than Tesla's TACC. The basic issues are TACC (at least with radarless AP3) waits too long before slowing down, waits too long before accelerating + accelerates too slowly, and is generally really bad at maintaining a consistent following time or distance from a car in front. Also the max following distance is too short for low traffic high speed highways. Older TACC software and/or hardware was better about all of these things, as I recall, and so is some of the competition now.