I don't have experience with Tesla's auto pilot system but I found Alejandro's video compares to some of the challenges I have with the current Distronic Plus system in my 2016 C Class.

Don't get me wrong, I use Distronic Plus a lot, especially in downtown stop and go traffic and on major highways around Toronto, just thought this was an interesting video on what expectations of auto driving systems are versus the reality of daily driving with the current technology we have.

I'd be interested in others feedback on how Distronic Plus works in your environments and what you expect it to do versus real world experiences.

 

I have Distronic plus on my car and i had similar systems in other cars and i would not buy a car without it.
But the steering assist is another story. I tried it on the highway and if i would have had the cops behind me i would have been pulled over for a drunk test.

It is such a nice feature!

 

I have it on my car and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it is nice to not have to constantly adjust for people coming into and out of my lane. My biggest gripe with my last three cars has been setting my cruise for long distance trips and having slower traffic pull into my lane to pass and then not speed up, forcing me to break or slow down, disengaging cruise.

Or having someone in front of me who cannot seem to pick a speed. They're at 65 then 75 then 70 then 65 then 70 again and back to 75...wanna beat these people senseless!!

That is where I love it.

What I do not like is that the faster you go, the further the distance it uses to separate you from the car ahead. This is the downside when you are in a line of cars and the car ahead of you suddenly accelerates because traffic is clearing. The Distronic system does not compensate quick enough to close the gap, leaving a huge distance ahead. Just enough for others to pull in between you and the leading car.

Granted I can supplement the acceleration with my foot, but it would be cool if the system would either allow for a closer gap or more rapid transition to accelerate.

Never had a problem with becoming complacent, so I am not worried about that.

 

Set your agility mode to Sport or Sport+. It will then close the gap a lot faster.

 

LOL I like your thinking!!!

 

+1. Yup, people like that drive me crazy. Can it be so difficult to pick a speed and stick to it??

 

i just watched that video earlier but the problem is that Alejandro uses autopilot on city streets, when I test drove a Model S they told me it was designed for highway use only, and not city streets. It performed flawlessly for 14 miles when I used it on the highway. I like his videos but I feel like he is misrepresenting and misinterpreting autopilot with this one.

 

I use it all the time on city streets. It takes all the pain out of stop-and-go traffic. My wife is an extremely mervous passenger, and even though I have never even come close to having a close call with her, it reassures her greatly that there is an electronic back-up. If I reduce the set distance to the car ahead to the minimum, Sport agility mode will sometimes result in operation that is jerky enough to bother her.

 

Adaptive cruise is nice. Steering Assist at highway speed is silly since it requires frequent confirmations. But I love it in Traffic Jam mode. You touch nothing and the car will inch along for hours without intervention if needed. Lane departure assist sucks. If you change lanes without signaling, like drifting into a right turn lane at an intersection it'll fight you. I shut mine off.

 

Yeah I know you can use the Mercedes adaptive cruise control on city streets, but the Tesla autopilot (specifically the auto steer function) is not meant for city streets. Elon has said that many times

 

Traffic is heavy enough at all hours on the freeways here in the SF Bay Area that regular cruise control is unusable, but the Distrionic Plus works great in most freeway situations here. I'm with Mike on the steering assist — just an annoyance except in stop & go traffic, where the car essentially drives itself. I'm still paying attention, with my foot an inch from the brake pedal, but it makes inching along way less stressful. Now that I've figured out the two situations where it shines: freeways with traffic, and stop&go traffic, I love it. Makes driving much less stressful.