Various first impressions of Tesla FSD v12.4.3 are positive.
Whole Mars says - Tesla FSD 12.4.3 drives like a professional chauffeur. It executes many maneuvers more smoothly than a human could, and can often react to road hazards before the human driver even notices them.
Dave Lee and Whole Mars are impressed and provide more details.
1. v12.4.3 felt overall like a better build compared to v12.3.6 (which most people have). It drove smooth, confidently, and performed maneuvers a bit more confident compared to v12.3.6.
2. For example, turning right into oncoming traffic just seemed better. I'm not going to say it is crazy better, but I'd say it's better. There's still a lot of room to go where I think FSD needs to match the level of an average human in terms of the confidence and time it takes to take a right turn onto oncoming traffic, and v12.4.3 isn't there yet. But it's much improved.
3. Some of the quirks of v12.3.6 have been fixed. One example, is v12.3.6 would do this head-fake maneuver if there was a median and I needed to turn left at a stop light. It would edge into the median a few times back and forth before going in, and it was cool at first but strange. v12.4.3 handles the median prior to getting into right turn lane much better, just like a human (at least in my initial experiences).
4. It seemed to be able to choose the right lane to be in a bit better than v12.3.6. There was one place I frequently test where v 12.3.6 would get confused between a lane going straight and a lane turning right, but v12.4.3 recognized the correct lane to get into immediately.
5. The nag system in v12.4.3 is a bit too aggressive for my likes as sometimes I'm looking straight ahead but it tells me to pay attention. But nevertheless, it's better than the old v12.3.6 system where it would give steering wheel nags. In v12.4.3 you just need to keep your eyes looking forward to remove the nag.
6. v12.4.3 is not perfect and that's not what I think we should expect from it. It still has its weaknesses. On a right turn with a red right arrow, it was a bit confused and went back and forth on whether to go or not.
In a parking lot I was trying to get out of, it went into a dead end.
But overall, there's something about v12.4.3 that just made the 2 hours of driving much better than v12.3.6 for me. It felt like an upgraded driver - more confident, less hesitant. I didn't need to press/tap the accelerator as often. I just let it do its thing.
7. FSD v12.4.1. and v12.4.2 had its quirks and it was understandable why those versions never went to wide release. Mainly there was a hesitancy/cautiousness that was excessive in certain situations, and some behavior that with sometimes odd. Not necessarily unsafe, just a big odd. But v12.4.3 (in my limited testing) was leaps and bounds better in this regard.
8. At the end of the ride, my reaction was "Wow! That was an amazing drive!" Probably the best FSD drive I've ever taken.
And it's exciting because if my limited experience and takeaway is correct then I think this is a significant, and a very significant, improvement from v12.3.6.
It's exciting to see Tesla continue to make improvements and deliver.
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