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With all these deliveries finally happening, I’m anxious to see some posts about the driver assist features from real world use.
Driver+ real world experience from new owners ?
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100 Posts
I took delivery yesterday. Today I got to get on the highway and try Driver+ for the first time. I've also had some experience using GM's SuperCruise so the experience was entirely new. With that said, Driver+ was just...scary. On one occasion, it completely moved me into an adjacent lane before I could correct it. A subsequent incident on the return home had it suddenly veer off the highway at the last second and onto a weigh station exit ramp; fortunately, I was able to yank it back to the main roadway quickly at which point it deactivated. Needless to say, I think it has issues and I doubt seriously I'll be somewhat reluctant to use it again soon, especially given that these particular roads were not at all confusing from a visual perspective.
Also, I noticed that the map is at least 4 months old; my local US Post Office moved back in November and navigation tried to take me to the vacated location. :/
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15 Posts
Any updates on others using Driver+?
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1,139 Posts
Yes. The background mapping data used is out of date and does need updating. So, you could be on a HWY and Driver + will pop a message that might say "Toll booth ahead, take control of the vehicle", but in reality, those physical toll booths were removed years ago. This is on a Major HWY (Interstate 90).
I would say Driver + works as expected. It will let you know if you go hands-free for more than 5 seconds or so, and tell you put your hands back on the wheel. As you would imagine with any autonomous driving system, it works best on a well-marked, straight section of highway without construction and / or temporary lane markings.
The centering can be jarring when passing semi trucks or cars hugging the paint. For some reason, Driver + wants to make passes closer to the parallel vehicle (that is being passed) much closer than I would pass normally/manually. That leaves less room for error for both vehicles. With perception, the SW could likely adjust the location of the vehicle from the centerline just a few inches to the left or right-of-center (before, during and after passing), provided lanes widths are perceived to be adequately wide.
I find that HWY cornering could be smoothed-out too. Driver + does not seem to be able to recognize the full radius of the entire curve in the road as it appears on GPS. The SW and perception is likely taking a fixed length of road in increments, and "stitching" curves together, so sometimes it feels like curves are taken as a sequential series of 1000' foot adjustments. It is not an easy problem to solve due to road conditions, cross winds, lane markings, and the constant need for the vehicle to re-adjust on the fly, but could probably be a bit smoother, and will likely improve over time. Of course lane switching is still a little clunky since your directional disengages Driver +, then you need to toggle back to it once centered in the new lane. This is a little when passing, moving over, then moving back as others have stated,
Driver + is just a tool. You don't use it for everything. It served me pretty well on a 400 mile run this weekend. It requires your attention, and that is a good thing with the infrastructure issues we have on major HWYs here in the Northeast, and likely everywhere else. Eventually, we will see long sections of HWY that are purpose-built for true Level 3, 4, or 5 driving opportunities. The GPS will trigger an alert on our screen when we trip a geofence, and R1T will say "engage Driver +", then you are good to go until you trip the backside of the geofence. Until then, I'm keeping my hands on the wheel AND paying full attention. I have seen a Tesla fly off the HWY down the side of an off-ramp and into the shrubbery, so I'm in no hurry for a different system. Driver + just makes road trips a little easier and assists.
I would say Driver + works as expected. It will let you know if you go hands-free for more than 5 seconds or so, and tell you put your hands back on the wheel. As you would imagine with any autonomous driving system, it works best on a well-marked, straight section of highway without construction and / or temporary lane markings.
The centering can be jarring when passing semi trucks or cars hugging the paint. For some reason, Driver + wants to make passes closer to the parallel vehicle (that is being passed) much closer than I would pass normally/manually. That leaves less room for error for both vehicles. With perception, the SW could likely adjust the location of the vehicle from the centerline just a few inches to the left or right-of-center (before, during and after passing), provided lanes widths are perceived to be adequately wide.
I find that HWY cornering could be smoothed-out too. Driver + does not seem to be able to recognize the full radius of the entire curve in the road as it appears on GPS. The SW and perception is likely taking a fixed length of road in increments, and "stitching" curves together, so sometimes it feels like curves are taken as a sequential series of 1000' foot adjustments. It is not an easy problem to solve due to road conditions, cross winds, lane markings, and the constant need for the vehicle to re-adjust on the fly, but could probably be a bit smoother, and will likely improve over time. Of course lane switching is still a little clunky since your directional disengages Driver +, then you need to toggle back to it once centered in the new lane. This is a little when passing, moving over, then moving back as others have stated,
Driver + is just a tool. You don't use it for everything. It served me pretty well on a 400 mile run this weekend. It requires your attention, and that is a good thing with the infrastructure issues we have on major HWYs here in the Northeast, and likely everywhere else. Eventually, we will see long sections of HWY that are purpose-built for true Level 3, 4, or 5 driving opportunities. The GPS will trigger an alert on our screen when we trip a geofence, and R1T will say "engage Driver +", then you are good to go until you trip the backside of the geofence. Until then, I'm keeping my hands on the wheel AND paying full attention. I have seen a Tesla fly off the HWY down the side of an off-ramp and into the shrubbery, so I'm in no hurry for a different system. Driver + just makes road trips a little easier and assists.
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15 Posts
Cool thank you. I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be up to Tesla yet nor do I 💯 trust Tesla auto pilot. Just glad to hear it isn’t as crappy as a lot of other driver assist vehicles I’ve tested. I’ll certainly be paying attention while using it.
We have had our truck for just over 2 weeks and 1000mi. In our area it’s only available on four lane highways from what I can tell. It will disable during any lane changes but I don’t find that too annoying because I do not like using it in the left lane. I find that the truck wants to hug the center line when passing to the point that it’s uncomfortable for me and the other driver so I just keep it disabled when passing and re-enable once I’m back in the right lane.
The adaptive cruise is quite good in my opinion. It keeps distance between other vehicles very comfortably and I would say it’s better than our 2018 Highlander. Now if only Rivian would program in cancel/resume…..
The adaptive cruise is quite good in my opinion. It keeps distance between other vehicles very comfortably and I would say it’s better than our 2018 Highlander. Now if only Rivian would program in cancel/resume…..
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