Two Tesla household HW3 and HW4

So bummed that we were told years ago the hardware in our cars would take us all the way. But those of us with HW3 are left out in the cold.

Yes stopping too long at a stop sign and other human drivers may think you are yielding even though you are there earlier for a good second or two. Same with lane change because FSD is too polite and will only wait for safe distance but many human drivers on the other lane they either don’t slow down or just speed up so rarely it could miss an exit or turn. Don’t get me wrong FSD is doing the right thing it is more an issue with all those bad humans out there so I can understand Skynet’s POV

What are the software versions you are comparing? Is it the latest for HW3 and 4?

You can nudge it to go or roll through a stop sign by pressing the accelerator.

My hw3 slows for speed bumbs, not all of them but most.

I rented FSD for a road trip in my 2019. I turned it off and preferred advanced auto pilot. Last year I took advantage of the 24 Hour Test Drive and was blown away with how good FSD was. I still wouldn’t pay $8,000 for it but I’d likely rent it once or twice a year for long road trips.

They will eventually make good on HW3 cars (at least for those who have fully purchased FSD) or the class action suits will take care of it.

Thanks for your reply. Just confirming though, nothing has happened yet, right? I hope you are right, especially because EM said that cars would have the right hardware to go to level five. Obviously a blatant lie, no surprise there. But in the meantime, we are out in the cold.

My HW3 does great. Takes me from home to city round trip no issues. Just won’t park itself

Nothing has happened yet beyond the announcement of v14 lite planned for HW3 cars by Q2 2026 and mentions in earnings calls that they will need to do “something” for HW3 owners of FSD, correct. However, after purchasing FSD on my 2018 M3 in 2019 and getting the HW3 upgrade for free, I am fairly confident that something will eventually be done, but they need to know what is the bare minimum for unsupervised FSD first before they release any hardware upgrade plans (probably a HW4.5/5 that is better sized/positioned to be able to fit in both the HW3 and HW4 footprint for easier upgrades). We shall see if wide deployment of unsupervised happens this year or not. 🤞

It’s gotten pretty irritated with me doing that a few times now.

12.6.4 vs 14.2.2.3

There's only hints of plans. Code has appeared recently that implies you can tell a computer in the car that the hardware configuration of the car has changed. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lS_8afPfHM4 This would be a quiet step for an upgrade.

I think it was bureaucratically required to follow the law that says you must truly stop, but since no human does that, it’s the most glaringly obvious misbehavior that confuses others and annoys the driver.

It's really a matter of FSD ~~13~~ 12 vs. FSD 14, but right now they can't fit FSD 14 into a HW3 processor.

12 vs 14

D'oh, you're right.

My HW3 car (2021 Model 3) is a MILLION times better than my wife’s HW4 (2024 Model Y) My 3 just responds so much better. Actually accelerates etc. The Y even when on my same settings (Hurry) as my 3 drives like I’m an 84 year old grandpa just trying to get to the market. I think from everything I’m reading I’m in the minority on this though. All settings are the same but the HW3 performs much better

What does that mean? My HW4 car has never “gotten irritated” when I nudge the accelerator through a Stop sign with no one else around.

Correct. Rolling stops were in FSD a while back but NHTSA made them remove it.

The difference you're seeing in FSD is mostly in the software version and not the hardware itself. HW4 on previous version was pretty much on par with HW3. So maybe when HW4 gets v14 lite it'll behave almost the same as HW4, though I have seen plenty of videos comparing the 2 right now and they're already almost identical. I have HW3 and honestly the car does everything perfectly fine and I haven't had any issues or errors that required my intervention.

Samesies, my 2023 got left behind too quickly :(

😢

Same here. Commutes me 100+ miles round trip regularly. Is it annoying at times with the lane changes? Yep. But still a good product

I saw a post or video where someone needed to scrub a hazy film off their cameras and the car started driving much better.

It flashes in red like a collision is eminent with crossing traffic or flashes blue saying it won’t brake

If it’s any conciliation HW4 will be sunset in 2027 too.

Hmph…. appreciate the heads up. But it is no consolation as I do not want more people in the same boat as me. Insert sad sigh here.

I absolutely agree. I have the same experience. We have 2021 m3 performance and a 2025. This last free trial month December through January in the 2025 sold me on it. I'm now a subscriber. It does a spectacular job now

You’re doing it too aggressively then, the system is designed to let you softly coax it through situations it’s uncertain.

I heard that Ryzen vs Atom makes a difference too...

Likely, they will also need to solve space, power budget and cooling challenges that come with later hardware. I could imagine that they wait for something like HW 5.2 - and then underclock it enough so it doesn’t require rewirering the whole car. This is actually stuff that Tesla is quite good at.

Full disclosure: I don't have FSD, and only tried it during free periods. Also, please don't roll through stop signs in my hood: we have lots of pedestrians. Despite those things, I am also annoyed at grandpa mode. However, I wouldn't if it wasn't forced to be supervised. Needing to watch it all happen is what makes it terrible. If I could just read a book until I magically arrive, I wouldn't care at all.

Yes this is where I’m at now. I’m not worried because we’ll either get HW4/5 retrofits or some combination of software and hardware enhancements to make good on unsupervised. Otherwise we will get our money back in the class action because no amount of rebranding or otherwise can be erase the clear history of public statements that led HW3 owners to buy FSD, and would be the most clear cut case of false advertising

I got a 2023 LR like a month ago. I FSD everywhere. 80% of the time it’s perfect

Similar situation as you but I’m up in canada. When I bought my MY, I moved FSD from my M3 H3 to the MY with HW4. It is pretty good in the winter but there’s some situations where I just take over because I know there isn’t enough training data for some unique tricky situations. For stop signs, if you want to push it forward, lightly push the accelerator. I do it all the time because I feel like it’s way too conservative sometime.

What about pot holes. Does it avoid pot holes too? That’s what I’m dying to see.

Not too much of an issue here, but it has avoided road debris.

Yeah i just got my first Tesla last august (new AWD MY) and it’s incredible to see how far HW4 has advanced even in just half a year since then. The stop sign thing is annoying but unfortunately one of those things they used to allow but got fined for by the NHSTA so don’t expect it back anytime soon. Cant really blame Tesla here. I find it rather easy to just give it a little gas pedal encouragement as it will always do a 100% stop in my experience before creeping forward otherwise. I’ve actually had no issues with how it drives in heavy rain, fog, or snow. Turning on The “slippery surface” mode was pretty essential for icy conditions though which I think is only an AWD or more premium option. For reference, It drove under the speed limit when any full ground snow covage was visble even in mad max mode. Personally my only gripes are last 500ft related now. Poor parking and some navigation issues since they merged the navigation into the visual AI software with v14

This may not be true... Tesla just got a new US Patent on a fascinating ingenious way (to us EE types) to use HW3 redundant processors - to perform what was assumed to be impossible for HW3. Look up Kim Java videos, most recent

Thank you for this! Someone else suggested that same video. And I watched it and it gave me a little bit of hope. I appreciate you suggesting it too.