Tesla

• YouTubers put Tesla FSD to the test in a series of unusual tests on a closed test track.
• They wanted to see how the car would behave in situations similar to road rage or when other cars make sudden maneuvers in its vicinity.
• The car’s automated driving proved compelling in this video, though that doesn’t necessarily reflect its real-world performance.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) isn’t perfect and it’s not good enough to be legal in Europe yet, but it still attempts to go above and beyond what highway-only automated driving assistance systems will do. Relying on the Tesla’s onboard cameras, it’s designed to navigate urban environments—and may just deal with road rage, too.

Out of Spec Reviews teamed up with Dirty Tesla to push FSD’s buttons on a track with no other traffic around and it’s pretty surprising how it reacts to simulated aggressive driving from another car. They genuinely try to sideswipe the FSD-enabled Model 3, and the car swerves to avoid the aggressor better than a human driver could in that situation.

After being repeatedly pestered by the other car, the Model 3 seemingly decides on its own that the best course of action is to turn around and not drive in the same direction as the other car. This behavior seems genuinely remarkable. While we knew FSD was capable of avoiding potential hazards by steering around them, we didn’t know it could actually turn around on its own like that.

Once it detects that the other driver is being aggressive, the car will try to increase the distance to the other driver by slowing down after being overtaken. Even when the other car is driving toward it head-on, it notices and begins braking long before it gets close. Even in scenarios that don’t try to imitate road rage, like a parked car suddenly pulling out in front of a Tesla on FSD, it does a great job stopping with surprisingly little drama.

Even if another driver tries to force the Tesla off the road, it will choose to go off the tarmac rather than hitting the other car, even if that means going on the grass (with the driver pressing on the accelerator pedal to keep the car rolling). All of this is really fascinating to see in action, since these situations rarely occur in real-world driving, though none can be ruled out.

The car in the video was running FSD Supervised version 14.1.7, which isn’t the latest version—that’s 14.2, launched on Nov. 20. Tesla is currently the only manufacturer that has implemented this automated driving technology into its vehicles, even though it is interested in sharing it with other companies. However, there are currently no takers, which recently made company boss Elon Musk go on X to say other automakers had “unworkable requirements” that prevented them from implementing FSD.

While FSD is improving, it remains controversial, and dangerous if used without close human supervision. The technology is the subject of multiple federal investigations and has even drawn a lot of criticism for its name, which many have deemed misleading. Regulators are still treating it with caution, nowhere more so than in Europe, where it’s unclear if it will ever be approved for use on public roads. It’s hard to say when or if that day will come, but for now at least, it does seem to be improving on U.S. roads.

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