No. Old-school cruise sucks. But mostly because as you approach other traffic you need to stop and restart it. I use the Tesla's adaptive cruise all the time.

A few observations

1. The first few times I used EAP I was terrified that it was going to swerve off the road or into another car. It was stressful.

2. After about a week, I learned what it's good at and what it's bad at, and tend to trust it for the "good at" category of things.

3. I like a) automation and b) AI. I get a kick out of watching the car drive and think geez, this is really cool. I wonder how much of this is reinforcement learning vs hardcoded rules... blah blah

4. The autopilot only going to keep getting better.

5. Complacency - yes, definitely a risk. I'm becoming a lazy fcuk who just sits there scanning for accidents. The joy of driving is slowly dying for me.

In other news, I just got upgrade 2018.44.1, which has track mode, and supposedly improved autopilot.

How often have you driven the e46 since you got the tesla?

Twice.. To charge the battery.

I suspect this may change a) as the Tesla novelty wears odd, and b) when I go on longer trips and need more range.

I asked to better judge the overall livability of the 3. I figure the less you use the e46 (considering how much you love it) the more the 3 checks all the fits your lifestyle requirement boxes

Yeah it's pretty good.

I do notice that I like it quite a bit less with snows on it. I don't dislike the Sottozero's at all. They're quite good in the dry and my first impression was damn these are really good for snows. And I thought that since it's a bit of a numb car in the first place, the slightly squishier sidewalls and squirmier tread would just blend in and not be as noticeable.

But no, it's somehow the opposite. They don't layer well. You now have a slightly numb heavy car where you can tell the tires are being a little weird, but you can't feel enough to really figure out what is happening - so it translates to a vague feeling of being disconnected. The grippy 4S's and the immediate turn-in helps fight the numbness and give a feeling of responsiveness.

It's still a very capable daily driver and neat driving experience. But the soul isn't there. The 20" wheels and Michelin 4s's are gold. They're somehow more compliant too, when pumped up to 42psi. Don't ask me how.

Would 18 or 19 inchers with decent tires be as good as the 20's w/ 4S? Probably? Maybe? Dunnno.

Finally starting to get good news on my car…

I called the body shop today for an update. The parts have now all arrived and its slated to be the next car that starts work. ETA is about 2 weeks to get it back, unless he uncovers more damage once it's torn down.

I also notified the other insurance company that I plan to file a diminished value claim. That process will start when I get my car back… I'll also be filing for additional rental car expenses, plus fuel for the rental car.

That's great!

In other news, Tesla finally replied to my email about the $5k refund. It seems to be a real thing.

"I have submitted this refund, someone will reach out to you as soon as possible."

Different guy from the first story. Both extremely high ranking people at my company.

He's kind of not wrong about car wash mode; it's a pain in the ass to put the Model S into neutral in such a way that it doesn't go into park when you get out. You have to put it into tow mode. I haven't tried the 3 but I assume it's the same.

The wipers are very easy to shut off, though.

Did you hear anything about the $5k rebate?

Did you email about it? I read somewhere it might be only upon request.