As promised, here is a quick review of FSD v12.6 on my loaner Model S Plaid with AI3

First off- having End to End FSD makes the biggest difference compared to 12.5.4.2. It feels like a mini V13 to me. Noticing increased confidence, smoother lane changes and way quicker decision making. 

Have driven a few hundred miles with it already around LA trying to help friends evacuate the fires so haven’t had much time to focus on every little detail, but can easily notice and tell right away it’s a big step up over v12.5.4.2 in my 3 and in any AI3 car. 

One interesting thing I noticed is in the Standard speed profile, it is more aggressive than the Standard speed profile in my Cybertruck. It’s the perfect balance, in the CT it’s sometimes slow. 

In the Model S, in standard it moves around slow cars, occasionally using left lane and keeping up great with flow of traffic. Excellent speed control. A change I would like to see is maybe about 25% less lane changes- it sometimes gets too impatient and makes a lane change when not needed. v12.6.1 is already rolling out, so this may already be changed/improved. 

Have had a couple zero disengagement drives, only disengagement I had today is when it tried getting in the HOV lane which I have toggled off. 

Overall, big step in the right direction for AI3 cars, looking forward to getting it on my Model 3 and on the families Model Y when it’s ready.