Texas man tests out Tesla Full Self Driving's Mad Max mode on unplowed snowy roads

A guy tested out Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Mad Max mode on snow-covered roads during a winter weather advisory to see how the technology handled it.

Since it was launched, Tesla drivers have been putting FSD through all sorts of tests, from a coast-to-coast trip across the US to tackling construction sites in South Korea. 

YouTuber Dirty Tesla recently took advantage of a recent bout of snowy weather to put FSD V.14.2.1 to the test. 

And the results were pretty interesting – FSD seemed to handle things well on the whole, but it wasn’t entirely faultless.

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Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Mad Max mode offers a more aggressive driving style

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving offers a range of different driving modes, including Sloth, which is slower than the speed limit, and Standard, which drives at normal speed and adjusts its speed to match other road users. 

At the top end of the scale is Mad Max mode, which ‘drives more quickly than in the Hurry profile, with more frequent lane changes’. 

But how would this more aggressive driving mode handle roads covered in snow?

Dirty Tesla put it to the test and found that, despite its forceful-sounding name, FSD’s Mad Max mode appeared to be very aware of the condition and acted accordingly.

The Tesla drove slowly, at speeds of between 17 and 20mph, whereas it would normally do more than 40mph on dry roads. 

The Tesla also appeared to follow tire tracks and stuck to them, rather than veering off into thicker snow, all of which left the YouTuber impressed. 

“I’m so happy with this versus the older version,” he said.

“This is, like, good snow driving.” 

It even managed to tackle a steep snow-covered hill without snow tires, and with only minimal slipping. 

But FDS did hit a few problems, and the driver had to step in

For the most part, FSD V.14.2.1 performed exceptionally well in tough conditions. 

But it didn’t all run entirely smoothly. 

The car failed to notice a speed limit sign that was covered in snow, although it did manage to ‘read’ another that was only partially covered. 

When he took the Tesla onto an untreated parking lot, the car struggled to see the parking lines, which would likely be true of a human driver. 

However, the car then drove the wrong way down a one-way road, which the YouTuber swiftly reported. 

It then drove right over a snow-covered curb, prompting the driver to take over from FSD. 

“So there you go. 14.2.1, we got it to fail in the snow,” he said. 

Despite the handful of mistakes from FSD, the driver was still impressed with its overall performance and said it showed big improvements over previous versions. 

You can check out the full video here.

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