Men install $999 Autopilot into five-year-old Toyota Corolla and take it on drive to see how good it is

Published on Jul 08, 2025 at 7:06 AM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson

Last updated on Jul 07, 2025 at 7:30 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Emma Matthews

These men installed a $999 Autopilot into a five-year-old Toyota Corolla and took it on a drive to test how good it is.

Linus Tech Tips used the Comma 3x and the Open Pilot software to turn their car into a self-driver.

Through this approach, they made it one of the cheapest self-driving cars out there.

But a larger question loomed – how would this thing handle itself out on the road?

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Taking a Toyota Corolla with an Autopilot out for a drive

As you might expect, taking a newly installed Autopilot out for a drive is a nerve-wracking experience.

There’s only so much trust you can have in a piece of technology after all.

After selecting a ‘Standard’ driving personality, they were off.

It didn’t take long for things to get a little hairy, as the Autopilot delayed in turning sufficiently on a corner.

“One thing that it doesn’t do yet…” one of the hosts commented.

“When you’re on the highway and there’s a corner, it’s not going to slow down based on that.

“The [autopilot] can do it based on the view and also using satellite data, but you can be on a highway and it will still try to do 100 on an aggressive corner.”

That…sounds like it’d be a problem.

The human driver did find he had to step in a few times.

“I’m definitely finding driving myself a lot less stressful,” he remarked.

A roundabout wasn’t much fun to navigate either.

But perhaps these were growing pains – the crew noted that things seemed to improve as time went by.

By the end of the video, they were feeling generally positive about the technology and its future potential.

Self-driving cars: A fad or the future?

We’re seeing more and more cars with Autopilot technology these days, particularly coming out of Tesla’s factories.

People have different feelings about the tech, whether they be a retired bus driver or a mom.

And then there have been those who have put the Autopilot up to the test.

These tests have included a cross-country road trip and a Wile E. Coyote-style wall.

Whether or not the technology will be the norm in a few years’ time remains to be seen.

To see Linus Tech Tips test it out in a Toyota Corolla, visit their YouTube channel.

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Ben Thompson is a Senior Content Writer at supercarblondie.com. Ben has more than four years experience as a qualified journalist, having graduated with a Multimedia Journalism degree from News Associates. Ben specializes in writing about Teslas, tech and celebrity car collections.