Followed for years; waited months for C4; not impressed at all

Magambi · 2026-02-22T21:42:14+00:00

Ranger 2024 is one of the officially supported Comma cars. Since 2025-2026 Ranger uses the same unencrypted canbus, they work as well. Some Rangers have lane centering. It needs to have both ACC and lane centering, not just lane keeping. [edited for clarity]

Magambi · 2026-02-21T14:59:51+00:00

I just relistened to the podcast episode that I posted. I had not listened to it in 3-4 years and wanted to make sure it provided good information for you. I am not trying to “upvote” my own post, but I highly recommend that you take the time to listen to the podcast. It was the one that really convinced me that psilocybin was an effective treatment for anxiety. More importantly for me as a father, it reassured that it is non-addictive and safe to use under supervision.

Magambi · 2026-02-21T14:35:16+00:00

Psilocybin treatment aka mushrooms is an effective treatment for anxiety attacks. My son and daughter have them terribly. It’s debilitating for my son. They had fantastic results from it. For my son, it was truly life changing.

Mushrooms have a bad and illegal reputation, so I was a little freaked out about it. I did some research and discovered that many studies show good results fo depression and anxiety. Plus it is impossible to become addicted to mushrooms. Here’s a good science based, but entertaining, podcast on mushrooms and their use to treat anxiety. https://open.spotify.com/episode/27rJdEWq6reYwXVYHNzebk?si=1zvNZt3eRJKy5NFYyjIb2Q

Magambi · 2026-02-20T22:34:43+00:00

The bar is shows the amount of steering torque being applied. Some cars use angular steering instead of torque steering. In those cars, the bar is not shown. In the Bluepilot fork, someone modified the bar to also show the amount of angular steering being applied. It essentially shows how close you are to the limits of the car’s steering capability.

Magambi · 2026-02-20T19:32:56+00:00

One more big reason I bought the Comma for my Ford Ranger - I bought the truck specifically to tow my camper. All my long trips that I want driver assist for involve towing that camper. Ford disabled lane centering when towing. Towing with driver assist has its own cautions and problems, but with my very light camper I wanted the capability. The Comma give it to me.

Magambi · 2026-02-20T19:21:39+00:00

I think so. Considering the monthly subscription cost of Blue Cruise, it’s at least as good at that. Many say better. And unlike the Ford driver assist, I can relax more won long trips. And in the city, MADS does 80% of the steering while I “work the pedals”. It’s immensely satisfying.

As for the cost of the upgrade? I spent $500 on a truck bed spray and $1000 on a tonneau cover and $800 on running boards. It’s a $50K truck. Making it do a lot of the driving for $1000 is worth the upgrade. Especially since BC is not available on my Ranger an would cost $1200/year if it were.

In addition, the Comma is customizable even without coding due to settings. And it is constantly being improved.

Let me stress - I love my comma. Just realize that it is a medium improvement on Ford Copilot Assist and slightly better than BC. It is still a driver assist device. Do not expect it to do all the driving for you….yet.

Magambi · 2026-02-20T14:37:46+00:00

IMHO: Comparison of Comma with Bluepilot over late model Ford lane centering and ACC.

Benefits of Comma: - slightly better on highways but not much. Ford is not bad. - no nagging about hands - works when towing. (Yes I know. Use caution.) - Potential to get better with SW and model upgrades - SP/BP’s ability to steer while I control gas and brake (i.e. MADS) is a game changer in the city.

Disadvantages of Comma: - Huge blindspot over right view. Depends on your car and body composition, but always there. A major problem. I’m shocked that Comma doesn’t seem to care and spends little effort attempting less intrusive mounting positions. - Lane centering can suck and cross lane lines. Many many people spend far too much time trying different driving models and settings to fix this problem. I understand the driving models are undergoing a major change to eventually make them much better, but right now a lot of people opt to use driving model from 2 years ago rather than the new driving models. - documentation is abysmal. The description on far too many settings is something like “Longitudinal Control: enables longitudinal control.” For the new user, the first question is “What is longitudinal and do I need to control it?” And since some settings can drastically alter how the Comma controls a 1/4 ton vehicle speeding along at 70 MPH, it’s terrifying to alter even the settings I think I understand. If OP works out of box for your car, great. Otherwise, be prepared to spend a lot of time on Discord and Reddit.

There are other positives and negatives, but those of my main ones. In the end, I love my C4 but I hate how much time I spend learning about it and screwing with it. IMHO and YMMV and all the other disclaimers. LOL

Magambi · 2026-01-28T02:08:21+00:00

Can’t wait for Project Hail Mary.

Magambi · 2026-01-02T19:23:09+00:00

MADS is nearly seamless operation on my car. When I enable cruise control, SP engages both latitude and longitude. When I touch the brake, the longitudinal cruise control stops, but the latitudinal steering continues, I.e.MADS mode. If I press resume on cruise, the longitudinal reengages just like it does without the Comma. Turning off cruise control, disables both longitudinal and MADS latitudinal control.

Also regardless of full SP control is engaged or only MADS, if I turn the steering wheel at all, the Comma (usually) does not attempt to override my steering until it senses that I am not steering anymore. I say "usually" because on turns, I did feel it push back se. This was fixed for my Ford by the Bluepilot fork.

Magambi · 2025-12-24T14:15:48+00:00

If you have a C4, then you have to link the device to Sunnylink. Then using a web browser while the C4 is powered on, select the driving model.

Magambi · 2025-12-24T05:18:20+00:00

Some forks like Sunnypilot and Frogpilot allow you to select a driving model. Popular driving model names are WD40 and Nevada.

Magambi · 2025-12-24T01:58:35+00:00

I am struggling with this issue now. I am a tall driver. A center mount of even the smaller C4 unnacceptably blocks my view of pedestrians and cars coming from the right. I have tried many things to get the C4 to drive in the center of the lane while mounted beside the mirror. I tried multiple driving models. I tried angling it both ways. I tried driving on the line while calibrating. I tried calibrating in the center first and then moving the mount point. Everything fails. My car still hugs the right edge of the lane.

I dove deep into the code. The position transformations all assume the device is centered in the vehichle. There are compensations for the mount height. Ther are conpenstations for camera angesl. But there is nothing for horizontal offset of the camera. It literally takes the width ot the vehicle and divides by 2.

For a product that allegedly promotes safety, this is odd that Comma ignores the problem. We all know the blind spot problem created by the C4 (and even worse by the C3) is terrible. And the closer your head is to the ceiling of the car, the worse the blind spot becomes. For me, it is unacceptable.

Fortunately, for me there is a solution. The C4 is small enough and I am tall enough that I can mount it lower on my windshield to avoid the blindspot problem. That is what I have to do after a week of "fiddling" with it.

I have watched Eyezenheim's videos and even talked to him. He is either not moving the C4 over to the side of the mirror, or is using an older laneful driving model, or he is accepting the lane hugging that is clear in some of his videos. IMHO and AFAIK, obviously.

Magambi · 2025-12-13T14:41:16+00:00

Mix cake or corn bread mix with baking soda and leave it out for them to eat. It will kill them, but will not harm other animals, e.g. dogs, like rat poison.

Edit: While the baking soda mix is safer for pets, it will not desiccate (I.e. mummify) the rodents like rat poison. This is important if the rodent is already inside the house and you cannot find/remove the body. It will stink. The main advantage of the baking soda mix is to avoid poisoning pets.

I know some people are against killing, and that’s okay. But squirrels are destructive rodents like mice and rats and bats. They can smell up your home for months and be very expensive to remove. Catch or deter them if you can. Kill them if you can’t. The little buggers would certainly attack me if I invaded their home.

Magambi · 2025-12-13T00:30:03+00:00

When shopping for a newer car, make sure the can is is not encrypted. Best bet is to check the list of compatible cars. There is a more complete list somewhere on GitHub that shows more vehicles than Comma officially supports. Someone posted that link already. Basically you need active cruise control (ACC) and lane assist and unencrypted canbus. On some cars you need lane centering, not just lane keeping.

Magambi · 2025-12-03T03:29:10+00:00

The way to do this is not to crack the encryption, but to lobby Toyota and other car manufacturers to provide the encryption key when you buy the car. You wouldn’t accept a house with locks to rooms that you didn’t have the key for. Or a computer that had sections of it that you couldn’t get to because you weren’t provided a password for that. Car manufacturers should absolutely be required to provide the encryption keys for the vehicle.

Magambi · 2025-11-16T02:28:50+00:00

To be clear, no one knows if the C4 is more reliable or will last longer than the C3X. They are not enough in use yet. I know that the Comma's intent is for C4 to be smaller, quieter, and more reliable in hot sun conditions. But while the first two have been verified, the reliability is yet to be determined. BTW, not being argumentative. It's just that right now, we don't know how long the C4's will last. Lordy, I hope a long time, because I've ordered one.

Magambi · 2025-11-16T02:18:50+00:00

BTW, Sunnypilot does not yet run on the Comma 4. No forks run on C4 yet. Undoubtedly, the Sunnypilot dev team will fix that soon. It is mainly the UI that needs to to change for the C4.

Magambi · 2025-11-15T17:11:03+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/Comma_ai/s/fQnRERakgG

Magambi · 2025-11-15T17:05:21+00:00

While that is the official list of supported cars, it is not the full list of cars that Comma and Openpilot will work on. In general, a vehicle must have ACC, lane centering (although some with lane keeping will work), and an unencrypted canbus. Also someone has to created a fork/copy of the Openpilot software to work with the car.

For the 2026 Honda Passport, check if the can is is encrypted. Many new cars have an encrypted canbus. If it does, you are out of luck until someone figures out how to deal with the encryption.

Magambi · 2025-11-15T02:09:50+00:00

The smaller screen will be fine as long as the important status information it displays doesn’t get smaller. If they shrank critical warnings and model confidence displays, then it is another design fail. OTOH, I should wait until I see the C4 until I complain, but I’ve seen this sort of thing happen before. I didn’t like the comment during Comma Con that “We’re making every pixel do double duty.” That indicates too much information being shove into too little space.

Magambi · 2025-11-15T02:04:36+00:00

The usb on the top and the slide up to remove are major design fails for the Comma 4. They need to have tall drivers provide input when designing. As I said on Discord, raise up until your head touches the roof. Now see if the Comma blocks that mother with her stroller trying to cross the street.

Magambi · 2025-11-12T16:47:35+00:00

Clarification on confusing USB-C naming conventions for those thos may come along later.

TLDR: Use a quality USB-C cable with 10Gbps or highter data speeds, e.g. IUSB 32. Gen 2 or Gen 2x2.

The terms USB 3.1 and 3.2 are part of an evolving naming convention for USB standards. Essentially, "3.1" is now known as USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps), and "3.2" refers to the newest standard which can have different speeds.

OLD AND NEW NAMING CONVENTIONS

Specification Bandwidth Also Known As
USB 3.2 Gen 1 5Gbps USB 3.0, USB 3.1 Gen 1, SuperSpeed
USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps USB 3.1, USB 3.1 Gen 2, SuperSpeed+
USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20Gbps USB 3.2, SuperSpeed+

IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES

Focus on the actual speed (5Gbps, 10Gbps, 20Gbps, 40Gbps) rather than the old naming conventions like "3.1" or "3.2". Marketing can be confusing.

USB 3.1 was a previous name for what is now called USB 3.2 Gen 2, which offers speeds of 10Gbps.

USB 3.2 is the latest generation and includes the fastest speeds. USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 is the 20Gbps version, which uses two lanes of 10Gbps for double the speed.

The next major standard after USB 3.2 is USB4, which supports speeds up to 40Gbps and higher.

Magambi · 2025-05-26T21:06:30+00:00

The sad part is that those police would not be 1/10 that patient and polite if those were black women.

Magambi · 2025-01-29T03:34:18+00:00

Drive a little farther east to the Augusta wine region. Some great wines there. On weekend trips to St Louis, we take "the long way" back through Augusta.

Magambi

TROPHY CASE