Tesla’s FSD has a lesser-known feature that actually lets drivers take the wheel — without actually taking the wheel. This feature was recently brought up by @HerrMan2022, and while it’s been possible to do this for a while, not many users are aware of it.
This feature allows you to "force" the car to take a specific turn and go your preferred way by using your turn signal, effectively overriding the navigation’s route on the fly.
While this feature has been available for a while, it’s not clear exactly when it was added. It even works on HW3 vehicles with FSD v12.6.4. It’s a nice alternative to disengaging FSD and making the turn yourself. This feature reminds us of a hands-off version of NVIDIA’s cooperative steering feature.
How it Works: Signaling Your Intent
For a long time, the Tesla Vision-based advanced driver assistance system has listened to turn signals for lane changes on the highway. If you wanted to move left, you flicked the stalk, and the car would look for a gap. However, at city intersections, the car was strictly a slave to the blue line on the map. If the navigation said "go straight," the car went straight, regardless of whether you had your blinker on.
Now, that’s changed. If you have a destination set and you’re approaching an intersection where the nav wants you to go straight, you can simply activate your turn signal. The car will now recognize that you want to deviate from the planned path, perform the turn, and then immediately recalibrate the navigation route to get on the track you want to take.
It’s worth noting that there is one catch: you must have a destination set for this to work. In our testing, if you’re just cruising with FSD enabled but no active navigation, the car doesn't seem to take the turn signal as a cue to force a turn. It essentially needs that anchor of a final destination to understand that you're just suggesting a different way to get there, at least for now.
Taking Control of the Route
One of the biggest pain points with Tesla’s navigation has always been the inability to define preferred routes. While you can sometimes choose a different path at the start of a trip, the car often defaults to what it thinks is the fastest route. This turn signal trick is effectively a soft override that lets you steer the AI’s decision-making without disengaging the system.
Tesla recently discontinued the one-time purchase option for FSD in the U.S., meaning new owners are now primarily accessing the tech through a monthly subscription. As more people jump onto the subscription model, these small quality-of-life features are exactly what’s needed to make the $99-a-month price tag feel worth it.
This is a subtle but important feature in how the driver interacts with the AI. Instead of the car just "doing its thing," it’s finally starting to listen to the person in the driver's seat mid-cruise.
