Remember when cruise control was the coolest thing ever? You could just set your speed and relax your foot on those long highway stretches. I just spent the past few months testing something that lets you drive for hours without even touching the wheel - even on a nearly 10 year old Honda Civic.
It's called the Comma 3X.
Never heard of it? Most people haven't.
But after thousands of kilometers of letting it basically drive me around Saskatchewan - and across Canada - I've got some thoughts.
What exactly is this thing?
The Comma 3x is a sleek black device about the size of a thick smartphone that sticks to your windshield. Three cameras peek out - two watching the road ahead, one keeping an eye on you.
The whole setup costs about $999 USD, or about $1370 CAD. You'll also need to purchase a $99 USD connector to install it in your vehicle. Not exactly pocket change, but this little box turns most regular cars into something pretty close to a self-driving vehicle.
Well, sort of. Let me explain.
The installation adventure
You know that feeling when you're equal parts excited and terrified you'll break something expensive? That was me, sitting in my driveway with the installation guide for the Comma 3x pulled up on my phone. Though I'd installed an earlier version years ago (the Comma 3, which had served me faithfully until it died in the spring) it didn't make prying the plastic covering my 2016 Honda Civic's radar unit any less nerve-wracking.
The 3x doesn't require any permanent modification to the car; it essentially plugs into two places: your car's existing camera system (for lane keep assist), and the OBD2 port. The rest is cable management.
The whole process this time around took me about 25 minutes, though most of that time was spent trying to fit everything back under the rearview mirror's plastic cover.
The mount is theoretically supposed to cure for 48hrs - though I can't say I'm that patient.
Openpilot
Once you've got the device itself setup, you need to download openpilot - this is the open source software made by Comma that makes the whole thing work.
It takes the inputs from your car and the onboard cameras to control steering, acceleration and braking to keep you in your lane, stop at red lights and stop signs, change lanes and handle highway driving for you - without your hands even needing to be on the wheel.
I actually use something called Sunnypilot which is a fork of openpilot. It has some features I prefer such as always-on lane centering (even when cruise isn't set) and customizable alerts - stock openpilot has a lot of noises with activation, disactivation, etc that can get annoying. Otherwise it works pretty much the same.
First drive
Your first drive with the device includes a quick calibration (you have to drive about 1km or so at a normal speed) and then you're off!
The Comma 3X takes your car's existing adaptive cruise control and lane keeping features and basically puts them on steroids.
It doesn't need lines, it doesn't need your hands on the wheel (it tracks your eyes to make sure you're watching the road), it doesn't even need you to stop for red lights. The best description I have for it is 'driving on rails'.
When you activate it, driving your vehicle feels more like supervising a train. You feel 'stuck' in the centre of your lane, even if there aren't lines - it's shockingly good at figuring out where the car should be. Of course you can easily overpower the steering wheel if you need to.
If a car cuts in front of you, it'll brake naturally; if you're following a vehicle it'll slow and keep a safe gap as you'd expect any adaptive cruise control to do.
Perhaps most interesting in the city is its ability to recognize, slow down and stop for red lights and stop signs. And, it will start going again when the light turns green (though I usually help it along, as it can be slow to start). With that said, it took me a good while to actually trust it enough to do this - there's a weird feeling when your cruise control is set to 50km/hr, your hands off the wheel and foot off the brake, while vehicles are whizzing across the intersection in front of you.
Highway magic
The Comma 3x easily shines most on the highway. You can drive hours without touching the wheel or either pedal. If you want to change lanes, just turn your signal light on and nudge the steering wheel.
Now, you might argue a system like this makes drivers more complacent, but if anything I'd say it makes me a safer driver.
It's hard to fully appreciate the cognitive load it actually takes to keep your vehicle centered in a lane - especially the case in strong wind, winding roads or poor visibility.
Just last week I was taking the drive back from Calgary after a weekend of Stampeding and visiting relatives when we were hit with a torrential downpour that knocked visibility way down.
The Comma 3x stayed active, perfectly centred in the lane and didn't miss a beat even while I started to struggle. Its cameras really shine even in poor visibility. While my hands were absolutely on the wheel and foot hovering the brake, I didn't need to intervene and was able to commit more attention to other vehicles without having to compensate for the gusts or second-guessing the edge of the road.
Even this weekend, I was driving back from a wedding when the semi we had just pulled up behind hit a large deer. You can bet I was thankful to be able to spend the rest of the 2.5hr highway journey scanning the shoulder for wildlife instead of trying to stay centred in my lane and avoiding oncoming traffic on a curve in the single-lane highway highway.
Reality check
Now, before you think this is some miracle device, let me bring you back to earth. The Comma 3x is not self-driving. There are no automatic turns at intersections, no navigating parking lots, no pulling into your driveway.
Think of it more like the world's best cruise control rather than a chauffeur.
The quirks and catches
Not every car is compatible. The Comma website lists over 300 supported models, but they need to have adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist as a starting point. Some work better than others, and some models have limitations like requiring a certain speed to enable.
The biggest downside on my setup is the limited steering torque of my Honda Civic 2016 Touring. It's not an issue 90% of the time, but with even particularly sharp curves the device will beep to tell me it needs some help - a limitation of the Honda software, not hardware. It's possible to do a so-called 'torque mod' that solves this issue but details and sparse and it's not recommended for safety.
The money question
Let's talk dollars and sense. At $1,000 USD (about $1,350 CAD), it's not cheap. But compared to what? Tesla charges around $10,000 for Full Self-Driving. Most luxury cars with similar features cost $60,000 and up. Even aftermarket competitors are sparse and often pricier.
There are a couple of other hardware devices that run openpilot - but when it's something as important as safety on the road, I'd stick with the company behind the software itself. Comma has also learned from prior generations how to build hardware that lasts in some seriously extreme conditions in a vehicle. Here in Saskatchewan, the 3x is exposed -40°C to +40°C with that top number reaching much higher in direct sunlight.
For what you get - essentially Tesla Autopilot-level highway driving for any compatible car - it feels like a bargain.
Especially if you do a lot of highway driving, like to the cabin, it makes it so much easier and safer when the car's doing most of the work.
The verdict
After thousands of kilometers using it, would I recommend the comma 3X?
If you regularly do long highway drives and your car is compatible, absolutely.
It has transformed driving from a chore to something enjoyable.
comma's official motto is make driving chill - and the comma 3x lives up to that.
You can take in the scenery, be a safer driver and still easily take over when you need to.
Is it perfect? No. Will it drive you to work while you nap? Definitely not. But for making highway driving less exhausting and more enjoyable? It's a game changer.
Keep in mind, you're still the driver. Keep your eyes on the road, hands near the wheel, and enjoy the glimpse into the future of driving.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a trip to the lake to pack for. And for once, I'm actually looking forward to the drive.
Join the Conversation