Tesla began pushing firmware 2026.27.6 on 8 September 2026. For Hardware 3 cars it carries FSD (Supervised) v14.2 Lite, the second version bump the cut-down branch has had. For Hardware 4 cars it carries v14.3.9 — the build TeslAnt covered when it shipped inside firmware 2026.27.5 two days earlier.
The Lite half is the new part. It is also, read against the previous release, unchanged.
The v14.2 Lite notes are the v14.1 Lite notes
Tesla's Lite section in 2026.27.6 runs to six bullets. Every one of them already appeared, in the same words, in the v14.1 Lite section of firmware 2026.26.6.5 on 26 August.
| Bullet in the v14.2 Lite notes | Also in v14.1 Lite |
|---|---|
| Distilled the intelligence from HW4 V14 into HW3 | Yes, verbatim |
| Improved proactive and reactive responsiveness — navigation, merges and forks, pedestrians, traffic lights, cut-ins | Yes |
| Improved comfort: fewer false slowdowns, smoother steering, more consistent lane centring | Yes |
| Introduced parking, unparking and reversing capabilities | Yes |
| Arrival Options — Parking Lot, Street or Driveway | Yes |
| Speed Profiles available at all times | Yes |
Nothing in the published notes separates v14.2 Lite from v14.1 Lite except the number. TeslAnt documented all six items when v14.1 Lite reached HW3 in firmware 2026.21.6 on 9 August. "Introduced parking, unparking, and reversing capabilities" is the line worth watching: it is a month old, and it is the one most likely to be re-reported this week as something v14.2 Lite has just added.
What that does not mean
A reprinted changelog is not proof the software is identical. Lite is a distilled branch whose entire purpose is to inherit HW4 work, and the HW4 stack did move in this window — v14.3.8 to v14.3.9. The teacher changed even if the student's notes did not.
What it does mean is that Tesla has published no description of the difference. Anyone claiming to know what v14.2 Lite improves is inferring it, not reading it.
Model S and X are still not on the list
The Lite section names Model 3 and Model Y. It does not mention Model S or Model X. That is the question HW3 S and X owners have been waiting on, and v14.2 Lite answers it in the negative for another release cycle.
Rollout status
Early, as usual. NotATeslaApp tracked 2026.27.6 at three cars and effectively 0% of the fleet on release day, with 79.7% still on 2026.26. A standing start says nothing about quality; it only means nobody has driven enough kilometres on v14.2 Lite for a verdict to exist.
Europe is still not on this branch
FSD v14 Lite has never been released in Europe. Its only market outside North America remains South Korea, which received it in firmware 2026.20.7.5, restricted to US-built cars, and Tesla has since been building a Lite release for Australia and New Zealand without naming Europe. European FSD cars are on a different branch entirely: 2026.27.200, carrying FSD 14.2.2.6, the build that shipped the EU pole side impact recall remedy.
That gap is why a version number that changed nothing is still worth recording. The roughly 7,900 European owners pressing Tesla over what HW3 was sold as capable of are arguing about what the older computer can be made to do, and distillation is Tesla's answer to them in software. A silent bump is not much of an answer — and in a bloc where FSD (Supervised) is recognised in six member states, it is not one European HW3 owners can test for themselves.
Update: 2026-09-09
On 9 September 2026, Tesla's release notes settled what the reprinted Lite bullets did not: Automatic Collision Evasion is exclusive to Hardware 4. That matters here because HW3 and HW4 cars receive the same firmware, 2026.27.6 — an HW3 owner installing it gets v14.2 Lite without the collision-evasion feature the same build advertises for AI4 cars. The first owner reports also arrived. On Lite specifically, testers describe more confident parking, including reversing into tight third-party charging stalls, more natural curbside pull-overs with usable clearance, better speed management through obstacles using regenerative braking, and improved lane pre-selection that avoids being boxed in. Steering-wheel wobble at around 40 mph (64 km/h) is reduced but not eliminated. It is the first account of what v14.2 Lite changes that does not come from Tesla's own reprinted notes.