Even among diehard, financially committed, long-time Tesla fans, a healthy dose of scepticism has followed the stop-start development of its self-driving software.

But Peter Thorne, head of Australia's Tesla Owners Club, saw some of that doubt melt away when its members took turns behind the wheel of a Tesla with Full Self-Driving mode enabled in Sydney.

The group let the software drive the car around big and small roundabouts, tight turns, busy intersections, long driveways and, Mr Thorne says, they rarely tapped the brake or took the wheel to stop it.

"One of the things we watched was how long it took for (drivers) to drop their hands from the steering wheel," he tells AAP.

"They were all pretty nervous to start with but one guy did it in just under five minutes and one guy did it in

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