In one embodiment, a steering control delay is measured, where the steering delay represents the delay between the time of issuing a steering control command and the time of a response from one or more wheels of an autonomous vehicle. A speed control delay is measured between the time of issuing a speed control command and the time of a response from one or more wheels of the autonomous vehicle or the time of supplying pressure to the gas pedal or brake pedal. In response to a given route subsequently, an overall system delay is determined based on the steering control delay and the speed control delay using a predetermined algorithm. Planning and control data is generated in view of the system delay for operating the autonomous vehicle.