Volkswagen under investigation over illegal software that masks pollution

[Ryeman]

To early to make any judgment on the issue.
I haven't heard what percentage it was above national regulations for the appropriate country.
Things need to be more clearer in those areas firstly. Possibly Australia's EPA requirements are already being met by VW? Even though guilt has ready been admitted by Volkswagen for tampering with software we all need to know what actual readings were.

Apparently the U.S. NOx emmissions failure rate was almost 40 times over.
At that rate I wonder what national regulator would accept that rate.
Half a million in the U.S.
11 million 'admitted' world wide.
Thats the point .....VAG management have 'admitted' to this scandal.
As far as VAG management are concerned they accept that they have to fix the problem.

VAG have set aside $US7.3 billion to fix (NY Times) the U.S. 500,000 vehicles
Would that equate to $US14.6 thousand per car?...(..its getting a bit late in the night here)

[theresanothersteve]

Ever since we have been greenwashed by the media and fuel economy and emissions have been used as a selling point we have been sold compromised vehicles aimed at the testing process more than real world requirements. (Not only with cars, whitegoods manufacturers have been pinged for similar 'offences'). Cars that change into higher gears at stupidly low speeds, ludicrous gear ratios, and things like this are all designed for economy and emissions, not the driving experience.

I would expect this to be common practice, and this the tip of the iceberg. If VAG are doing it with diesel I'd expect it with petrol as well. They just haven't been caught yet, and could well apply a software upgrade on the quiet when your vehicle is next serviced. And it won't be limited to VAG...

Consider the number of people who complain their cars, particularly those in the economy sector, don't get anywhere near the test figures.

[Guest001]

Well according to what I have read it pertains to EA 189 engines

Mine has a CFG so hopefully isnt included

[kamold]

That's what they are saying, but in theory wouldn't you think it would be any TDI that doesn't have diesel exhaust treatment?

[Eaglehawk]

And what does the "fix" involve? ECU reprogramming? Does that mean we lose power and/or economy? Can we refund our vehicles? (The specs now don't match what we bought...)

[Guest001]

That's what they are saying, but in theory wouldn't you think it would be any TDI that doesn't have diesel exhaust treatment?

No I think its the ones that DO have exhaust treatment and they alter the ECU to enable it to give false readings.

Its the ones that dont have adblue and have to adhere to USA emissions tests which apparently are different to Euro ones which our cars comply with. The old timers with no treatment at all just puff the blacks unmolested LOL

Anyway my Passat does 6.1 on a trip lightly loaded so Im not upset.

Anyone who expects to get the published so called achievable readings is in lala land. I dont know anyone who can get what they reckon is normal due to the way they drive when doing the test.

The Mercedes buses I drove used Adblue and ran nice and clean and were to Euro 5 specs. Still only did 3.5K per L on a good day from a 9L Turbo motor.

[Guest001]

And what does the "fix" involve? ECU reprogramming? Does that mean we lose power and/or economy? Can we refund our vehicles? (The specs now don't match what we bought...)

The published so called achievable specs never match real world driving figures. If you think they do maybe you believe in fairies as well.

ROFL

I take their figures with a grain of salt or 3 or 4 and buy it for what I like about it Economy is not the prime reason

[kamold]

Engines with Adblue meet the N0x emissions standards. They are not subject to this fiasco.
Its specifically the N0x emissions, not C02 or particulates.

The smaller engines without treatment are the ones which are at fault here.

Seems VW weren't able to meet the requirements for engines without exhaust treatment without resorting to gaming the tests, despite their 'Clean Diesel' claims.

And VW have admitted 11m engines worldwide are running the same software, so you would have to think most of the 2.0L CR engines in various tunes are affected to make up that number, as only .5m are in the US.

[kamold]

The 'fix' would either have to enable 'bench emissions test mode' permanently, which would presumably negatively affect performance and economy, or a hardware fix that enables the engines to pass the N0x test with the cheat mode disabled permanently.

[Eaglehawk]

The published so called achievable specs never match real world driving figures. If you think they do maybe you believe in fairies as well.

ROFL

I take their figures with a grain of salt or 3 or 4 and buy it for what I like about it Economy is not the prime reason

I'm not talking about achieving the same specs in the brochure. I'm talking about the fix actually hobbling other aspects of the engine that will in fact not match what the current output of the engine is currently achieving. (Whether it is power output, fuel economy, or torque curve...)