Volkswagen under investigation over illegal software that masks pollution

[DonDubber]

Interesting comment by Audi Aus as reported in 'Go Auto' last month (8/9), re an extra 2 years factory warranty for affected Audi diesel owners in Aus - but haven't heard/seen any further details since:

Mr Doyle said the company was still trying to obtain approval from the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development (DIRD) for emissions scandal-related repairs to 16,000 Audis, despite telling GoAuto in June that approvals were expected in “the next week or so”.

“The recall itself is still officially awaiting final approval. We’re working literally daily with DIRD on getting that across the line,” he said.

“We expect that imminently again – even though we said that last time we spoke. We’re ready to go. We have 60 to 70 per cent of our models approved internationally, so it’s a matter now coming to a timing with the department which we’re very close to doing.”

Mr Doyle said repairs would consist of a sub-30 minute software download for 95 per cent of its products, and that affected customers would also receive an additional two years of warranty and roadside assistance on top of their existing packages.

Complete report is at Audi - Audi progress hindered by dieselgate stop-sale | GoAuto

[Amalgam]

British Government could prosecute VW Group | Autocar

The British Government has launched a stinging attack on the VW Group for the dieselgate emissions scandal, both for its initial cheating and its subsequent efforts to fix its wrongdoing - and as a result it is considering prosecuting officials from the firm and pushing it to pay affected UK car owners compensation.

[Amalgam]

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2016...NkM0Jk5uZT0xNQ..

German car-making giant forced to defend itself over claims its software update cause premature wear
Volkswagen has denied the software update it's made to more than 1.23 million diesel cars may actually damage the vehicles’ engines.

The accusation, made by the European Commission, were reported by German magazine, Spiegel, who says by effectively "turning-on" the firm's engines anti-pollution measures, the new software updates could inflict "greater stress" on engine components.

The Commission says its fears are based on findings from research carried out at the Vela emissions laboratory in northern Italy.

Neither experts from Vela nor the Commission itself has yet published their findings, nor explained how the updates may cause harm or premature wear.

Issuing a response to the European Commission's findings, a Volkswagen spokesman said: "The software update will have no adverse influences on [fuel] consumption or the durability of the engine and its components".

To protect consumers, the EU is now asking Volkswagen to guarantee all 1.23 million technical fixes.

"We need VW to guarantee, in a legally binding way and without any time limit, that the repairs will work and do not have any negative impact", a Commission official told newswire Reuters.

In response, Volkswagen claims that an advanced guarantee declaration is "not necessary".


Why doesn't VW provide a guarantee to their fix if it is not necessary??

Are they concerned it will come back to bite them!!

[Ryeman]

1200669[/URL]]All VW engines can meet the emissions targets but VW wanted to avoid using ad blue to do it.

Now the destruction process requires drilling a 3"/75mm hole through the engine block before it's accepted as 'recycled' by the U.S. EPA

[Amalgam]

America Figured Out A New Way Audi Cheated on Emissions Testing: Report


When the Audi starts up, its transmission engages a ‘low CO2' program, shifting gears in such a way as to keep engine revs and emissions artificially low. If the steering wheel is turned more than 15 degrees, the car deactivates the program and shifts in its normal, more pollutant fashion that burns more gas and produces more CO2.

Audi figured that the only time the car would run with the steering wheel never moving would be in a lab, on a test bed. This is a similar philosophy to the classic ‘dyno mode’ cheat that kicked off Dieselgate. It’s so simple, and apparently it was enough to get Audis to pass emissions tests in lab situations they might have never passed in real world conditions.

The cheat was only implemented on cars with an automatic transmission with an internal designation AL 551. This appears to be a particular variant of the eight-speed unit Audi sources from transmission supplier ZF, set up for Quattro models. It apparently covers several hundred thousand vehicles under the cheat, according to Bild am Sonntag’s reporting. Diesel engines and gasoline engines are both affected here, and models involved include the Audi A8, the Audi Q5 as Forbes notes, as well as the Audi Q7


http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2016...OTI5Jk5uZT0xNQ..

Volkswagen Supervisory Board boss dragged in to share manipulation investigation

In a bad weekend for the Volkswagen Group, German investigators have widened their probe into the company's share-market manipulation scandal to include the Supervisory Board’s Chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch.

[woofy]

Good times for VAG. A year on and I think its fair to say, they seem to only have dug themselves into bigger holes and more of them.

[Greg Roles]

Pretty epic stall when you think about it.

Don't worry Trump will sort those funny speaking Huns out.

[twincab]

Just wondering about the testing process. Would a "4 Motion" drive line need a 4 roller testing dyno? If so the rear wheels turning would not bring the cheat into play.

[twincab]

Thinking about it a bit longer,any pollution test is on the engine not the driveline, so a 2WD would be used unless testing individual vehicles.

[theresanothersteve]

I suspect the testing is on a test bed, not in a vehicle. Load is added dynamically to the flywheel to simulate driving conditions.