Volkswagen: Das busted !!!!

[B Wilson]

I have a 2013 Jetta TDI diesel. Some reports are coming out saying the "fix" will reduce fuel economy by up to 10%. Right now I am averaging 4.9 L/100 km.

So if the suggested fix is accurate and fuel mileage goes up to 5.4 L/100km it's still a hell of a lot better than most cars and trucks being sold today. But also then puts it on par with the gas engine offered in the same car.

[trimmer21]

It never ceases to amaze me that the enviro-mental cases get all up on themselves over piddlin' little diesel engines in cars,but,the Cummins,Louisville,Maxxforce10 and Allisons in semis and busses all get a "bye".

[terrym]

It never ceases to amaze me that the enviro-mental cases get all up on themselves over piddlin' little diesel engines in cars,but,the Cummins,Louisville,Maxxforce10 and Allisons in semis and busses all get a "bye".

yep. And never mind the pollution that jet airplanes spew into the atmosphere. A huge part of air travel is vacationing/entertainment and not a necessity. The Eco zealots are very selective in what they "choose" yo believe in. Carbon taxes never reduce emissions, they just cause inflation and fill government coffers so they can give themselves raises.

[jaycee]

yep. And never mind the pollution that jet airplanes spew into the atmosphere. A huge part of air travel is vacationing/entertainment and not a necessity. The Eco zealots are very selective in what they "choose" yo believe in. Carbon taxes never reduce emissions, they just cause inflation and fill government coffers so they can give themselves raises.

You can also add to the above , all the small single engine aircraft that are constantly flying around I see at least 10 to 15 in our area every day, just this morning alone there have been 9 flying around.

[PaulR]

Emission testing for certification is not done with built online vehicles, all testing is done with vehicles that have been carefully prepped to ensure that they pass. Every emission device is tested before being installed onto the test vehicles, whenever there is a range for a pass/ fail of a component, the component is always selected to be in the best range to ensure a pass.
Also, emission testing is NOT done using gasoline, it is done with indolene, a much purer fuel to ensure the vehicle passes. Fuel lines and vacuum lines are also checked to make sure they seal completely before the "Shed Test", a test that looks at evaporative emissions.
No right off the line vehicle running on regular gasoline is going to pass the emissions requirements for certification. All they are proving is that if every part is perfect, every connection is tight and leak free, and the fuel is perfect, the system will be within an acceptable range, could be the bottom of the range, could be the top, but it will meet specs.

[seabast]

Emission testing for certification is not done with built online vehicles, all testing is done with vehicles that have been carefully prepped to ensure that they pass. Every emission device is tested before being installed onto the test vehicles, whenever there is a range for a pass/ fail of a component, the component is always selected to be in the best range to ensure a pass.
Also, emission testing is NOT done using gasoline, it is done with indolene, a much purer fuel to ensure the vehicle passes. Fuel lines and vacuum lines are also checked to make sure they seal completely before the "Shed Test", a test that looks at evaporative emissions.
No right off the line vehicle running on regular gasoline is going to pass the emissions requirements for certification. All they are proving is that if every part is perfect, every connection is tight and leak free, and the fuel is perfect, the system will be within an acceptable range, could be the bottom of the range, could be the top, but it will meet specs.

If you all are saying is true, why they had to cheat?

[Wahoo]

If you all are saying is true, why they had to cheat?

Good question. I'd like to hear VW explain, 'Why?' too.

[seabast]

Good question. I'd like to hear VW explain, 'Why?' too.

Well that's kind of obvious, it couldn't pass the emission test and wasn't to stop selling some of their models in NA, but really who's care about that in North America. Everyone has toys that are much worse than a VW cars, have a look at the muskokas lake in summer. Regarding fuel consumption, we know how much gas we put in a tank, the mileage with that tank and how much it cost, believing what's the computer shows us it's like believing the mileage mentioned in an ads.
VW/Audi/Seat and Skoda are pretty good cars, doesn't matter the story.

[Wahoo]

Well that's kind of obvious, it couldn't pass the emission test and wasn't to stop selling some of their models in NA, but really who's care about that in North America.

It COULD pass the emissions tests. Here is the best guess as to why that I've read:

"Volkswagen hasn't explained exactly why it cheated, but outside analysts have a good guess. The NOx emission controls likely degraded the cars' performance when they were switched on — the engines ran hotter, wore out more quickly, and got poorer mileage. Some experts have suggested that the emission controls may have affected the cars' torque and acceleration, making them less fun to drive. (Indeed, some individual car owners have been known to disable their cars' emission controls to boost performance, though this is against the law.)

In other words, Volkswagen wasn't able to produce diesel cars that had the ideal mix of performance, fuel economy, and low pollution. (Or, at least, they couldn't do this profitably.) So they "solved" this trade-off by sacrificing cleanliness and loosening the pollution controls. And they accomplished this via software designed to deceive regulators. This was wildly illegal, and they got caught."

http://www.vox.com/2015/9/21/9365667...passenger-cars

[M_P]

It never ceases to amaze me that the enviro-mental cases get all up on themselves over piddlin' little diesel engines in cars,but,the Cummins,Louisville,Maxxforce10 and Allisons in semis and busses all get a "bye".

Since 2003, heavy trucks have been subject to increasingly stricter levels of emissions controls which has caused increase in purchase price in the tens of thousands, decreased fuel economy, decreased productivity and increased maintenance costs. Most truck running down the road today are essentially scrubbers. The air coming out of the stack is cleaner than the air going into the intake filter.