OT: VW cheating emissions on TDI vehicles

[ergott]

Originally Posted by binxnyrwarrsoul

Back in high school, a buddy's Dad had one of those "Estates," incredible how something so huge on the outside was in fact quite small inside. Very cool "power" window in the tailgate/rear door, iirc. And musta had marshmallows for suspension. Good times.

I had an '83 Buick Estate wagon. That thing could fit a 4X8 sheet of plywood inside flat between the wheel wells. I wouldn't call that small inside.

Plus, wagons are low enough to have a useable roof carrier.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

Originally Posted by ergott

I had an '83 Buick Estate wagon. That thing could fit a 4X8 sheet of plywood inside flat between the wheel wells. I wouldn't call that small inside.

Plus, wagons are low enough to have a useable roof carrier.

Love that pic. Shoulda said small as in legroom and arm room with the living room furniture like seats. But yes the "bumpy" flat floor when the seats folded down in back was pretty big for, um plywood.

I happen to love wagons and if the Acura TSX had some balls and AWD or an E-Class 4Matic/5 Series X-Drive wagon wasn't so pricey and was more reliable, I'd own one. Have a'10 Outback, just not the same.

[dawgie]

Another interesting sideline to this whole scandal is the effect of the VW software changes on fuel economy. To anyone who has researched the TDIs, it was apparent that their fuel economy was much better than the official EPA estimates. I track my gas mileage through the fuelly.com website, which is used by thousands of VW owners. The reported fuel economies by TDI owners has been consistently higher than EPA ratings for many years. Often times, the opposite is true -- that is, car owners have trouble reaching the EPA estimates unless they drive like grannies. However, almost all TDI owners reported mileages better than expected. Another bit of evidence that VW was gaming the system.

BTW, my Golf 2.5 with the gasoline engine struggles to meet the EPA mpg ratings.

[fuzzalow]

One more thing about being paranoid about software: there's not a big enough worry and danger about software the runs the CPU in a car. That is small beans. This was a cheat that dirtied the air illegally, not a software glitch that would turn the car off while in traffic and get you killed.

You wanna get paranoid about something, worry about any network router from any foreign manufacturer that might have proprietary software implemented into that routers firmware. THAT is NOT small beans.

[zap]

edit

Originally Posted by zap

VW will have a new chief..if not tomorrow then by the end of this work week.

....and it has started.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0RL0II20150923

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by zap

edit



....and it has started.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0RL0II20150923

i bet there were a lot of very pointed meeting held at the offices of the other auto giants this week.

[Climb01742]

CEO out.

'"I accept responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines, Mr. Winterkorn, who had headed the company since 2007, said in a statement.'

Dude, they weren't 'irregularities'. VW lied, cheated, broken the motherf-ing law(s) in many places. Yes, the lawyers vetted his statement but still, corporations, by and large, suck.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

Originally Posted by zap

edit



....and it has started.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0RL0II20150923

Quit as in being told, here is your letter of resignation, sign it.

[bcroslin]

I just happened to be be listening to the Diane Rehm show this morning and the panelists were talking about VW. One of them works with the NGO from WV that identified the issue. They were in agreement that a fix will likely include new ECU software AND an additional mechanical fix. One of the panelists mentioned that if the fix was going to be easy VW would have already patched the ECU ahead recent California emissions testing. I'm guessing the fix that VE eventually rolls out will likely include urea injection like in the 2016 models.

[zap]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i bet there were a lot of very pointed meeting held at the offices of the other auto giants this week.

Certainly in France.

[p nut]

Still interested to see how the actual fix will impact performance in power, and more importantly, in MPG. Real world, not e-theories (no offense to any here). I won't lie: I was very tempted by the TDI mileage and range.

[echelon_john]

This is awesome for two reasons:
1. The typo in paragraph three that makes the quote more believable
2. The incredibly sophisticated algorithm that generated the ad at the bottom.

Oy vey.

[SlackMan]

Originally Posted by goonster

Their 600,000 employees worldwide would be disappointed.

Deliberate fraud is very bad, but that's not a constructive or proportional remedy.

That's the unfortunate (and ugly) reality of many outcomes when corporate executives behave badly--the employees and the shareholders suffer big time, while the execs often get away with a slap on the hand. I think it would be very useful to distinguish between those who actually decided to misbehave and the other parties associated with the firm.

In the present case, the shareholders of VW surely did not decide to commit fraud, but they are bearing a huge cost for the actions of the execs who ran their company. I get it that the shareholders benefited from the fraud, but I doubt that they would have approved the 'fraud strategy' had they known about it.

[farmersam]

Originally Posted by dawgie

Another interesting sideline to this whole scandal is the effect of the VW software changes on fuel economy. To anyone who has researched the TDIs, it was apparent that their fuel economy was much better than the official EPA estimates. I track my gas mileage through the fuelly.com website, which is used by thousands of VW owners. The reported fuel economies by TDI owners has been consistently higher than EPA ratings for many years. Often times, the opposite is true -- that is, car owners have trouble reaching the EPA estimates unless they drive like grannies. However, almost all TDI owners reported mileages better than expected. Another bit of evidence that VW was gaming the system.

BTW, my Golf 2.5 with the gasoline engine struggles to meet the EPA mpg ratings.

Good point. I've had 3 different gasoline VWs and the only way to meet or exceed EPA mpg ratings is by hypermiling. Checked TDIs on ebay today...many listings have been pulled, and auctions have few bids.

[christian]

I think I'm buying a used private-party TDi today. Prices looking good.