OT: VW cheating emissions on TDI vehicles

[denapista]

Just in time when I want to buy a Golf Sportwagen. They won't be able to give those things away after this debacle. $24k for a loaded SE will now be way lower than that! I'm excited. Going to get out of my falling apart A4 Avant and get a TDI Golf Sportwagen.

[ultraman6970]

Shares are going down... who needs a new car? :P

[CSTRider]

I think VW should hire Lance as a spokesperson - he can go on Oprah and tell the world that everyone is doing it and it's just not possible to pass an EPA test without cheating.

(It's impossible for any thread to reach 10 pages without bringing LA into the discussion ...)

[Ken Robb]

My morning newspaper states that there is a "Stop Sales" order on VW/Audi diesels. Considering the high percentage of VW sales that are diesels I wonder how many dealers will fold if this isn't solved quickly.

[PQJ]

Damn. Cue class action lawsuits from dealers, too. "This sucker could go down."

[velomonkey]

Here is what I love.

The BMW X5 passed the tests no problem (a great car, a buddy and my parents have the diesel and it works with great MPG)

It was only when they wouldn't certify 2016 cars that VW confessed (the software update you all got was a feeble attempt at a cover up - which failed)

There is a party tonight to release the new 2016 with Lenny Kravitz playing

You can't make this stuff up, this was a really, really bad move on VWs part and it's gonna cost them considerably.

[thwart]

Wow.

As I've told several people over the past 2 yrs that I've owned my car (Golf tdi 6 spd manual)... it's just unbelievable that a car that's so much fun to drive can get that kind of mileage, even when driven hard.

True dat...

Technology exists to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides emitted by diesels. But the technology also tends to reduce fuel economy as well as performance. The software installed by Volkswagen on vehicles sold in the United States avoided this trade-off, which could have come as a disappointment to American customers, by scaling back pollution controls when the car was not being tested.
(from the NYT)

[FlashUNC]

Now if they can get around to fixing their garbage PCV system and related rear main seal failure that happens in their 2.0T gas motors.

Says the guy dealing with this now on a motor with 45k on the clock...

[Keith A]

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but here's a statement posted today (21 September 2015) from Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG...

Wolfsburg The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board (EPA and CARB) revealed their findings that while testing diesel cars of the Volkswagen Group they have detected manipulations that violate American environmental standards.

The Board of Management at Volkswagen AG takes these findings very seriously. I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public. We will cooperate fully with the responsible agencies, with transparency and urgency, to
clearly, openly, and completely establish all of the facts of this case. Volkswagen has ordered an external investigation of this matter.

We do not and will not tolerate violations of any kind of our internal rules or of the law. The trust of our customers and the public is and continues to be our most important asset. We at Volkswagen will do everything that must be done in order to re-establish the trust that so many people have placed in us, and we will do everything necessary in order to reverse the damage this has caused. This matter has first priority for me, personally, and for our entire Board of Management.

[MattTuck]

Originally Posted by Keith A

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but here's a statement posted today (21 September 2015) from Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG...

Awesome. an external investigation... I know just the guy....




I was talking to a friend at work earlier and I was joking that they were going to pin this on a 'rogue programmer'.... Ted would be just the man for the job.

[goonster]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

And how did it 'know' that emissions were being tested? Know to 'turn it on'?

The Germans even have a word for it: Testzykluserkennung, i.e. "test cycle recognition."

Heh, heh . . .

[SlackMan]

Hmmm. It's interesting that Daimler's stock price and BMW's stock price are both down materially (and the automotive index) as of this posting even though the broad market is up at the moment.

http://quotes.wsj.com/XE/XETR/BMW

http://quotes.wsj.com/DDAIY

[downtube]

The highest ranking person to have signed of on this needs to be placed in a cozy jail cell for at least 10 years. I think that would permanently stop these type of shenanigans.

[Ken Robb]

CEO of VW AG stealing a line from "Casablanca": I'm shocked to discover there is gambling going on here!

[benb]

My impression is there is more here than "turning the catalyzer off". It sounds like it also involved running the engine lean, which helps fuel economy and some other emissions but just happens to hurt a lot with NOx emissions... so if they have to turn the catalyzer on & remap the fuel fuel economy would go down.. just a question of how much. If it was just about the catalyst and the fuel mapping didn't make much of a difference you would have thought they wouldn't lean the mixture so much. If the fuel savings is significant enough to risk this it would imply the fuel savings will be noticed by drivers.

It sounds like a real achilles heel for diesels... run rich, you get clean NOx emissions but sub-optimal MPG and particulates, run lean you get low particulates and great MPG but poor NOx levels.

I guess I don't understand why the fuel & air can't mixed ahead of time like a petrol engine to get this under control. (From what I've read the only reasons petrol engines don't also have this problem are a) they are able to more carefully optimize fuel:air ratios and ensure that almost all of the oxygen is burned off. b) Lower compression ratio. )

Oh well have fun filling the Urea tank in the 2016+ VWs since that solves this issue too.