[quote]WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday directed Volkswagen to recall nearly a half-million cars, saying the automaker illegally installed software in its diesel-power cars that was intentionally designed to circumvent environmental standards for reducing smog.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued the German automaker a notice of violation and accused the company of using software known as a “defeat device” in 4-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi vehicles from model years 2009-15. The device is programmed to detect when the car is undergoing official emissions testing. Only during such tests are the cars’ full emissions control systems turned on. During normal driving situations, the controls are turned off, allowing the cars to spew as much as 40 times as much pollution as the legal standard required under the Clean Air Act, the E.P.A. said.[/quote]
[url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/business/volkswagen-is-ordered-to-recall-nearly-500000-vehicles-over-emissions-software.html?_r=0]Source[/url]
[quote] allowing the cars to spew as much as [B]40 times as much pollution[/B] as the legal standard required under the Clean Air Act, the E.P.A. said.[/quote]
Jesus christ
What assholes
wow, fuck volkswagen. they deserve this
I'm pretty sure my VW golf falls into this, but I'll have to double check
Welp, bye bye TDI.
Absolute shame that practically the only half way decent diesels we have ever got in the US aren't gonna come back after this.
This really isn't a big deal, our EPA regulations on diesels are stupid restrictive and are the sole reason that we don't have diesel passenger cars like the rest of the world.
Is there any reason why VW made it so that the "emission control" thing shouldn't be on at all times? What gives?
Points for creativity on the elusion, but holy shit. That just made me nope out of thinking of buying a Volkswagen, even if the Jetta comes standard with new things.
Why is it that it's Diesel engines behind most of these kinds of emissions scandals? Why?
[QUOTE=Lunik;48714285]Is there any reason why VW made it so that the "emission control" thing shouldn't be on at all times? What gives?[/QUOTE]
It probably strangles the engine of power or causes excessive wear-and-tear on drivetrain components.
[QUOTE=Lunik;48714285]Is there any reason why VW made it so that the "emission control" thing shouldn't be on at all times? What gives?[/QUOTE]
Probably in order to hit other advertised performance stats, but I'm not an automotive engineer so Iduno.
But, wow, eat a dick VW.
They're not the only ones who do this, they're just only ones who have been caught. So far.
During emissions and fuel economy cycle testing manufacturers program their powertrains to behave in particular ways that maximize the car's chance to pass the tests. This often means what you buy in the showroom can't hope to match the figures quoted in the brochure for emissions and economy.
Everybody does it, VW's just been caught. If I were the EPA I would go back and re-evaluate every car they've tested for the last ten years.
Also that '40 times' figure sounds really sensationalist. I'd like to see some actual figures.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;48714294]Why is it that it's Diesel engines behind most of these kinds of emissions scandals? Why?[/QUOTE]
Because diesel engines are an environmental disaster. They produce tons of combustion by-products which are very difficult to clean up effectively.
[QUOTE=wickedplayer494;48714290]Points for creativity on the elusion, but holy shit. That just made me nope out of thinking of buying a Volkswagen, even if the Jetta comes standard with new things.[/QUOTE]
Styling their cars so they look ten years outdated is a big-enough nope
Looks like VW didn't pay off the EPA with enough money
[QUOTE=Lunik;48714285]Is there any reason why VW made it so that the "emission control" thing shouldn't be on at all times? What gives?[/QUOTE]
They basically just made the car go into a special mode whenever it was being tested to make sure that it passes. I would bet money on that when it's not in it's emission mode that it would still happily pass emissions in every other area of the world. They're not just turning off emissions equipment, they're just re-tuning the engine so that it passes the test whenever tested.
My question is, if the cars already have the systems but disabled, why not just enable them? What do they gain from having them disabled and having a device that tries to trick tests?
Edit:
Nevermind, somebody already asked while I was typing my response.
oh gr8 my family got a 2014 passat tdi
time to let the shit fling
[QUOTE=Antdawg;48714305]Styling their cars so they look ten years outdated is a big-enough nope[/QUOTE]
VW is even worse than Chevrolet when it comes to making a car that looks like anything beyond "a car" in the most generic sense. The only (non-special snowflake) VW model that has some style behind it is the Golf, but even it is very stylistically bland compared to a Ford Focus or a Chevrolet Sonic.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;48714294]Why is it that it's Diesel engines behind most of these kinds of emissions scandals? Why?[/QUOTE]
America absolutely hates diesel and the EPA has now stifled any hopes of new diesels. In the next couple years they're going to ramp up the emissions requirements insanely more and we're probably going to lose what few diesel passenger cars we actually have now.
[editline]18th September 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=Wii60;48714318]oh gr8 my family got a 2014 passat tdi
time to let the shit fling[/QUOTE]
I'd highly suggest you to do absolutely nothing about it unless you're in California, they're going to have to reflash all the ECUs which will detune the car most likely reducing fuel economy and power purely to meet lower particle emissions which mean fuck all really to anyone other than the delusional EPA.
Stronger diesel emissions requirements means America hates diesel? Nice.
[QUOTE=slayer3032;48714334]I'd highly suggest you to do absolutely nothing about it unless you're in California, they're going to have to reflash all the ECUs which will detune the car most likely reducing fuel economy and power purely to meet lower particle emissions which mean fuck all really to anyone other than the delusional EPA.[/QUOTE]
Also known as the classic "return to sender" move.
[QUOTE=Zambies!;48714378]Stronger diesel emissions requirements means America hates diesel? Nice.[/QUOTE]
Well to be honest most diesel cars sold in the US before the 1990s have been terrible. There was the GM [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_Diesel_engine]Oldsmobile diesel[/url] in the 1980s that were so [I]bad[/I] there was a class action lawsuit, the diesel Mercs of the 1970s were so slow a laden garbage truck could keep up with them, and up til the mid/late 1980s most diesels spewed out disgusting soot.
Damn, and I was just about to buy a VW Golf too.
[QUOTE=Zambies!;48714378]Stronger diesel emissions requirements means America hates diesel? Nice.[/QUOTE]
The american government has imposed so many restrictions on diesel that everywhere else in the world wouldn't even imagine. VW is honestly the only manufacturer which has produced a diesel passenger car consistently and is probably the most experienced at it by far. If VW was forced into a position where this was they only way they could continue to sell TDI models here it should be a perfect example that we for essentially hate them.
In the case that it's news to you, every non-american car maker has a diesel option available on literally almost every single car you could imagine. Everything from Civics and Accords, to 3 series BMW's, Nissan Altimas, Ford Focuses/Tauruses(Mondeo) and even more so in basically every single SUV or small truck. In some places of the world diesel cars are more popular and desirable even, yet we have basically just the TDI.
[editline]18th September 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;48714509]Damn, and I was just about to buy a VW Golf too.[/QUOTE]
You're Canadian, there's nothing actually wrong with the Golf and it's only the TDI models sold in the US market.
Diesel is like a wonder-fuel for the most part. The only issue is it spews sulfur out when burned.
[QUOTE=slayer3032;48714279]Welp, bye bye TDI.
Absolute shame that practically the only half way decent diesels we have ever got in the US aren't gonna come back after this.
This really isn't a big deal, our EPA regulations on diesels are stupid restrictive and are the sole reason that we don't have diesel passenger cars like the rest of the world.[/QUOTE]
So thats why you guys don't have as much diesels as we do?
They're a bit slow compared to the gasoline options (unless turbocharged), but they got good fuel economy.
[QUOTE=kweh;48714604]So thats why you guys don't have as much diesels as we do?
They're a bit slow compared to the gasoline options (unless turbocharged), but they got good fuel economy.[/QUOTE]
Yep, thank California Air Research Board(CARB) and the EPA along with the reignited usual scapegoat crusade against overall passenger vehicle emissions which with our modern OBD2(96+) vehicles contribute like thousands of times less overall emissions in comparison to commercial/industrial pollutants.
It's basically a joke at this point, our stringent emissions standards only hurt the consumer. CAFE standards over the next 10 years are set to go sky high and it's going to be hilarious to see the terrible things done by car makers just to meet regulations.
US EPA regs on diesel engines are rather silly in some ways. Things like concerns over diesel particulates that only have any adverse health effects after long term exposure in close quarters work conditions in enclosed environment with diesel engines, like say in an underground mine.
Fuck the EPA. I wish more manufacturers would do this and import diesels. American emissions laws are stupidly restrictive. (I'm a mechanic. )
VW stocks?
isn't VW part of Daimler?
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