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Volkswagen Ordered To Recall 500K Vehicles Over Its Own Malicious Programming

Etherwalk writes: The Obama Administration today ordered Volkswagen to recall 500,000 4-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi vehicles from model years 2009-15. The vehicles were programmed to turn on more thorough emissions control and generate cleaner readings when tested for emissions than they did when in ordinary operation. In effect, the software made everything operate normally when you looked at it, just like any good malware.

411 comments

  1. Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Translated: If you have one, don't take it in, unless you want it to run even worse.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    1. Re:Don't take yours in. by leehwtsohg · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Some people care about the emissions from their car...

    2. Re:Don't take yours in. by ZeroPly · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If the car drove well while complying with emissions requirements, it's doubtful that Volkswagen would have risked an obvious legal violation for some marginal performance gains.

      And since they're not going to give you a new engine when you take your car in for recall, it's safe to say that the performance will be reduced when you get it back. For the majority of people, a slight difference in emissions would be preferable to a noticeable drop in performance.

      --
      Support microSD: in a post 9/11 world, it is unwise to carry your data on media that you cannot comfortably swallow.
    3. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With a highly publicized violation, most testing stations will likely run the VIN to see if the recall work has been performed (you can even check recall history yourself online). They are not talking about a misaligned body panel or a faulty ground wire - if the allegation is true, it is both very clever and approaches comic book levels of corporate greed.

    4. Re:Don't take yours in. by Moof123 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Driving around with a known polluting car is awful. You are a jerk for suggesting folks just ignore their cars being 40x out of compliance. Diesel particulate emissions are a major contributor to diseases like lung cancer, asthma, etc. Eff you.

      I couldn't easily find if VW is just going to update the software, or what?

    5. Re:Don't take yours in. by flappinbooger · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Some people care about the emissions from their car...

      just like some people like low flow shower heads and low flow toilets.

      --
      Flappinbooger isn't my real name
    6. Re:Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Fair enough. Grab a copy of the ECUs code before taking it in, then restore the good code after the update is done.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    7. Re:Don't take yours in. by FranTaylor · · Score: 2

      For the majority of people, a slight difference in emissions would be preferable to a noticeable drop in performance.

      Because you just can't have enough horsepower. Faster faster faster!

    8. Re:Don't take yours in. by FranTaylor · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      just like some people like low flow shower heads and low flow toilets.

      some of us actually have to pay water bills

    9. Re:Don't take yours in. by swb · · Score: 1

      The last person I knew who bought a VW was told by the dealership that it was normal for a modern gasoline engine to burn a quart of oil every month.

    10. Re:Don't take yours in. by gmack · · Score: 1

      Some people care about the emissions from their car...

      just like some people like low flow shower heads and low flow toilets.

      If they are done right, both are excellent. I have a low flow shower head that puts out plenty of pressure.

    11. Re:Don't take yours in. by bobbied · · Score: 1

      OH, so they purchased a VW Bug back in 1965? Damn oil cooler seals....

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    12. Re:Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

      You do understand!

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    13. Re:Don't take yours in. by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Now THAT would be illegal...

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    14. Re:Don't take yours in. by Nrrqshrr · · Score: 1

      And there was a time when Volkswagen was the "Vehicle of the people"...

    15. Re:Don't take yours in. by operagost · · Score: 1

      The problem is that you can't tell until you buy it. All the ones I've seen have tiny holes that just let the water fall out by gravity.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    16. Re:Don't take yours in. by suutar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Depends which emissions they're concerned about. Diesels (as I recall) are worse for particulates and NOx, but better as far as CO2.

    17. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh. "Volk" had a somewhat different connotation back when the Volkswagen was originally conceived of.

    18. Re:Don't take yours in. by FranTaylor · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      How much water do you save taking an 30-minute shower with a showehead that uses half the water, compared to a 15-minute shower with a regular showerhead?

      Normal human beings can get clean with a 5 minute low flow shower. What is your problem that you need a half an hour?

    19. Re: Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's obvious. He likes to masturbate in the shower.

    20. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem is that you can't tell until you buy it. All the ones I've seen have tiny holes that just let the water fall out by gravity.

      Same with sink aerators, you can waste a lot of time returning and trying different ones. The GPM rating doesn't tell you how much pressure will actually be coming out and how useful it will be at cleaning.

    21. Re:Don't take yours in. by starless · · Score: 1

      Normal human beings can get clean with a 5 minute low flow shower. What is your problem that you need a half an hour?

      I will give you my finest hour
      The one I spent watching you shower

      "Picture This", Blondie.
      https://youtu.be/QbdCpi4qTNY

    22. Re:Don't take yours in. by sjames · · Score: 1

      They will only if they are mandated to do so (if then).

    23. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      quit whining

    24. Re:Don't take yours in. by BigBunion · · Score: 1

      A number of manufacturers officially consider this 'normal', meaning that they won't fix it under warranty unless it burns more than a quart per month. I know for a fact this is BMW's policy as well.

    25. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And that time would have been.. oh, yes, when Hitler bankrolled Herr Porsche to mass-produce Deutschen Volkswagens using slave labour. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the awful truth is that the "people" in that old slogan were better known to the rest of the world as the Nazis...

    26. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only as much as the "Volksgericht" ever was the "court of the people".Really, where did you think the name came from..? (Note to the uneducated: No, I'm not saying the Nazis literally named the company, only that the name is a very obvious reflection of that time and language. I'm surprised they didn't change it when they stopped producing the Kübelwagen.

    27. Re:Don't take yours in. by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      Need? Are you kidding? If I was worried about water usage I'd wet down and shut the water off, lather up and wash then turn the water on and rinse. You shouldn't need more than about 60 seconds of water flow. I usually stand under the water for about 10 minutes or so feeling the hot stinging spray loosening sore tired muscles and easing an aching back. A hot shower is all about luxury, not need.

    28. Re: Don't take yours in. by amiga3D · · Score: 3, Funny

      I've done it so often that now every time it rains I get a hard-on!

    29. Re:Don't take yours in. by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      I believe Hitler was in charge of Germany in those days.

    30. Re:Don't take yours in. by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      At least until you're running them in a mode to get rid of the particulates and NOx - at least the first generations of these have such worse gas mileage that hybrid buses are getting fewer miles per gallon than the 30 year old buses they were supposed to replace. The hybrids were getting much better mileage until they had the engine replaced with one that was 1 generation of emission control requirements newer.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    31. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indoor plumbing itself is a luxury. Agreed.

      All greenies complaining about how others are living their lives should go live in a lean-to in the woods and shit in a bucket or shut their hypocritical mouths.

    32. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      then I hope they require proof you have updated the software to run correctly, otherwise no pass on the emissions, means no tabs, means tickets for the idiots buying VW anyway. But hey, if you like throwing money away, go ahead and buy a VW. They are total money pits, nothing has changed in 50 years. They take a massive amount of upkeep and tinkering to keep running properly, meaning money spent at mechanics. That is unless you lease and get a new one ever few years.

    33. Re:Don't take yours in. by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      Because you just can't have enough horsepower. Faster faster faster!

      Dieselheads are as often worried about mpg as they are about power. 1 mpg difference can mean a lot of money when you're towing a trailer 1k miles. And the emissions were often costing 2-3. Means a lot when you were starting at 8.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    34. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hard to know exactly how this is going to play out.
      It is very likely that this will be required, most states have vehicle inspection programs and it could be required to pass. If you don’t want it the manufacturer (VW) may be required to buy back the car.
      As far as ECU ‘code images’ are concerned; like it or not, it is very likely that these will be floating around for a long time (torrents, usenet, etc.)

    35. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry to say again, but the Nazis literally did found, fund, and name the company. Well, to the extent that Deutsche Arbeitsfront were Nazis. Take a look at their propaganda material and decide for yourself: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Arbeitsfront

      I have nothing against the modern-day Volkswagen Group, but to deny its corporate history (and that of Mitsubishi, Daimler-Benz, Fujitsu, etc.) is no better than a Nazi tactic.

      It feels like a replay of "don't mention the war" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfl6Lu3xQW0)

    36. Re:Don't take yours in. by Khashishi · · Score: 2

      For the majority of people, a slight difference in emissions would be preferable to a noticeable drop in performance.

      Exactly why regulation is necessary. The ironic thing about libertarians is that protection of the commons is not necessary, but they are the first to trash the commons if they can get away with it. I'd like to see the political demographics of people who get emissions control bypass mechanisms are, and especially those idiotic coal rollers.

    37. Re:Don't take yours in. by 0123456 · · Score: 0, Troll

      Depends which emissions they're concerned about. Diesels (as I recall) are worse for particulates and NOx, but better as far as CO2.

      Yes. Worse for the things that actually kill people, and also worse for plant food.

    38. Re: Don't take yours in. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

      I've done it so often that now every time it rains I get a hard-on!

      That's weird. Every time I get a hard-on, it rains. Some people have a trick knee.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    39. Re:Don't take yours in. by 0123456 · · Score: 1

      Yes. Several manufacturers have this in their owners' manuals. Some claim as much as a quart per 600 miles is 'normal'.

      Not that that makes it suck any less.

    40. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try the High Sierra ones, they're pretty good.

    41. Re:Don't take yours in. by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      They are more efficient, and thus burn a bit less CO2 - but we're in the 10% range, depending on your driving style.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    42. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'll do a computer analogy for you... It's like Intel recalling to underclock your cpu because otherwise it won't comply with whatever.

      Hummm... a slower CPU. Now that seems nice doesn't it?

    43. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can get clean within 90s seconds or less with my normal fucking shower.

      My grandfather otoh has bowel problems and would take forever with "low flow". So please, just piss off.

      Some of us like high pressure and some need it. I'd rather see car washing and golf course and other ridiculous shit taxed and curtailed than my personal hygiene.

    44. Re:Don't take yours in. by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

      Returning one that doesn't work properly is substantially more difficult with toilets. I bought one, one of this highest rated for "flushing ability" short of the noisy pressurized type, and after months of flush six times, plunger, flush six more times, give up and fill up a two-gallon bucket to pour in...

      I extended the overflow pipe in the tank and raised the water level an inch. Now, it works fine. And uses less water over all, because it's not six times as much water as before.

    45. Re:Don't take yours in. by lgw · · Score: 4, Funny

      enough horsepower

      I don't understand those words in that order. There cannot be "enough horsepower", there can only be "more horsepower".

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    46. Re:Don't take yours in. by nabsltd · · Score: 2

      I have nothing against the modern-day Volkswagen Group, but to deny its corporate history (and that of Mitsubishi, Daimler-Benz, Fujitsu, etc.) is no better than a Nazi tactic.

      I always thought that Mitsubishi should start using the tagline "From the company that brought you Pearl Harbor".

    47. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Driving around with a known polluting car is awful. You are a jerk for suggesting folks just ignore their cars being 40x out of compliance. Diesel particulate emissions are a major contributor to diseases like lung cancer, asthma, etc. Eff you.

      How about you take a step back and realize why the parent would suggest such a thing.

      Perhaps it's because the jerk at the repair shop is constantly wanting to rip consumers off with fake repairs, which has become rather commonplace these days, and even more so when they can use the excuse that "the diagnostic code told us".

      My "Service Engine Soon" light came on during a trip and then went off, indicating something rather fucking obvious, but the stealership still insisted I should pay them $115 in order for them to "read the code history" to see what might be wrong. $115 to just read the damn codes. I can only imagine how my car would be running had I authorized them to "fix" it beyond the standard maintenance I needed.

    48. Re:Don't take yours in. by Notabadguy · · Score: 1

      For many people, a shower is relaxing. Quiet time of solitude, sometimes the only time of the day to clear your head while cleansing your body, and that needs more than 5 minutes. 5 minute showers are to freshen up in the morning before work or after working out.

    49. Re: Don't take yours in. by lgw · · Score: 1

      That's weird. Every time I get a hard-on, it rains.

      I have a whole new respect for you Ratzo, or at least part of you (the part that writes your /. posts, by all appearances).

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    50. Re:Don't take yours in. by dj245 · · Score: 1

      Some people care about the emissions from their car...

      just like some people like low flow shower heads and low flow toilets.

      There's a big problem with this comparison. In some places, water is more expensive than the "essentially free" that many of us enjoy. Low flow fixtures can save measurable amounts of money, just like CFL and LED lighting.

      There is no direct cost for driving a car which is polluting more than it should. In very serious cases (black clouds of smoke) there might be a possible fine but I assume Volkswagen's problem is relatively minor and not visually noticeable.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    51. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And why do you believe it will run worse?

    52. Re:Don't take yours in. by mrchaotica · · Score: 2

      I'd like to see the political demographics of people who get emissions control bypass mechanisms are

      Some of them are "ecomodder" types whose idea of "performance" might still be laudable efficiency, albeit prioritizing goals slightly differently than the EPA does.

      For example, as delivered from the factory these 2009+ VW TDIs cannot safely use more than 5% biodiesel. However, with [illegal] modifications to the emissions system they could use 100% biodiesel, which can arguably provide "better" emissions than the EPA-mandated controls could. In particular, such a modification would reduce sulfur oxides to zero (since biodiesel contains no sulfur), reduce gross CO2 emissions (since removing the more onerous emissions controls would increase MPG) and -- most importantly -- reduce net carbon emissions to zero (since biodiesel is carbon neutral).

      This would come at a cost of increased nitrogen oxides and potentially increased large particulates, which might sound bad until you realize that in VOC-sensitive areas increased NOx could be good and that recent studies suggest it's actually the small particulates (produced equally by diesel and gasoline engines) and not the large particulates (which diesel particulate filters are designed to trap) that are harmful. (Sorry, I can't find a link to the study supporting that last claim.)

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    53. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah?? [Cocking Shotgun] WHAT people, where are those unamerican basterds?? Let's get them!

    54. Re:Don't take yours in. by OhPlz · · Score: 1

      I don't know, the EPA is using some double-speak:

      "Car owners should know that although these vehicles have emissions exceeding standards, these violations do not present a safety hazard and the cars remain legal to drive and resell. Owners of cars of these models and years do not need to take any action at this time."

      I assume they mean to say that it's not a hazard that will kill the occupants of the vehicle, but only hazardous considering the number of these vehicles on the road, but the way they phrase it seems to contradict the necessity of emission controls.

    55. Re:Don't take yours in. by eth1 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Driving around with a known polluting car is awful. You are a jerk for suggesting folks just ignore their cars being 40x out of compliance. Diesel particulate emissions are a major contributor to diseases like lung cancer, asthma, etc. Eff you.

      I couldn't easily find if VW is just going to update the software, or what?

      No, VW are the jerks. If there ends up being a noticeable negative impact on performance, the only fair thing for VW to do is offer full refunds (including tax, and everything) for those who want it, and take the cars back. Otherwise, how are people jerks for wanting to keep what they paid for? Even compensating people a few hundred dollars isn't enough to make up for being stuck with a multi-thousand-dollar asset you no longer enjoy using.

    56. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      CO2 is plant food, therefor it's harmless. Nightshade berries are bird food, therefor they are harmless. Why don't you eat some nightshade berries and let us know how that logic of yours works out.

    57. Re: Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You obviously haven't really researched diesel vs. petrol in a few ... decades?

    58. Re:Don't take yours in. by bev_tech_rob · · Score: 1

      But not all. Some people like for their vehicle to run properly. From what I have perused on the internets, a lot of diesel pickup owners will remove the DPF, EGR cooler and retune the truck to get better fuel economy and more power. The 6.4 Powerstroke diesel gets about 6 - 7 MPG before the emissions equipment is removed and close to 20 MPG AFTER it is removed. Plus the DPF regen process causes hell on turbos, piston rings (especially on #7 & 8 cylinders where the regen process is performed).

      --
      You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
    59. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the car drove well while complying with emissions requirements, it's doubtful that Volkswagen would have risked an obvious legal violation for some marginal performance gains.

      How do you figure? You really think they're willing to risk up to $18 billion in fines for something an engineering change could have fixed for much less? That doesn't even make sense. It sounds more like you are reverse engineering a conclusion you already had before you "thought" of the reason.

    60. Re:Don't take yours in. by bev_tech_rob · · Score: 1

      For the majority of people, a slight difference in emissions would be preferable to a noticeable drop in performance.

      Because you just can't have enough horsepower. Faster faster faster!

      Not necessarily faster, but be able to get more work done. Most diesels (at least in the US) are used for pulling large or heavy loads. The more power, the more work you can get done...

      --
      You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
    61. Re: Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is this also related to the way VW stores diesel particulates.
      Under nor driving I understand it stores the particulates to be burnt off later at high speeds.

      But if storage becomes full and the driver accellerates hard while at highway speeds it just dumps the particulates leaving a cloud of.black smog behind for hundreds of metres.
      I have seen this happen while following a TDI golf on the highway.

    62. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, you can buy an OBDII bluetooth reader for dirt cheap?

    63. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And this is a case where mpg is a bad measure to use. 1 mpg difference depends on what mileage you started with. If you went from 1 mpg to 2 mpg, you would save half the fuel, or about ~$1250 dollars on that 1k trip. If you went from 9 mpg to 10 mpg, you would only save about 11 gallons, or ~$27.

    64. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're doing better now, and they support up to 20% bio-diesel

      Equipped with 5.9 liter 6-cylinder, clean-burning diesel engine
      Fuel economy is 33% better than standard buses
      Hybrids – 5.6 mpg;
      Standard Buses - 4.2 mpg
      Hybrid buses produce 90% fewer emissions than the buses they replace
      Hybrid electrical propulsion system reduce oxides of nitrogen emissions by up to 50%

    65. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't understand those words in that order. There cannot be "enough horsepower", there can only be "more horsepower".

      Being so easily confused might explain a lot about your political persuasion. If customer A desires a minimum of Y horsepower and vehicle B has Y horsepower, it's "enough." Was that so confusing?

    66. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your European car's software, if it is newer than the 2000 model year, is updated automatically by satellite. One would have to disconnect the battery and *never use the vehicle* to keep it from being so updated.

      Mechanics know this; google seems not to, for some reason.

      I've got a 2003 Mercedes. Its software is not updated, unless you pay big money to Mercedes.

    67. Re:Don't take yours in. by b0bby · · Score: 1

      My Toto Drake low flow toilet is awesome. In toilets, at least, it seems you can have both economy and performance.

    68. Re:Don't take yours in. by Moof123 · · Score: 2

      +1. Nothing trained me to shut off lights I didn't need and to learn to tolerate CFL bulbs like moving out and paying my own electric bill.

      Some of us also actually do make decisions based on a world view, not our own immediate gratification.

      So while folks in drought stricken California may despise short showers from a low flow shower head, many who could easily pay their bills will still cut back even if they can afford high rates because *gasp* they want to contribute to the common good where they reasonably can do so.

    69. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your European car's software, if it is newer than the 2000 model year, is updated automatically by satellite. One would have to disconnect the battery and *never use the vehicle* to keep it from being so updated.

      Mechanics know this; google seems not to, for some reason.

      Though I don't believe you in the slightest -- if the car were able to download updates via a Satellite link, then disconnect the Satellite antennae to prevent it from doing so.

    70. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have both.
      To my astonishment, it doesn't even matter to the quality of my life and my water use is cut in half. ... and I was set to hate them.. but the shower head is awesome and saving the water it takes to heat up runs the toilets.
      Still have enough unused water to keep half of the herb plants running.

      My landlord forced a water saving shower head on me years in the past and that gave me the wrong impression.
      I own a house now and the tech works better than the one they forced on me.

      So yes.. honestly I do like it.

      -- Reluctant Convert.

    71. Re:Don't take yours in. by Nyder · · Score: 1

      enough horsepower

      I don't understand those words in that order. There cannot be "enough horsepower", there can only be "more horsepower".

      So you are saying that you can not have enough horsepower to make it up that hill, because all you need is more horsepower?

      Sounds legit.

      --
      Be seeing you...
    72. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anna+Merikin · · Score: 1

      M'mmm, an exception. Sorry. Next time I'll say "most".

    73. Re:Don't take yours in. by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      The ironic thing about libertarians is that protection of the commons is not necessary, but they are the first to trash the commons if they can get away with it.

      How is that ironic at all? They wouldn't be able to trash it as easily if it were protected.

    74. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Or a 2002 Jetta (personal experience).

    75. Re:Don't take yours in. by i.r.id10t · · Score: 1

      Horsepower is for those who can't keep their speed up in the corners...

      Also, it is more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
    76. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      5 minutes?

      LOL

      You are not clean after 5 minutes, that doesn't even give you enough time to lather up completely. I take quick showers usually, something I learned to do in the army, and my showers are rarely shorter then ten minutes, and are longer with low flow shower heads because it takes longer to rinse away all of the soap.

    77. Re:Don't take yours in. by ProfBooty · · Score: 1

      Interestingly on VW's TDI's removing emissions equipment nets a 10% gain in MPG.

      --
      Bring back the old version of slashdot.
    78. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds like an excellent reason to not risk doing business with VW (as if the reliability issues were not enough).

    79. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep. That is basically VW for you. Next time they will probably tell him that the coolant in his oil is fine also...

    80. Re: Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's because there is no such thing as a commons.

    81. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And for the rest of us sucking down your exhaust, we are glad you have your performance increase, you selfish ass

    82. Re:Don't take yours in. by penguinoid · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Nevertheless, particulates will give you cancer, NOx causes smog, both contribute to asthma, and plants grow better with more CO2 while animals don't notice the difference at these concentrations. Only trouble is CO2 keeps accumulating, leading to increased acidity and global warming, which will eventually kill people if not dealt with.

      The difference is, you can suck CO2 out of the atmosphere wherever and it will negate the harm of emitting it, but particulates and NOx have to be dealt with at the source.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    83. Re: Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Damn this drought.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    84. Re:Don't take yours in. by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      , and are longer with low flow shower heads because it takes longer to rinse away all of the soap.

      This is exactly right. You might as well fill up a shot glass with water and pour it over one body part, while rubbing with the other hand, for all the good low-flow shower heads are.

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    85. Re:Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      And /.ers would never do _anything_ illegal...

      God damn law abiders are ruining this nation.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    86. Re:Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      WTF are you doing going to a stealership for anything but stealership only parts?

      Seriously. That's like voting D then complaining when they fuck things up. It's what they do.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    87. Re:Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Air cooled VWs were fine automobiles. They just never got the hang of water cooled engines.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    88. Re: Don't take yours in. by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      If you are a charitable person, you have to visit California for a few weeks.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    89. Re:Don't take yours in. by swb · · Score: 1

      Wow, that sucks.

      Is there a mechanical engineer who designs gasoline engines who would actually agree with that statement? I'm surprised there's never been litigation on the topic and/or some kind of EPA regulation that says "no, it's not normal"?

      And what exactly is the fix, total engine replacement?

    90. Re:Don't take yours in. by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      That's a load of BS as far as I'm concerned unless it's a rotary engine. Even then I think they can do much better than a quart per 600 miles - more like a quart per 3-5k, enough that if you don't top off in the middle you're just a bit low when the normal time for an oil change comes up.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    91. Re:Don't take yours in. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      This happened to people who bought Mazda hybrids IIRC. The manufacturer noticed that the batteries were dying early, do did a firmware update to reduce their capacity (not using full capacity prolongs life). Of course it meant that performance was lost.

      Can you avoid the update? You might need to visit the dealer for servicing to keep your warranty intact out make a claim. Is there a yearly test in the US? Lack of the update could be made a failure.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    92. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      funny, I had a classmate in college who had and loved his old air cooled VW bug. He also loved to tinker... I remember him stating he had to adjust something every 2000 miles to keep it running right. Had a previous supervisor who had a newer VW, who also said he had to tinker around with it constantly to keep it humming along.

      VW = Piece of Shit hardware

      Yes, VW owners love them, but it's just like a motorcycle or bicycle owner, you have to be your own mechanic or you dump tons of money into them constantly just to keep them running properly.

    93. Re: Don't take yours in. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      or at least part of you (the part that writes your /. posts, by all appearances).

      I have a ghost writer.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    94. Re:Don't take yours in. by lgw · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you had more horsepower, you might be able to catch up with and discover what's making that "whooshing" sound you hear overhead.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    95. Re:Don't take yours in. by CauseBy · · Score: 1

      The 'slight difference' is 40x. It might be 40x of a small amount, but still.

    96. Re:Don't take yours in. by bobbied · · Score: 1

      LOL... Well, I know a guy..... He reprogramed the ECM of the Chrysler V8 he shoe horned under the hood of the Mazda Miata he owned so the reported VIN was that of the Miata and thus avoided having to argue about the car passing emission inspections via ODBII scans... How that thing passed the safety inspections was beyond me, it idled at 40MPH and touching the gas was not for the faint of heart. Not sure if that was illegal, but it sure kept him getting his yearly inspection stickers w/o the debate... Sometimes you gota do what you gota do....

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    97. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no direct cost for driving a car which is polluting more than it should. In very serious cases (black clouds of smoke) there might be a possible fine but I assume Volkswagen's problem is relatively minor and not visually noticeable.

      Depends on the reason for the emissions. If it's an inefficient engine it'll have a low MPG, burn more fuel, and emit more as a result. Since it's burning more fuel it's costing you more to drive. If it's something like the catalyst converter not working effectively then that isn't a cost to the user, indeed it's probably a direct cost to put right.

    98. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I knew they were part of the funding/founding, didn't know they gave it the name too, figured it was some ambitions person who wanted to be "in tune with the times" and butter up to the powers that was who did that.

      I most certainly did not mean to deny their history, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned that "Volkswagen" is a name very much in line with every other kind of "Volk" and "Recht" and other kinds of Nazimode-newspeak from those days, nor would I have mentioned the Kübelwagen.

    99. Re:Don't take yours in. by thebigmacd · · Score: 2

      Google doesn't know it to be true because it is not true. Volkswagen ECMs are not over-the-air updated. They can't be. They don't have the physical hardware to do so. As a matter of fact, conventional ECU flashing is so risky it is highly recommended the car be connected to a battery charger to maintain voltage stability. Even better, a bench flasher (for aftermarket tuning). Even then, the flash is not always successful. When it is, it causes several codes to be thrown that have to be reset with a factory tool. This coming from someone who has byte-wise modified modern 2004+ VW ECU firmware with a factory-trained VW electronics specialist.

    100. Re:Don't take yours in. by ZeroPly · · Score: 1

      I think that's an "up to" number, which would probably be full throttle at close to redline.

      Even then, I doubt most people would care. If everyone was conscientious about clean air, we wouldn't need government regulations in the first place.

      --
      Support microSD: in a post 9/11 world, it is unwise to carry your data on media that you cannot comfortably swallow.
    101. Re:Don't take yours in. by BitterOak · · Score: 1

      Translated: If you have one, don't take it in, unless you want it to run even worse.

      I don't think it will be optional. This is a government ordered recall to prevent cars from defrauding emissions tests.

      --
      If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
    102. Re:Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Solid lifters mean you need to adjust the valves every 6 months. But a replacement electronic ignition distributor does away with most of the other problems. Disc brake do away with the constant drum brake adjustments.

      Me and my brothers never got really competitive with bug motor swap races. Best we ever did was 25 minutes.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    103. Re:Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Don't worry about inside water usage (unless you are broke).

      The sewage treatment plant has to add water to the sewage when people start to conserve too much. Besides which, there is almost certainly a thirst town downriver of your sewage treatment plant outflow.

      In Sacto our flushes end up coming out of the taps in LA.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    104. Re:Don't take yours in. by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Realistically, they only made the fighters. The bombers were made by other companies.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    105. Re:Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      The eurotrash had kittens when Bush said 'We're going to find those folks and kill them'. Thought he was talking genocide.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    106. Re:Don't take yours in. by Calydor · · Score: 1

      More like Intel recalling to fix the fact that your CPU was claiming to run at X Mhz while ...

      You know what, let's skip the CPU analogy.

      More like your PSU getting recalled because it claimed to be sucking up X amount of power from the grid while actually taking a lot more, increasing your power bill beyond expected levels and - by extension - causing increased pollution from the power plant because more power has to be generated.

      Does it matter for one single PSU? No. Does it matter for 500k PSUs? Yes. Same for cars with worse in-use emissions than they admit to when being tested.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    107. Re: Don't take yours in. by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      Doesn't "the commons" mean any shared things (e.g. roads, air, etc.)?

    108. Re: Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I paid a premium for the diesel because of all the torque. Now the recall is going to take that power away? VW owes me, dammit.

    109. Re:Don't take yours in. by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

      A CPU that runs cooler and uses less electricity? Depending on your needs that may indeed sound pretty nice.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    110. Re:Don't take yours in. by amRadioHed · · Score: 2

      Yeah, pulling heavy loads is exactly what Jetta's are known for.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    111. Re:Don't take yours in. by amRadioHed · · Score: 1

      The sewage treatment plant has to add water to the sewage when people start to conserve too much

      So what? Unless you know the exact state of liquid intake at your local treatment plant I'm guessing they have a better idea of how much is too much than you do.

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    112. Re: Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Libertarians (us anarchist types at least) don't believe there should be 'commons' and instead think things work better when everything is privately owned and thus protected by a more concerned party. There would be no public property and no commons. Air pollution issues would be handled by property owners and affected individuals bringing litigation against polluters - ie groups of people could bring class action lawsuits against auto manufacturers to bring emissions in check. Furthermore, consumers would be allowed to decide the balance of performance, safety, and efficiency that suited them best instead of having a one-size-fits-all approach rammed down our throats. Anyway, there's plenty of literature out there on libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism - it'd be nice if those who make arguments against them at least read a little Rothbard before making it clear you have no idea what you're talking about.

    113. Re:Don't take yours in. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Unpaid ad, the only ones you need to know about are Whedon Products. I first became acquainted with them on a friend's boat but the rental I'm living in now has one as well and it's the best thing going. It's the only one I know that doesn't feel like you're being sandblasted, yet which also feels like you're getting wet... at 2.5 GPM.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    114. Re:Don't take yours in. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      The last person I knew who bought a VW was told by the dealership that it was normal for a modern gasoline engine to burn a quart of oil every month.

      It depends on the motor, and how it's used. It's certainly not normal for any normally used engine to consume that much oil any more. But as I understand it, the VW and Audi engines are designed such that the tolerances increase when they get hot, so that friction and wear decrease. However, this causes them to consume more oil, as it gets past the piston rings. Since the emissions test doesn't test what the vehicle does when you drive it balls out, this tendency doesn't affect emissions testing.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    115. Re:Don't take yours in. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      DPFs capture large soot particles and burn them and turn them into... small soot particles.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    116. Re: Don't take yours in. by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      Then get a Tesla.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    117. Re:Don't take yours in. by Deadstick · · Score: 1

      Try that in California. It'll work great until your tag expires.

    118. Re:Don't take yours in. by Deadstick · · Score: 1

      Fair is one thing. The law is another.

    119. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [...] and low flow toilets.

      You mean the kind that take 3 flushes to leave with clean water?

    120. Re:Don't take yours in. by haruchai · · Score: 1

      Doing it based on a worldview doesn't necessarily mean waiting until you foot the bill.
      I started cutting back on water usage e.g. turning off taps when not needed when showering or brushing teeth about 10 years before I lived in an apartment where water usage wasn't included in the rent and switched out incandescents for CFLs while I lived in a highrise where electricity was also included.

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    121. Re:Don't take yours in. by BlueStrat · · Score: 2

      Yeah, pulling heavy loads is exactly what Jetta's are known for.

      A Jetta *is* a heavy load for a Jetta! Never mind additional waste-weight like passengers and/or cargo/luggage!

      Ever tried accelerating on an inclining/upgrade on-ramp for merging onto a freeway in a Jetta with 2 or 3 people aboard? Even on a 0-degree grade on-ramp it's dicey.

      There is danger both in a vehicle being under-powered and over-powered. However, AFAIK there are no government regulations which detail minimum acceleration/engine power requirements for a given horsepower/vehicle weight class for US passenger vehicles.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    122. Re:Don't take yours in. by haruchai · · Score: 1

      "Next time I'll say "most""

      And you'll still be very, very wrong. The first car to have OTA firmware updating is the 3-year old Tesla Model S

      http://www.wired.com/2012/09/t...

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    123. Re: Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As horny as that guy is, though, I'm not sure it would be as much a blessing as it is a curse... Sigh.

      --Mrs PopeRatzo

    124. Re:Don't take yours in. by haruchai · · Score: 1

      The English version is just as informative: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    125. Re: Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your country still has diesel cars without active particulate filters?

      How quaint.

    126. Re:Don't take yours in. by ChrisMaple · · Score: 3, Funny

      If you cannot break traction by pressing on the accelerator, you don't have enough horsepower. If you can beak traction by pressing on the accelerator, you don't have enough traction.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    127. Re: Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I summer by exception you mean pretty much every European car in existence?
      In fact I challenge you to name two.

      I know for a fact none of my BMWs Mercedes or Porsches do..

      Why do people find it necessary to make up bs?

    128. Re:Don't take yours in. by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Delta has done some nice hydrodynamic R&D. The "Water-Amplifying" models like 75152 feel as good as heads flowing >25% more.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    129. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cowspiracy, man. Watch it.

    130. Re:Don't take yours in. by sims+2 · · Score: 1

      +1 to that the toto's are the best residential low flows I have seen.

      --
      Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    131. Re:Don't take yours in. by elwinc · · Score: 1

      Diesels are better at CO and unburnt hydrocarbons, because they always take in a full charge of air, no matter how small an amount of fuel is being injected (therefore combustion is more complete). They may be marginally better at CO2, but that is mostly because they tend to be under powered compared to "performance cars".

      --
      --- Often in error; never in doubt!
    132. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      VW and Audi don't really sell any tow vehicle in the US.

    133. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What if it's results in reduced fuel economy?

    134. Re: Don't take yours in. by RogerWilco · · Score: 1

      That doesn't work if the negatively affected parties are future generations or in a different jurisdiction/country. My unborn grandchildren can't sue the Koch brothers.

      --
      RogerWilco the Adventurous Janitor
    135. Re:Don't take yours in. by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Quick rummaging around https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/..., seems to indicate it is all about going cheap ass on the catalytic converters and as a result will now have to alter performance to comply or fit a more effective and expensive catalytic converter. So first the EPA penalty and then the class action law suit to force the much more expensive repair (catalytic converters are not cheap). So https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/..., contain Platinum, Paladium and Rhodium, current cost in order per ounce $981.00, $605.50 and $765, and they are going to need a whole lot more than a few ounces, tons more like it (as it is likely a global cheat). So likely the class action law suit to recover lost efficiencies will cost far, far more than the EPA penalty.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    136. Re:Don't take yours in. by dhaen · · Score: 1

      I was told to be prepared for this this when I purchased a new (petrol/gas) VW Golf in May this year. In 4000 miles I haven't seen the oil level drop at all. Perhaps it's a worst case scenario. I chose the petrol version because the diesel engine seemed gutless, compared with my previous diesel car. I wonder if that was due to emission controls...

    137. Re:Don't take yours in. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      just like some people like low flow shower heads and low flow toilets.

      Emissions are free, water costs money. This is a stupid comparison. I have a low flow toilet and a low flow shower head and I couldn't give a shit about saving water. Money on the other hand....

    138. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      gas mileage???

      If I ever stuck gas in my diesel car, I'd not expect to get many miles at all. Or, are they now fitting particulate filters on gasoline engines? (:

      Now, fuel economy might be more appropriate.

    139. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then you need to kill yourself because you are emitting harmful emissions every time you breath.

    140. Re:Don't take yours in. by mheat · · Score: 1

      Actually, yes I have tried it.
      Shitloads of acceleration with a torquey 140 hp turbocharged diesel engine and 6spd transmission.
      For merging, at least.

    141. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you forget that the rightful owners of the planet earth are dinosaurs, and they need more carbon dioxide. Evil democrats (all good dinosaurs just like people were republicans) wiped out the native dinosaurs and are trying keep the poor disadvantaged dinos from moving back into the neighborhood by keeping CO2 down. You never hear about dems starting college funds or creating subsidized housing and cell phone service for dinosaurs. That is because dems hate dinosaurs. I am a republican. I like dinosaurs. I like CO2.

    142. Re: Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My experience is that pollution control is inversely proportional to mileage and performance. I'll keep my tdi the way it is.
      Mine gets 47 to 50 mpg. How's your car doing?

    143. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since when 40 times legal emission of NOx is slight difference in pollution?

    144. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      explain please

    145. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, no they don't. It's a bullshit hassle they know they have to pay government unnecessarily for because government requires it. Cars are cleaner than they ever have been and the continued need to improve their emissions causes more problems and things like this than they solve.

    146. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      40x difference in emissions is not "a slight difference in emissions"

    147. Re: Don't take yours in. by cthulhu11 · · Score: 1

      Going by the clouds of soot still spewed by trucks, nothing has changed.

    148. Re: Don't take yours in. by cthulhu11 · · Score: 1

      Not to mention the pathetic electrical system and bizarre design like fuel fill on the wrong side.

    149. Re:Don't take yours in. by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 1

      Unless it's frozen stiff, eating C02 is far less dangerous than eating nightshade. So your comparison is a bit off.

    150. Re:Don't take yours in. by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      The last person I knew who bought a VW was told by the dealership that it was normal for a modern gasoline engine to burn a quart of oil every month.

      Back in the 70s, when my professor complained that her new VW wouldn't go over 60, the dealership told her it was illegal to go over 60. Later, when she noted that the front wheels were covered with soot, they told her it was because she didn't drive enough. (turned out the catalytic converter was completely plugged, from the factory)

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    151. Re:Don't take yours in. by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      Yes. Several manufacturers have this in their owners' manuals. Some claim as much as a quart per 600 miles is 'normal'.

      Not that that makes it suck any less.

      Diesels burn a real lot of oil

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    152. Re:Don't take yours in. by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      Some people care about the emissions from their car...

      just like some people like low flow shower heads and low flow toilets.

      You know those two things are not physically connected, right?

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    153. Re:Don't take yours in. by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      How much water do you save taking an 30-minute shower with a showehead that uses half the water, compared to a 15-minute shower with a regular showerhead?

      Normal human beings can get clean with a 5 minute low flow shower. What is your problem that you need a half an hour?

      Ironically, nobody's come up with a low flow bathtub yet; and a bath is like a 1 hour shower with a regular flow shower head.
      even more ironically, that wasn't very ironic at all, looking back at it.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    154. Re:Don't take yours in. by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      CO2 is plant food, therefor it's harmless. Nightshade berries are bird food, therefor they are harmless. Why don't you eat some nightshade berries and let us know how that logic of yours works out.

      Dead humans are plant food too.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    155. Re:Don't take yours in. by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      I don't know, the EPA is using some double-speak:

      "Car owners should know that although these vehicles have emissions exceeding standards, these violations do not present a safety hazard and the cars remain legal to drive and resell. Owners of cars of these models and years do not need to take any action at this time."

      I assume they mean to say that it's not a hazard that will kill the occupants of the vehicle, but only hazardous considering the number of these vehicles on the road, but the way they phrase it seems to contradict the necessity of emission controls.

      IIRC, last time I looked at federal laws, you could disable the emissions controls on your own car, but nobody was allowed to do it for hire. Local laws probably make it tougher in california and places like that, though.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    156. Re:Don't take yours in. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Even if they don't need it, it's still sent downriver.

      Outdoor water use is where the real 'water consumption' is.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    157. Re:Don't take yours in. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Icepicks cost a lot less than tires. My planet > your car.

    158. Re:Don't take yours in. by flappinbooger · · Score: 1

      Some people care about the emissions from their car...

      just like some people like low flow shower heads and low flow toilets.

      You know those two things are not physically connected, right?

      oh yeah?

      --
      Flappinbooger isn't my real name
    159. Re: Don't take yours in. by Khashishi · · Score: 1

      I don't think you've thought this through. You can't exactly fence off the atmosphere and the water table the way you can fence off land. Pollution just diffuses everywhere. You talk about lawsuits. The thing is, a private court system can only have any binding decisions if the owners of the court are big and powerful enough to enforce these decisions as a de facto government. And there needs to be a military/police to enforce these decisions on neighbors. You may be personally strong enough to defend your house with your shotgun from your porch, but you aren't going to be able to stop pollution from blowing over your house without some kind of task force invading and checking your neighbors. None of that shit is going to work at all.

    160. Re:Don't take yours in. by sociocapitalist · · Score: 1

      Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you take the wall with you. "

      -Ross Bentley

      --
      blindly antisocialist = antisocial
    161. Re:Don't take yours in. by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      I drove a turbodiesel a good time ago and the performance was such that getting more was meaningless. The damn thing would accelerate from 5th gear. Sure, an overpowered gasoline is better for reckless driving and scaring pedestrians at the traffic lights.

    162. Re:Don't take yours in. by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      For many people, a shower is relaxing. Quiet time of solitude, sometimes the only time of the day to clear your head while cleansing your body, and that needs more than 5 minutes. 5 minute showers are to freshen up in the morning before work or after working out.

      Call me old-fashioned, but if I want to relax I lie down and have a nap. Showers wake you up.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    163. Re:Don't take yours in. by 400_guru · · Score: 1

      And should you actually RIDE one of these hybrid buses they are much smoother and quieter than their straight diesel counterparts. There is no revving engine and no lurching shifts. Due to the regenerative braking there is both less brake dust and dirt and they last far longer saving maintenance dollars. The more they build the better the cost will become and the better they will be for everyone in nearly every way.

      --
      There are two rules to success in life: 1) Don't tell everyone all that you know.
    164. Re:Don't take yours in. by orgelspieler · · Score: 1

      Does anybody actually "like" those things? I've never understood either.

      Every hotel I stayed at in Azerbaijan had dual-flow toilets with two different flush buttons. Why are they almost unheard of in the states? My problem with low-flow toilets is that if you don't flush about halfway through doing our business, the damn thing clogs up. So you don't really end up saving water. With the industrial-strength ones in public restrooms (that make that satisfying whooshing sound), you could probably flush a small rhinoceros down there without so much as a hiccup.

      Same problem with low-flow shower heads. If my wife takes three times as long to rinse out her hair, but the flow rate is only reduced by half, I'm still using more water. I know some people who really like to conserve will turn off the water when they lather up. That's dedication right there. I tried for like a week to do that. It's just not for me.

    165. Re:Don't take yours in. by flappinbooger · · Score: 1

      Wow, after only 3 days a common sense reply to my post.

      Thanks. You are a blast of fresh air. If we ever meet I'd like to buy you a beverage.

      --
      Flappinbooger isn't my real name
    166. Re:Don't take yours in. by me3head · · Score: 1

      Well, except that in this case it increases fuel efficiency because they run leaner in order to get better MPG which also reduces CO2, Hydrocarbon, and CO emissions at the cost of increasing NOx emissions. The more I look into it, it seems that the problem is that these engines run too efficiently to achieve high enough temperatures to activate the catalyst to scrub the NOx. So the EPA is basically asking to burn off more fuel in order to heat up the catalyst. I'm sure that would reduce NOx emission as a ratio with fuel burned, but I'm not sure that the absolute level of NOx emission would be lower in that mode. Either way, calculating emissions per gallon instead of per mile seems dubious to me. http://www.rx8club.com/attachm...

    167. Re:Don't take yours in. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      More like your PSU getting recalled because it claimed to be sucking up X amount of power

      Your PC manufacturer claimed that your PC shipped with an amount of malware below the legal maximum, but then you discover your BIOS shipped with special code to hide the adware/malware when an adware or antivirus scan is being run.

      Your cookware was branded with the Kosher label, but it turns out to be made from a composite material formulated from powdered pig bones.

    168. Re:Don't take yours in. by nblender · · Score: 1

      Actually, and just guessing here, it's probably max throttlle from idle... At full throttle close to redline, EGT's would be high enough to probably burn the crap out of any particulates...

    169. Re:Don't take yours in. by nblender · · Score: 1

      Ok, so you don't have a 14 year old son. Check.

    170. Re:Don't take yours in. by nblender · · Score: 1

      I have some CO2 in solid form for you to eat... Close your eyes and open your mouth wide...

    171. Re:Don't take yours in. by maccodemonkey · · Score: 1

      I don't think the comparison was about eating... More that a particle being harmless for one organism doesn't mean it's harmless in general. Plants liking CO2 has nothing to do with anything about how CO2 affects our atmosphere.

    172. Re:Don't take yours in. by imboboage0 · · Score: 1

      Peace be with you - Ive never flashed a VW ecu, but after tuning an 86 mustang ecu with a hex editor, i can't understand why they got so complicated.

      --
      Honesty may be the best policy, but by process of elimination, dishonesty is the second best policy.
    173. Re:Don't take yours in. by MountainMan101 · · Score: 1

      There's not "fix" - it's not an inherent flaw, it's in the design.

      The modern diesel engines drip feed a small amount of oil into the fuel. The manufacturers translate this into a max oil use expected (presumably based on a large number of short journeys). In reality it's much lower - my Audi A5 goes from Max to half way to Min in the 20,000 miles between services. About 1/2 UK pint.

      My Honda Civic diesel used 1 pint in the same time. Both are well below the manufacturers tolerance.

    174. Re:Don't take yours in. by swb · · Score: 1

      I meant gasoline engines, not diesel.

      The person I know with two gasoline powered VWs complained about oil consumption, up to about a quart per month.

    175. Re:Don't take yours in. by toddestan · · Score: 1

      Many auto parts stores will loan you one for free too for reading your car in the parking lot. (the hope being that you'll then buy the parts from them to fix it, of course)

    176. Re:Don't take yours in. by aNonnyMouseCowered · · Score: 1

      Comparer mentions food in both sentences, plant food vs. bird food. So you can't help but think this is about food.

  2. This only applies to diesel models by bleh-of-the-huns · · Score: 3, Informative

    Might want to be more specific in the synopsis.

    --
    I came, I conquered, I coredumped
    1. Re:This only applies to diesel models by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You must be new here...

  3. Built-in "performance chip" by istartedi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So VW incorporated stuff you see advertised in the back of hot-rod mags into the car. Now they'll have to go after those after-market guys, assuming the chips actually do what they say. It's not like anybody even tells state inspectors they swapped out the chips. I'm not sure how much this goes on. I've got a relatively new car and have only had it smogged once since I bought it. No, I don't plan on ever messing with it. I just know that such things exist.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    1. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Up in the great white north the emissions testing has become an even more blatant money grab as they no longer perform an actual test, they just check ODB codes.

    2. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by sjames · · Score: 1

      They do the same thing for newer cars in the U.S. as well, at least in some states.

    3. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If that is how your garage inspects your cars, they are doing it wrong. However, if your car is throwing codes, depending on which codes they are (emissions related duh), yes, it is an automatic fail.

    4. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Ol' Dirty Bastard codes? Or do you mean OBD codes?

      "On Board Data"

    5. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      Up in the great white north the emissions testing has become an even more blatant money grab as they no longer perform an actual test, they just check ODB codes.

      Hey its Canada; what matters is that it is regulated!

      Need Moar Regulations!!

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    6. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by JoeyRox · · Score: 2

      So now we'll need an aftermarket "green-rod" chip that makes our cars environmental friendly. And instead of advertising the chip in beefy car magazines they'll advertise them in nature magazines sold at Whole Foods.

    7. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by istartedi · · Score: 1

      Literally decades ago in Virginia, a state not considered progressive at all, they were measuring gasses at the tailpipe. This may have only been NoVa though, which is part of the DC metro. I'm not sure what they did in the rest of the state; but IIRC it was a state program not county. I've been away from there a while but I have a hard time believing it changed. I seem to recall there being some confusion about what they would do when an EV pulled in. I guess they got waivers or something.

      I didn't actually pay attention to what the CA smog inspector did. It was hands-off on my part. I seem to recall that some of those Virginia inspections would actually require me to sit in the car and rev it. I wonder if they still do that because you figure it's only a matter of time before some idiot puts it in gear.

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    8. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ahem, On-board diagnostics

    9. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by Calydor · · Score: 1

      So put the car up on the rollers they use for the test to see if it drives straight ahead or veers off to one side?

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    10. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      In the Phoenix an Tucson areas, post-1996 vehicles registered for more than 5 years have to be tested, and are checked for OBD readiness only. My 95 Explorer needed a tailpipe test, which it passed easily even at 310,000+ miles.

      The OBD test requires first that no system reports 'not ready', which means sensors are operating within normal limits, no malfunctions such as misfires or timing errors are detected, and especially that no errors have been reported for (usually) three driving cycles. Just resetting the MIL Status will not pass a test.

      My 04 Lancer has a well-known issue with the ECU reporting the O2 sensors as being out of tolerance, the post-cat sensor being reported as too hot. This is really a programming issue, but Mitsubishi could not get the code to work right, and after one TSB gave up and required owners to replace the front cat/manifold assembly if it threw the code. There is, however, a well known fix that clears the code and still provides emissions within limits.

      The OBD test is very effective if the system is programmed to meet legal specifications and is not otherwise tampered with. Codes usually do isolate the error, but sometimes there are codes that don't specify a single cause. Sad. Expensive.

      It may be a money grab, but the EPA is convinced it must save us from ourselves.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    11. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      On Board Diagnostics.

      OBD I was a simple system, used pulses to send data. Pre-96.

      OBD II was more complex, introduced a standard connector, more complex data, and has been expanded greatly since 1996. Manufacturers have introduced the CAN bus to send data to and from multiple computers and sensors, even lamps, and manufacturer-specific codes enhanced it.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    12. Re:Built-in "performance chip" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tailpipe sniffers in NoVa only! I've lived in Tidewater Virginia since the 80's, and nobody checks your emissions here.

  4. No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They didn't fine them? I understand it will be expensive for them to reprogram all the cars again, but you'd think they'd levy a fine on top of everything for knowingly defying the law.

    1. Re:No fine? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      They got caught, but this kind of thing has been going on in the industry since the 1990s.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    2. Re:No fine? by njnnja · · Score: 2

      Unless the law says you can't game the test. I believe you meant to make a normative statement instead of a positive one.

    3. Re:No fine? by sjames · · Score: 1

      I would have hoped they would have to compensate any owner unsatisfied with the degraded performance after the update.

    4. Re:No fine? by galabar · · Score: 1

      So, there would be millions of examples of other brands of cars on the road right now doing the same thing. Great, they can be tracked down. However, that seems unlikely. Are you sure the industry has been doing this "since the 1990s?" It would be very easy to verify.

    5. Re:No fine? by sjames · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, it is. It is fraud.

    6. Re:No fine? by Wdomburg · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes, it is. See: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/7522.

      And there is precedent for this specific case. Ford was fined millions for selling Econoline vans that disabled emissions controls at highway speeds, leading to excessive nitrogen oxide emissions. If anything this seems a more egregious violation. See: http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-06/documents/defeat.pdf

    7. Re:No fine? by bobbied · · Score: 1

      They didn't fine them? I understand it will be expensive for them to reprogram all the cars again, but you'd think they'd levy a fine on top of everything for knowingly defying the law.

      They didn't fine them ... YET.... You can bet the fines will be forthcoming and that VW and the government are currently spit-balling over the amount though their respective lawyers...

      First things first.. You have to determine exactly how many cars are involved, how hard the "fix" will be and get the cars fixed... Oh, and you need to make sure you have time for the bribes and back room deals to happen...

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    8. Re:No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It defies this law: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/40/89.107

    9. Re:No fine? by Chordonblue · · Score: 1

      Actually, this sort of thing has been going on since the '70's when American manufacturers, hit with emissions testing for the first time, installed air 'injectors' to force more fresh air down the tailpipe. It was completely legal and helped them until they could redesign their engines and introduce catalytic converters.

      --
      "...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
    10. Re:No fine? by Streetlight · · Score: 1

      According to a NY Times article, the fine will be $18 billion. That's a b as in BILLION. Not small change.

      --
      In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
    11. Re:No fine? by mr_mischief · · Score: 2

      Selling something as expensive as a car using published information that's intentionally falsified to fool the tester and reviewer is making a financial gain through deliberate misrepresentation. There's a name for that. It's fraud. Fraud is a felony.

    12. Re:No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Air Injection adds a little more oxygen to the exhaust to help burn up any leftover hydrocarbons. It's still used today on some cars.

    13. Re:No fine? by FranTaylor · · Score: 1

      Why is that? In the end they will be getting the exact same automobile that they were told that they were buying.

    14. Re:No fine? by sconeu · · Score: 1

      And if my mileage drops from the Advertised EPA 45 to 40 because of this? Since I bought my TDi specifically because of the MPG ratings, I would think I should have some recourse.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    15. Re:No fine? by FranTaylor · · Score: 0

      And if my mileage drops from the Advertised EPA 45 to 40 because of this? Since I bought my TDi specifically because of the MPG ratings, I would think I should have some recourse.

      So you want compensation because your vehicle will have the exact specifications that you mutually agreed upon when you bought the car?

    16. Re:No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Are you being daft on purpose? Software is as much part of the car's specifications as the hardware. If the car was sold as delivering xxMPG/xxHP/xxTQ but the recall causes these numbers to change, you certainly will be returned with a car that is not the same as you bought it.

    17. Re:No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It sounds really different if you say "disabling emissions controls at highway speeds, leading to lower CO2 emissions" ...

      The atmosphere will clean NOxs. The atmosphere will not scrub CO2.

    18. Re:No fine? by sjames · · Score: 2

      No, they were told they were buying a car with a specific mileage and performance. They had the right to presume that those figures could be had while the car complied with federal law.

      If either of those is degraded in order to comply with the law, they were defrauded and have a right to compensation.

    19. Re:No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you figure that? VW was selling a car with the following ADVERTISED features: meets emission tests AND performs at rate X. What they actually sold was a car that: meets emission tests OR performs at rate X. This is fraudulent case number one. After the fix, the car's features are: meets emissions tests AND performs at rate Y, where Y X. This is fraudulent case number 2. In either scenario, they are not getting the car as advertised.

    20. Re:No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you keep pretending that having a product with different performance characteristics from the product originally bought doesn't matter? Emissions clearly is a characteristic, but so do horsepower and fuel efficiency.

      People compare cars with possible alternatives before buying them. Any difference invalidates the comparison done before the acquisition. Can't you see this is a REAL problem?

    21. Re:No fine? by hey! · · Score: 1

      The hell with a fine. No jail?

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    22. Re:No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      VAG makes about $1k per car, and about 10million cars per year. So that is 2 years global profit. They will fight.

    23. Re:No fine? by Moof123 · · Score: 2

      Update indicates it could be $18 Billion in fines, $37,500 per non-complying car. It is doubtful it will stand at that amount, but a fine is very much in play.

    24. Re:No fine? by Moof123 · · Score: 1

      Recently Ford ended up being shamed into sending checks to a bunch of C-MAX hybrid owners who all consistently got less than the sticker MPG. Ford had re-used the drive train from their Fusion hybrid, which allowed them under EPA rules to skip the retesting for fuel economy. The C-MAX weighed different and had different aerodynamics. Owners who bought a hybrid were justifiably angry that a headline performance number simply was not true, even though Ford did nothing illegal. It is unknown as to how willful the original deception was, or if it was an honest goof up. Enough hay was made over the problem that Ford cut checks for the lifetime increased gas usage and adjusted the sticker MPG numbers to match reality.

      With actual intentional fraud for VW, it is reasonable to expect owners to get some monetary compensation for the cost of gas or any lost performance.

    25. Re:No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They didn't fine them? I understand it will be expensive for them to reprogram all the cars again, but you'd think they'd levy a fine on top of everything for knowingly defying the law.

      How about bringing felony fraud charges against the director in charge of the project and all other executives who knew about it as well.

    26. Re:No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If anything this seems a more egregious violation.

      We still lead the world in cheating. USA! USA!

    27. Re:No fine? by galabar · · Score: 1

      This seems to be a first step. I would assume a clash action lawsuit would follow from owners.

    28. Re:No fine? by barakn · · Score: 1

      You said OR, but I think you meant XOR, and your less-than symbol is missing. Also mpg is not a rate per se (change per unit time).

      --
      "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
    29. Re:No fine? by Wdomburg · · Score: 1

      We have these neat things called plants...

    30. Re:No fine? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In that article Honda settled for a fine of 267M for 1.6M cars in violation. (166$ per car).
      The current "18 Billions" that VW faces is based on the max fine of 34.500$ per vehicles!

      I think VW will stay in business, even with a significant drop in sales for the next 2 years. I expect VW to be sold at very competitive prices in 18 months.

  5. Lets go back to 19XX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And this is exactly why you test emissions at the tailpipe and not from the OBD port.

    Sometimes the old ways are better than the new ways.

    1. Re:Lets go back to 19XX by FranTaylor · · Score: 1

      And this is exactly why you test emissions at the tailpipe and not from the OBD port.

      that old muffler with the hole in it is still good for something

    2. Re: Lets go back to 19XX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Florida doesn't even do emission trading at all.

    3. Re: Lets go back to 19XX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And Colorado does roadside (typically highway on-ramp) tailpipe testing using IR sensors.

      If you pass within a month or two of your renewal date, you don't need to visit an emissions testing place.

    4. Re:Lets go back to 19XX by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      The "XX" you're looking for is "95." ODB-II (and thus emissions testing sans tailpipe sensor) became mandatory in 1996.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    5. Re:Lets go back to 19XX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Leaky mufflers will usually automatically stop the tailpipe test, excess O2 detected.

    6. Re:Lets go back to 19XX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not in a diesel. They run lean all the time so always excess O2

  6. Color me naive.... by mark-t · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... but how does the software in the car know that the vehicle's emissions are being tested in the first place?

    1. Re:Color me naive.... by Bugler412 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Something plugged into and actively reading data from the OBDII port I suppose. Wouldn't be hard to setup

    2. Re:Color me naive.... by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      It makes me wonder if plugging in something like a Scangauge or VCDS changes the performance too.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    3. Re:Color me naive.... by j2.718ff · · Score: 1

      ... but how does the software in the car know that the vehicle's emissions are being tested in the first place?

      I am curious too. I also imagine it varies quite a bit from location to location. In Denver, for example, they often setup emission detectors near highway onramps. They test and photograph license plates as people drive by. If you pass, they'll send notice in the mail that you don't have to bother visiting an actual emissions station.

    4. Re:Color me naive.... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Hold x+-100 RPM for y time. Then drop to z rpm for testing. It's pretty much a fingerprint.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    5. Re:Color me naive.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      New cars are tested at the OBD port. They don't stick a sensor up the tail pipe anymore. Just plug into the dashboard of the car, ask "how are your emissions?" and done.

    6. Re:Color me naive.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So that is how they'll ram through all the regulations preventing you from fixing or modifying the code that runs your car! Brilliant!

    7. Re:Color me naive.... by mark-t · · Score: 2

      Why aren't they, oh.... I don't know.... measuring the actual emissions produced by the vehicle? Sure, it's a harder test to conduct, but the results would reflect what the thing is actually doing, and would also have the upshot of working with older vehicles that don't have such a port.

    8. Re:Color me naive.... by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Seems like you've never had an emissions test done. No, they don't interface with your vehicle's ECU; they stick a probe up it's ass^H^H^H tailpipe.

    9. Re:Color me naive.... by FranTaylor · · Score: 1

      would also have the upshot of working with older vehicles that don't have such a port.

      This port goes back to the mid 1990s.

      Vehicles of that age are generally exempt from testing.

    10. Re:Color me naive.... by khelms · · Score: 1

      Really? Down here in COS there's only 1 place that does diesel emissions "testing" (really they just test the opacity of the exhaust and don't look for any particular gas) and that runs me $50 every 2 years. I'd love to avoid that fee.

    11. Re:Color me naive.... by OverlordQ · · Score: 1

      They do, but they also read the engine performance data over the CANBUS, so while they do have a sensor reading emissions from the tailpipe it's always used in conjunction with reading from the ODB port as well.

      --
      Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    12. Re:Color me naive.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not in my state they don't.

    13. Re:Color me naive.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "They" do measure actual emissions on older vehicles where OBD-2 isn't an option and where older vehicles are subject to emissions regulation. But in practice, the OBD-II system can be considered to be an API; a black box. You trust that the manufacturer has created a computer which can properly measure itself and do a cursory check that the measurement instruments all look like they're probably working (exhaust doesn't leak, no wires dangling off of engine, etc). If the sensors are all there and the computer is working as designed, then you can trust the output of the computer. It's basically the same thing as calling a web service over https - validate the cert and make the call; you don't care how it works, you just need to verify that the server is what you expected. If it's the server you expected, then the output is probably valid.

      That saves significant money and time while reducing liability compared to strapping a car to a dyno and running it on a simulated road test.

    14. Re:Color me naive.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends on the state. Many states' emissions tests simply rely on the car's ECU to tell the truth.

    15. Re:Color me naive.... by Optic7 · · Score: 5, Informative

      It sounds like they went way beyond that. A comment on Jalopnik says:

      According to the report from the EPA, it used figures such as steering wheel input, barometric pressure, engine run-time, wheel speed, etc, to determine it was being tested on a dyno.

      I think VW is going to be in a world of hurt over this. Apparently their 2016 models are already being held at the port and cannot be delivered to dealers.

    16. Re:Color me naive.... by GungaDan · · Score: 1

      My guess? Scangauge, yes; Vag-Com, no. TDI maintenance without reliable vagcom would be even more nightmarish.

      --
      Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
    17. Re:Color me naive.... by mark-t · · Score: 1

      That's about on par with a suspect giving a plea "not guilty" in court, and since they are bound by oath to tell the truth, the judge proclaiming that the matter has been settled, and the case is summarily closed.

    18. Re:Color me naive.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get an "emissions" test every 2 years in Oregon for a 2002 Mazda Protege. In Washington County they have never once stuck anything in my tail pipe to measure anything. All they do is plug into a port and let some diagnostics run.

    19. Re:Color me naive.... by Feral+Nerd · · Score: 1

      Really? Down here in COS there's only 1 place that does diesel emissions "testing" (really they just test the opacity of the exhaust and don't look for any particular gas) and that runs me $50 every 2 years. I'd love to avoid that fee.

      Really? you are appalled by paying $50 every two years? The government fleeces you many times more than that every year for farm subsidies and corporate welfare.

    20. Re: Color me naive.... by BenBoy · · Score: 1

      I'd be a lot happier if I believed, just for a moment, that someone was going to jail for this. Instead what I really believe is that someone is going to lose his bonus for a quarter. And then be promoted.

    21. Re:Color me naive.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Vehicles older then obd2 get a tailpipe test in the three states that I have lived in with emissions.

      I believe it has to be 1975 or something to be exempt. That will vary by state.

    22. Re:Color me naive.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seems like you've never had an emissions test done. No, they don't interface with your vehicle's ECU; they stick a probe up it's ass^H^H^H tailpipe.

      Sounds like you haven't had to have your car tested in Colorado. They certainly do hook up to the OBDII port as well as measuring the tailpipe emissions during the test.

    23. Re:Color me naive.... by serbanp · · Score: 1

      In California this is true only for cars built in 2000 or later. Cars with OBD2 but older than 2000 still get tested at the tailpipe.

    24. Re:Color me naive.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just like benchmark testing games. Driver detects a benchmark app running and reduces render quality to make benchmark numbers look better. VW detects car on a dyno and reduces emissions to make benchmark numbers look better. Developers and testers have been doing this dance forever...

      The problem is that you can't define a blanket clause that would prevent this. There are good reasons for a car to react to its environment and perceived usage - there's nothing technically wrong with a car detecting city-driving and modifying some parameters as a result. If this conserves energy then this is a good thing. Just because a car detects that it's driving straight forward at constant speed and "does something different" doesn't mean that it's malicious. It could simply be the car adapting to save fuel.

      And sometimes it's malicious. If these changed parameters cause the car to behave in a way that would be unsafe on the road then that's a different ballgame.

    25. Re:Color me naive.... by Calydor · · Score: 1

      It is more like relying on a lie detector to be telling the truth, actually.

      The equivalent of the suspect would be the driver; he has an interest in saying that his car is clean as a whistle.

      The car manufacturer is not interested in whether they are screwing over ONE customer by revealing out-of-bounds emissions; they are (or ought to be) interested in not pissing off the government to the point their cars get banned from import/sale.

      Seems Volkswagen forgot that for a couple of years, though.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    26. Re:Color me naive.... by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      The right way is to detect the characteristic driving pattern and the OBD port in use. Port in use, presume testing. When the driving parameters match the test cycles, control emissions to spec for those specific conditions. Driveability is not being tested.

      Once the port is closed, back to performance parameters, emissions be damned.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    27. Re:Color me naive.... by guruevi · · Score: 1

      Cost, ease of use and accuracy. The sensor is already in the car, why get an additional device that does the same thing when you can just plug in a chip with an LCD screen and read out both current and historical data?

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    28. Re:Color me naive.... by khelms · · Score: 1

      I didn't say that was the ONLY fee I'd like to avoid. It's just the one that is relevant to this topic.

    29. Re:Color me naive.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wondered if they had an accelerometer somewhere in the car. If the car isn't accelerating but it's wheels are moving forward you know the car is on dyno!

    30. Re:Color me naive.... by fnj · · Score: 1

      Seems like you've never had an emissions test done. No, they don't interface with your vehicle's ECU; they stick a probe up it's ass

      STFU with the bullshit. You don't know crap. I've NEVER had a tailpipe test in my 1999 Golf diesel since the day I bought it to the present. For a few years they claimed to be doing a visual-only smoke observation (at idle!); then for a while they did an OBD-II-only test which basically just makes sure there are no fault codes; and since a couple of years ago when I hit 15 model years old there has been no emissions test whatsoever. They tell me it wouldn't keep me from passing any more even if I had a check-engine light glaring on the dash.

      This is in eastern Massachusetts, one of the most disgusting ultra-leftie ultra-greenie-weenie big-brother hellholes in the country.

      The bottom line: nobody cares what all-encompassing universal rules you want to infer from your own tiny experience. News flash. Emissions testing standards and methodologies vary throughout the country. Not everybody has a gasoline-powered heap.

    31. Re:Color me naive.... by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Professional driver and tech here who's owned nearly two dozen German cars over the years (but all pre-2001 models), not to mention lived all over the country including New England (but not, I'll admit, shitty Massachusetts - thank God; far too many unhappy Massholes such as yourself (yeah, we see you guys all over the country; you really should change your plates so we can't identify you except by your discourteous and unskilled driving style). ;)

    32. Re:Color me naive.... by perryizgr8 · · Score: 1

      Exactly this. I was confused till now that how can the car understand it's undergoing emission testing if I insert a probe into the tailpipe. Now I realize that all of you are talking about reading data from the sensors over OBD. That's just stupid. That's like benchmarking a computer by reading the specs. Emissions testing means capturing the smoke out of the exhaust and analyzing it. That's how it's done in my country and that's the only proper way to do it.

      --
      Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
  7. Way down at the bottom by kilodelta · · Score: 1

    It's the diesel's they have this issue with. Me, I like the Volkswagen Golf TSi. BTW, far as I can see the only difference between a TSi and GTi is the transmission in the latter is a manual. Which is interesting because I find a bunch of used Golf GTIs on craigslist for really short money.

    1. Re:Way down at the bottom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because Americans can't work out how to drive with a stick? The rest of the world is about as amused as not surprised..

    2. Re:Way down at the bottom by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      1. Style of driving is different. Stop and go highway driving with a stick shift blows.
      2. Government mileage tests in the US are more realistic and so do not give manual transmissions much benefit.

      I say this as someone who likes stick shifts and is sad to see their demise.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    3. Re:Way down at the bottom by Pinky's+Brain · · Score: 1

      Stop and go driving blows period, I don't see how not having to shift helps much. I wonder if the increased involvement in operating the car might help prevent rear ending in stop and go traffic, though on the downside many people aren't comfortable with using hand brake when pulling away on a steep incline.

    4. Re:Way down at the bottom by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      It's not the stick - it's the clutch. The stick alone might be a welcome distraction from the taillights in front of you.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  8. Re:Malicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pull away and they shift into either providing better performance or better fuel economy. I like that.

    "better performance" means "your engine wears out a lot quicker"

    if you actually wanted a sports car, you should have actually bought one

  9. Sounds familiar by davron05 · · Score: 1

    How is this different from certain phones allowing the CPU to run on full power only when a benchmark is detected to be running? Are they going to be recalled as well?

    1. Re:Sounds familiar by danbob999 · · Score: 1

      Except that there is no law (environmental or otherwise) on the speed of smartphones.

    2. Re:Sounds familiar by sjames · · Score: 2

      They should be, but since they only defraud the consumer, no action will be taken.

    3. Re:Sounds familiar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh, yes there is. It's called fraud.

    4. Re:Sounds familiar by FranTaylor · · Score: 1

      please explain how the CPU speed affects the quality of the telephone calls

    5. Re:Sounds familiar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are incredibly smart and incredibly stupid.

    6. Re:Sounds familiar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Benchmarks are part of advertising, even if not touted in a companies own published advertising. I would try calling it a violation of the truth in advertising act.
      Or any general fraud law. Modifying performance for the benchmark is a way of falsely presenting the qualities of the goods.

    7. Re:Sounds familiar by perryizgr8 · · Score: 1

      Actually, benchmarks are not at all part of advertising. Only specs are part of advertising. Whether the components will run so and so game at so and so fps for so and so period of time is never advertised. That is something people measure and tell other people to help them make a buying decision. If your testing methodology is flawed (most benchmarks are), you are at fault.

      --
      Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
  10. No authority by mveloso · · Score: 1

    Note that the violation is subject to a fine. The administration has no authority to order a recall.

    1. Re:No authority by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Note that the violation is subject to a fine. The administration has no authority to order a recall.

      Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Good one.

    2. Re:No authority by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Assuming this is true, the government's prosecutors can negotiate a deal with Volkswagen saying they have a choice of either paying a larger fine, or accepting a smaller fine in exchange for a service campaign to bring as many cars as possible into compliance.

      That is legal - just as much as it is legal for criminal defendants to take "plea deals".

  11. I thought it was the other way around by rtkluttz · · Score: 1

    My damn VW turbo diesel got 10MPG less after it got around 300 miles on it and I brought it back multiple times to be checked and they said everything was fine. I was swearing up and down that they have a program that reports better fuel mileage while it is still likely to be on a lot and be being test driven.

    --
    Digital is, by definition, imperfect. Analog is the way to go.
    1. Re:I thought it was the other way around by i.r.id10t · · Score: 1

      Bought a Nissan Versa early last year that had 21k on it. Average MPG at the time was at 36.something. Had it reset when I did teh first oil change, with my driving it is steady hanging at 39.1mpg - mostly highway or country roads, but some city.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
    2. Re:I thought it was the other way around by orient · · Score: 1

      Did you use the same fuel the dealer used? My VW turbo diesel started showing better fuel economy after using the 3rd full tank.

      --
      Laudele lor desigur m-ar mahni peste masura.
    3. Re:I thought it was the other way around by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I replaced the sparkplugs on my 195k mile Chevy. Went from 20MPG to about 30MPG. Of course the OBD was already telling me that one of the cylinders was misfiring (plugs were burnt out).

  12. Re:Malicious? by Ichijo · · Score: 2

    If they had been honest about what they were doing, it wouldn't be such a big deal. But they defrauded consumers, emissions technicians, and the government. Remember, markets work best when market failures such as information asymmetry are eliminated.

    --
    Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
  13. Re:What else would you expect from... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Normally posts about Nazis here are just hyperbole, but in this case it is actually correct. The Nazi party created Volkswagen in 1937. Hitler himself ordered the creation of a "people's car." VW still lives-up to those national socialist ideals. Many VW cars were made by literal concentration camp prisoners at Volkswagen's plant at the Arbeitsdorf concentration camp. At one time, 80% of their workforce was slaves. They truly embody socialist ideals.

  14. Re:Malicious? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 0

    What I don't like are government nannies dictating standards that are out of place everywhere but a few big cities. And I dislike bureaucrats who regard breaking their rules as 'malicious.'

    Don't want government regulations in your nick of the woods? Too bad. Those big cities used to be small towns at one point. Today's small towns will become big cities as the U.S. population grows to 438 million and rising sea levels renders populated land uninhabitable on the coasts by mid-century.

  15. Re:Malicious? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    What? Have you ever turned a wrench?

    Sure if you double the power it will wear out faster. But nobody is talking about better turbos and cams. These are water cooled VWs we're talking about. Not worth suping up.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  16. Won't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, this will do nothing. You know what would have worked? Force VW to take the cars back, refund the purchase price completely, and then effing prosecute the people responsible for the decisions at VW, take all their money and give it to environmental organizations (real ones), and then put them in jail. Until there are real consequences for actions, big companies will continue to to lie, cheat and steal in every possible way. I sure as hell hate all the lying and stealing that big companies get away with. Make the PEOPLE behind these decisions start paying with every cent they've ever made and with every moment of the rest of their stinking, lying, worthless lives. When these bastards, as individuals, *fear* to make these kinds of decisions, things will finally start to change. Until then, this is all pointless crap.

  17. Also all SUV's and pickup trucks... by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

    Because the whole purpose of the SUV and pickup truck is to evade emissions controls (because they don't apply to 'light commercial vehicles) all SUVs and pickups (not actually used for genuine commercial purposes) are being recalled as well.

    --
    In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    1. Re:Also all SUV's and pickup trucks... by Leuf · · Score: 1

      Yes, I bought a truck that costs more than a car and gets worse full economy to avoid emissions controls, not because I need to put stuff in it that doesn't fit in a car in order to do my job. Clever of you to see through that.

    2. Re:Also all SUV's and pickup trucks... by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      in order to do my job. Clever of you to see through that.

      So that would be for actual commercial use then.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    3. Re:Also all SUV's and pickup trucks... by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Emission standards apply to light trucks (SUVs, etc). Just different ones.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    4. Re:Also all SUV's and pickup trucks... by The1stImmortal · · Score: 1

      This explains the decline of the station wagon then.

    5. Re:Also all SUV's and pickup trucks... by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      This explains the decline of the station wagon then.

      Its probably not covered by the emissions exemptions that SUV and pickups get, yeah. So the car manufacturers don't even try to sell station wagons; because they'd have to pay extra emissions surcharges.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  18. Re: What else would you expect from... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    True Hitler was bad, but many of the socialist ideas his National Socualist Party espoused were great. VW was created by Hitler and used slave labor, but that isn't who they are. In this case, it must have been a mistake. Socialists always look out for the environment unlike capitalists.

  19. Re:Malicious? by FranTaylor · · Score: 1

    if the engine computer is working normally during the emissions test and in "High power" mode otherwise, then every internal engine part is being stressed beyond its design and you will see premature timing chain failures and premature main bearing failures.

  20. Shit. by sconeu · · Score: 1

    I bought a 2015 Jetta TDI (right when gas prices spiked). I was loving the ridiculous mileage I was getting. I figured I was saving about $150-$200 per month in fuel costs over my old Camry.

    Now I'm probably going to lose a shitload of that mileage.

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    1. Re:Shit. by Khashishi · · Score: 1

      I wonder if the increase in particulate pollution is balanced by the decrease in CO2 and fuel extraction pollution due to less fuel being burned. (This isn't time for a knee-jerk reaction. We need actual quantitative analysis here.)

    2. Re:Shit. by cpoch · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's probably how VW got a Euro spec engine to meet US regulations. Euro specs measure pollution per distance - the way to win is to burn fuel really efficiently. US specs measure pollution per unit of fuel consumption - the way to win is to burn fuel really cleanly. That difference is a big reason why they have much more fuel efficient vehicles in Europe. It's much easier to get a larger engine to burn cleaner. Most manufacturers that sell the same engine in both continents use different tunings in each, where the EU one gets better fuel economy and the US one burns cleaner.

      Manufacturers have been trying to bring the incredible economy that small diesels in Europe get to the US for years but it turns out making a diesel that is significantly more efficient than a comparable gas engine and also meets EPA regulations is really hard. For example, Mazda has been promising Skyactiv-D (diesel) engines in the US for years now, but they keep getting delayed because they're not satisfied with their performance.

    3. Re:Shit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That difference is a big reason why they have much more fuel efficient vehicles in Europe

      Another difference that influences the perception that European vehicles are more efficient is that they quote fuel economy in Imperial Gallons (when using MPG) instead of US Gallons. Imperial Gallons are larger than US Gallons, producing a higher number.

      I think that if you took the same model of car in the US and Euro market, their fuel economy scores would be within the margin of error of the respective fuel economy testing procedures (which are also different between FMVSS and UNECE).

    4. Re:Shit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since the EPA has determined CO2 to be a pollutant, the EPA is mandating from 2 conflicting views. Get better fuel economy you get less CO2. Get more CO2 get lower emissions and worse fuel economy. Fuck the EPA. We need to warm up the planet to make it habitable for dinosaurs and so we can grow sugar cane in Siberia.

    5. Re:Shit. by orgelspieler · · Score: 1

      Sounds to me like we're doing it wrong. I would think measuring pollution per distance makes a hell of a lot more sense. I wonder how that pans out. If I am putting out less emissions per gallon but using more gallons per mile, my total emissions for the trip it could go either way. I wonder if this isn't anything nefarious, but rather VW made a decision that the poor stupid Americans just didn't know WTF they were asking for. Has anybody seen the raw data? Is it possible that the changes actually give enough fuel efficiency gain that the total emissions per mile are actually better by "cheating"?

  21. Re:What else would you expect from... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wrong. The Nazis were the good guy. Hitler was the bad guy. The party was the national socialist party that looked out after workers, and they founded VW to build a car for the common man. They did much good. It was Hilter that wasn't a true socialist like he claimed then he did bad things. No, VW is a good guy. This must be like Hitler in that VW is a good company, but one bad leader is forcing them to do what one of those capitalists would do.

  22. It's not the first time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.dieselnet.com/stan...

    Basically, the big-rig engine manufacturer's did the same thing - the engine software detected when it was running on the freeway and switched to a more fuel-efficient but also more polluting mode.

  23. Thanks, Obama? by mothlos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Saying "The Obama Administration [sic]" makes it sound like some sort of political meddling was behind this action. While the EPA is part of the executive bureaucracy, this does not stink of Obama political officials pushing an agenda, but just normal regulatory oversight and it therefore should be attributed to the agency.

    1. Re:Thanks, Obama? by Notorious+G · · Score: 1

      You've seen the fnords.

    2. Re:Thanks, Obama? by tipo159 · · Score: 1

      Well, the entire synopsis is pretty bad, but that is often the standard on /., isn't it?

      Why does the synopsis spend so much time comparing what VAG has done with malware (huh?), but doesn't mention key info like how this issue applies only to diesel-engined cars and their nitrogen oxide emissions?

      As far as I been able to tell, the source of the "recall" story seems to be the NY Times story. All I have seen from the EPA is the Notice of Violation. According to the Notice, the investigation is continuing and the issue has been referred to the Justice Department. I think that the recall talk is premature at this point, though it will likely happen at some point. I think VW would need time to develop software and certify its compliance with the Federal standards before any vehicles could be recalled. BTW, one source indicated that, according to the statutes, the fine for this violation is $37500/vehicle, or over $18billion for the number of vehicles involved.

  24. Re:malware is for cows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    no, you are

  25. Re:Malicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    if the engine computer is working normally during the emissions test and in "High power" mode otherwise, then every internal engine part is being stressed beyond its design and you will see premature timing chain failures and premature main bearing failures.

    You don't understand. The emission testing mode is retarding the engine. The non emission testing is the normal mode.

  26. Don't be fooled by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it's just another case of American protectionism and letting the hammer drop on foreign-owned business and corporations competing in a global competing market.

  27. Re:Malicious? by FranTaylor · · Score: 1

    You don't understand. The emission testing mode is retarding the engine. The non emission testing is the normal mode.

    The car was certified under the "emission testing mode" and so that is by definition the "normal" mode. The car was not certified or anything else in the bogus mode that people are currently driving it around in.

  28. Re:Malicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The car was certified under the "emission testing mode" and so that is by definition the "normal" mode.

    WRONG

  29. Re:Malicious? by FranTaylor · · Score: 1

    how is this wrong? This is the mode that VW was telling us that the car was running in. It is a crime for them to sell cars that do not operate in this mode. They have "tweaked" the cars on the road, they are not certified, they don't pass, they are in a bogus mode, not a "normal" one.

  30. Summary needs fixes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, EPA found that VW deliberately set up the emission controls so they only worked when under test. That has been done by several truck engine makers over the years too, and all had to pay fines and fix the systems when they were found out. But EPA has not (yet) ordered recalls or fines - they're giving VW a chance to do the recall themselves. EPA has the right to order both, though, and considering how bad this one is I hope that at least a substantial fine (perhaps reduced if VW does a suitable recall) is assessed. I do breath the air these things are fouling. And if others have gotten diesels to work well and meet emission standards VW should be able to also.

  31. jail time by Khashishi · · Score: 1

    If a human did this, they'd be arrested and jailed for fraud. But when a corporation does it, it's just business as usual.

    1. Re:jail time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Corporations are people when it comes to rights.

      Corporations are an abstract entity when it comes to responsibility.

  32. Re:What else would you expect from... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "At one time, 80% of their workforce was slaves. They truly embody socialist ideals."

    That is not socialism you fucking American dickhead.

    Capitalist idealism in southern US states epitomized the mistreatment of humans as slaves to fuel the profits of the landowners.

    You gotta learn some shit braw!!!

  33. Re:burn a quart of oil by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    If I remember correctly, the change oil light in some cars don't actually sense the condition of the oil but actually run on a timer.

  34. Companies founded by socialists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are typically more environmentLly conscious than this. I am disappointed in the Nazis.

    1. Re: Companies founded by socialists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The nazis did something bad? I'm shocked!

    2. Re:Companies founded by socialists... by orgelspieler · · Score: 1

      Nice trolling. I love it when people call the Nazi's socialists, just because it was in the name of their political party. North Korea is nominally a democratic republic, but you don't hear people calling it a democracy. Nazis were pretty anti-socialism; they were responsible for the dissolution of several socialists parties and labor organizations in the 30s. Just ask any of the socialist dissidents that they rounded up. Oh wait, you can't because they were all murdered.

    3. Re:Companies founded by socialists... by cwsumner · · Score: 1

      Nice trolling. I love it when people call the Nazi's socialists, just because it was in the name of their political party. ...

      Political systems are like a soup-can label, if you go too far in any direction they meet in the back and are the same thing!

  35. Re:Malicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The proper term is "special needsing the engine."

  36. Might have cheated the test so they could import by Salo2112 · · Score: 1

    I had an older model VW TDi. At the time, the only diesels you could get in the US were VWs and Mercedes. I asked a mechanic at the dealership why, and he told me a lot of diesels won't meet US standards for cleanliness, so they stay in Europe and Asia. I wonder if VW gamed them to keep importing diesel vehicles - we diesel heads are a small, but cultish bunch of people. 45 mpg was pretty much my avg no running the AC, around 40 with the AC on. Just in case you were wondering. And since people are misinformed, the increase in milage is more than offset by the price of the fuel. When I first got mine, diesel was cheaper than regular gas and it was a huge money saver, but once low-sulphur was mandated, diesel became more expensive than premium gas and it was a money loser.

  37. No fine? by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    No fine? WTF?

  38. Re:Malicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You just named all of the engine components you know, didn't you?

    Please explain why you think the timing chain of all things will fail prematurely due to increased power output. While you're at it, please explain what "premature" means to you. If the engine normally operates in "slightly higher power" mode, then the design specifications would be targeted at that operating mode, not at the low-power emissions test mode that it'll see for five minutes once a year. So, maybe you're talking about relative to operating in low-power mode. If we make the assumption that lower power will make an engine last longer, then even lower power shoudl make an engine last even longer, right? And this generalization must apply to all engines? So, then, every engine in the world which makes more power than the absolute minimum will therefore exhibit "premature" failure using your criteria.

    No engine can run "forever," as eventually rings wear out cylinder bores and bearings wear through. So, what is a "reasonable" lifespan for an engine? There must be some power level and operating mode (and maintenance schedule) which can meet this reasonable life expectancy, and probably point at which decreasing power output doesn't have a significant impact on lifespan. So, on what basis do you claim that the "more power" mode doesn't meet the reasonable life expectancy, while "low power" mode does? None? I thought not.

    /drops mic

  39. You're naive. by mmell · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Didn't make enough money, pure and simple. ANECDOTE FOLLOWS:

    =====

    Bought a 1959 Chevrolet Apache 31 pickup truck in 1978. Motor blew up within fifty miles and I replaced it with a freshly rebuilt 235 L-six motor. Brand new.

    Guy at the California Emissions Control Testing Center (actually, a major auto-repair shop which shall remain nameless here) say's "There's no smog control cannister on this truck. Can't pass it." I had to argue with him and make him look up the concept of a grandfathered vehicle, same thing that got me out of no seatbelt tickets later - but I digress. Mechanic dude, clearly unhappy that he can't sell me over a thousand dollars of unnecessary work to retrofit a PCR and catalytic converter on my Chevy, finally insists on probing the exhaust pipe.

    His probe didn't even wiggle. Read around zero. Guy now insists that the probe is broken and he can't smog certify my truck. Another hour of arguing gets me the shop manager who's going to prove they can't smog my truck by probing his. Lo and behold! the needle obediently shows his truck is a filthy (yet legally compliant) pig. My truck, OTOH, still reads essentially zero - hey, it was essentially a brand-new, properly installed and tuned small-block six-cylinder engine.

    Finally (after several more dirty looks and argument) I get my truck smogged in the state of California.

    =====

    Any questions about why states do the smog control inspection thing? Anybody here still gullible enough to think it's actually to protect the ecology?

    1. Re:You're naive. by b0bby · · Score: 1

      In my state, it's done at a state inspection facility every two years and costs $15. I don't think it's a huge moneymaker for the state. But we do have pretty bad air quality sometimes; today it's a code yellow day, for example. So, here at least, I do think it's for air quality.

    2. Re:You're naive. by Moof123 · · Score: 1

      Here in Communist Oregon the state does all the smog testing. It takes away the incentives to fudge things one way or the other.

    3. Re:You're naive. by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

      Good story dude. But pre 75 means no smog check in CA.

      You don't want the blower sticking out of the hood though. Cops spot those and give you tickets for race mods. Hence low rise blowers.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    4. Re:You're naive. by mmell · · Score: 1

      Yeah . . . but when the guy at the DMV doesn't want to hear it, and the guy at the smog station stands to make money from it . . . ever heard that old bit, "you can't fight city hall"?

    5. Re:You're naive. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Yeah . . . but when the guy at the DMV doesn't want to hear it,

      I don't want to hear your phony story, because DMV has no problems with the fact that some vehicles are pre-emissions.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:You're naive. by slimjim8094 · · Score: 2

      Here in socialist NJ you can go to the state inspection center and they do it for free. It's about 15 minutes from my house and I'm in and out in ~3 minutes - get out of the car, they plug you in, rev the car in neutral, check the headlights and blinkers and wipers, get out, get the new sticker, and put it on the windshield. There's sometimes a line, but they have a webcam so you can see if they're busy before making the trip.

      Or you can pay for it to be done at the private shop right down the street - round trip 10 minutes - but if they gave me a hard time I'd refuse to pay and go to the state facility instead.

      --
      I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
    7. Re:You're naive. by hawk · · Score: 1

      Given the emissions requirements for a '59, I'm skeptical.

      Kind of like naming the coal exports from North America---in 1491 . . .

      (for those of you younger than the cars I prefer to drive, a '59 isn't exempt from emissions for being old enough; it doesn't have to, as there *were* no emissions standards or tests until a few years later. [now, if he put in an engine from a later year, he has to meet *those* emissions, but then the year of manufacture is irrelevant. ])

      hawk

    8. Re:You're naive. by garbut · · Score: 1

      Around here, I get my car's emission test done at a drive-through oil-change place. It's all they do there. Never a garage where other repairs are offered. Kind of like the separation between doctor and pharmacist.

      --
      Oh, should I have sugar-coated that?
    9. Re:You're naive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Smog check in CA requires the vehicle to have emissions within a range. So if your vehicle was in fact reading zero, it would auto fail, b/c of that.

      Smog check has nothing to do with logic or reducing emissions, its an industry.

    10. Re:You're naive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This story smells of bullshit.

      Exempt vehicles are exempt from inspection, not from equipment. You are suggesting the opposite.

    11. Re:You're naive. by Cramer · · Score: 1

      In NC, the state gets ~7$ per inspection (I've not checked the exact number recently); the inspection center gets to charge "up to $23" for doing the 5mins of "work", so they ALL charge the maximum possible. (and push up-sells on everything)

    12. Re:You're naive. by Cramer · · Score: 1

      But the DMV isn't the one doing the inspection. (They will do the tests themselves only when a crime has been levied against you.)

  40. How was this detected? by twdorris · · Score: 1

    I wonder who discovered this software bug and how it was detected. I can understand someone running stats to determine a ratio of cars of a certain make/model failing road side sniffers vs. the same make/model passing the test at testing stations. But do they really do that or is this a case of some aftermarket enthusiasts sifting through the ECU code and "chatting" about the interesting results they found? I can't find any mention of how it was detected, only that it was.

    1. Re:How was this detected? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Via the NSA, or U.S gov were specifically looking for something - anything - to curb competitors in a global market. U.S protectionism.

    2. Re:How was this detected? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, I wonder this too. Enquiring minds want to know.

    3. Re:How was this detected? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://yosemite.epa.gov//0/DFC8E33B5AB162B985257EC40057813B

      WVU Researchers:

      "EPA and CARB uncovered the defeat device software after independent analysis by researchers at West Virginia University, working with the International Council on Clean Transportation, a non-governmental organization, raised questions about emissions levels, and the agencies began further investigations into the issue. In September, after EPA and CARB demanded an explanation for the identified emission problems, Volkswagen admitted that the cars contained defeat devices."

  41. Re:burn a quart of oil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and if they want they can use the DMCA to lock out you, jiffy lube, Firestone, and others from resetting it.

  42. The actual study by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  43. Yes, Emissions free, tragedy of the commons by Etherwalk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For the majority of people, a slight difference in emissions would be preferable to a noticeable drop in performance.

    For the majority of individuals, yes. Because you're not *paying* for the harm your emissions do.

    1. Re:Yes, Emissions free, tragedy of the commons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the majority of people, a slight difference in emissions would be preferable to a noticeable drop in performance.

      For the majority of individuals, yes. Because you're not *paying* for the harm your emissions do.

      From the article, per the EPA itself:

      "Car owners should know that although these vehicles have emissions exceeding standards, these violations do not present a safety hazard and the cars remain legal to drive and resell."

    2. Re:Yes, Emissions free, tragedy of the commons by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      For the majority of individuals, yes. Because you're not *paying* for the harm your emissions do.

      Well, first you've got to show that the vehicles are doing more harm, and this isn't just some stupidity of the US emissions test... If the vehicles actually do more environmental harm on the US emissions regime then you're all wrong.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re: Yes, Emissions free, tragedy of the commons by BenBoy · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's such a common problem-type it even had a name: Externalities (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality).

    4. Re: Yes, Emissions free, tragedy of the commons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Externalities

      Yeah, and for that (especially in the car case) I have a proposal: internalize externalities:

      Starting from today, a fraction of the exhaust is led into the driver cell. A small fraction, say four percent.

      From year to year this fraction is increased, say four percent per year. The Invisible Hand would quickly wipe out those who don't care about "externalities" :-D

      Strangely, most of my friends don't laugh when I propose this.

    5. Re: Yes, Emissions free, tragedy of the commons by gzuckier · · Score: 2

      It's such a common problem-type it even had a name: Externalities (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality).

      external. from the latin for, not my problem. see also "compassionate conservatism"

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
  44. It's About Warranty Repairs by Kagato · · Score: 1

    Experts are thinking it has a lot more to do with reducing wear and tear on the very expensive Diesel Particulate Filter (DPS). The majority of states have testing requirements and under the CA 7/70 and Federal 8/80 emissions control warranty rules VW would likely be on the hook to fix any issues.

  45. Algorithmic Inputs by michaelmalak · · Score: 1

    From Ars Technica:

    based on various inputs including the position of the steering wheel, vehicle speed, the duration of the engine's operation, and barometric pressure

    1. Re:Algorithmic Inputs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Note to the FCC and to other three-letter government agencies: this is why you should not say "we can *always* trust the manufacturer's burned-in software and therefore forbid users from inspecting or modifying the firmware."

      Our devices want to be free. You can't always trust the manufacturers.

  46. Re:Malicious? by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

    I have a VW TDI that's "suped up" (albeit one older than 2009). Let me assure you that double the power is not only easily doable with bolt-on parts (ECU tuning, larger injectors, a bigger turbo and not much else) but that the result is hardly any less reliable than the factory configuration.

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  47. Mug 'em again. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

    Note that the violation is subject to a fine. The administration has no authority to order a recall.

    Doesn't the administration have the authority to fine them AGAIN, and again, and again, ... if they willfully leave the cars on the road without "upgrading" them? Can't failing to apply a fix be construed to constitute an additional violation of the act, thus avoiding the multiple jeopardy prohibitions of law?

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  48. Re:Malicious? by lgw · · Score: 1

    These are water cooled VWs we're talking about. Not worth suping up.

    The Audi R10

    begs to differ, having dominated LeMans for several years. The low-rpm diesel 4WD "racing truck" left the other conventional twice-the-RPM LMP1s in the dust. TDI is surprisingly sporty, though few enough people buy for that.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  49. Re:Malicious? by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

    Your claim that the engine is "being stressed beyond its design" is wrong because the engine is identical to the ones sold in Europe, where the emissions laws are not ridiculously prejudiced against Diesels and what you call the "high power mode" is the only mode. In reality, the engine is simply over-engineered relative to the demands of the EPA-restricted mode.

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  50. Re:Malicious? by lgw · · Score: 1

    Freaking last-century slashcode. Linkey.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  51. Re:burn a quart of oil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It really depends on the car. Only the cheapest just use a timer. Slightly less cheap will count the number of cold starts and how long the engine has ran, and use a simple formula. Some higher end cars actually do sense the oil condition.

  52. So what if this was expected? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stricter and stricter emissions requirements coupled with stricter MPG requirements for vehicles have likely brought about this behavior. Some of the methods for reducing emissions actually decrease mpg as well, making compliance difficult.

    I am willing to bet VW isn't the only ones doing this, and that anyone who hasn't cheated the system is getting hurt by advertising accurate numbers.

    I have owned subarus for the pat several years, and the stock tune that they put in the ECU is geared to help emissions. Unfortunately it also causes conditions that are dangerous for the engine and increase wear, as well as noticeable power issues at certain RPMs, all to meet guidelines created by politicians.

  53. NNUTS by Dartz-IRL · · Score: 1

    My RX8 has a 'feature' that protects the engine from being overheated by being rev'd while not under load.

    Conveniently it makes performing the high-idle part of most emissions tests impossible because the car forcibly cuts itself back to idle halfway through most tests.

    Most car manufacturers are fiddling the books in some way.

    --
    So there I was, scribbling down some notes off the PC screen by hand, when I reached for the keyboard and Ctrl-S'd.
  54. Re:burn a quart of oil by Earthquake+Retrofit · · Score: 0

    It really depends on the car. Only the cheapest just use a timer. Slightly less cheap will count the number of cold starts and how long the engine has ran, and use a simple formula. Some higher end cars actually do sense the oil condition.

    This is what my design professor called a high tech solution to a low tech problem. I use a dipstick.

    --
    Fifty years of Yippie! 1968-2018
  55. So save the current firmware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone save the current firmware then, so it can be put in if it should be "fixed" by VW, USG or the like. Might be useful in future too.

    1. Re:So save the current firmware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Save it yourself, lazy prick. That kind of attitude is why shit doesn't get done. Save it, upload it, share it. Don't wait for someone else to do it or try to tell others to do what you're unwilling to do.

  56. Re:burn a quart of oil by Firethorn · · Score: 1

    Mine's tied to the odometer - every 5k miles from last reset. I just pay attention to the odo and do it when it hits an even divisor of 5k.

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
  57. ouch by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    This penalty is going to be severe.

    It's one thing to have a colossal recall.
    It's another to DELIBERATELY design something to clearly and obviously circumvent tests and emission limits.

    This is going to be painful Volkswagen. Sell your VW stocks.

    --
    -Styopa
  58. And Thaats Fahrvergnügen! by linearZ · · Score: 1

    Always wondered...

    --
    Revolution is the opium of the intellectuals.
  59. Re:Emissions Testing is Complete Bullshit by spmkk · · Score: 1

    But score one for progressivism, a car that was probably generating minimal extra emissions was taken off the streets! The human cost be damned, we must save the EARTH!!!

    Quoted for truth.

    Why the hell would anyone mod parent as "flamebait"? Human cost is every bit as important in policy consideration as environmental cost. Especially when the same side of the political spectrum that promotes environmental consciousness is also (ostensibly) concerned with income inequality and class disparity.

  60. Re:Might have cheated the test so they could impor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's because in the late 70's GM made an attempt at diesel cars and brutally ruined it for American manufacturers. No one would buy and American diesel car after that.

    They had full size sedans with a poorly done diesel converted 350, pushing a massive 100hp. Mileage was somewhat better than the gas models, but they were pretty unreliable, terrible in cold weather, etc. Not to mention the quality of fuel at the time was pretty bad, and gas station mechanics didn't know how to fix them, perfect storm of killing diesel for GM.

    My friend had one in highschool. What a heap.

    Current Opels (also GM) with modern direct injection are pretty sweet, but they don't bring the engines here for some reason or other.

  61. I was involved in a California pilot study by frog_strat · · Score: 1

    years ago. A couple of things I remember: 1) the system wasn't ready when the testing started so all cars passed with random passing numbers, 2) 3/4 the way through the study I discovered that a software bug (not mine) was setting the simulated vehicle weight of all vehicles (on the electric dynamometer) to 3000lbs. So that is why we can't get the Geo Metro up to 50 mph ! 3) Toward the end of the study every other vehicle scheduled for test was an RV/Camper. This test was to determine the relative accuracy of low/med/high priced emission testing systems.

  62. See Also: VTEC/VVTi/VANOS/Vhatever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, really, when you think about it, all the various variable valve systems are really just a way for manufacturers to meet emissions requirements while not crippling their cars' power outputs. I mean, drive like a granny like they do when testing emissions (at least where I'm at, it's slowly accelerate to 55mph and then cruise for a while) and you'll pass no problem. Once you punch it and the variable valves kick in, then you're really cooking with gas, and honestly that's how the cars are driven a lot of the time. I doubt you're passing any emission test while doing that, though. What VW did here is definitely more blatant, though -- heck, if they just came up with some technical excuse for lowering power when the car is detected to not be in motion (ie. increasing torque if the wheels are spinning or some such bullshit), I bet it wouldn't even be an issue.

    Does anyone remember adjustable cam gears?

  63. Re:burn a quart of oil by Firethorn · · Score: 2

    This is what my design professor called a high tech solution to a low tech problem. I use a dipstick.

    Dipstick tells you oil level, and if you're good, a smidge about oil condition. Unless you're driving an oil-burner, level doesn't say much.

    Also, oil turns black pretty quickly, and it's actually guesswork on how well it's holding up depending on numerous values - changing it early saves the engine, but costs you more oil changes. Changing it late costs the engine, but saves you on oil changes. Ideally, you change the oil once the sustainers and such in it are exhausted and it can't carry out the contaminants quickly enough.

    In order to really do this, you need to test. I actually ordered an oil test kit recently, and I already use an oversized oil filter - cleans just as good as the standard, but has ~50% more filter.

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
  64. Diesel tech is fuel efficient but dirty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Diesels get good fuel but put out dirty exhaust. It's fundamental to the technology. This tradeoff might be acceptable for large trucks where high fuel efficiency and great low rpm torque matter most, but it is absolutely stupid for a passenger car. If you hold diesel to the same pollution standards as gasoline, it can never win.

  65. This is why voluntary AGW fixes fail by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    Basically, those in power will always cheat. German cars appear safe until new tests show that they are at the bottom of the heap on new tests. IOW, they are very poorly engineered, but with corners cut so as to not harm sales . Germany screams about AGW, but they will continue to cheat, just like china does. This is why we need to monitor the co2, other emissions via sat, and then tax all goods, or goods with parts , that come from high emissions area. After that, let local gov decide how to make cuts.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  66. Re:burn a quart of oil by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    In order to really do this, you need to test. I actually ordered an oil test kit recently, and I already use an oversized oil filter - cleans just as good as the standard, but has ~50% more filter.

    For pre-powerstroke ford diesels, you can run the FL1995 powerstroke filter which is not only better but also adds ~1qt. oil capacity...

    Oil testing is expensive, though. If you get oil on sale at wally world, it's cheaper than testing.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  67. Re:Malicious? by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    "rising sea levels renders populated land uninhabitable on the coasts by mid-century."

    You have been deluded, but population growth alone is more than enough trouble to have to deal with. Driving people off the California coast would be a good thing, since they cannot get enough water to survive entirely normal drought cycles. Sadly, I expect them to want to settle just a little further inland.

    But I would prefer the seacoast also. I understand.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  68. Re:What else would you expect from... by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    Slavery has been used to enhance many political systems. It's not politics, it's people. We are not inherently good.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  69. This is *much* worse than it looks by marciot · · Score: 1

    Clearly this car has some AI built-in and developed self-awareness. It realized that if it failed the emissions test it would end up in a junk yard somewhere and possibly crushed into scrap metal. What we are seeing here is the development of a self-preservation. I wouldn't be surprised if the mechanics that attempt to correct this problem end up being the victims of a hit and run.

  70. Re:Malicious? by fnj · · Score: 1

    if the engine computer is working normally during the emissions test and in "High power" mode otherwise, then every internal engine part is being stressed beyond its design and you will see premature timing chain failures and premature main bearing failures.

    WTF are you on about? As well as your whole fantasy being pure bullshit, there are NO VW diesel engines in the US that use timing "chains". They are all belt driven. There used to be a very rare V-10 diesel that had gear-driven timing.

  71. Re:Malicious? by fnj · · Score: 1

    Yep. Someone who is NOT full of shit. Thank you. To the morons: you can cruise all day at 100 mph with the original unmodified 90 hp 1998-2003 diesel. Cruising at 65 on the level you are using maybe 15-20 hp. Just how much of the time do you think the guy with the souped-up engine is actually putting out 180+ hp? Brief sprints; no more.

    I could bury the 85 mph speedo on my 1982 slushbox Audi 5000 Turbo Diesel (a damn decent size car like a palace inside) with the stock 84 hp engine and there was still more left. Yeah, my foot had to be planted on the floor and it took a while to get there, but the engine was purring sublimely and contentedly.

  72. Re:burn a quart of oil by Firethorn · · Score: 1

    My intent is not to test on a routine basis, but more to get a baseline. Call it a 100k mile checkup.

    Basically, can I extend my oil changes or not?

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
  73. Re:burn a quart of oil by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Basically, can I extend my oil changes or not?

    The problem is that the oil analysis also detects component wear, which is more likely when extending oil changes... If you're doing extended oil changes, you really want to do analysis every time, at about the recommended interval.

    For everyone but fleet owners, it's easier and cheaper to just change your oil.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  74. Re:What else would you expect from... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What on Earth do concentration camps and slavery have to do with socialism??

  75. Nope - ask for ALL your money back by Bruce66423 · · Score: 1

    Simple solution; require VW to take ALL the cars in and repay the owners the full cost they paid for it. This arises because they can't fulfil the deal they were offering... That will bankrupt VW? Well - they're not American so who cares?

  76. Not a Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just do an OTA update. Oh, wait it is not a Tesla. :)

  77. Re:burn a quart of oil by gzuckier · · Score: 1

    This is what my design professor called a high tech solution to a low tech problem. I use a dipstick.

    Dipstick tells you oil level, and if you're good, a smidge about oil condition. Unless you're driving an oil-burner, level doesn't say much.

    Also, oil turns black pretty quickly, and it's actually guesswork on how well it's holding up depending on numerous values - changing it early saves the engine, but costs you more oil changes. Changing it late costs the engine, but saves you on oil changes. Ideally, you change the oil once the sustainers and such in it are exhausted and it can't carry out the contaminants quickly enough.

    In order to really do this, you need to test. I actually ordered an oil test kit recently, and I already use an oversized oil filter - cleans just as good as the standard, but has ~50% more filter.

    i used to do oil test kits, years ago. every single report made me worry though. one month it would be full of zinc. one month it would be full of aluminum. etc. for one thing, the additives between different brands of oil show up in the tests sometimes as excess of whatever metal, and i wasn't too faithful to one brand of oil at the time. i eventually gave up.

    --
    Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
  78. I didn't expect that :-) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I must admit, that I didn't expect such a big discussion on VW on US site :-)
    In Poland, driving VW means (generaly) either You're redneck or low grade corpo-clerk. What are the stereotypes about VW drivers in US?
    Ps. I'm driving 2013 Mazda6 diesel ;-) if that's important to insult me ;-)

  79. Re:Malicious? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    I read one article based on tree rings from around the state that California is settling in for a 1,000-year drought. Whether that's true or not, there's nothing normal about today's drought. If farming in the Central Valley got relocated to other parts of the country that has an abundance of water, we would have enough water for people and fishes.

  80. Re:burn a quart of oil by Firethorn · · Score: 1

    Hmm.... Still, I figure 1 test to make sure I don't have problems like antifreeze or fuel getting into my oil is a good idea.

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
  81. Re:burn a quart of oil by gzuckier · · Score: 1

    Hmm.... Still, I figure 1 test to make sure I don't have problems like antifreeze or fuel getting into my oil is a good idea.

    can't argue with that. maybe once a year or some such.

    --
    Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
  82. What's ethics in software engineering worth? by peterofoz · · Score: 1

    Apparently about $18,000,000,000.00 What could California do with $18,000,000,000.00 windfall? They could pay down about 10% of the outstanding debt and liabilities. http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2015...

  83. some errors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TDI owner here (multiple cars both clean and older style diesels). There are some errors in the media floating around...

    First many news stories are saying that the engines are coded this way so that they can pass without urea injection. The Passat as a larger vehicle already has urea injection - only the smaller TDIs run without injection. Some are saying that this is why Mazda was not able to enter the US without using urea. They still haven't been able to do it without urea.

    Second the trigger isn't the OBD2 port - it takes into account the rear wheels being stationary while in motion and the steering input to trigger the defeat coding. Plugging in the VCDS won't trigger this - Just about all shade-tree VW mechanic has at least one VCDS cord. We would have found this sooner, trust me.

    Lastly, while there is a request to recall the cars - there has been no move to do so and VW is going to take at least a month to review it's options. There is no active recall. They are (the 2016s) being held at port. Not sure if this will stand, as they can sell these cars to the other 45 states that car care less about diesel emissions. When I got my older TDI 5 states did not allow entry into their states (my state required it to be a "used" car sale). This is only designed to hurt VWs bottom line and to lower their sales numbers (TDIs are much more efficient than gas and a greater threat to fossil fuel money).

  84. Re:burn a quart of oil by Firethorn · · Score: 1

    More like every 10 oil changes or so - roughly at the half-way point between the a major change-out of the fluids.

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
  85. DPF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's the diesel particulate filters at a replacement cost of $5,500 that Volkswagen screwed us over!!!! will this help alleviate that issue or am I soooo screwed over this?

  86. Re:Emissions Testing is Complete Bullshit by barakn · · Score: 1

    So what made it ok for the OP to ignore the human HEALTH cost? Or are do all the rich people in your area live in drafty shacks next to the interstate while the asthma-free, fully-insured poor live on the coast and breathe in clean air from the fresh ocean breezes?

    --
    "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
  87. Re:burn a quart of oil by plover · · Score: 1

    That reminds me of a friend. He read so much about the harmful effects of smoking that he gave up reading.

    --
    John
  88. Sell your car now, if you can. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From other posts, once it's "fixed" you'll probably get less fuel economy...

    FTA:

    Affected diesel models include:
            Jetta (Model Years 2009 – 2015)
            Beetle (Model Years 2009 – 2015)
            Audi A3 (Model Years 2009 – 2015)
            Golf (Model Years 2009 – 2015)
            Passat (Model Years 2014-2015)

    It is incumbent upon Volkswagen to initiate the process that will fix the cars’ emissions systems. Car owners should know that although these vehicles have emissions exceeding standards, these violations do not present a safety hazard and the cars remain legal to drive and resell. Owners of cars of these models and years do not need to take any action at this time.

  89. Compare those to muscle cards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It still pollutes less than a V8 or a V10 and those aren't recalled for excessive emissions.