VW Admits Audi Automatic Transmission Software Can Change Test Behavior (cnet.com)

In response to a report via Bild am Sonntag last week, which found a new type of defeat device hidden inside an Audi automatic transmission, Volkswagen finally came around to admitting the findings. "Adaptive shift programs can lead to incorrect and non-reproducible results" in emissions tests, VW told Reuters on Sunday. CNET reports: Software in the AL 551 automatic transmission may detect testing conditions and shift in a way that minimizes emissions, only to act "normally" out on the road. Much like Dieselgate's defeat device, that leads to higher-than-imagined pollution, which could be in excess of legal limits. Audi's AL 551 can be found in both gas and diesel vehicles, including the A6, A8 and Q5. Volkswagen isn't going full mea culpa here, though. The automaker also told Reuters that its adaptive transmission software is meant to change shift points in order to improve on-road performance. Many automatic transmissions these days learn from driver input and tailor shifting to match a driver's style, which leads to a smoother drive. VW Group did not immediately return a request for comment.

Comments

no end to the cheating

[supernova87a]

This just keeps on getting better and better. VW Group have simply not owned up to the depth of their cheating and been forthright with their cooperation.

Our regulators should slap increasing penalties on each successive cheat they find, to penalize for the hiding of evidence over and above the violation itself.

teaching to the test

[srw]

The only question I want answered is "did it pass the test as written by the government?". If yes, what's the problem. If you don't like the results, fix the test.