VW - not so "Clean Diesel"

Thread Starter

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
Only in states where helmets are mandatory.


--- Let those who ride, decide.
The EMS personnel should have a say in it too. It is not so much fun for them (and kind of life-changing) to shovel up gray matter from an accident scene (literally).

A hard helmet can be optional in my opinion but a a soft elastomeric brain container bag should be mandatory.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,359
http://www.autonews.com/article/201...iter-diesels-under-wider-scrutiny-by-epa-carb
WASHINGTON -- The EPA said at least 85,000 vehicles from Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche with 3.0-liter diesel V-6 engines contain software allegedly designed to foil emissions tests, substantially widening the number of vehicles believed to be affected by the issue.

According to an EPA statement today, Volkswagen and Audi officials told the EPA on Thursday that the 3.0-liter diesel software that the agency says improperly manipulates emissions test values was present on all vehicles powered by the VW group’s 3.0-liter diesel V-6 engine since the 2009 model year.
http://www.autonews.com/article/201...air-says-vw-likely-will-buy-back-some-diesels
WASHINGTON -- The chief of the California Air Resources Board says Volkswagen “likely” will buy back at least some of the roughly 325,000 VW vehicles using the first generation of its 2.0-liter diesel with emissions-masking software.

In a question-and-answer interview with German business newspaper Handelsblatt, CARB Chairman Mary Nichols says the agency expects that vehicles with the first generation of VW’s 2.0-liter diesel engine will require a hardware “retrofit” to bring their emissions into compliance. The trouble is, Nichols said, such retrofits have struggled to achieve their intended goals in the past.
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
The EMS personnel should have a say in it too. It is not so much fun for them (and kind of life-changing) to shovel up gray matter from an accident scene (literally).
Just wash it down the drain and let the waste treatment plant process it or the wildlife eat it. After all, shouldn't we recycle? Wouldn't that be a fine example of what happens to those who don't wear helmets.
 

Thread Starter

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
Just wash it down the drain and let the waste treatment plant process it or the wildlife eat it. After all, shouldn't we recycle? Wouldn't that be a fine example of what happens to those who don't wear helmets.
Seems like the right option to me. Not allowed (by law or by procedure) in most communities. And, could only be done if a tanker or pumper truck is on scene.
 

jgessling

Joined Jul 31, 2009
82
I registered today for my $500 gift card (use anywhere) and my other $500 card to use only at a VW dealer. I'll use the dealer card for service since my waranty is about up. The other card I can use to buy enough wine so I don't have to think about how I will be getting screwed by this whole mess.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,359
I registered today for my $500 gift card (use anywhere) and my other $500 card to use only at a VW dealer. I'll use the dealer card for service since my waranty is about up. The other card I can use to buy enough wine so I don't have to think about how I will be getting screwed by this whole mess.
Is there any 'fine-print' on the card agreement about future settlements or class actions?
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,359
http://www.takepart.com/open-letter-to-california-air-resources-board-chairman-mary-nichols
The VW emissions scandal is mainly the result of physics meeting fiction. In the simplest terms, we have reached the point of de miminis returns in extracting performance from a gallon of diesel while reducing pollutants, at least at reasonable cost. Unsurprisingly, and despite having the greatest research and development program in diesel engines, VW had to cheat to meet current European and U.S. standards. Meeting future tighter diesel standards will prove even more fruitless.

For a significant fraction of the non-compliant diesel cars already in the hands of drivers, there is no real solution. Drivers won’t come in for a fix that compromises performance. Further, solutions which result in net greater CO2 emissions, a regulated pollutant, are inappropriate for CARB to endorse. Retrofitting urea tank systems to small cars is costly and impractical. Some cars may be fixed, but many won’t and will be crushed before they are fixed.
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
6,338
What I'm understanding so far is that politicians are setting the emission standards, and scientists and engineers are supposed to meet them, regardless of their attainability... isn't that right?
No. They are setting unreasonable standards so that the corporations must purchase indulgences from the politicians.
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
32,944
No. They are setting unreasonable standards so that the corporations must purchase indulgences from the politicians.
I generally subscribe to the adage to never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence -- but I've become convinced that in this and similar arenas there is plenty of both afoot.
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
32,944
Only in states where helmets are mandatory.


--- Let those who ride, decide.
I have no problem with that, provided we also let those that decide not to also get to pay for their own care when they get a preventable injury as a result of that decision instead of insisting that either the taxpayers or the insurance companies (and hence everyone that carries insurance) pay for it. Although I don't know if you can even get personal injury protection for a motorcycle. You couldn't back when I was riding ('80s).
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
WBahn,

The best outcome would be those who have such accidents are peeled off the roadway and placed in body bags.

Those that ride defensively and safely typically will dismount their ride at the end in the normal fashion, whether helmeted or not.

In the days before mandatory helmets, I did see it that ride would do 140 mph (225 kph), but I was young and stupid back then. Now, I'm just old and stupid. :)
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
@nsaspook
Nice video. I wonder why they didn't record the Q&A and post it to youtube.

God forbid any of the engineers who didn't take copious notes during their part of this process.

I'd like to see that software guru get a hold of a OEM Bosch ECU, to compare the codes to see if anything was modified by VW. But I'm sure the lawyers are already working on that tidbit.
 
Top