So, Volkswagen thing.

[richardf8]

For those who may not know, VW is having a scandal because the software controlling the TDI engine was written to note when it was being emissions tested, and operate the engine in a way that it would pass, but under normal operating conditions, it was out of compliance, emitting 40x more of some pollutants than permitted

Comments

[makovette]

Pretty much in agreement with all your points above. VW is screwed, likely Porsche is as well, and guilt by association industry wide is possible.

Useless red tape regulations will be passed and costs will be driven higher to no benefit of anyone, including the environment.

The big wigs will get to testify and dodge jail terms of course. In the end I suspect we will just pay more $ to get less car.

Mako

[james_b]

This may actually be the beginning of the end for diesel passenger vehicles.

There's some discussion that much of Europe is discovering that diesel technology is a dead end for passenger vehicles, and they are reluctantly admitting that they have backed the wrong horse. Even before the VW debacle, France was considering banning new diesel passenger car sales due to their problematic NOx exhaust levels, and the urea injection that practically all automakers (except VW) have had to fit to reduce the NOx levels to a level that will pass the environmental agency testing, is just a stop gap at best.

[richardf8]

And another fluid the Driver needs to keep up with.

[james_b]

The new Euro 6 regulations set different standards for petrol and diesel cars. For diesel cars, they dramatically drop the permitted level of NOx emitted down to a maximum of 80mg/km compared to the 180mg/km level that was required for cars to meet the previous Euro 5 emissions standards