VW Emissions Scandal Thread V2

[Ryeman]

I remember as a kid hearing single cylinder Deutz tractors and the sound popping away in the distance........I wouldn't want to be breathing their exhaust.

[Ryeman]

Hyundai have an LPG hybrid vehicle which is only sold domestically.......many Australians would love one as LPG was (now struggling) popular particularly among tradies and economy seeking large capacity/V8 owners.

It took off big time in Melbourne when the taxi industry converted their Holdens and Falcons to save the wasted energy from 'flaring off' the byproduct of the newly developed oil and gas from Bass Strait.

A lost opportunity for Hyundai.

[Ootohere]

You used to get grants in the UK to convert to LPG, sometimes from Local Authorities and it was well taken up by Mini Cab / Taxi owners etc.

Then that was too popular.

 

The UK Government went with Diesel as the fuel to promote and give Business users the financial benefit of using, 

while allowing the Oil & Fuel companies to overcharge for the Derv / Diesel and customers to over pay Duty & Tax on the Duty on the overpriced diesel.

 

The current UK Transport Minister was way back then a Junior Politician in their pushing for the UK to encourage buyers of passenger cars to go diesel engined

[Ryeman]

LPG in Oz wasn't taxed till the recent 2.5c/L annual increase to 12.5c total.

Now cheap energy and particularly the closure of local car product over the next ~ 18 months probably spell the death knell for it.

Falcon and Commodore each had LPG only cars which arrived to late unfortunately.

[Ryeman]

This Kia crossover looks like a nice package

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/02/11/kia-niro-crossover-chicago-2016/

[lol-lol]

So, if I pull two plug leads of of the HTP it will be an eco rocket ship????????????

What RPM will a one cylinder engine run at? 

if single cylinder engines are the answers to our power and pollution  requirements why are no major car manufactures building them?

Taking  a three cylinder engine and dividing the HP by three doesn't actually work out. Put a 500cc engine in a motorcycle it will be good, try it in a 10 tonne truck and see how it does.

 

Well clearly not the HTP Fabia, I have one too so I know what it is like, is a low tech engine built to provide a low price entry point.  Not particularly torquey so a single cylinder car engine would use the configuration that Ford, GM, Nissan-Renault are moving towards ie highly turbocharged, less and less cylinders, 3 is clearly quite enough for most cars as shown by the Eco-boost which is going in cars like large family cars and vans and yet is sub one litre.

http://www.ukipme.com/engineoftheyear/results.php?id=10

 

It depends on the motorcycle engine and gearing as to how/whether it would work moving it to a car.  Been involved in a number of space chassis specialist car builds and a GSX/GSR engine goes quite nicely in but think more of the various turbo charged bike engines CX650T, GPZ750T, XJ650T, XN85.  All would probably power a car quite nicely and they are all between 650 and 750 ccs.  

 

Diesels do suit 7.5T, 16T and 38-44 tonnes trucks.  We have loads on our logisitics fleet but in polluted cities like London we us hybrid versions to reduce and pollution and the trucks are also fitted with SCR/ Ad Blue system and if VAG cannot upgrade or retrofit complaint Lean NOX Traps or SCR those vehicles need to be restricted from urban areas to significantly reduce the death toll from NOX and PMs.    

Edited 14 February, 2016 by lol-lol

[Ryeman]

Back in the 70s oil crisis, I remember Porsche research found keeping revs below 2000 rpm gave best economy.

Small turbos using low revs but delivering high torque is currently the recipe for low CO2 / fuel consumption- combined with weight reduction.

Our Pug does it brilliantly....

[lol-lol]

You get the to use a Jawa 350 Outifit (Jupiter 5 with 12 Volt Conversion) 350 2 Stroke with Sidecar. )

Runs on Aero Fuel & Transformer oil.

 

We sometimes forget that most of the world use the motorcycle, and motorcycle-sidecar combination as the motorized transport.  On one of those courses which you have to demonstrate your ability to quickly present on a chosen subject I did worldwide vehicle ownership (and another one on NASCAR, and one drawn out of the hat called "Here comes the Sun I did on Stars).  Below I found interesting...

 

[lol-lol]

Back in the 70s oil crisis, I remember Porsche research found keeping revs below 2000 rpm gave best economy.

Small turbos using low revs but delivering high torque is currently the recipe for low CO2 / fuel consumption- combined with weight reduction.

Our Pug does it brilliantly....

 

Those of us remember the US introducing the Double-Nickel speed limit ie 55 mph as this is the speed, often relating to about 1500-2000 revs where optimum consumption is and was thought necessary to save fuel as much as possible to stop the OPEC countries holding the rest of the world to ransom, never again.

Edited 14 February, 2016 by lol-lol

[lol-lol]

Number of cylinders has no relation to amount of NOx generated by an engine AFAIK.

 

Well  clearly auto-motive engine designers are looking to reduce the size of engines.  Some of the reasons being to reduce the reciprocating mass of the internals which create energy loss, reduce friction surfaces ie piston rings and this is best done by dropping off a cylinder and as well as those advantages mentioned it reduces the overall weight and allows more room for efficiency devices such as start stop, energy recovery, dual barrel/head cooling systems etc.  Making 100 hp per litre is not too difficult, my TCE engine, 898cc, easily maintains indicated 80 mph, will do 110 mph and can do well over 60 mpg.  Not a lot more I want 99% of the time.  Nice to use the Jaag occasionally, sounds nice, it could tow if I fitted a tow hook but the Dacia can carry more.  Both cars produce little NOX ie 10 and 34 mg/Km according to V5.  Video explain reasons for dropping a cylinder quite well.  The roll out of the VAG 3 cylinder turbo petrol seems quite slow compared to other manufacturers? 

 

[warley]

It's called a BMW Isetta with a 250cc single cylinder. 

It would be so practical as I rush off to a customer 250 miles away with all the tools and spare parts on board. :think:

My first car! Acually it was 300cc and contrary to what Clarkson said on Top Gear mine had a reverse gear.

[moley]

My first car! Acually it was 300cc and contrary to what Clarkson said on Top Gear mine had a reverse gear.

Reverse gear used to be blanked off if you drove a three wheeler on a motorcycle licence.

[Ryeman]

Apparently Skoda sales haven't suffered here at all

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/76D9C24C7A3A43FCCA257F570008B456

[Ootohere]

'Apparently',

The scandal broke late 2015 and we are 1 1/2 months into 2016, so lets see the spin once they get through Q1, Q2, Q3 or even Q4 

on Sales, or are they the same in Australia as elsewhere, 

First Registrations, ie cars arrive in the Country, they end up Registering them even in nobody is buying them new.

[Ryeman]

'Apparently',

The scandal broke late 2015 and we are 1 1/2 months into 2016, so lets see the spin once they get through Q1, Q2, Q3 or even Q4 

on Sales, or are they the same in Australia as elsewhere, 

First Registrations, ie cars arrive in the Country, they end up Registering them even in nobody is buying them new.

We're not that cutoff from the world as my post almost 18 months ago shows and it was just as much a big news story here as in Europe........few people bother watching 'the news' also......it's so yesterday.

There are no diesels for sale so people are accepting the petrol substitute it seems.......whether they ever go back to diesel is a moot point.

Pre-registering has been a common practice for decades, particularly approaching the end of the financial/ calendar year when the sales pecking order seems to be up for grabs.

[Ryeman]

You wonder if the U.S. is on track to effectively ban the urban diesel.......without their sales it doesn't look good long term

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102397_illegal-vw-diesel-emissions-tallying-public-health-damage

[warley]

Apparently Skoda sales haven't suffered here at all

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/76D9C24C7A3A43FCCA257F570008B456

I suspect that the majority of potential car buyers do not realise that VAG own Skoda. When the scandal broke they may have seen stories about the companies involved but will probably only remember it as a "Volkswagen" problem!  There there are times when this brand diversity has advantages and it seems unikely in the present circumstances that the Skoda dealers are going to give the game away. It would be interesting to know just how high the proportion of blissful ignorance is. !00% of readers on this forum know but only a small proportion of car buyers are here.

[domhnall]

I suspect that the majority of potential car buyers do not realise that VAG own Skoda. When the scandal broke they may have seen stories about the companies involved but will probably only remember it as a "Volkswagen" problem! There there are times when this brand diversity has advantages and it seems unikely in the present circumstances that the Skoda dealers are going to give the game away. It would be interesting to know just how high the proportion of blissful ignorance is. !00% of readers on this forum know but only a small proportion of car buyers are here.

A colleague of mine was outraged when someone said her tdi audi might be affected. The suggestion that it had vw components was as absurd as it was outrageous she said. Had to break it to her gently. :-)

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

[Llanigraham]

A colleague of mine was outraged when someone said her tdi audi might be affected. The suggestion that it had vw components was as absurd as it was outrageous she said. Had to break it to her gently. :-)

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

 

You did, of course, tell her that some of it was Skoda based as well?

Apoplexy rules? 

[Ryeman]

Sometimes it pays to have 'camouflage' )))

OT but 44p/L for diesel today - £18 for the last 650 miles.....v nice.

Edited 18 February, 2016 by Ryeman

[Ryeman]

One way to reduce emissions

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102399_france-will-pave-roads-with-620-miles-of-solar-panels

[Ryeman]

Just a bit more embarrassment it seems

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102421_vw-ceo-tipped-off-about-u-s-diesel-probe-earlier-than-previously-known

[Ootohere]

There will be more heads to roll, they just do not seem to get it.

http://creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2016/february/why-vws-new-ad-campaign-shows-contempt-for-consumers

[Ryeman]

When levels of German govt are involved maybe there's a sense of invulnerability.

[Ootohere]

Maybe once & they counted on that, but they are just being stupid now, maybe enough is enough.

http://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-18/vw-risks-damaging-made-in-germany-label-vice-chancellor-says

Edited 18 February, 2016 by GoneOffskiroottoot