BBC test

 

 

After prepping the car to the letter of the regulations, the lab ran the standard Euro 5 emissions test. It's the same exam this model of car would have had to have passed before it went on sale.

And it passed. Emitting just 167 mg/km of poisonous NOx gases. The Euro 5 limit is 180 mg/km.

VW's clever software knows when it's being tested, because the routine is the same every single time. Starting with a cold engine, in a lab that's between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade, it's then driven for six miles on a rolling road, no turns, with exactly the same gear changes at exactly the same times, and all within a speed at two km/h either side of set limits.

The whole thing, including some idle time, always lasts 20 minutes and 20 seconds.

So, we then tried to trick the computer into thinking it was out of the lab, by simply accelerating hard a few times, taking it above motorway speeds. Straight afterwards, we ran the Euro 5 test again, but with one simple difference. We started with a hot engine this time.

The same car failed, spectacularly. Emitting 435 mg/km of NOx (remember the EU limit is 180 mg/km).

I read this earlier, nothing much we didn't know already, and as has been said before probably not confined to VW, the press just seem to be making a meal of it at the moment.

 

It will be interesting to see how other makes fare under the same 'hot' test as a comparison. Meanwhile I'm still enjoying driving around in my Superb so I don't let it bother me.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34857404

its a dirty engine then....

Not as dirty as some.....   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3259067/It-s-not-just-VW-Official-tester-claims-four-diesel-car-giants-break-toxic-emissions-limit.html

British drivers to sue for £2.4bn compensation

By Simon Watkins and Mark Wood for The Mail On Sunday  

Volkswagen owners caught up in the diesel emissions scandal could be in line for payouts of at least £2,000 each, say legal experts preparing to take on the firm in the courts.

The action could cost the German car giant £2.4 billion in the UK alone. The news will come as some comfort to owners of affected VW diesel vehicles, with the latest second-hand car valuations showing a worrying slump in resale values.

The respected Glass’s Guide said that between September 21 and 25, the value of second-hand VW diesels fell by 2 per cent. That compares with a fall of just 0.2 per cent between September 1 and 21 when reports about emission test cheating were only just starting to emerge.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3259067/It-s-not-just-VW-Official-tester-claims-four-diesel-car-giants-break-toxic-emissions-limit.html#ixzz3sPg70kFy 
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I cannot see how the VW group are the only ones caught up in this "scandal". Does it really matter? I know of a few people who would rather we drive around in electric cars and travel by electric train or a gas powered bus. But they forget that this country due to vast underinvestment by all the political parties for at least 40 years, has not got enough reliable cheap and clean electrical generation.

 

So I shall continue to drive around in my filthy dirty diesel car for as long as I can. Sorry tree huggers, just cut another one down to feed the Aga!

I see no good reason why VW should get off scot free while we have a product de-valued by this and with the possibility of future government hitting us with higher VED levels, they say they wont, thats the time I worry............

 

If I screw up I pay for my mistakes

and Id LURVE a Tesla BTW

Not sticking up for VW here, but it's like any form of sport/industry where there are rules and regulations - they always do the minimum to meet the requireed standard, and if the regulation is worded such that the test is conducted with a cold engine, etc, then they've met the standard. It's the EU/US regulators that are at fault for allowing these work-arounds and not actually stipulating that these emmissions must be met at all times - something i understand the EU is currently in the middle of trying to implement and has been for the last couple of years tbf. A technicality i know but still true imho all the same. As is said above they'll not be the only ones, i reckon if one was at it they all are!!

 

I await the backlash! lol

They didnt work to achieve the minimum standards though, they fiddled the tests....thats totally different

Could be worse, we could own a spontaneously combustible Vauxhall! Then you'd have real cause for complaint!

If mine exceeds the EU regs by 400% couldnt it be barred from the road?

Even if it doesn't meet the regulations it's still cleaner than the pre particulate filter TDIs, most of which are still on the road, so I doubt it.

I'm off down to my local car dealer, he's got a lovely VW Touareg 5.0 V10 on a 06 plate cleaner than my Superb apparently never mind the 20 odd mpg !!!