Audi News: As the Diesel Emits: Volkswagen Admits Audi Software Can Distort Emission Tests

[William Maley]

A week after news broke that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) found a cheat in some Audi models equipped with automatic transmissions, Volkswagen has come clean on it.

Reuters reports that Volkswagen issued a statement to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung due to a report done by the paper about the cheat. According to a confidential document obtained by the paper, the software controlling the transmission would quicken shifts and in a way that lowered emissions of CO2 as well as nitric oxides if it detected it was being tested.

"Adaptive shift programs can lead to incorrect and non-reproducible results" when the cars are tested, the company said in an email.

"Audi has explained the technical backgrounds of adaptive shift programs to the Federal Motor Vehicle Authority KBA and has made available technical information."

Volkswagen argues that adaptive shift programs can save fuel due to how a person drives. Drive a vehicle gently and the transmission will shift earlier, producing lower revs. Drive it like a madman and the transmission will hold on to gears longer, resulting in more fuel being used due to higher engine revs. The issue at hand is the programming of the software was specifically developed to detect emission testing -  if the steering wheel did not turn more than 15 degrees, the cheat would activate.

The EPA has opened an investigation into this software and will be speaking with senior engineers about this next week. Not surprisingly, Audi. Volkswagen, and the EPA declined to comment. 

Source: Reuters

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[A Horse With No Name]

They question at time weather or not Miata drivers who are male are emasculated. I want to buy another Miata, and I damn sure know I will be emasculated by my wife with a dull rusty knife if I buy another VW product.

They have so blown their level of trust with her....

[David]

I wonder how many VW dealerships will survive to the end of 2017. I have a number of coworkers who are waiting to have their VW bought back and will then take their business someplace else. They have no interest in ever owning a VW again.

For some, they will shrug shoulders and move on with another VW possibly. For others, VW has burnt themselves very badly here.

[A Horse With No Name]

48 minutes ago, dfelt said:

I wonder how many VW dealerships will survive to the end of 2017. I have a number of coworkers who are waiting to have their VW bought back and will then take their business someplace else. They have no interest in ever owning a VW again.

For some, they will shrug shoulders and move on with another VW possibly. For others, VW has burnt themselves very badly here.

I wonder honestly what the automotive market will look like in twenty years.

Kind of curious what happens with Tesla if they cannot get income from pollution credits.  Methinks their financial model just went in the toilet.

I think Acura will be in trouble because there is no existential awareness of having a luxury brand at Honda. GM, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, and of course VW, BMW, Benz, all have an acute awareness of the need for the income luxury products produce.

But Acura seems left to rot on the vine.

If we get another economic downturn, which I think was likely regardless of  one electing Clinton or Trump....hmmm.....I think we could see a situation where brands exit the market permanently.

Even Nissan is not out of the woods IMHO, as they have a huge amount of sub prime auto loan on the books IIRC.  If people at the bottom of the economic cycle start loosing jobs things could go south for them very rapidly.