VW faking emissions tests in USA?

[Jacques]

I ask that same question, Dan.

Beats me why on Earth they want to stick to that strange way of behaviour. But maybe some of our nice North American friends on here, can enlighten the rest of us?

Sorry Guys, I can only see tragedy in letting each and all run around with a gun, relating to more than 31.000 deaths in the US by the use of a gun in 2013 alone, along with more than 84.000 non-fatal gun-ralated injuries, and then there's the shildren WHO shoot themselves by accident. What a nightmare for a parent.

The US has a killed by gun rate of 10,64 persons out of every 100.000 persons. The UK by comparison have 0,26.

Mexico is 11,17 for comparison.

The true pity in this, to me at least, is that every time a school mass kill is committed, there's a hefty debate, and it all ends up in - the same as before.

In that perspective, vw group's diesel scandal which can lead to premature death (or rather: does), seems like nothing. But in reality it's not, as every single life is precious. I noted, that on some American debate sites, there are comments on exactly this: the amount of hours an investigation takes in man-hours, compared to the same hours used to prevent gundeaths by change of legislation.

Back on dieselgate, I noted that today vw in Denmark have written, that a loaner car may be provided, while the affected car is in for a rebuild.

Kind regards,

Jacques.

Edited October 16, 2015 by Jacques

[comem47]

Too bad VW can't claim the Second Amendment.

Why can't those idiots go after their guns problems with the same vigour?

Because the NRA greases the palms of congressmen (gun manufacturers behind them). VW is not a US based company (like GM is) and besides being a competitor of US companies it also doesn't have the special support GM got for the US economy with the bailout, etc.  AFAIK the reason we are in the middle east is to give the Generals something to do and keep the General Dynamics , Grummans etc profitable with contracts. Everyone greases everyone else's palms and they all get rich together(at the expense of others)

NAFTA and exporting US jobs overseas is along the same idea (give the man at the top a bigger bonus)

The real GOD in the US for the top echelon is $$$$$$ 

[Jacques]

Straight answer

Jacques.

[Jacques]

But as far as I know, Angela Merkel tried to cover up dieselgate in the beginning, and later on, she asked authorities to go easy on vag.

As I wrote some pages back, the Whole local state of Lower Saxon, have been exposed more than two times having way too close relations with vw, in the way that some local politicians got into the control of vag, and vag on the other hand handed back the favour in supporting them heavily at the elections.

Then there were the drugs, the prostitution, the human traficking, the bribe in Angola, in Eastern europe and other Places, then there were the bribe in India. THe list goes on.

As I said, vag is not about dieselgate only. It's been having a sick corporate culture for decades.

Jacques.

[Escape]

We recently had a bad experience with another piece of c.r.a.p. VAG software. SWMBO has a 6 month old Polo, which seems an OK car over all. But it comes standard with Front Assist, despite deliberately choosing base spec to avoid as much electrickery as possible. Front Assist gives a warning when tailgating. But the couple of times I've had it come on, it was totally unnecessary as there was still plenty of space and the Polo was already slowing down. I can only assume the warning is on permanently with most Audi drivers.
But there is another feature, allowing Front Assist to apply the brakes when it deems it necessary. Which happened last week, when the car in front of us made a right turn. He had his indicator on, braked to slow down and started accelerating again as he made the turn. So we could safely pass with plenty of room to spare should anything unexpected occur. However, the radar still saw part of the turning car, and being perpendicular to it didn't see it move of. So it decided to slam the brakes! Luckily, there was no one behind us, but there could very well have been an Audi there! I immediately turned the damn thing off, but being a 'safety feature' you are required to dig through the menu each time you restart the engine... I am seriously considering cutting the wires for the radar, to disable it once and for all. And more determined than ever to only drive old skool cars, designed to be driven and not mobile computers turning the driver into a bored passenger.

[C8RKH]

VAG cars are a popular choice amongst family car buyers as they believe the cars are safer than others. So, what that translates too is a smugness that makes the drivers of them relax, spend more time looking at their text messages and phones, than paying attention to where they are driving. This is why they have these radar and other thingies in reality. Just go out in the morning and drive near a primary school and look at the mums and dads in the traffic queues and driving along with their phones in one hand.

I travel a lot with work and so spend a lot of time in taxis - when you look out the taxi window at other drivers you will be amazed by what you see, and woman with kids in the back are accidents waiting to happen (not trying to be sexist here).

in some ways, driverless cars are the answer for these people, But they scare the shit out of me and not sure I would ever get in one as I trust computers must less with my life than real people. But then.....

[Barrykearley]

 This is why they have these radar and other thingies in reality. Just go out in the morning and drive near a primary school and look at the mums and dads in the traffic queues and driving along with their phones in one hand.

My real bug bear is the lovely milfs that park on those school zigzags and then to proceed to unload their children via the rear door on the driver side onto the road next to all the oncoming traffic. Their kids obviously never fall over or get distracted.

[LF1]

I drive one as a daily on our Golf R. I think the brake assist and dynamic cruise work incredibly well. The turning car in front occasionally catches it out but all you do is anticipate and take over the throttle. You'll also find cars with it on as standard have dramatically lower insurance premiums. I don't use it to allow me to text, phone, email, etc... Just to keep me bang on the speed limit. Lot of "branding" going on here for anyone that does not drive a Lotus.

My wife's just about to take delivery of an Audi, in the week she'll be an Audi driver, by weekend a Lotus driver... I am really worried the effect this will have on her brain, clearly the two are completely incompatible? OMG just realised I am a VAG driver by day and Lotus by weekend also... brain exploding....

which reminds my, driving through Bedfordshire in the golf, 70 overtaking a lot of traffic on duel carriageway, had a Evora so close I could not see the Lotus badge, hustling while I was in the fast lane going past traffic for a good 1/2 mile, I moved over at first oportunity as I always do, then pushed past as I was swapping lanes. As it's very rare to see a lotus on the road, wonder what most drivers assume us all to be like?

[Barrykearley]

 As it's very rare to see a lotus on the road, wonder what most drivers assume us all to be like?

incrediblily good looking, sophisticated and with amazing taste?? Whilst also supporting an amazing hand built in Britain product.

wont be long and Putin will be in charge at vag anyway 

[C8RKH]

@T3Jn - drive what you like, it's a free country. Specify all the electronic wizardry and gizmo's you want. I really don't care a hoot. AND as you also have a Lotus, I would warrant that you are NOT the target here when we are "branding" certain drivers, as, you obviously know to drive fast safely you need to be paying attention etc.

It's not improper though for those of us who also have a Lotus to not want it to become, well, just another VAG product, with electric gizmo's for this, that and the other. To be honest, I don't think that VAG cars are as good as the hype, but that is my opinion and I'm entitled to have one. Just as you are they are great. I think the VW and Audi cars are over-rated and over priced and if I had to have one, I would have the Skoda or Seat alternatives and use the  money I saved to buy a fun car. Obviously I am talking about normal cars, even I know the RS3, RS4, RS5 and RS6 type cars are a bit more - though the RS6 has a shockingly poor build quality/reliability record according to the surveys.

I've worked in technology for 31 years, so no luddite. But I do not believe that all these gizmo's are the boon some people think they are. I think the masses - and let's be honest, this is where the "branding" you mention is aimed, are becoming increasingly isolated and cocooned in their cars. They are increasingly becoming complacent of the basic dangers inherent in driving something that weighs 2,000 lbs plus at speeds over 30 mph and the catastrophic consequences that a crash even at this speed can have. In short, these gizmo's and comforts are, in my humble opinion making drivers worse, switching them off and making them indifferent to the responsibility inherent in driving. And even worse, they are a self fulfilling prophecy in that the more they proliferate, the more drivers switch off, the more accidents, the more gizmo's are invented to stop the accidents. Rinse and repeat......!

As for the Evora driver - well, even knob-heads are allowed to get behind the wheel of a Lotus - it's that free country thing again. I personally drive my Evora fast, sometimes too fast, but when there is a car in front, even on a twisty "lovely" road, I have the patience to hold back and wait for a "safe" overtaking move. When I get to a town or village, I back right off. I like to think I will live a little longer that way, though this is obviously balanced  by the times when I do go round a corner way too fast.

I don't want shit loads of gizmo's in my Evora to make me feel "safe" or to allow me to switch off or to provide a distraction, that is not why I have an Evora. I want to be 100% focused on what I am doing in that car. No distractions just big grins. But then as we have mentioned before, my Evora is NOT a daily driver, so why would I ever want to pollute the experience of driving it with these things. But then my needs are different to those of a DD owner. I accept that.

[LF1]

I think you may be missing my point a bit. We drive the Lotus because we like the connection and lack gizmos, but the other cars when we actually need to get somewhere for run of the mill heavy traffic stuff, where the gizmos are handy. We sold our Porsche because of lack of involvement and are completely committed to lotus. If you are confusing this with my request just to have Climate on the Evora, nowhere have I said that i want everything else on the Lotus. I just get hot and find myself endlessly adjusting temps in the Lotus, and would quite like it done automatically in a car i was using as a potential daily.

Edited October 22, 2015 by T3Jn

[C8RKH]

Probably etting my threads mixed up - sounds like we are both saying the same thing

[Jacques]

In reality I think that most car makers do make mistakes, and sometimes the make some mistakes that takes years to realise and phase out of production. But while I have only had vag cars apart from the Esprit, I do think there is someting particular rotten to vag these years, as I have mentioned a few times. It's about a sick corporate culture, and the fact, and it's a fact dear friends, that vag have deliberately chosen to influence local politics in numerous countries, deliberately chosen to cheat the world market users, deliberately chosen to shit on pollution, deliberately chosen not to obey law in many countries.

That, and the big brother mentality, is of no appeal to me, and I tend to think that there are more than just me, having the same thoughts. Even with the point of view I have and to which I put no restraint, I still get to hear a lot of jokes with regards to me driving a vw Corrado. And rightly so. What am people to do? the ordinary Joe Average? He can go to a vag dealership and tell them to remake all of their cars? To no effect. He can write a letter to local politicians telling them to take vag to court? Not so. He can sell his vag car? Well, he can, but at a loss, and while economy is slowly on the rise in some places, I do tend to believe, that many ordinary folks have a rather tied up economy, and if they go tell their bank manager, that they have sold their 2 year old audi of vw or what ever from vag, because it's not compliant to legislation, and that they want to take on a new loan to finance another car from another brand, I think the bank managers will be a little suspecious.

So, to get to the point, there will be many jokes around for a very long time. Fortunately, that may affect, just may, affect the widespread public oppinion, that vag cars are superior and that they are not just a car, but a statement of "look naighbours, I made it to be wealthy enough to buy an audi"- type of statement. Both when parked on the driveway and when actually driving. At large, I think that reputation is not deserved. Being a vag driver or not.

Speaking of which, just to prove the point made by others, I think too much electronic wizardry is not good for attentiveness and safety and driver involvement, but actually being counter productive. I am thinking of the recent tendency of automatic light switch on, where headlights are on, but rear light are off. When darkness falls, so many people forget to manually turn on the full lighting. Just saying.

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[swindon_alan]

Speaking of which, just to prove the point made by others, I think too much electronic wizardry is not good for attentiveness and safety and driver involvement, but actually being counter productive. I am thinking of the recent tendency of automatic light switch on, where headlights are on, but rear light are off. When darkness falls, so many people forget to manually turn on the full lighting. Just saying.

Actually Jacques, that kinda cuts both ways. On my good lady's new Mokka the lights are daylight sensing and come on automatically when the light level drops. Plus the main beams are auto as well and quite impressive...

[Jacques]

yes, this is the newer version of that system. But for a while, the other system with only front light coming on, have been in production. I think it's been dropped by now. I was even told that here in Denmark, some customers complained to manufactures over this system, because a policeman gave them a ticket for not having their rear light turned on.

Cheers,

Jacques.

[C8RKH]

Actually Jacques, that kinda cuts both ways. On my good lady's new Mokka the lights are daylight sensing and come on automatically when the light level drops. Plus the main beams are auto as well and quite impressive...

I agree to a point Alan, tough I am sure that like me you have been seeing an increasing  number of people driving in the dark with no lights on except the DRL's. One, because they forgot to put their lights in auto mode and two, because it used to be that dashboards where not lit up when the lights were off, but increasingly, with DRL's and complex TFT displays etc they no appear to be always lit up so people don;t realise their lights are on.

Sort of proves Jacques point really.

[Bibs]

On an Exige, the DRL's are almost as good as the headlights

[swindon_alan]

I agree to a point Alan, tough I am sure that like me you have been seeing an increasing  number of people driving in the dark with no lights on except the DRL's. One, because they forgot to put their lights in auto mode and two, because it used to be that dashboards where not lit up when the lights were off, but increasingly, with DRL's and complex TFT displays etc they no appear to be always lit up so people don;t realise their lights are on.

Sort of proves Jacques point really.

Heh, yes, I suppose even automation can't overcome inattentiveness or stupidity

[C8RKH]

I only know this Alan because, shame to admit it, my wife's Qashqai has auto lights (which I had off) and the interior was lit up like a christmas tree and I was driving through Dundee I could not understand why all my friends were out too and flashing me to say high!

To add though, she has the thing where if on full beam it senses another car and dips then - bloody marvellous late at night on a dual carriageway/motorway in the middle of nowhere.

[Escape]

I drive one as a daily on our Golf R. I think the brake assist and dynamic cruise work incredibly well. The turning car in front occasionally catches it out but all you do is anticipate and take over the throttle. You'll also find cars with it on as standard have dramatically lower insurance premiums. I don't use it to allow me to text, phone, email, etc... Just to keep me bang on the speed limit.

To be clear, I'm not talking about dynamic cruise control, I'm sure that can be useful on long trips. But as said we specifically chose a base spec car so as not to have too much gadgets. So no cruise control, no A/C etc. And the little 1000cc low tune petrol engine comes with sedated driving as standard. The message I got saying I was too close on the highway was ludicrous. There was plenty of space, as I always leave some margin for unexpected behavior from others. Especially in the Esprit, but also when driving other people's car. If I feel like tailgating, I can take the big old Range Rover (just kidding, though it is handy being able to throw it's weight around when navigating busy city traffic). The loud beep warning me of supposed imminent danger was startling and totally unexpected. I can't see how that is safe. The auto braking even more so, and I could very well see that leading to accidents.

In Belgium we don't get an insurance discount for the front assist, as far as I know. But you can turn it off, so does your policy require you to keep it switched on all the time? What if you were to turn it off and then have an accident?

To add, I use my Esprit as a daily driver about half of the time. Including city traffic and crowded highways, but I've never found myself wanting more gadgets to make life easier. Biggest downside is when it's raining,I find  the low windscreen very susceptible to spray from other cars and therefor visibility often not ideal, especially compared to the command driving position of the Range Rover.

Secondly, I made my previous post after reading about the Porsche Cayman R Auto Pilot and CCD's plea for more analogue cars. It could have been posted in those topics as well, but ended up over here.

Filip

[LF1]

On an Exige, the DRL's are almost as good as the headlights

Yep, more often than not I drive off without turning the lights on if starting a journey in the dark (another downside of driving other cars with gadgets such as automatic lights).

[C8RKH]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-3289804/Volkswagen-accused-funding-pro-diesel-research.html

[pete]

So the EU have now decided to allow diesel cars to emit double the legal limit in real driving .

As an aside Dyson cleaners have accused it's German rivals of cheating over their energy efficiency tests.Says they are using sensors to increase the power of its cleaners outside of the laboratory

[Jacques]

VAG have said, that they expect a rather big red minus on the bottom line this year, for the first time in quite many years. Meanwhile, Danish consumers don't give a toss about dieselgate etc, and continue to buy both new and second hand vag cars as usual. In fact a small rise in second hand cars. 60% of those are diesel.

While I understand the dissapointment on the ec allowing double the diesel pollution than their law allows, it's still a step in the right direction, as the present rules allows up to 700% deviation... Talk about submitting to law... Imagine if I as a Lotus driver, were allowed to drive 700% above the legal speedlimit

Money talks as usual.

Cheers,

Jacques.

[Fueltheburn]

Had the cheat been commited by a smaller company.... no doubt the rules would not change. 

Somebody has had there backpockets filled to turn a blind eye.

The interesting thing will be towns and cities that have prohibited older vehicles from entering (like paris) due to worry of emissions...... I wonder what their jilted view of this new development will be?  ;)