Steerpike

My UK 'tree hugger' friend sent me this link not long ago ... End of the road for diesel cars? Owners face additional charges and big depreciation - BT
suggesting the NOX emissions are going to kill diesel.

It's pretty amazing that a company could get caught doing this trick (software trick to detect emissions testing). I mean ... that's pretty darned blatant. I guess they will claim, possibly rightly, that they needed the 'code' for testing purposes, and that they didn't intend for it to be used 'in production' ... but wow, this is pretty amazingly embarrassing for the company!

Nutek

Wonder how many other companies are doing the same thing. Hilarious if they all are.

Bob

Which is what they did in Japan...interesting twist on how things went.

Bob

And if they weren't, I bet they're asking why they weren't

Pulaski

Hilarious, ... and bizarre, given that the other players in the diesel car market have gone with urea injection technology, so why would they also use software cheat coding?

Nutek

No idea. Looks like Bosch are in this somewhere, so it does open the "who else might have bought this" door a smidge.

Steerpike

Really - give up width? wasn't aware of that. What I do know is, my new CR-V is shorter - way shorter - than my old Acura TL, which was a very conventional 4-door sedan layout. Counter-intuitive to me.

My CR-V gets anywhere from 24 to 28 overall (over thousands of miles of driving); mix of long runs (28+) to short city drives (24-). Not great, but - certainly not bad. I absolutely LOVE the CR-V's use of space - great rear space, folding seats, places to stuff things inside, etc. I also love the seating position - my back has never been better (my doctor said my low-slung cars were a big factor in my back problems). It is quite noisy though. I'm toying with the idea of a Lexus RX next - I want quiet and smooth ...

Pulaski

It's one way that manufacturers have being reducing wind resistance to improve fuel economy - vehicles have become narrower, especially the smallest, lightest vehicles, and most vehicles are significantly narrower at the top, compared to older cars which had doors that were much closer to vertical, whereas now the windows of most car doors lean towards the centerline, which cuts a significant amount off the frontal area.

The narrowing of the "greenhouse" is also one reason why there has been a move to install side-curtain airbags, because the occupants' heads are much closer to the top of the door than in older cars.

FlaviusAetius

Can the VW diesels be made to comply with emissions requirements with just a software fix, or are the diesels inherently dirty, thus perhaps in need of a redesign and replacement per car? That would be huge, in addition to the fines and loss of good will and thus sales for the brand.

Nutek

Looks like most can be "fixed" by running in "test mode" (they were passing, after all). Presumably doing this would have other repercussions though, probably with MPG/performance or that "mode" would already be the default. No idea if any physical wear would increase. Not good in any event.

Watching end users trying to jump on the wagon (heh) by claiming they were buying a TDI to be "green" should be funny. I bet we see a massive amount of concerned-for-the-planet people all clamoring for their 10 dollar stake of whatever the lawyers eventually carve out for themselves.

sir_eccles

Might be a big class action suit. Read about the Hyundai mpg payout. It's not $10.

WJS

We also have a CRV and it is has been very reliable. I have been looking at the different reviews for SUV's. I noticed that the Acura MDX comes out a little better. Is there a reason you would choose the Lexus over the Acura?

Not being in the US I have no idea of most of the models until we get there what any of them are really like, at the moment it is just internet searches. So any real life recommendations would be most appreciated.

Nutek

I predict a coupon (non transferable) toward the purchase of your next VW and a multi-billion sum to be split between the lawyers and some nameless .gov department who will spend it on..... something

Pulaski

I predict the price of all cars will rise to cover the risk that other manufacturers are stuck with multi-billion dollar fines. The same has happened to the price of gas after the BP/New Horizons fine.

Just like taxes, only people pay fines.

Owen778

You have a source for that? Because at first sight that's a claim that doesn't make any sense. I can explain why if needed.