VW's surreal fix turns diesel scandal into a comedy

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Christiaan Hetzner is Automotive Information Europe's Germany correspondent.

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Two months in to its diesel scandal, Volkswagen claims it ultimately has discovered a silver bullet answer.
In getting the blessing of the KBA, Germany's kind approval power, to clean-up dangerous discharges in the 1.6-liter diesel, Volkswagen has now solved the most difficult aspect of its huge recall as that particular engine needed technical changes.
Not only does the planned new part bring the vehicles in to conformity in Europe, VW Team considers the repair is not going to even impede fuel economy or motor output.
Fitted right in the front of the air-mass sensor, this component has a net that still the swirled flow of air and so decisively improves precision when measuring existing air-mass throughput, an essential parameter for ideal combustion. That last passage is taken nearly word for word in the organization 's statement.
Pretty darn remarkable even if I've zero clue what that signifies.
The part also includes a trendy name, also - "flow transformer." It seems kind of like the fictional Flux Capacitor that let a DeLorean to travel through time in the 1980s movie "Back to the Future."
Volkswagen even put quotes round the title, as I only did, as if they patented the entire notion in the very first place. In German it is better yet since it is possible to squish both words together to to make Stroemungstransformator.
All I will declare is, "Wow!"
So picture my shock after seeing the organization 's helpful related video on its web site. When a bookish-searching VW supervisor whole using a correctly long work title -- head of diesel advancement of derivatives and gas injections methods -- described the worthiness of said apparatus as he held it up to the cam for all to see, I used to be stunned.
This is a German engineer who is able to likely plot the torque and horse-power curves of his engines from memory cradling in your hands palms a plastic tube as if were pure gold.
Lowtech does not even start to describe a component that seems similar to something a plumber may install in a drain to keep it from clogging.
Given, the media had currently documented that Volkswagen was operating on a low cost option, but these times something as relatively complicated as DRAM memory chips produced below the most rigorous cleanroom states can really cost just a couple of dollars each.
Volkswagen still does not have a solution for its U.S. diesels, but can you picture then how the less-trusting Environmental Safety Company may respond had it, and maybe not the KBA, been confronted confronted by Volkswagen's Flux Capacitor? Sorry ... "flow transformer."
Of course simply as it seems inexpensive does not suggest it will not function. -- I've to presume it does. Volkswagen can-not probably be stupid enough to declare a fix that does not work. They understand that environmental advocacy and consumer-rights groups will not choose them at their term, choosing instead to carry out their own evaluations to check the credibility of Volkswagen's claim.
There is no purpose a repair needs to be ludicrously costly possibly, but at least retrofitting all engines with totally distinct injection nozzles as VW Team CEO Matthias Mueller had initially warned may lead someone to comprehend why technologists weren't forming lines to function as the bearer of negative information.
Given that, the consequence of the resolve is really staggering.
For the majority of the 8.5 million prohibited diesels on European streets, all Volkswagen had to do to ensure it wasn't breaking the law, polluting the atmosphere or deceiving clients was only upgrade their applications?
And for the remainder - the 1.6-liter variants that needed technical changes -- a fast run to their nearby do it yourself chain to to get a plastic drain trap would have sufficed? Complete service time needed according to Volkswagen: less than one hour, if that. It is nearly dreamlike.
The entire scandal is starting to sound increasingly more like a really, very expensive activity in tragicomedy.

It's possible for you to reach Christiaan Hetzner at [email protected].

Labels:
Emissions
Volkswagen
Diesel
Europe

Scandal
Site
Christiaan Hetzner

26.11.2015
ID:3308

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