Rumor of the Day

We are around three years into the diesel car chaos in Germany, with VW the one chiefly suffering (having rigged the car exhaust to pass the test). 

Today, there's reports in Germany (with one public TV network....SWR) that VW cheated on the EURO 6 test requirements with the VW EA288 engine.  VW's reaction?  So far, denying it. 

Just about everyone in the government authority has been signed up for the past two years to the idea that the EURO 5 tests were the ones that VW cheated upon.  If this were to stink up their beliefs?  It'd really bring up problems with the car industry and some oversight commission to go after the car industry. 

So where did all of this diesel car business start up?  The EU picked up the topic, and in the late 1980s.....set the standard for new cars in July of 1992.  That was EU-1. 

EU-2 came along in January 1996.  EU-3 came along in January of 2000.  EU-4 came in January 2005.  EU-5A was set in new cars in September of 2009. 

The expectation of the EU was that each new generation would have to be cleaner.  In general, they felt innovation would occur and propel things ahead. 

Why the diesel standard business triggered cheating?  The VW diesel designers reached a point where the three chief components of diesel engines were to be challenged, and one had to be lessened.  The components?  Mileage, torque, and low maintenance. 

Most guys will admit their passion for diesel cars and buy them mostly because they drive more than 50 km's per day.  They like the great mileage angle, generally low maintenance required and general power.  If you had cut the torque, lessened the mileage, or added some filter that had to be swapped out every six months...it'd hurt sales. 

After the cheating talk came out.....innovators came in bulk and discussed the filtering process.  VW didn't really want to get into a big discussion, and wasn't that open to a added-filter?  Why?  No one says much, but you get the feeling that they'd tested this a good bit, and their results (whatever they were).....weren't going help the discussion.  My humble guess is that the filter probably would have had a limited age of age six months, and required a qualified mechanic to swap it out....meaning several hundred Euro for each 'action'. 

This rumor, if true.....will be another pain for VW to endear.  I think most owners desperately want the rumor to be false.  Most environmentalists want the rumor to true.