This is nothing new. It's just something the media and the American law suites have got their teeth into.
I can pretty much guarantee that most manufactures are doing it, because they all know the test scenario and modern ECU (especially with Drive-By-Wire throttle) can very accurately detect certain scenario's and react accordingly.
All manufacturers are probably sweating a bit at the moment.
Ask yourself why some manufactures fall marginally below emission levels and why some are above one year then drop on later years.
This isn't due to any major change in the vehicle mechanics but 'calibration' changes in the software.
Subaru back on the MY99/00 model (maybe MY97/98 aswell) had similar 'calibrations' for the drive by noise test. At the specified test speed/rpm the ECU would limit the boost to reduce the dB.
What annoys me is the media reaction stating :
"The public will be worried that they have a VW on their drive which doesn't meet the emission levels they thought it did."
The true response, especially in the UK, is that 98% of the public will have a car they are paying less road fund licence for then they should. So I don't think they will be too worried.
The other quote I heard today was :
"People have purchased a diesel in order to do their bit for the environment"
The true response is that 98% of the public brought a diesel because they are more fuel efficient and recent diesels, especially in the UK, have been very cheap to tax.
You may get the odd tree hugger that bought a VW over a Ford Focus because the emission levels were less, that in truth wanted the Ford Focus. So he/she may sue because he/she didn't get the car he really wanted based on the presented facts (or were they fiction !!!).
We all know that published MPG are well off what they should be, so why should we be surprised that emissions are too.
They also mentioned 11,000,000 vehicles may be subject to a recall. Why on earth would they need to do that. It's a piece of software that adjusts the mixture/timing under a certain scenario. IT ISN'T A FAULT...........by leaving this software in, it's actually helping the environment a small % of the time....DOH !!!!!!!
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