1. VW cars built in Mexico are sold in the US and elsewhere. In fact, what you're likely to see on a new VW is a sticker that says where the drivetrain was built, and the location of final assembly. So you can buy a car with final assembly in Mexico, but an engine and transmission built in Hungary.
2. VWs are not particularly reliable vehicles. I've owned one. I own a Porsche (which is currently owned by VW and has always had a close relationship to the company.)
3. They're not at all cheap to repair.
4. The only powerstroke engines that are troublesome are the 6.0s. I've seen 7.3 powerstrokes in fleet WORK trucks with 600K+ miles on the clock.
VW fucked up, they should have their asses kicked, and here's why.
The three main components in diesel exhaust are:
1. Hydrocarbons - These are converted to CO2 and water by the catalytic converters that diesels now use.
2. Carbon monoxide (CO)- Converted to CO2 in the catalytic converter.
3. Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)- This is what got VW into trouble and I'll explain how it works and how it's normally resolved.
The first step in reducing exhaust emissions is by maximizing engine efficiency. This means making sure the absolute correct amount of fuel is sent into the combustion chamber for COMPLETE burning. To get your initial reduction in hydrocarbons and CO2, you basically need to run the engine as lean as possible, but rich enough to avoid pings, and detonation. Aside from pings and detonation, the other problem that arises as the fuel is leaned out, is that combustion chamber temperatures will rise. This rise in temperature causes an increase in the last emissions component called NOx.
The step to combating NOx emissions is through an EGR(Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system which most gasoline engines have been using for decades. What this system does is takes some exhaust from the exhaust manifold or through a passage in the cylinder head and loops it back around and reintroduces it into the intake manifold to get cycled through the combustion process once more. Why? For combustion purposes, the rerouted exhaust gas is essentially an inert compound. When it first comes out of the engine, it's under pressure and hot as fuck. When released into the intake manifold, it goes from being under pressure, to rapid decompression as the intake is usually in a state of vacuum. Rapid compression produces heat, and rapid decompression sheds heat. So once it's released into the intake it sheds the excess heat and travels into the combustion chamber. In the combustion chamber this exhaust gas absorbs excess heat. This helps reduce pinging, detonation, knock and the production of NOx.
The downside of EGR systems is that the exhaust gas takes up space that could be used for air and fuel. So some argue that it can reduce power output, although that's negligible at best, because if you're pinging/knocking and the knock sensor picks it up, it will retard the timing heavily which will reduce power much more than the EGR. Another more realistic downside is that all EGR systems will develop carbon build up in the EGR passages and they will lose effectiveness. Due to the high carbon nature of diesel engines (i.e. high soot), this problem is multiplied several times over and early diesel EGR systems were known to be a major headache that did actually reduce power output, fuel economy, and were rather unreliable.
The final method of NOx reduction in diesel engines is through the use of urea injection. Yes one of the main components in piss. Many new diesels have a urea injection system plumbed into the exhaust. It requires the use of diesel exhaust fluid which is made of deionized water and urea. And the rest from wiki:
VW wanted to pretend that NOx emissions could be reduced on their smaller diesels without a piss injection system. They couldn't, but instead of saying fuck it, this will take more time, they instead declared that they solved the mystery of clean diesel, fudged the software, and shipped the vehicles. Mazda has also been working on this problem and they haven't released a diesel yet because they can't seem to figure it out.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why they were so hellbent on this. Even their 6 cylinder diesels have piss injection. This is going to cost them a lot more in the long run and it should. They knowingly lied and committed fraud due to arrogance. 8 years ago they were on the verge of being purchased by Porsche. Thanks to a last minute recession they turned the tables and bought Porsche. In the ensuing years they rose to becoming the world's largest automaker just this year. With this turn of events, they've damaged their reputation for years to come. Even worse, they harmed the reputation of diesel powered vehicles in general. This sucks for us in the US because IMO diesel is the choice for fuel efficiency. Electric vehicles suck and really aren't that clean when you consider the amount of coal that must be burned to produce enough electricity to charge one, and the environmental ass raping that takes place in order to produce the thousands of 18650 cells used to power a Tesla. Gas/electric hybrids are exceedingly complex and yield inconsistent economy at best. But I've seen guys with F350s that have utility bodies, 7.3 powerstroke, 350K on the clock, weigh 8-9000lbs and they're getting 23mpg. My old 1/2 Chevrolet with a gas 350 weighs half as much and never gets more than 16mpg. Fuck VW.
2. VWs are not particularly reliable vehicles. I've owned one. I own a Porsche (which is currently owned by VW and has always had a close relationship to the company.)
3. They're not at all cheap to repair.
4. The only powerstroke engines that are troublesome are the 6.0s. I've seen 7.3 powerstrokes in fleet WORK trucks with 600K+ miles on the clock.
VW fucked up, they should have their asses kicked, and here's why.
The three main components in diesel exhaust are:
1. Hydrocarbons - These are converted to CO2 and water by the catalytic converters that diesels now use.
2. Carbon monoxide (CO)- Converted to CO2 in the catalytic converter.
3. Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)- This is what got VW into trouble and I'll explain how it works and how it's normally resolved.
The first step in reducing exhaust emissions is by maximizing engine efficiency. This means making sure the absolute correct amount of fuel is sent into the combustion chamber for COMPLETE burning. To get your initial reduction in hydrocarbons and CO2, you basically need to run the engine as lean as possible, but rich enough to avoid pings, and detonation. Aside from pings and detonation, the other problem that arises as the fuel is leaned out, is that combustion chamber temperatures will rise. This rise in temperature causes an increase in the last emissions component called NOx.
The step to combating NOx emissions is through an EGR(Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system which most gasoline engines have been using for decades. What this system does is takes some exhaust from the exhaust manifold or through a passage in the cylinder head and loops it back around and reintroduces it into the intake manifold to get cycled through the combustion process once more. Why? For combustion purposes, the rerouted exhaust gas is essentially an inert compound. When it first comes out of the engine, it's under pressure and hot as fuck. When released into the intake manifold, it goes from being under pressure, to rapid decompression as the intake is usually in a state of vacuum. Rapid compression produces heat, and rapid decompression sheds heat. So once it's released into the intake it sheds the excess heat and travels into the combustion chamber. In the combustion chamber this exhaust gas absorbs excess heat. This helps reduce pinging, detonation, knock and the production of NOx.
The downside of EGR systems is that the exhaust gas takes up space that could be used for air and fuel. So some argue that it can reduce power output, although that's negligible at best, because if you're pinging/knocking and the knock sensor picks it up, it will retard the timing heavily which will reduce power much more than the EGR. Another more realistic downside is that all EGR systems will develop carbon build up in the EGR passages and they will lose effectiveness. Due to the high carbon nature of diesel engines (i.e. high soot), this problem is multiplied several times over and early diesel EGR systems were known to be a major headache that did actually reduce power output, fuel economy, and were rather unreliable.
The final method of NOx reduction in diesel engines is through the use of urea injection. Yes one of the main components in piss. Many new diesels have a urea injection system plumbed into the exhaust. It requires the use of diesel exhaust fluid which is made of deionized water and urea. And the rest from wiki:
Quote:Quote:
Diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) from a separate tank is injected into the exhaust pipeline, where the aqueous urea vaporizes and decomposes to form ammonia and carbon dioxide. Within the SCR catalyst, the NOx are catalytically reduced by the ammonia (NH3) into water (H2O) and nitrogen (N2), which are both harmless; and these are then released through the exhaust.
VW wanted to pretend that NOx emissions could be reduced on their smaller diesels without a piss injection system. They couldn't, but instead of saying fuck it, this will take more time, they instead declared that they solved the mystery of clean diesel, fudged the software, and shipped the vehicles. Mazda has also been working on this problem and they haven't released a diesel yet because they can't seem to figure it out.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why they were so hellbent on this. Even their 6 cylinder diesels have piss injection. This is going to cost them a lot more in the long run and it should. They knowingly lied and committed fraud due to arrogance. 8 years ago they were on the verge of being purchased by Porsche. Thanks to a last minute recession they turned the tables and bought Porsche. In the ensuing years they rose to becoming the world's largest automaker just this year. With this turn of events, they've damaged their reputation for years to come. Even worse, they harmed the reputation of diesel powered vehicles in general. This sucks for us in the US because IMO diesel is the choice for fuel efficiency. Electric vehicles suck and really aren't that clean when you consider the amount of coal that must be burned to produce enough electricity to charge one, and the environmental ass raping that takes place in order to produce the thousands of 18650 cells used to power a Tesla. Gas/electric hybrids are exceedingly complex and yield inconsistent economy at best. But I've seen guys with F350s that have utility bodies, 7.3 powerstroke, 350K on the clock, weigh 8-9000lbs and they're getting 23mpg. My old 1/2 Chevrolet with a gas 350 weighs half as much and never gets more than 16mpg. Fuck VW.