Volkswagen running for cover

[sidecar bob]

Thinking the same thing myself....

Anyway, it's all bollocks.

Manufacturers have been coming up with bullshit ways to create the right stats for vehicles for ages, the worst one I experienced was an Opel piece of shit that turned itself off at the traffic lights

Our virtually brand new Audi does that too. We start the car & hit the de activation switch every time & get on with driving it like a normal car.
Im wondering if the dealer can program it to be off all the time.

[Stylo]

Chuckle.

It reveals more about my lack of skill in running the site options as I don't care much about this one way or the other.

Was just trying to give some detail as to what VW had actually done, somewhat clumsily as it turns out.

Intriguing what can be read into a bit of punctuation - thanks for that.

No worries Bass, everything with a grain of salt, I'm not good on the technicalities either :-)

[JimO]

Our virtually brand new Audi does that too. We start the car & hit the de activation switch every time & get on with driving it like a normal car.
Im wondering if the dealer can program it to be off all the time.

does it start when you hit the gas or do you have to start it

[caspernz]

Our virtually brand new Audi does that too. We start the car & hit the de activation switch every time & get on with driving it like a normal car.
Im wondering if the dealer can program it to be off all the time.

Last time in Europe we had a rental Audi A4 that had the stop/start feature. Only thing that annoyed me was exactly what you mentioned above, every time you start it up defaults to stop/start...

does it start when you hit the gas or do you have to start it

It starts again when you release the brake pedal. But, it's still annoying if you wanna giddy up go onto a roundabout for example (bear in mind I've got a current XR6 Falcon which does this bit quite nicely) so it's best to switch this stop/start nonsense off at select times.

[pzkpfw]

Studies have shown the stop/start systems do wear out batteries quicker.

Batteries are not that nice on the environment, either.


(The auto wipers on my car already drive me nuts. Stop/start systems would be a definite reason for me to not buy a car.)

[caspernz]

Studies have shown the stop/start systems do wear out batteries quicker.

Batteries are not that nice on the environment, either.

Yes I'd venture cars thus equipped and driven extensively in urban stop/start mode will need batteries and starter motors much sooner compared to normal cars. But some greenie minded nitwit will no doubt love the stop/start thingeemeebob

[Swoop]

I'm suspecting nissan are doing the same.
Following a late model ute today and the smokescreen being belched out the back would have made an 1800's era, coal-fired train's exhaust, look clean.
Luckily on the bike so quickly gtfo of there.

[caspernz]

I'm suspecting nissan are doing the same.
Following a late model ute today and the smokescreen being belched out the back would have made an 1800's era, coal-fired train's exhaust, look clean.
Luckily on the bike so quickly gtfo of there.

So I'm thinking, the truck I drive (MAN) is made by the VW group. The fuel economy on this unit is pretty sharp, maybe the Euro 5 claim only stacks up under certain conditions? In fairness though, the soot output seems minimal compared to older units. Current one is almost a year old with about 250,000 clicks.

[merv]

The Volvo I mentioned on the previous page we had in UK had the stop/start function and I couldn't turn it off soon enough but it also always defaulted to that mode each time you ran the car - what a ridiculous feature - imagine creeping along the waterfront at Blackpool for example where traffic was held up by pedestrians crossing at every corner and you are trying to creep say just a few metres at a time. Also you're just about to stop and the engine just cuts out as the car in front moves forward - it is totally ridiculous - at least a Prius moves on a decent flywheel sized electric motor not some poor little starter motor.

A starter motor normally say starts a car say two or three times a day not a flippin hundred or two . I presume they run on a standard ring gear too sheesh

[wildman]

Well i do have a disliking for German vehicles with their over complicated electronics and brittle plastic fittings and finish so HAHA to VW, but here's a short list of other vehicles on New Zealand roads with issues Nissan Navara utes break camshafts at 120ks, Ford Mondeo's that cut through the main dash loom as it runs across a razor sharp metal rail, Ford Ranger transmissions that start playing up at 30k's, mitsubishi cars that have to have a special solution sprayed into the intake system to reduce carbon build up, Toyota denso alternators that blow rectifiers at 40k's. Yep i love modern vehicles and check if you own or are thinking of buying a commercial vehicle out of Australia. There's a loop hole that allows their write offs to be repaired and put on the roads here, most of them have had some form of water damage.

[Stylo]

Well i do have a disliking for German vehicles with their over complicated electronics and brittle plastic fittings and finish so HAHA to VW, but here's a short list of other vehicles on New Zealand roads with issues Nissan Navara utes break camshafts at 120ks, Ford Mondeo's that cut through the main dash loom as it runs across a razor sharp metal rail, Ford Ranger transmissions that start playing up at 30k's, mitsubishi cars that have to have a special solution sprayed into the intake system to reduce carbon build up, Toyota denso alternators that blow rectifiers at 40k's. Yep i love modern vehicles and check if you own or are thinking of buying a commercial vehicle out of Australia. There's a loop hole that allows their write offs to be repaired and put on the roads here, most of them have had some form of water damage.

The difference is and, the reason for this thread is the intentional fraud from a major automobile manufacturer.

Every car maker has it's problems with various models as you've stated and we all know that.

You might be on the wrong page my friend.

[Daffyd]

I think it's naive to think that most or all manufacturers have, at one stage, done the same thing. It's just that VW got caught.

[jonbuoy]

Yes I'd venture cars thus equipped and driven extensively in urban stop/start mode will need batteries and starter motors much sooner compared to normal cars. But some greenie minded nitwit will no doubt love the stop/start thingeemeebob

Not t o mention engine wear. Even hot stop starting can't be good for an engine, unless they come with an oil accumulator built in somewhere?

Manufacturers have been exaggerating and playing with performance and weight figures since forever. Emmisions are just taken a bit more seriously as everyone loves Polar Bears. Hard to believe that an instruction like that didn't come from the top.

[Moi]

Just when you thought it may be safe to wander into the forests of Wolfsburg to examine their automotive products...



Yeah, I know... bit of a thread dredge, but John is entertaining.

[Voltaire]

VW's as far as the eye can see, never to be driven again.


I my 2.5 TDI T4