Subaru Reveals It Too Is Guilty Of Emissions Cheating

Aww not Subaruuuuuuu!!!!!

Someone must have bought the book Archaic Diction And Thee and decided to use "sussed out". "Sussed out" almost sounds like it is something unseemly and seedy that goes on in the back parking lot of the gentleman's club out on the interstate.

If you read both this article, as well as some others, you will realize that it was for their internal goals, not the numbers provided to the government for certification requirements. They even made some number worse that actual, all for the goal of keeping the "average" numbers within their desired range.

So, not the same as what VAG did, or some of the other manufacturers that had discrepancies in their data reported to government agencies for certification requirements.

Shortly after Dieselgate blew the lid in September 2015, AutoSpies reported an article that the UK Government underwent its own, real world emissions tests and discovered that virtually every brand and model of vehicle they sold had far higher emissions in the real world than in the lab, and VW was not the worst offender.

And yet, that was quickly forgotten. All we care about is if you cheat in your finals. As long as you pass without cheating, we don't care how many people you kill with malpractice. There's no law against real-world emissions :-/

YOUR description of the process being malpractice is actually incorrect.
When emissions testing was put into place - it was immediately realized that constantly changing real world conditions would not be satisfactory to be fair to all involved - and a distinct - repeatable - test was developed that could be done off road. AND it was the results on THAT TEST that they specified in the regulation - which as you noted are not real world.

However- to imply that just because the cars actually cannot meet the specification in the real world KILLS people completely ignores that there has been a constant reduction in the amount of emissions as the tests became tighter and tighter -and current cars emit only a small fraction of the emissions that were allowed on the initial tests.

So - in fact - emissions in the real world ARE greatly reduced from before the tests. In fact - it remains ILLEGAL to do anything the emissions system to reduce its efficiency in the real world from the levels allowed in the test - IF you duplicated the Lab Test - with the same exact conditions in the real world - the cars should produce the same results. Of course - from minute to minute you really cannot - ergo the reason for a lab test. This is not malpractice - it simply recognizes changing atmospheric conditions making compliance a moving target. I suppose today they could device a real world test - along with data adjustments based on the actual atmospheric conditions against the norm - to test the cars. I do not see a reason to do so.

@TomM wrote "YOUR description of the process being malpractice is actually incorrect..."

I should have made my post clearer. I was using a medical doctor as an analogy for auto emissions, in showing how ridiculous it would be for MDs to only have to pass their medical exam (like an in-lab emissions test), and not to track their fatalities when practicing in the real world.

The key points I make are:

1. UK government's independent tests showed that virtually all vehicles tests, gas and diesel, multi-brand, multi-model, produced **MUCH** higher emissions than their lab numbers.

2. There is no law against Item #1.

3. The news cycle (and Joe Public) quickly forgot Item #1. Most folks aren't even aware this ever happened.

TheSteve

And MY point is that the actual emissions regulations ACTUALLY have reduced REAL WORD emissions of cars drastically. Although the testing is done in a lab - it is likely that if you compared REAL world results BEFORE the regulations to REAL world results today - and then compared that to the FIRST Lab results then - and the ones now - the reduction in emissions would be comparable - even if they do actually produce more in the real world.

The medical analogy simply is wrong.
Passing a Medical License Exam is based on Knowledge - and it actually can be passed by people who have no practical experience in medicine - which is why you have all doctors undergo a residency(Once called internship) in a hospital before being able to take the test. LOTS of potential doctors wash out in residency and are never approved to actually take the test. And since the test is given long after the studies are over - it is likely a doctor will have to either refresh their learning - or even take a refresher course - to pass the test.

AS far as the dismantling of the EPA - which was a Republican agency to begin with - having lived as long as I have - I know that as soon as the current president is gone - for whatever reason - the next one is likely to reinstate the controls. THe same thing happens for other things - like planned parenthood - the republicans cut off funds - and the democrats return them (Has happened like this for the last 6 presidents).

@TomM wrote "And MY point is that the actual emissions regulations ACTUALLY have reduced REAL WORD emissions of cars drastically."

Please note that at no point did I state otherwise, so you're arguing against something I didn't write :-/

The "its tailpipe emissions aren't the same in the real world" is a massive load of "so what". The lab has all the variables controlled and the real world has none of them controlled. It's illogical to assume that cars should have the same emissions in the real world as the lab.

The ONLY valid protocol is to test in a lab WITHOUT a cheat device to detect a test.

MDarringer wrote "The 'its tailpipe emissions aren't the same in the real world' is a massive load of 'so what'..."

As a result of Dieselgate and the subsequent UK government investigation that revealed that virtually all vehicles tested -- gas and diesel, multi-brand, multi-models -- produce **MUCH** higher emissions in the real world than in the lab, European governments realized this impact of this, and they started working aggressively to revise European lab emission tests (which are reproducible) to reflect real-world conditions much more closely. To *them*, it's a big deal.

Meanwhile, in the US, the current administration is busy dismantling the EPA and its previous mandate to protect the environment and The People. As one example, laws rescinded by the Trump administration allow the coal industries to dump toxic waste into drinking water (aquifers), and they're already doing so.

So if you're Big Coal, then great news! Clean environment? Healthy Americans? As Big Coal, MDarringer, and the current administration will tell you: That's all "a massive load of 'so what'?"

Indeed that is true, but owners will defend them to the death. #psychosis