>> better performance than the government allowed
My understanding was that this performance came at the expense of more pollution, which is what the gov is regulating?
Different pollution, not necessarily more. Tuning the engine for more fuel efficiency generates more nitrogen oxides (above the legal limit in this case) and less carbon dioxide.
That's a fair nitpick, but my reply to the parent comment still stands - that the regulation was about pollution, and not engine performance.
Re:Voltswagen of America
by YinglingLight on Tuesday March 30, 2021 @11:08AM
(#26635476)
Your flaw is the assumption that all, or even most, customers prefer the non-tangible idea of "reducing pollution" to the tangible experience of greater performance.
>> non-tangible idea of "reducing pollution"
That's exactly the problem with the public's understanding of pollution [1]. If they can't see people dying in front of their eyes, they won't believe it...
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/09/fossil-f...
Right, and many customers would prefer the performance, thank you very much.
Re:Voltswagen of America
by kube-system on Tuesday March 30, 2021 @01:47PM
(#26637825)
Yeah, but most of us -- even enthusiasts -- aren't cutting off their cats to do so.
In general, VW has a good, somewhat inflated reputation in Germany + parts of EU. In my experience, the cars are quite solid and reliable, albeit considered a bit boring. But you can also buy a Seat or Skoda which is basically the same car with a different exterior but cheaper...
Maybe the issue is that they are different cars in the US. VW didn't have a Jetta in Germany for years. I owned a Golf MK3 convertible in the US, and I felt it was of lesser quality than similar VWs for the European market.