Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes In on Two Engineers

[Haasman]

Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes In on Two Engineers who were well known.

Wall Street Journal
http://www.wsj.com/articles/vw-emissions-probe-zeroes-in-on-two-engineers-1444011602
Ulrich Hackenberg and Wolfgang Hatz, among the engineers suspended in the investigation of the VW emissions cheating scandal, are viewed as two of the best and brightest engineers in German industry. Above, a VW factory in Chengdu, China. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Now the investigation into the cause of the scandal is centered around two high-level engineers, The Wall Street Journal's William Boston reported.
But that's just the beginning of the story.
Buried in Boston's article about engineers Ulrich Hackenberg and Wolfgang Hatz are clues to the true source of VW's crisis.
The scandal's roots go beyond alleged malfeasance on the part of a pair of engineers. A series of personal and professional rivalries that go back to the early days of the VW's diesel strategy are largely to blame.
A decade ago, the VW brand was run by Wolfgang Bernhard, who was recently hired away from rival Daimler-Benz by then-Volkswagen Group CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder.
According to Boston, Bernhard was seen as an outsider and faced stiff opposition from certain VW corporate insiders, such as Audi's then-CEO Martin Winterkorn.
The two butted heads during the planning phase of VW's now-infamous EA189 2-liter TDI engine, which is at the heart of the current crisis.
At the time, with more stringent diesel emissions standards looming, Bernhard licensed clean-diesel technology called "BlueTec" for his former employers at Mercedes-Benz. Winterkorn and his team at Audi submitted plans for a new diesel engine developed in-house that would become the EA189.
Sources within the company told Boston that many VW engineers felt that the company's native technology was not good enough to return sufficiently low emissions.
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(AP)
A Volkswagen TDI engine.

In December 2006, VW Group Chairman Ferdinand Piëch ousted Pischetsrieder from his spot as CEO. With Pischetsrieder gone, Bernhard was soon shown the door as well, even though his team already had a functioning prototype engine, Boston reported.
When the dust cleared, Winterkorn was installed as VW Group's CEO. He immediately appointed the duo of Hackenberg and Hatz in 2007 to oversee the development of the EA189 engine that entered production in 2008.
According to Boston, it is during this period that the cheat software was installed on the EA189 while Bernhard's rival engine, using the Mercedes-sourced technology, was scrapped.
Hackenberg — currently Audi's chief engineer — and Hatz , the developer of Porsche Le Mans racing engines, are two of the most accomplished men in the automotive industry. Hackenberg is credited with playing a pivotal role in the development of VW Group's modular manufacturing program, while Hatz helped engineer Porsche's victorious return to the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance sports-car race.
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(AP)
Martin Winterkorn (left) and Ferdinand Piëch.

In the decade since the power struggle that put the emissions-cheating engines into production, Volkswagen has grown to become the biggest car company in the world. With Winterkorn at the helm, the EA189 became one of the company's mainstay engines, selling around the world in cars across VW's family of brands.
Ironically, the man who made Winterkorn VW Group's CEO also tried to oust him earlier this year. Piëch — a member of the Porsche family who controls major share in the company — attempted to engineer Winterkorn's departure from the company. Winterkorn survived the coup, and Piëch left the company's board of supervisors.
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(Screenshot via VW)
Now Winterkorn is out as well, and his innovative clean-diesel engine has been proven to be a fraud. The VW Group's supervisory board named Porsche CEO Matthias Müller as Winterkorn's successor.
In the weeks since Volkswagen admitted to the US Environmental Protection Agency that his company cheated, the company has lost more than $30 billion in stock-market value.
According to Reuters, analysts predict the total cost in fines and lawsuits resulting from the scandal could reach $40 billion. But the amount of damage done to the company's brand equity could amount to billions more in losses.
VW Group announced this week that a recall of the 11 million cars affected will commence in January and be completed by the end of 2016.

More From Business Insider

• Volkswagen shares are popping on its disaster-recovery plan
• Here's how much power Volkswagen's cheating engines could lose without trick software
• VW had a terrible month in the US — and it's not because they cheated on emissions

[Nine17]

...and from the same source we learn that 2 horsepower are lost, and that peak torque drops 11.6 lb/ft from a claimed 240 lb/ft (260 lb/ft actual) to 228.4 lb/ft http://www.businessinsider.com/vw-di...ftware-2015-10:

Here's how much power Volkswagen's cheating engines could lose without trick software

Volkswagen VW Jetta TDI Testing
YouTube/The Fast Lane Car
The Volkswagen Jetta TDI.
Volkswagen is mired in a scandal. The company has admitted that it cheated on emissions tests, installing software that could detect when a vehicle was being checked out.

The 2-liter TDI diesel engine is at the center of the storm. Almost 500,000 vehicles in the US are affected, out of 11 million worldwide.

But just how poorly does the engine perform when the cheating algorithms are switched off?

The crew over at The Fast Lane Car recently conducted their own testing to find out how much power the TDI could lose when the emissions cheating software isn't active.

To conduct their test, TFL put a stock 2011 VW Jetta TDI on a four-wheel dynamometer, which measures a car's horsepower and torque output.

The four-wheel dyno allowed the TFL team to test the car while simulating real-world-driving and emissions-testing conditions.

To gauge power output in real-world-driving conditions, TFL ran the dyno with all four of the car's wheels turning — tricking the car into believing it was on the road.

In this case, the Jetta's cheat software would turn off most of the car's emissions-control features.

As a result, the Jetta produced a peak output of 138.5 horsepower and 260 pounds per foot of torque. That's on par with the manufacturer's announced performance figures of 140 horsepower and 240 pounds per foot of torque.

VW Jetta TDI TFLYouTube/The Fast Lane CarWith the pollution controls off.

TFL then ran the test again. This time, the dyno only the turned the Jetta's front wheels. This tricks the car into believing that it is being emissions tested, activating all of the car's pollution controls. In this setting, the Jetta produced a peak output 136.5 horsepower and 228.4 pounds per foot of torque.

With the full emissions controls on, the Jetta lost 2 horsepower and 32 pound per foot of torque at full throttle. But TFL observed that the biggest difference in power is at the lower end of the power curve, where the engine operates during acceleration. There, the TDI engine with the full pollution controls was down as much as 15 horsepower.

This means that the TDI engines with the emissions control programs turned on will likely offer less peppy acceleration.

VW Jetta TDI TFLYouTube/The Fast Lane CarWith pollution controls on in emissions-test mode.

If The Fast Lane Car's test are accurate, then the power loss is bad news for TDI enthusiasts.

"They are extremely impressive," Consumer Reports' director of automotive testing, Jake Fisher, said of the VWs with the small TDI diesels. "The TDI cars have a lot of torque and feel more powerful than they are."

Before news broke of VW's falsified emissions test, Consumer Reports had two of the affected models — the Passat TDI and Jetta TDI — pegged with a "recommend" rating. The publication has since pulled those ratings and announced that they will retest the vehicles.

The VW crisis led to the ouster of CEO Martin Winterkorn and the installation of Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller as VW's new chief executive.

In a speech to VW workers Tuesday, Mueller reiterated the seriousness of the scandal and announced the company's intent to cut back spending on non-essential investments.

Is the gain/loss of 2 peak hp and 11.5 lb/ft of peak torque the real issue here?

-- David

[boxster03]

'Yes two Rogue engineers" the C Suite and Board - I know nothing nothing - funny but my good buddy lives across the street from one of these engineers and they just took delivery of a his and hers Porsche and she is wearing a new mink coat - hear they are also going on a round the world trip first class and will not be available for comment the next year

But this is the country that believes taking in 2MM ISIS fighters makes sense

[72targa]

http://www.businessinsider.com/vw-uk...vember-2015-12