​Turns out, Volkswagen's diesel cheat isn't just limited to the 2.0-liter TDI four-cylinder: The Environmental Protection Agency just published findings that indicate that the VW Group's 3.0-liter TDI V6 also use cheating software to emit far beyond the legal limit of NOx.

The EPA reports that diesel-powered versions of the 2014 VW Touareg and 2015 Porsche Cayenne feature the same software cheat first discovered in 2.0-liter TDI Volkswagens. The cheat was also found on model year 2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5 models. The EPA says that models equipped with this engine had the same cheating software first discovered on four-cylinder TDI Volkswagens in September, which only activated the vehicle's emissions control devices when a complex software feature detected that the car was undergoing emissions testing.

Environmental regulators have detected three new diesel models, including cars by Audi and Porsche, which have defeat devices installed to cheat on emissions testing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation today to Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Porsche AG, over the following vehicles:

2014 VW Touareg.
2015 Porsche Cayenne.
2016 Audi A6 Quattro, A7 Quattro, A8, A8L, and Q5.

It is the second such notice of violation issued to Volkswagen by the EPA in its emissions testing scandal. It is the first time Audi and Porsche have been confirmed as creating cars with the cheat device.

These vehicles from the model years 2014 to 2016 all have 3-litre engines, unlike the earlier notice, which affected models with 2-litre engines.

The cars have software that ensures they emit less than the legal limit of nitrogen oxide during testing conditions, but revert to "normal" mode and emit nine times the legal limit in road conditions, an EPA spokesman said.

The vehicles have one or more auxiliary emission control devices that the company failed to disclose to regulators as required by law.

The EPA, the California Air Resources Board and Environment Canada began testing all 2015 and 2016 diesel models available in North America in September, using new testing procedures.

The NOV is based on vehicle emission testing performed by the EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, CARB's Haagen-Smit Laboratory, and Environment Canada's River Road Laboratory.

About 10,000 cars on U.S. roads are affected. The number of Canadian cars is not yet known.

These violations are in addition to the notice of violation issued on Sept. 18 and the ongoing investigation on certain 2.0 litre engines for 2009-15 vehicles.

Testing is ongoing, said Janet McCabe, assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Air and Radiation, in a media conference call. She said the environmental regulator has been communicating with Volkswagen about a recall plan and appropriate fix for the vehicles named in the first notice of violation, but has yet to see a satisfactory fix.

"Today we are requiring VW Group to address these issues. This is a very serious public health matter," said Richard Corey, executive officer of the California Air Resources Board.

Exposure to ozone and particulate matter caused by diesel emissions has been associated with premature death due to respiratory-related or cardiovascular-related effects. Children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing respiratory disease are particularly at risk of health effects.

Late Tuesday, VW said it had also found "unexplained inconsistencies" in emissions from some of its vehicles of carbon dioxide. The cars were sold under the Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT and Skoda brands, most of them in Europe and none in the United States.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3d066...#axzz3qqrBUGpP

Mazda in the US said it had concluded it could produce a diesel that met US standards without using urea. But, when the controls were in use, the vehicle’s acceleration and fuel economy suffered. When engineers made the vehicle drive as intended, emissions performance suffered.
“We were able to meet both our emission and our performance goals outside the US,” the company said. “But with [US emissions] standards being as strict as they are, we couldn’t do so here.”

Honda said its Acura luxury brand considered “a few years ago” bringing a diesel-powered version of its TSX sedan to the US market, using non-urea technology. But the system would have required “some changes” to account for emissions standards in California, which are higher than those in Europe.
“We were capable of meeting the standards but the increased cost to the customer combined with the concurrent higher cost of diesel fuel negated the potential fuel economy benefit,” the company said.

Honda Worldwide | July 7, 2015 "Honda sets new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS? title for fuel efficiency, averaging 2.82 litres per 100km (100.31mpg) in 13,498km (8,387 mile) drive across 24 EU countries"
Honda sets new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for fuel efficiency, averaging 2.82 liters per 100km (100.31mpg) in 13,498km (8,387 mile) drive across 24 EU countries

Under the rules of the record title attempt the car must be a standard model in every respect, with no modifications to create an advantage, to replicate ‘real world’ conditions. This was judged by independent witnesses at the beginning and end of the attempt. Fueling was carried out at regular filling stations, with the tank filled to the maximum at each stop to ensure no weight advantage. Additionally, tires were inflated to the recommended pressures and the wheel alignment set to factory specification to represent the experience of the regular customer.