On 9/20/2015 1:29 PM, Mitch Kaufmann wrote:
On Sat, 19 Sep 2015 00:19:10 +0000, Ewald Böhm wrote:

My question is HOW did the car *know* it was being *tested* for emissions?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...agen/72436098/
The software code allows all of the car's emissions systems to work when the cars are taken in for clean-air testing. But as soon as the emissions tests are complete, the system reverts to spewing pollutants. The cars emitted nitrogen oxide at a level of up to 40 times the standard level, the EPA alleges.


According to the LA Times:

"Rather than meet the standards, the EPA says VW sneaked in the defeat
device software to detect when the car is hooked up to a dynamometer, a
machine that measures emissions. When emissions are being measured, the
defeat device tells the car to operate at "dyno calibration," or full
emission control levels, to meet the standards."

"At all other times, however, the software sets the engine to run on
"road calibration," allowing the excessive emissions. How can the
program tell the difference? By noting the position of the steering
wheel, variations in speed and other data that suggest no one is driving
the car, and thus it is likely being tested."