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VW recalling all its diesels in Australia

VW's Australian division has announced it will recall all of its diesel vehicles that are believed to be programmed to cheat government emissions-testing process, Reuters says. VW Australia will recall almost 100,000 cars as a result. About two-thirds of the vehicles to be recalled in Australia will be Volkswagen-branded light-duty vehicles, while about 17,000 will be commercial vehicles. About 5,000 vehicles will be Skodas. New VW CEO Matthias Muller (former chief Martin Winterkorn stepped down towards the beginning of the diesel scandal) said last week that VW recalls in Europe would start in January, with all cars slated to be "fixed" by the end of next year. As for US VWs, any massive recall of the nearly half-million affected diesels here will be difficult to make work. VW is still figuring out how to deal with the 2016 model-year diesels, which are new a few months away from seeing the light of day because of the brouhaha. The company has been forced to resubmit those diesels to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for more testing. Back in Germany, local investigators have searched Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg for more information on the so-called "defeat device" software built into VW's diesel engines. Volkswagen has set aside $7.3 billion to deal with the fallout from the scandal after estimating that as many as 11 million of its diesel-powered worldwide vehicles use software that essentially games emissions tests system. Without this cheater software, VW's diesels perform worse when they follow emissions regulations. Related Videos: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Paul J. Richards / Getty Government/Legal Green Volkswagen Emissions Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal

Lexus tops JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study again, Buick bests Toyota

It shouldn't surprise anyone, but Lexus has once again taken the top spot in JD Power's Vehicle Dependability Study. That'd be the Japanese luxury brand's fourth straight year at the top of table. The big news, though, is the rise of Buick. General Motor's near-premium brand beat out Toyota to take second place, with 110 problems per 100 vehicles compared to Toyota's 111 problems. Lexus owners only reported 89 problems per 100 vehicles. Besides Buick's three-position jump, Scion enjoyed a major improvement, jumping 13 positions from 2014. Ram and Mitsubishi made big gains, as well, moving up 11 and 10 positions, respectively. In terms of individual segments, GM and Toyota both excelled, taking home seven segment awards each. The study wasn't good news for all involved, though. A number of popular automakers finished below the industry average of 147 problems per 100 vehicles, including Subaru, (157PP100), Volkswagen (165PP100), Ford/Hyundai (188PP100 each) and Mini (193PP100). The biggest losers (by a tremendous margin, we might add) were Land Rover and Fiat, recording 258 and 273 problems per 100 vehicles. The next closest brand was Jeep, with 197PP100. While the Vehicle Dependability Study uses the same measurement system as the Initial Quality Survey, the two metrics analyze very different things. The VDS looks at problems experienced by original owners of model year 2012 vehicles over the past 12 months, while the oft-quoted IQS focuses on problems in the first 90 days of new-vehicle ownership. Like the IQS, though, the VDS has a rather broad definition of what a problem is. Because of that, a low score from JD Power is no guarantee of extreme unreliability, so much as just poor design. In this most recent study, the two most reported problems focused on Bluetooth connectivity and the voice-command systems. The former leaves plenty of room for user error due to poor design (particularly true of the Bluetooth systems on the low-scoring Fords, Volkswagens and Subarus), while the second is something JD Power has already confirmed as being universally terrible. That makes means that while these studies are important, they shouldn't be taken as gospel when it comes to automotive reliability. News Source: JD PowerImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Jeremy Korzeniewski / AOL Buick Fiat Ford GM Hyundai Jeep Land Rover Lexus MINI Mitsubishi RAM Scion Subaru Toyota Volkswagen Auto Repair Ownership study

The tumultuous history of the diesel engine

Volkswagen, diesel's most enthusiastic patron, deceived everyone about the amount of emissions its cars were putting out. We have covered this latest massive automotive scandal in great detail, and there are surely more fascinating revelations to come. It turns out that this is just the latest episode in the epic story of the controversy and intrigue surrounding the diesel engine, and its inventor. This is the story of the tumultuous birth and interesting evolution of the compression-ignition engine at the center of the VW scandal. Napoleon III Got Rudolf Diesel Deported Rudolf Diesel was born in Paris in 1858. His Bavarian parents had settled in France where his father, Theodor, was a leather goods manufacturer. When the French Parliament declared war on Prussia, kicking off the Franco-Prussian war, the Diesels fled to London. When he was 12, Rudolf went to live with his aunt and uncle in the Bavarian university town of Augsburg. It was his parents' hometown, and importantly, it's where Rudolf began studying at the Royal County Trade School. His time in Augsburg, graduating at the top of his class from trade school that laid the groundwork for all that was to come. Diesel Nearly Blew Himself Up An early career in refrigeration saw Diesel running R&D in Berlin for Linde, a company started by refrigeration pioneer Carl Von Linde, one of Diesel's professors. His ambition to branch out beyond refrigeration, and his deep understanding of thermodynamics, led to efficiency experiments with steam engines. Diesel was trying to create an engine that didn't waste heat from the combustion process, therefore getting the most work out of the fuel. Instead, he was nearly killed when an experimental ammonia vapor steam engine exploded. Recovery took many months, and during some of that time, he was no doubt planning his next experimental engine, based on the theoretical Carnot cycle. His Engine Was An Attempt To Stick It To The Man Steam engines were expensive to run and wasteful. Diesel thought the efficiency of his design would be a way for the small business to compete with the dominant industrial giants. It was, and it did, but big business is equally passionate about chasing efficiency. Diesel engines quickly proliferated in industries both grand and cottage. Rudolf Didn't Really Invent The Diesel As We Know It Instead, he improved an existing one to a significant degree. The Diesel engine could be considered an evolution of the "hot-bulb" engine.