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Old 05-08-2014, 12:23 PM   #23 (permalink)
NachtRitter
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Location: Placerville, CA
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Helga - '00 Volkswagen Jetta TDI
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Quote:
Originally Posted by niky View Post
Yup.

A common set of tests that is either woefully pessimistic (for us) or woefully unrealistic (for people on the other end of the bell curve).

The problem is, EPA auditing is spotty enough that a lot of cars slip through the cracks with numbers that are not comparable to other cars on the same driving cycle. Per-variant testing is expensive, but it's probably time the EPA (or some independent third-party) took over testing duties from the manufacturers.
I agree it's not perfect, and I have no doubt that manufacturers try to game the system especially since money's on the line. However, since the test procedures are publicly available, it is possible for others (outside of the manufacturer or EPA) to "sanity check" the manufacturer's results. That's a benefit of having quantitative testing. And if the test results fall outside a reasonable range, then there is a way to challenge the manufacturer's results with the EPA (as was done with Hyundai back in 2012).
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