Following the unraveling of the Volkswagen diesel scandal, automakers across the globe were put under the microscope for its diesel engines and emissions. Opel was not excluded.
In fact, the brand was subject to much scrutiny over its diesel engines and how they behaved while driving in the real world. But, Reuters reports Opel has walked away unscathed from the scandal. German authorities have officially cleared the brand of any wrongdoing.
The 2.0-liter CDTi diesel four-cylinder was specifically called into question, which finds a home in the Zafira, Cascada and Insignia, after suspicious behavior during drive cycle testing. Opel did admit the Zafira model includes software to shut off exhaust treatments at specific points in time to protect the engine itself.
Opel has not released an official statement on its clearing.
Comment
This is about a software upgrade to this relatively new 2.0 Liter Diesel engine, which has already been built into about 90’000 Insignia, Cascada and the new Zafira.
Opel had announced this upgrade already last December, but had to wait for the type clearance which has now been given.
Now the engines with the old software can be upgraded, and the new software will be installed in all new cars being built from this month (August 2016) on.
According to an article on the issue in the daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/amt-erteilt-opel-genehmigung-fuer-neuen-diesel-bessere-abgaswerte-14365696.html
the KBA (the motor vehicle authority, Kraftfahrtbundesamt) had even called in a hacker to check the software, but had also the source code revealed to it. They tested the engine in the car both using the standardaized test cycleo on the test stand and on the road.
The emissions cleaing is no longer cut of beyond 145 km/h, and the emission cleaing works in a larger temperature span from -8° to +50° Celsius compared to only 17° to 33°C with the old version.