Diesel pollutes; shocker!

[Tim Hall]

I don't know the science behind it (although I could have an educated guess) I have to wear an anti pollution mask particularly when cycling in London (which is just about every day).
I have suffered a couple of serious bouts of pleurisy and find that if I ride without the mask in a built up and congested area I get very wheezy and short of breath. In the areas of London I cycle in there are usually huge numbers of stationery / crawling buses and taxis (and currently loads of those awful Toyota Prius things).

A couple of weekends ago I got overtaken by 2 diesel cars whilst out in the countryside who both had very heavy right feet to get past me. With just that brief exposure I got very wheezy in seconds and had to stop until it passed. I wasn't wearing the mask as I was riding country lanes and not passing lines of wall to wall traffic.

It showed me how polluting diesels are. It might not be the CO2 but is certainly laden with particulates.

Dave, sorry to hear of pleurisy. What sort of mask do you have? What pollutants is it designed to stop?

 

[Tim Hall]

That's our very own @redfalo on Her Majesty's BBC wireless talking about the greater impact.

 

[Dave the Smeghead]

Had they been behind you for a minute or two?

Indeed they had. They both had to wait behind me due to a tractor and trailer coming towards us.

 

[Dave the Smeghead]

Dave, sorry to hear of pleurisy. What sort of mask do you have? What pollutants is it designed to stop?

A City max. Its a neoprene mask with a filter that fits inside. Filter is supposed to be changed every 6 - 8 weeks. Mine don't seem to last much more than 3 - 4. I put that down to London traffic. Another guy at work washes the filters in his washing machine and claims that reactivates them. I am not so sure on this but will give it a try. After all many filters are washable (like the ones in air conditioning split units).

 

[Cavalol]

So VW Group caught being naughty. Again. And to think that many regard this companies products as aspirational.

Never had anything but problems with VAG stuff. They're no better than 99% of other cars, it's just clever advertising and people who believe the hype, imho.

I think a lot of the problems with modern diesels are that due to all the sensors/DPF etc, they have to have a good caning frequently or they just clog up and cause agro. When someone does welly a car that's been pootling round for weeks the smoke is unbearable if you're in the vicinity.
That's my excuse for lobbing veg oil into my ancient Peugeot anyhow. It might smell like a mobile chippy, but they love it at MOT time are the emissions are fantastic.

 

[redfalo]

That's our very own @redfalo on Her Majesty's BBC wireless talking about the greater impact.

indeed - ironically from a Merc radio car that was parking opposite our flat (probably also a Diesel....) here's my view in writing: http://www.breakingviews.com/vw-emissions-scandal-could-be-auto-sector’s-libor/21217100.article

BTW I'm not sure if the face masks do any good against nitrogen oxide, which is at the core of this scandal

 

[albion]

We can be sure that lobbyists caused the current EU emission test to be a failure.

This single event tells us starkly why money given to fibbers like Nigel Lawson is a cheap method of maintaining profits.

 

[gavintc]

Looks like a Buy opportunity to me.

No, I think their value will fall further. Fraud has the potential to turn away future purchasers. This will have significant impact on VW. I would go far as to propose that their US operations will be a shadow of their current size within 2 yrs. I am not sure I would buy VW again.

 

[Tin Pot]

No, I think their value will fall further. Fraud has the potential to turn away future purchasers. This will have significant impact on VW. I would go far as to propose that their US operations will be a shadow of their current size within 2 yrs. I am not sure I would buy VW again.

Possibly - the U.S. Operation is iirc less than 8% of total, so even a complete loss is significant but isn't that significant. The brand damage is worse IMO, but recoverable.

 

[Globalti]

I bet there are trucks going about the place filled with all sorts of rubbish that no one has any real need, or even much desire for.

It's far worse. There are thousands of vans and trucks driving around mostly empty because they have to follow a route, whether there's cargo or not.

 

[ColinJ]

It's far worse. There are thousands of vans and trucks driving around mostly empty because they have to follow a route, whether there's cargo or not.

And buses and trains.