How toxic is your car exhaust?

Rob Mayercik

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Location
NJ, U.S.A.
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS, Baltic Green/Beige
He certainly went to some lengths to get real, hard data on what the two cars were doing, and there are some interesting bits about the way the "official" testing works and how much variation can be found across makes/models.

For the most part, I found he came off as trying to be as objective and factual as possible. That being said, he got a little eco-preachy in places for my taste (such as the bit where he indicated he's going to scrap that old golf in part because it doesn't meet today's standards).

Still, an interesting read overall.
 

wxman

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 26, 1999
Location
East TN, USA
TDI
Other Diesel
Emissions Analytics has tested a few U.S. diesel vehicles (http://usa.equaindex.com/equa-air-quality-index/). Those four diesels tested were given a rating of "A" for NOx emissions, which means that they meet the SULEV II NOx standard (0.02 grams/mile) according the the "Ratings Explained" key on that page.

Many U.S. diesels have been tested for CO emissions, and all received an "A" rating (<0.5 g/mile).
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I would just like to note that phrases like "eight times the legal limit" etc. often get thrown around, but the legal limit is incredibly low. So eight times of the modern limits is still an incredibly small amount.

I've never been to London (likely never will), but it makes you wonder how they dealt with pollution in the past when there was little to no emissions controls or limits of any kind.

Or has the population of the area just grown so much?
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
I would just like to note that phrases like "eight times the legal limit" etc. often get thrown around, but the legal limit is incredibly low. So eight times of the modern limits is still an incredibly small amount.
I've never been to London (likely never will), but it makes you wonder how they dealt with pollution in the past when there was little to no emissions controls or limits of any kind.
Or has the population of the area just grown so much?
It used to be worse when people were burning coal in their fireplaces and gasoline had lead in it. The problem today is that legislators are taking steps to improve air quality, but improvement isn't happening. In some cases, the opposite is happening because manufacturers have figured out how to game the emissions testing system en masse. Combine that with increasing populations and more vehicles on the road and you have a recipe for some very bad air quality. It might not be as bad as the old coal and lead days, but it's still very concerning.
 

wxman

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 26, 1999
Location
East TN, USA
TDI
Other Diesel
I would just like to note that phrases like "eight times the legal limit" etc. often get thrown around, but the legal limit is incredibly low. So eight times of the modern limits is still an incredibly small amount....
Good point and I completely agree.

...I've never been to London (likely never will), but it makes you wonder how they dealt with pollution in the past when there was little to no emissions controls or limits of any kind.

Or has the population of the area just grown so much?
Ironically, the press release from the UK which announced the proposed ban on ICEVs in 2040 mentioned that ambient NO2 levels have declined by half (50%) since 2000. So the air in London isn't as bad as reported; certainly not as bad as the year 2000 as far as ambient NO2 levels are concerned.

The EU for some reason adopted the WHO guidelines for ambient NO2 levels in 2010 (but not for any of the other criteria pollutants). Since then many European cities are now in nonattainment with the NO2 ambient air quality standards. In actuality, ALL European cities would be in attainment with the U.S. ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for NO2 based on Europe's latest data ("Air quality in Europe — 2016 report" EEA Report No 28/2016). So all this hand-wringing over the excess diesel NOx and the ambient NO2 issues is an artifact of poor enforcement of emission standards and overly-strict ambient air quality standards for NO2.
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
It used to be worse when people were burning coal in their fireplaces and gasoline had lead in it. The problem today is that legislators are taking steps to improve air quality, but improvement isn't happening. In some cases, the opposite is happening because manufacturers have figured out how to game the emissions testing system en masse. Combine that with increasing populations and more vehicles on the road and you have a recipe for some very bad air quality. It might not be as bad as the old coal and lead days, but it's still very concerning.
Yes, the Great Smog of '52 killed about 12,000 and eventually led to the clean air act in '56. It was largely the result of a stalled cold weather pattern in December and coal burning as a heat source. Apparently, London undertakers were the first to notice something was very wrong when there was a severe casket shortage. :eek:
 

2004LB7

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2013
Location
California
TDI
2006 Jetta
I have a friend who runs a smog shop. One day when I had to get my truck 2004 Duramax emission tested, we where chatting about the difference between gas and diesel and the difference in emissions.

We decided to stick the sniffer in and see what the machine would read. Since the machine didn't have any settings for testing the emissions of a diesel we ran it as a gas engine. I dont remember exactly what the readings where now but HC was 0 or below detectability, it of course couldn't read particulates, CO was also real low. The rest, NOx, CO2, etc where all within the limits of a gas engine and would have passed.

He was very surprised considering all of the bad press surrounding diesel emissions.

My truck tested had a straight pipe exhaust, blocked EGR, and was tuned by me with EFI Live
 
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