Yeah I noticed that too and had the same thought. Something has to give for the equation to make sense.

On it's own anything that reduces emissions is going to impact one or more things depending on the degree of reduction:

Power
Economy
Emissions control longevity (including AdBlue usage and DPF lifespan).

Interestingly CARB shouldn't care about any of those except the economy. VAG will care very much about all 3 though as any reduction is going to equate to lawsuits.

 

CARB cares that the car is exactly as claimed in the certification process. Read its website.

 

Other than the power (performance) still being in the appropriate range for the class, that should be outside of their jurisdiction. I'm pretty sure that the classing is based on vehicle weight too rather than power output.

Drivability is also outside their jurisdiction as well. DOT/NHTSA would be the ones with jurisdiction if the changes make the vehicle unsafe (e.g. can no longer accelerate appropriately).

CARB and EPA should have no standing to enforce standards on those items.

 

CARB is what, in the military, we called a "self licking ice cream cone." CARB cares about CARB and their agenda, and appearance of doing something.

 

Last week I dropped off our '15 CD for oil change and miscellaneous. I expected a CD loaner as usual, from the Dealer's fleet of Sale-Stopped CDs.
Instead I got a gas Cayenne.
Service Department said that Porsche had just picked up all their unsold CD's and hauled them off to apply "the Fix."
They didn't know what that might be, or if they would ever see the cars again.

I don't like driving the gas version. It shifts all the time on the slightest grades, and I'd call it's drivability poor compared to the diesel.

 

Some more input from the Audi Dealer, where i was driving a Q7 to see if I liked the gas version.

Audi Dealer said: Audi had taken, fixed and returned the 2.0 Diesel Audi's from some customers and their unsold units. He drove one after the "Fix" and reported it drove like ****, and claimed it lost 40 hp.

They have rarely sold any 2.0 liter cars, and he says probably 17-18 over the last two years.

Don't know how true that report was, but it's the first feedback I have heard about a before and after on the 2 liter cars.

 

Is anyone surprised by this?

 

Shocked! Absolutely shocked!



SHOCKED I TELL YOU!!!!

 

I will forever be labeled a loon after this:

Took the CD in for regular service. Drove to Vegas for the weekend, a trip this car has done a few times. I could not get over 33MPG in the trip, either way.

I love to drive spiritedly in all our cars, when appropriate, but I also love to see how much I can squeeze out my cars on the MPG. I've been able to get as much as 37 from the CD on this same trip. Wasn't particularly windy, traffic, same time of day, variables seem to be similar as previous trips.

Was a fix applied? Do they have to tell us when? (X-files theme plays now).

I don't know about you guys but we are now wearing tinfoil hats when driving the CD.

 

Find out if they flashed your transmission.

I took mine in years ago now for a rough downshifting issue (3rd to 2nd while coasting is a hard shift). They flashed the transmission firmware and my MPG has been down ~10% since then. Like you I'd seen some high peaks (35-37), but since I struggle to hit 31

They claim "nothing changed" in that regard and it is still operating normally (basically I'm still getting better than the estimates so they won't do anything)

Thus I avoid the dealer as much as possible.

 

The point being, in case anybody missed it, is that Porsche seems to be taking action on the 3.0 cars, maybe in a stepwise fashion, prior to an "agreement" or "settlement."

Maybe they actually have a fix and are working to demonstrate it to CARB.

 

From prior messages here, we know that CARB has sent letters to some CD owners, asking to rent their CDs to be used as benchmarks. Maybe the denial of the fix was because it failed compared with the benchmarks?

 

The did have a fix and asked to apply it universally and have it be accepted by CARB which refused their 3.0L fix I think last week. So it may be possible that cars are being flashed as part of a step wise prep towards a fix in a staged manner pre-CARB approval/agreement. Thus the changes and reports we are seeing.

 

So we are thinking a fix is now being forced down our throats? I too have noted a slight reduction in fuel economy since the last oil change (late spring) at the dealer. I can't document anything, but estimate we lost about 2mpg overall. Maybe it's the summer driving, traffic or something else. If not, the car I bought is now gone.

 

That is unfortunately the trouble with MPG issues. Unless it is so egregious that it can't be ignored they will use every excuse in the book to get out of dealing with it (different gas, weather, driving habits, etc..).

Even when you have every fill up documented and calculated before and after they messed with it showing the sudden decline in a single tank, they still won't do anything.