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Ethics in Technology

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Shades:
From what I've heard on the radio here, this was broadly speaking about smaller cars being both affordable, and able to pass the tests, because smaller diesel cars are not so efficient nor as clean as bigger ones
-tomos (September 29, 2015, 03:20 PM)
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There is also noise pollution.  These diesel autos generally have very poor acceleration from a standing start, such as a stop light.  To counteract that the automatic transmission is set to wind out in first gear to get the heap moving.  Listening to that ruins my day.

-MilesAhead (September 30, 2015, 06:57 AM)
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Never understood why the US hates diesel that much. When you need torque on a combustible engine, there isn't much that beats diesel. And even in the 90's-2000's the diesel cars I have driven (in the Netherlands) were certainly no slouch. Even with accelerating from the red traffic lights. And it didn't matter which brand, the Opels (which operates under the Chevrolet name in the US), Peugots, Renault, Fiat, Mercedes, Toyota and Nissan cars I either owned or drove on a daily basis...all of them performed as good or better than a gasoline car.

Diesel is also a lot cheaper per liter at the gas station (no gallons!) compared with gasoline, lasts a lot longer consumption-wise and maintenance-wise diesel engines need yearly intervals, while gasoline engines require maintenance every 6 months or so. If you are a gearhead, you might have fun doing (most of) the maintenance yourself. But if you are not, the recurring maintenance bills are a burden.

Also, in the Netherlands, as soon as you travel more than 15 kilometers a day by car, it is/was economically stupid to drive a gasoline car, because of monthly ownership taxes and road taxes in combination with fuel prices (also taxed differently than gasoline).

Then again, European car brands makes very good diesel engines ('price/performance'-factor), Japanese diesel engines aren't bad either and stick-shift remains the popular choice in the EU. Besides, nowadays there is so much padding applied in cars to "hide" any engine noise in and out the car.

If I ever buy a car (with an Internal Combustion Engine) again, it must be a diesel. But what I really want is electric cars to come down in price, mainly because I have had it with the financial burdens caused by ICE problems, their maintenance requirements etc. Getting rid of the noise and the fumes ICE produce is a most welcome bonus for me as well.

MilesAhead:
@Shades there is likely a lot of sound insulation in the cockpit.  My father had a Ford he thought was so quiet.  But standing outside I could hear it had a really noisy A/C compressor.  But there was so much sound dampening material he couldn't hear it unless he had the window down.  Not likely to do that often when running the A/C.  :)

Yes, a diesel accelerates.  But it does it by winding out first gear.  It is generally really loud when you are standing outside the car even though the driver doesn't notice.  Many gasoline powered 4 cylinder cars have the same issue.  They want to push the MPG so they put a 4 cyl in a car heavy enough for a 6.  Again, the automatic transmission winds out first gear to keep it from dogging off the line.

I would rather sacrifice a couple of MPG and get the pickup of a 6 cylinder in a 2 seater.  But the other thing is they like the throw in a transverse mounted 4 cylinder to get the front wheel drive on the cheap.

Tuxman:
I love how the world discusses Volkswagen's "ethics" while ignoring that everyone cheated before ...  :D

MilesAhead:
I love how the world discusses Volkswagen's "ethics" while ignoring that everyone cheated before ...  :D
-Tuxman (October 01, 2015, 10:14 AM)
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Heh heh.  They could drop a Chevy Impala out of a helicopter and I bet it would get great MPG on the way down.   :)

wraith808:
I love how the world discusses Volkswagen's "ethics" while ignoring that everyone cheated before ...  :D
-Tuxman (October 01, 2015, 10:14 AM)
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This thread isn't about this specific instance.  It's about ethics in general, and the individual developer's part in it.  But sure... let's skew it to say that we were lambasting them instead of getting an understanding of the basis of the conversation.

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