kscarbel2

The story of the Ford Flex is very interesting indeed. It still sells well on the West Coast, and there's not another vehicle like it. I can imagine it being discontinued owing to low sales nationwide overall, but I can also imagine Ford evolving the concept forward to a second generation vehicle that could capture more interest. http://www.ford.com/suvs-crossovers/flex/2017/ Ford is a puzzling automaker at times. For example, tell me which Ford Edge looks better. In my view, one I would seriously consider if I didn't need the Explorer's 3-row capability. The other, the exterior appearance would stop me from any consideration. http://www.ford.com/suvs-crossovers/edge/2017/?gnav=header-all-vehicles https://www.ford.com.cn/suvs/edge/

Keith, recently relating to news events, I've limited myself almost entirely to posting news video from PBS* (Public Broadcasting Service) videos, because, to paraphrase DailyDiesel, I assumed they were still generally considered to be a trusted source of information. I myself still consider them to be reputable among news sources (my gut feeling.......I have no way to confirm. I'm always open to being wrong.) I don't understand why you take my post and attack another BMT member. Over my post, I'd rather you belittle me. * http://www.pbs.org/

Billy, the Ford Flex is a modern woody*, the perfect surf mobile. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/19/business/la-fi-mo-auto-ford-flex-california-20121018 * http://www.carponents.com/content/surfs-up-with-the-woodie-one-of-americas-most-iconic-cars-176

Burns’s new 10-part, 18-hour epic film covers the conflict from all sides, and hopes to ‘shape more courageous conversations about what took place’ The Guardian / July 1, 2017 James Rogers and Renan Reyes, veterans of the Vietnam war, each made a trip to Washington on Wednesday to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for the first time. “Very impressive,” said Rogers, who is from Madison, Alabama, as a river of parents and children flowed past in bright sunshine. “It looks like a black mark,” said Reyes, from near Charlotte, North Carolina, disapprovingly. Divergent opinions over the polished black granite memorial – which lists, chronologically, the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died in the war, from John H Anderson Jr to Jessie C Alba – are peculiarly apt for the Vietnam war itself, a politically and socially polarising episode that shattered the myth of American invincibility. The war in south-east Asia is now the subject of an epic 10-part, 18-hour series by Ken Burns, America’s premier documentary film-maker, renowned for his 1990 masterpiece on the civil war as well as series on jazz, baseball, the Roosevelts and the second world war. Ten years and millions of dollars in the making, covering the conflict from all sides, The Vietnam War could be the closest thing yet to a definitive account of what Burns believes is the most important event in American history in the second half of the 20th century. The time for a conversation “about a war we have consciously ignored” has come, Burns, 63, told the National Press Club in Washington earlier this month. “We have said: ‘We don’t want to talk about it. We’re not gonna teach it, we think it’s about this, or my own personal politics at this moment has actually determined what I should say about Vietnam regardless of what I felt when it was taking place.’ We have this dissonance going on. “We hope that the film will contribute in some way, shape or form to more courageous conversations about what took place, because let us also be very clear that the divisions that we face today, the lack of civil discourse, the inability to talk with each other but only at each other, had their seeds planted in the Vietnam war, so if we understand it then we also understand our present moment.” The origins of the conflict are now somewhat foggy in collective memory. A 1954 ceasefire agreement partitioned Vietnam into a communist north and anti-communist south. Trapped in the logic of the cold war, the US backed a series of corrupt regimes against the communist-led Vietcong in the south and their allies in the north who sought to reunite the country. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson sent in thousands of air and ground forces in what was initially a popular move. But as the draft expanded and casualties mounted, public opinion turned against him and anti-war protests erupted against a backdrop of social unrest, racial discord and assassinations. Bill Zimmerman, an anti-war activist, tells the documentary: “People who supported the war were fond of saying, ‘My country, right or wrong,’ [but protesters didn’t] want to live in a country that we’re going to support whether it’s right or wrong. So we began an era where two groups of Americans, both thinking that they were acting patriotically, went to war with each other.” In the early 1970s, under President Richard Nixon, the war expanded into Cambodia and Laos, but in 1973 US forces quit Vietnam, and in 1975 South Vietnam fell to the communists. The Vietnam war has gripped popular consciousness with images of Huey transports (helicopters) taking thousands of US troops into battle in thick jungles, river deltas, fields of elephant grass and hamlets of rice paddies and thatched-roof huts. It spawned a genre of movies including Apocalypse Now, Born on the Fourth of July, Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, Full Metal Jacket and Platoon. But Burns and his co-director, Lynn Novick, who made several trips to Vietnam, aim to strip away US-centric narratives and give a rounded portrait with 80 interviews from both sides. Gen Lo Khac Tam of the North Vietnamese army tells them: “The war was so horribly brutal. I don’t have words to describe it. How can we ever explain to the younger generation the price paid?” Speaking a a recent event hosted by the New York Times, Burns reflected: “If you think about The Deer Hunter, there’s not a Vietnamese character that’s real, and that’s our problem, and what we set out to do consciously in this was to say we wish to triangulate this story and understand that for many people [in Vietnam] it was an American war, and not just the Vietnam war.” Novick told the Guardian: “It was really profound to begin to appreciate the scale of tragedy there, the scale of loss. I think Americans understandably focus on the 58,000-plus Americans who lost their lives in the war, which was a tragedy for the families involved and there’s no way to make that up to them, but when you go to Vietnam you begin to understand that a country of 30 million lost as many as 3 million people; that’s 10% of the population. What that means is that everyone you meet knows somebody who died ... Every single person you ask says, ‘Oh, my uncle, my cousin, my neighbour, my niece’ – someone they knew personally died. So the weight of that for a country, for a people, is indescribable. Feeling it over time is a profound thing.” Was the war a needless waste, a terrible mistake that could have been avoided? Novick replied: “You will have to watch the film to find out. That is the central question, really, or one of them. There’s a lot of conflict between Americans and even within individual people about the answer to that very question. It’s a very deep one and a very important one but I cannot give you an easy answer because it’s not settled. It’s still very much an open question and our film is an exploration of that.” The series sweeps from the release of the leaked Department of Defense study about the war known as the Pentagon Papers to the Tet offensive to the anti-war activist Jane Fonda’s visit to Hanoi. Researchers consulted former secretary of state John Kerry, a veteran of the war, and Senator John McCain, who was taken prisoner, and the film tells their stories, although they are not interviewed. Donald Trump received five deferments from the draft: four for university and one for “heel spurs”. Burns and his research team found their fundamental preconceptions challenged, the film-maker said at the New York Times event. “At every intersection, there was the explosion of myth, there was the humiliation of being just dead wrong about what we thought had happened. And that, at some point, if it’s not about your own self-aggrandisement, is exhilarating and liberating.” The series, which premieres on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on 17 September in the US and will be released in full on DVD in the UK, includes rarely seen archival footage, photographs, TV broadcasts, home movies and secret audio recordings from the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations, as well as music of the period from the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Simon & Garfunkel. In a trailer, the army veteran Phil Gioia says: “The Vietnam war drove a stake right into the heart of America.” Speaking by phone this week from his home near San Francisco, Gioia, 71, told the Guardian: “It was a defining event in the history of the country. It radicalised components of our society and polarised our society in many ways. It affected our decisions in defence strategy ever since.” Gioia, who comes from a military family, served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969 and was shot in the left wrist. “I fell like somebody had hit me with a baseball bat,” he recalled. “It was stunning but no pain because the nerves closed down.” He was also present in Huế to witness the Tet offensive launched by the communists, now seen as a crucial turning point. “That was like being at Gettysburg in the civil war.” By then the war was the target of growing protests at home. Gioia said: “When you’re a soldier you don’t get to pick your war. You go wherever the government sends you.” On his second tour of duty, he added, most of the soldiers were 18, 19 and 20-year-olds. “Even though the war was unpopular and they were mostly draftees, they were terrific soldiers. Most of them were vilified when they went home. A lot of the population transferred their anger to the soldiers. It was a very unfortunate time.” Two thirds of Americans who served in Vietnam are no longer alive, Gioia noted, while the majority of Vietnamese people were born after the war. “There has not been a Hollywood movie that really accurately portrays Vietnam and the effect of the war. Apocalypse Now, Platoon – it’s all Hollywood. Politics and the anti-war sentiment gets into every movie made by Hollywood. By getting Vietnamese voices, we’re going to see and hear their aspect of the war. They took huge losses; we bombed the hell out of them.” Gioia, a semi-retired technology and venture investor and student of military history, added: “It’s time the country took a good long look at what happened. This is probably going to be the keystone go to documentary for the Vietnam war. It’ll be, if you want to know what happened and why, watch the Burns film.” His image of a stake through the heart was echoed by visitors to Maya Lin’s war memorial, completed in 1982, in Washington this week. Reyes, 66, the veteran from North Carolina, accompanied by his three nine-year-old grandchildren, said: “It tears at my heart because some of my friends were killed. We recovered their bodies from a helicopter crash in 1970.” Amid deep social upheaval and protest, the homecoming was very different from the warmth that generally greets today’s returning veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq. “It was like I didn’t exist,” recalled Reyes, a retired police officer. “The only welcome I got was from my parents and sisters.” Rogers, 68, the veteran from Alabama who had come to find the names of two comrades, added: “When we came back, it was a different time. We were stoned. We didn’t get much respect and it was painful.” Burns and Novack are following in the footsteps of the journalist Stanley Karnow, whose award-winning, 13-part PBS series Vietnam: A Television History was one of the most-watched public television documentaries ever when first shown in 1983. But more than three decades later, veterans, historians and journalists welcome a fresh look. Arnold Isaacs, who covered the last three years of the war for the Baltimore Sun and wrote two books, Without Honor and Vietnam Shadows, said: “It was compelling for me but I think it’s pretty distant for 25-year-olds today. World war two was such a significant event in every respect everywhere in the world and continues to still shape the cultural concept of war – the good war myth remains powerful – whereas Vietnam was inconclusive.” Isaacs, 76, praised attempts to include Vietnamese voices. “Remembering this war as a part of American history is profoundly distorting of what happened. It’s a part of Vietnamese history we jumped in on. I was back in Vietnam in 1998 and it was obvious to me there were a lot of unhealed wounds. In this country you have a culture war that is still going on; Vietnam was part of that story, but not the whole story.” .

With diesel twice as expensive as the US, Australian operators care a great deal about fuel economy, while they at the same time care about performance, reliability and durability.

Australian-spec Western Stars still look like respectable trucks. Whereas in North America, they're promoting the hideous looking 5700 XE (below). .

No, not at all Billy. And this method of weight distribution is far better than auxiliary axles.

Snapshots of 2017 Brisbane Truck Show Steve Brooks, Trade Trucks AU / June 29, 2017 BORN AGAIN Previewed in Australia for the first time at the 2015 Brisbane Truck Show where it won the Truck of the Show award, International ProStar has finally found a home Down Under. After long-winded negotiations with Navistar in the US, Iveco is now the distributor of the versatile American truck which was showcased alongside Iveco’s Stralis flagship. Under ProStar’s sloping snout is an industry-standard driveline punched by a 15 litre X15 Cummins coupled to manual or automated versions of Eaton’s ever-reliable 18-speeder, feeding through a Dana driveline into Meritor diffs mounted on Hendrickson Primaax air suspension. Cabs come in three forms – day cab, extended cab and full-size integrated sleeper. Word has it that Iveco dealers are excited to again have International on the books but the big hope is that this relationship between the two entities survives longer than the last. From what we’ve found after several stints behind the wheel of ProStar – admittedly, some time back – the truck has what it takes to forge a sound future in our part of the world. GROUP TACTICS UD may be the baby of the Volvo Group triumvirate but it certainly had the biggest news at Brisbane with its vastly revamped Quon flagship. Even a quick squiz reveals a strong Volvo influence inside and out but there are significant changes underneath as well. For starters, the Volvo-designed GH11 engine has been pushed up to 460 hp to cope with a gross mass increase to 60 tonnes. The standard shifter is what UD strangely calls ‘Escot VI’, essentially Volvo’s slick I-shift automated 12-speeder. We hear it’ll soon be rebranded ‘U-drive’ but the important thing is that it’s just as advanced and intuitive as its Swedish counterpart. Many opinions – including this one – rate Quon the best Japanese prime mover on the market and from what we’ve already seen, it’s an opinion set to grow even stronger. Standing alongside the new UD, an upbeat Volvo was obviously intent on reminding everyone of its Swedish heritage with ‘Performance Edition’ versions of its supremely popular FH and FM models dressed in national colours. Whatever the colour though, there’s no question Volvo is enjoying the most successful era in its Australian history. And it’s an era likely to grow even stronger with news at the truck show of the overdue return of the significantly larger XXL sleeper cab for the flagship FH. BABY BENZ Following on from the successful introduction of its new generation prime mover range, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the second phase of its complete model makeover with the launch of a dedicated rigid line-up. The newcomers will go on sale within the next few months and predictably, come in 4x2, 6x2, 6x4 and eight-wheeler configurations for both distribution and specialist vocational work. There’s a mix of cab sizes in slimline and sleeper layout while power comes from either a lively 7.7 litre in-line six rated at 299 or 354 hp, or an 11 litre six available at 394, 428 or 455 hp. All models stir through Mercedes-Benz’s PowerShift automated transmission, an eight-speed in 4x2 and 6x2 models, and 12-speed in 6x4 and 8x4 versions. The third and final phase of the new Benz breed will come towards the end of this year with the introduction of purpose-designed construction and all-wheel-drive rigids. BEST YET So what’s there left to say about Kenworth’s new T610 and T610 SAR models that hasn’t been already said? With a completely new and wider cab, these are without doubt the most exciting new conventionals to come out of the Kenworth camp in decades and after more than $20 million spent on development, there’s little wonder Kenworth Australia is hailing the new models ‘Our Best Truck Yet’. This year’s Brisbane show was the first public appearance of these classy conventionals and for the vast majority of the show crowd, this was their first close-up look at Kenworth’s latest and potentially greatest trucks. "Like bees to honey," was how one observer put the constant stream of visitors to the Kenworth stand. X FACTOR On the engine front, none had bigger news than Cummins and there were plenty of willing listeners when Mike Fowler, Cummins South Pacific director of engine business, announced that both the 15 litre X15 and 12 litre X12 engines will meet the proposed Euro 6 emissions standard WITHOUT any EGR input. While the Euro 6 standard may be still several years away from being mandated in Australia, Cummins used the Brisbane show to ease customer fears of increased complexity. "We are giving customers confidence that the X15 they have now will be very similar to the X15 they will have for Euro 6," Mike Fowler explained, citing SCR (AdBlue) technology and a new single module after-treatment system as the keys to Cummins’ strategy for Euro 6. As for the X12, formerly known as the ISG12 and said by Cummins to have the best power-to-weight ratio of any engine in the 10 to 16 litre class, it will also rely on SCR and advanced after-treatment to counter the need for any EGR input. Rated up to 500 hp and 1700 lb ft, the X12 is a highly promising engine which has yet to find a chassis to call home in Australia. However, the quiet word at Brisbane was that one truck brand is close to signing up. Meantime, there’s much to be gained by the announcement of closer technological ties between Cummins and transmission giant Eaton. In a smart move for the two brands, it’s an arrangement which mirrors the successful European strategy of looking at engine and automated transmission development as a collective exercise rather than separate functions. FIRST PEEK It won’t officially join Hino’s ranks until later this year but the ‘world first’ preview of a 300-series 817 4x4 model at the Brisbane Truck Show left no doubt that much will be expected of this off-road specialist. For the moment, Hino is keeping the full specification close to the chest but the 817 numerals at least indicate that gross vehicle weight will be around eight tonnes and maximum power up to 170 hp. According to a statement issued immediately prior to the show, selected Hino customers have been evaluating prototype versions on and off-road since 2014, from Australia’s interior to Cape York. "It’s a model customers and dealers have been asking for," said Hino product manager Daniel Petrovski, indicating the truck’s potential to tackle the success of Isuzu and Fuso in a wide range of off-road applications. The new model will follow in the wake of Hino’s impressively revamped 500-series wide cab range launched earlier this year and will similarly offer a formidable array of standard features including vehicle stability control and reversing camera. HELLO GOODBYE In truck terms, the standout attraction on the Scania stand was the first Australian preview of the Swedish brand’s ‘New Truck Generation’, recently crowned Europe’s ‘International Truck of the Year’. Known as the S 500 model, the righthand-drive Pommie spec 6x2 was shipped from the UK to Australia specifically for the Brisbane Truck Show and according to Scania, was headed straight back to the UK after the show. Also heading back to the UK, however, is Scania Australia managing director Roger McCarthy (pictured). After an eight-year stint guiding Scania to its best performances in the brand’s history here, it will be imperative for his (Swedish) successor to maintain the considerable momentum produced by McCarthy’s extensive experience and commercial initiatives. As for the new truck, even Roger McCarthy concedes its Australian introduction is "still some considerable way off" but of all the attributes that separate it from Scania’s current range there are possibly none more positive than the driver’s layout. A cut-way cab highlighted a vastly improved and far more stylish interior design. PACK ‘n’ GO With Penske Commercial Vehicles (Western Star, MAN and Dennis Eagle) strangely opting out of this year’s truck show, market leader Isuzu wasted no time securing the site and filling it with examples of its hugely diverse model range. In fact, if anyone ever wanted visual proof of why Isuzu has commanded leadership of the total Australian truck market for almost three decades on the trot, they wouldn’t need to have looked any further than the Brisbane Truck Show where there seemed to be something for almost everyone. Isuzu’s inherent ability to fill almost every niche with a purpose-built truck is no more evident than in the much publicised ‘Ready to Work’ range which continues to carve an extraordinary following. From the Traypack to the Tradepack, Servicepack and now Vanpack, it seems there’s no end to Isuzu’s determination to fill every void. Continuing the theme is a new tri-tipper NLR model fitted with a factory-built three-way tipper body. And it’s not as if it’s a basic spec, either. Standard features include electronic stability control, ABS anti-lock braking, ASR anti-skid function and hill-start assist. Meanwhile, at the heavier end of the Isuzu stable, the F-series eight-wheeler agitator continues to win business from more traditional brands. Even so, it’s the heavy end where Isuzu seems to suffer its only void with the lack of an acceptable and efficient prime mover model. In our estimation it won’t happen anytime soon, but there’s little doubt it WILL happen, eventually! As for Isuzu giving up its newfound premier position if and when Penske chooses to come back to the Brisbane show, one Isuzu insider summed it up succinctly. "No chance!" CLEANIN’ UP Arguably the biggest revelation from Iveco was the surprisingly brief mention of plans to later this year start building some Stralis models at Iveco’s Dandenong (Vic) plant. Strangely, that’s as much as Iveco had to say on a crucial development concerning the factory’s ongoing viability. There was, however, certainly no lack of diversity on the stand, from the flagship Stralis cab-over to the evergreen ACCO and of course, the arrival of International ProStar as part of the Iveco stable. Down the weight scale, there were new Euro 6 versions of its medium-duty EuroCargo 4x2 and a high-volume Daily van making their first public appearance. The van is particularly interesting, not least because it comes with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) rating of seven tonnes on a long 4100 mm wheelbase, and is available with load volumes ranging from 16 to 18 and a cavernous 19.6 cubic metres. With such expansive credentials, Iveco is in no doubt the van provides a viable alternative to pantech-bodied light trucks. On the completely restyled Euro 6 version of EuroCargo, it’s a truck which comes with GVM ratings from 12 to 18 tonnes and cabs in slimline, low and hi-roof sleeper, and crew cab forms. Underneath is Iveco’s responsive ‘Tector 7’ engine in outputs ranging from 185 kW (250 hp) to 206 kW (280 hp) coupled to the choice of either a nine-speed ZF manual transmission or a five-speed Allison automatic. As Iveco likes to point out though, the Tector achieves Euro 6 compliance without any EGR input, relying instead on a system comprising what it calls Hi-SCR and a single diesel particulate filter. No matter where you look these days, EGR seems to be increasingly on the nose with suppliers and customers alike. LONE VOICE With most truck and engine suppliers these days distancing themselves from EGR technology for one reason or another, Detroit seems to be something of a lone voice as it continues to promote the efficiency and reliability credentials of its DD15 EGR engine. The time is sure to come, however, when Detroit’s Australian distributor Penske Power Systems will employ the same BlueTec SCR technology used by its US counterparts. In the meantime, DD15 continues to be the only Detroit engine making headway in Australia as its smaller and larger siblings continue to sit in the shadows. On a brighter note, at least Penske Power Systems chose to be at Brisbane, unlike its Penske Commercial Vehicles partner, and enjoyed the patronage of what seemed a small army of Detroit devotees. Equally bright, Penske Power Systems is now headed by Sean McLean, the former Cummins executive widely regarded for both his technical and professional prowess. LEGENDS Of all the displays at this year’s Brisbane Truck Show, none drew greater passion or emotion than the first of Kenworth’s T900 Legend series. Scrolled on the back wall of the sleeper is the single word ‘Steady’, a simple yet fitting epitaph to Allan Stead, a mentor to many and true legend of Kenworth’s Australian history. Retired since 2004 and passing away recently, ‘Steady’ spent 39 years of relentless, indomitable devotion to Kenworth and its customers across the length and breadth of Australia and beyond. Meantime, Kenworth announced it would open its books for just one day for operators to order a limited run of ‘Legend’ specials, marking the venerable T900’s remarkable resilience and appeal since its launch in 1991. Yet while there are perhaps many among the Kenworth faithful who would pay handsomely for this first T900 Legend, the likelihood is that the show truck will be put on permanent display in Kenworth’s edifice at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs. EVOLUTION on SHOW Trucks have certainly come a long way since Freightliner founder Leland James first designed a cab-over model for the US market and nowhere was the evolution more starkly evident than Freightliner’s stand where a rare 1950 ‘Bubblenose’ model stood alongside the latest Argosy. To mark Freightliner’s 75th anniversary, the beautifully restored ‘Bubblenose’ was flown in from the US specifically for the Brisbane show. Yet as fascinating as this old classic was, it took only a quick look around the old and new to be grateful for the passage of time and engineering evolution. Argosy has certainly come a long way since its first arrival on the Australian market and Freightliner was intent on showcasing the recent addition of the Cummins X15 engine as a powerful addition to the cab-over’s list of assets. The other notable player in the Freightliner family is the Coronado conventional and there appeared no shortage of interest in a 122 model built for gross weights up to 140 tonnes, and highlighting the addition of dual exhaust stacks as standard equipment on the long-nose Coronada. DOG BITES In the modern history of Mack trucks in this country, there are two indisputable facts. One, Mack has undergone a life-saving cultural revolution since Volvo rescued the famous bulldog from the edge of extinction. And two, the resurgence of the iconic Super-Liner is the greatest success story of all Mack models. Yet as Mack’s display at the Brisbane show highlighted, it is Super-Liner’s ability to be many things to many people which today consistently makes it one of the most popular models in the Mack range. Pride of place, for instance, was given to a heavy-duty spec reflecting the model’s heritage as a roadtrain and heavy haulage specialist. Right behind, however, was a slimline Super-Liner designed for 36-pallet B-double work with regular Mack buyer, Followmont Transport. This is a dog which has walked the comeback trail better than most. SMART SHIFTER When it comes to automated transmission technology, ZF has been at the cutting edge from the outset and with its new Traxon transmission, the German giant appears to have taken a further step down the evolutionary path. A cut-away display of the Traxon shifter certainly had some people wondering what it was all about but according to ZF it’s simply lighter, stronger and more intelligent than anything that has gone before it. The fundamentals are that it comes in 12 and 16-speed versions and will cope with input torque capacities up to 3400 Nm, or 2500 lb ft, which means it’ll handle the outputs of the most powerful truck engines on the market today. Along with a broad range of modern features and claims for being substantially quieter and smoother, one of the stand-out attractions is what ZF calls ‘Prevision GPS’. Simply explained, Traxon has the capacity to use satellite information to track any changes in topography and continually determine the best operating mode for the truck. Beam me up Scotty. GOIN’ DUTCH Predictably, the centre-piece of DAF’s display was the CF85 model now available with a 510 hp MX-13 engine. We’ve spent some time in this truck recently and in our estimation, it’s definitely the truck DAF needs to help raise awareness and lift the brand out of the doldrums. The star attraction was a six-wheeler sleeper version sitting alongside DAF’s XF flagship but in the background was a CF eight-wheeler also available with the 510 rating. Somewhat tucked away, however, was the newest member of DAF’s expanding stable, a 6x2 version of the LF280 rigid. Competing in a market where Japanese brands are fiercely dominant, the three-axle LF won’t find it easy to crack big numbers but with reported benefits in tare weight and driver comfort, it at least provides another much needed string to the DAF bow. VIRTUALLY FUSO Whether Daimler’s local leaders like to admit it or not, Fuso continues to be the star performer in the group when it comes to overall sales. The ever-popular Canter, for example, ranks second only to Isuzu in the light-duty category and recently underwent a significant update across the range. Adding to Canter’s coverage is a new low-roof model which made its debut at the Brisbane show. With an unladen height of just 2.01 metres, Fuso says it is the only Japanese truck in the Australian market that can safely move under a 2.1 metre ceiling. Clever! Also clever was an innovative, high-tech Virtual Reality experience for show-goers. Much more than just another marketing gimmick, eight virtual reality booths allowed visitors to don the special goggles and as Fuso put it, ‘immerse themselves in a virtual Fuso showroom, sit inside a range of virtual Fuso trucks, or experience a thrill-ride, all of which showcase the lifelike nature of cutting edge virtual reality technology.’ Fuso Australia chief Justin Whitford reckons virtual reality could well be part of truck showrooms of the future and after donning the goggles and being suitably awestruck by the ‘virtual trip’, it’s hard to argue. AIR CRAFT Suspension specialist Hendrickson has been promoting the operational virtues of its Airtek steer axle air suspension for a long time but the stakes appeared to go up a notch in Brisbane with pride of place on the Hendrickon stand going to its Airtek HCS assembly. Airtek HCS is, according to Hendrickson, the industry’s first integrated front air suspension and steer axle system. Quoting from the Hendrickson spec sheet, the superior design of the Airtek HCS layout improves roll stability over standard spring suspensions while the airbags provide notably better ride quality. It’s also lighter, with Hendrickson saying the combination of the Airtek suspension and its Steertek fabricated axle saves up to 30 kg over a traditional forged axle and steel spring assembly. Another thing about the fabricated (rather than forged) axle is a two-piece knuckle assembly allowing removal of the knuckle without having to remove the kingpin. BIG RED Tatra’s eight-wheel-drive tipper was certainly an imposing exhibit and attracted plenty of wide-eyed visitors. But who is Tatra and what exactly was that truck at the Brisbane Truck Show? Tatra hails from the Czech Republic, has been producing trucks in one form or another for over 100 years, and for the majority of those years has specialised in heavy-duty off-road models. At the core of the design is a unique single tube chassis from which sprout independently suspended, swinging driven half-axles. The Australian distributor for 20 years is the family-owned Offroad Trucks Australia, based in Perth and which has obviously enough found plenty of opportunities for Tatra in the Western Australia mining industry and beyond. There are three distinct models in the range and as the flagship Phoenix model in Brisbane showed, the specification has a strong connection to Paccar. Power, for example, comes from an MX 13 engine rated up to 510 hp and the cab which comes in day, sleeper and crew-cab forms is derived from DAF. The Phoenix ranges from 4x4 right up to 12x12 configurations driving through ZF or Allison transmissions. Impressive, from any angle. Photo gallery and VIDEO - https://www.tradetrucks.com.au/product-news/1706/snapshots-of-2017-brisbane-truck-show

Freightliner Australia / June 28, 2017 Australian Freightliner owners know the Freightliner name is not just a badge on the grille; it represents a total network of customer support Australia-wide that loves this industry. The only industry that takes you to places in Australia many have never been with beautiful changing landscapes all while getting the job done. The comradery and mateship is unlike any other all sharing the same passion. .

Big Rigs / June 30, 2017 Some celebrate a milestone with a cake, others do it with flowers, the Easters however marked their milestone with a brand new Western Star. More specifically Brisbane fleet family K.S Easter welcomed in their 200th truck, a classic Easter tangerine, 4800FXB Western Star fit with a Detroit DD15 and a Eaton 18 speed ultra shift gearbox under the hood. "We celebrate when the circumstances call for it," Ken Easter said in his dry tone, allowing a slight smile to escape from his lips. He was doing the Friday afternoon rounds of the depot on yet another busy afternoon, surveying the comings and goings. While Ken said he knows pretty much all that goes on around the yard, turns out the added extras on the 200th truck were left as a surprise. Thanks to the help of a few faithful suppliers and his sons Matt and Ken Jr. The Celebration "I looked after the pre-delivery on the finished and accessories, when we got her in I decided to do one or two things extra," son and Manager Matthew Easter said. "We did it all behind his back as a bit of a surprise." Unfortunately the team eventually had to reveal their secret, when the vehicle didn't arrive as promptly as the others usually did. "Only a few knew what the truck looked like. It wasn't turning up, people started to make the assumptions. "When we did tell him and he ended up getting pretty excited about it, he doesn't get excited too often so that was pretty cool," Matt said. Some of the additions that were included involved adding the company name the the bumper, custom pipes, tank wraps, one off steps and grill. The vehicle also comes equipped with hundreds of LED lights. "We also added the names of all the suppliers that backed us, I really want to thank them all for the amazing work they had put into it," Matt said. "They are products we stand by support, and in turn they stand by and support us. "As the 200th truck and with all the work put into it, it was worth a bit of attention," he said. As a family business the team saw it was a milestone that had to be shared with the next generation. "I took my kids out of school for the day when it arrived, its one of those moments I wanted my kids to come down and be part of, put their finger prints on it," Matt laughed. "My dad started business in 1976, my oldest brother Kenny is the general manager and in March my son Dylan (13) started working in the washbay. "You got to know the bad jobs before you know the good jobs." With a solid base of loyal customers and dedicated employees K.S Easter have continued to grow steadily over the past three to four years. "Ideally our growth continues in proportion to the growth of our customers, steadily," he said. The company growth has been behind the purchase of a section of land close to the depot, which they will develop. The Star A long‐standing customer of Penske Commercial Vehicles and the Brisbane Truck Centre, KS Easter has purchased 41 Western Star trucks over the last five years with more in the pipeline. "We have had a long relationship with Penske, the Brisbane Truck Centre and Western Star, and the 4800 and 5800 trucks have long been a winner for us," Eldest son and General Manager Ken Easter Jr (pictured above) said. "We have many Detroit‐powered Western Star trucks in our fleet which have covered millions of kilometres and we've always found them to be very reliable and fuel efficient, and have great driveability. "I have always had a soft spot for American equipment and have a real affinity for the brand so we are definitely looking to continue buying Western Star 4800 and 5800s." Penske Commercial Vehicles Managing Director, Kevin Dennis, said the long relationship with KS Easter was based on understanding the customer's business. "We have worked with Ken and his family for a long period and have taken the time to understand his requirements," said Mr Dennis. "As KS Easter celebrates their 40th year in the transport industry this year, we look forward to continuing to provide the trucks that keeps the business moving." Vehicle and engine supplier Brisbane Truck Centre Western Star Penske Detroit Diesel Accessories: Highway Lights Fleetmark Brisbane Briskair AJ's The Driver Still brand new, the Western Star has already attracted some major attention online and will no doubt be catching eyes for years to come. Driver Shane Warne, described as a good bloke and "OCD with the way he looks after his truck", was lucky enough to secure her as his regular drive. "I'm feeling pretty good about her, she looks great," Shane said. "Yeah I'm pretty proud to have been able to look after this one," he said. Big Rigs caught up with him just as he was headed off to the Grafton Show, but not before his favourite co-pilot, his three year old daughter Caitlyn, was able to give it her tick of approval. "Caitlyn loves her, she loves trucks especially the lights." The cheeky three year old happens to love trucks so much she talks to her dad about them any chance she gets. "I was out on the road a few weeks back and I got a call in the middle of the night," he said. "I picked it up and she must have taken gotten on her mums phone and managed to facetime me. "Turns out all she wanted to see was the lights," he laughed. "So I was out there in the middle of the night facetiming the truck for her to see." Unfortunately the Tangarine Machine missed on any of the Grafton Truck Show Gongs, with the K.S. Easter black Swede scoring a few. .

Where to Now for International in Australia? Diesel News AU / June 2017 With the reintroduction of the International brand, it probably time to ask the question, where to now for International? The first models unveiled this year are variations on the ProStar models. Let’s assume the ProStar hits the spot for International, the brand is welcomed back into the open arms of Australian truck buyers and proves to be an effective addition to the offering for the Iveco brands and its dealers. Of course, this is by no means a foregone conclusion, but it is also feasible. International does still have a loyal fan base among the trucking community, the brand remains strong. If this scenario does play out, the timing looks good; the heavy-duty truck market seems to be on a steady rise, International will look to expand the range over a series of steps. This would give Iveco/International dealers an opportunity to stock a full offering to market with both European and North American options. First up will probably be an extension to the ProStar range itself. An increased engine rating choice would be one area operators will look for. As will more choice in front and rear axles and suspension options. Along with this might come different GCM ratings, which are currently capped at 90 tonnes (with up to 110 available upon application). What about a smaller, lighter engine? The ProStar in the US has just begun to be offered with the International A26 engine. This is the latest iteration of the 13-litre, derived from the MAN D26 and a result of the increased co-operation and financial stake Volkswagen is taking in Navistar. This is a high-tech torquey engine which will perform well for ProStars running at lower masses. For the US market, International does offer a substantial range. The ProStar we are getting is a mixture of three US models. The ProStar is the basic platform, but we are getting the shorter bonnet from the Transtar and the bigger sleeper cab is more like the HX series long-distance hauler. All of which do come with the 13-litre A26 engine, at least as an option. Looking at heavier trucks, International has the LoneStar and the 9900 available in the US. The LoneStar is the truck many truckies here in Australia will aspire to drive. It has the aggressive grille and big cab, plus the Cummins X15 under the big long bonnet. It genuinely looks the business. Those aspiring truckies are likely to be disappointed. As it stands, the LoneStar could not be imported into Australia, it is too wide. It is very much a left-hand-drive truck and has been designed as such. The kind of engineering and development work required to reshape the truck into something which is legal and durable enough for Australia is going to be expensive and take some time. The potential sales numbers the truck would generate are likely to be relatively low – it is not a fleet truck and most owner drivers are looking for a practical, not a show, truck. The other heavy, the 9900, is a more traditional truck, it was assembled and sold here as the Eagle. There are still quite a few who would jump at the chance of owning a new 9900. However, again, the kind of development dollars needed compared to potential sales make it a non-goer. Looking down the range, there are some more practical possibilities. The most obvious one is the HX Series, a vocational truck sold into rigid tipper and similar applications. It is described in the US as being a ‘severe duty’ truck, but would probably need some beefing up to meet our demanding conditions. It can be fitted with the X15 and the A26, both of which would suit the kind of work it would need to do here. The smaller tipper chassis is the WorkStar, with a similar shape to the 9700 models sold in Australia over ten years ago. The biggest engine this can fit is the 13-litre but the age of its design may well count against it, when considering adapting it to Australia.

International Ships First Trucks With A26 Engines Heavy Duty Trucking / June 30, 2017 International Truck announced it has started customer shipments of its first International LT Series and RH Series trucks with the company's new A26 12.4-liter engines. The company's internal testing shows these products are delivering up to 9% better fuel economy over the comparable models built only a year ago. When it unveiled the engine at the Technology & Maintenance Council annual meeting in February, the company said the A26 was developed through an initiative called Project Alpha that brought together a team of trucking industry powertrain engineers. The developers focused on emphasizing simplicity over complexity and using only proven components. The truck and engine maker listed these as key features of the A26: • Components engineered to maximize uptime • Light weight of 2,299 pounds • The most efficient engine in International’s on-highway lineup • The quietest engine in International’s lineup • Hundreds of thousands of hours of testing • Millions of real-world test miles "Delivering our 12.4-liter engine is a significant milestone for Navistar," said Persio Lisboa, Navistar executive vice president and chief operations officer. "We continue to receive great customer feedback on the products we're delivering today. Customers will continue to experience outstanding levels of quality, reliability and uptime with our new family of Class 8 on-highway trucks, now complete with the A26 engine." .

That was an average figure Billy. I myself choose my vehicles extremely carefully (I must be enamored with it), buy new and retain for 15-20 years. If you maintain the vehicle properly and garage it (within reasonable temperature extremes and without excessive humidity), most vehicles can last for decades.

Scania Group Press Release / June 30 2017 Build your Scania. With the new Scania Configurator, customers can explore the boundless opportunities for tailoring the truck to precisely match the desired specification. Starting with new generation long-haulage trucks, customers are initially invited to select if they are in the market for tractors or rigids. Thereafter, the user selects one of the 11 transport applications, such as general cargo, bulk transport or timber transport, that best describe their business. This narrows the specification scope based upon particular application. The customer is then asked to choose wheel configuration, cab size, weight, road conditions, mileage, topography, traffic conditions and cruising speed. This sets the stage for countless interior and exterior choices. “In total, the configurator encompasses 340 of our most frequent variant families,” says Miku Kimber, Head of e-Business at Scania. “We can also, for example, offer a choice of 147 colours, more than most brands.” The configurator has been developed as a marketing tool for existing and prospective customers to acquaint themselves with all available options. “They may not be aware of all the choices at their disposal. For example, they might, out of habit, be inclined to select dark upholstery but when it is actually visualised realise how attractive a lighter colour could be.” The content is generated from several existing Scania IT systems and the image bank consists of up to one half a million layers. “It might be interesting to find out just how many variants we can generate but that would take more than one week to calculate,” according to Miku Kimber. Try the Scania Configurator here.

Renault Trucks Press Release / June 28, 2017 Renault Trucks is continuing its research into improving the energy efficiency of trailer trucks. The FALCON project has set out to develop a complete heavy goods combination to demonstrate an ambitious potential to reduce fuel consumption and therefore CO2 emissions through innovative design. Lower fuel consumption is at the core of the development of Renault Trucks vehicles, which are designed to be profit centres for transporters. In line with Optifuel Lab 1 and Optifuel Lab 2, and more recently the Urban Lab 2 project involving distribution vehicles, Renault Trucks is now undertaking the development of a new experimental combination designed to consume 13% less fuel than a standard coupling towed by a Renault Trucks T. The FALCON (Flexible & Aerodynamic Truck for Low CONsumption) project is led by Renault Trucks with a consortium of partners comprising Faurecia, Michelin, Total, Fruehauf, Wezzoo, Benomad, Styl'Monde, Polyrim, Enogia, the IFPEN, the École centrale de Lyon (LMFA) and the IFSTTAR (LTE; LESCOT). It is receiving financial support from the state via the FUI Regions fund. The technical developments are aiming to achieve a maximum client ROI of two years in normal operating conditions, with a view to starting production in the medium term. Developments are focusing on the optimised aerodynamics of the truck and trailer combination, connected low rolling resistance tyres and predictive energy-saving driving aid and fuel management functions, together with an improved powertrain using a new-generation Rankine heat recovery system and optimised lubricant formulations. With the exception of the Rankine system, this technology is set to be integrated into a demonstration vehicle and tested in real conditions at the end of 2018. The Falcon project, which is due to end in 2020, offers Renault Trucks a new laboratory on wheels not only for assessing technology aimed at further reducing the fuel consumption of trailer trucks, but also in preparation for the requirements of future regulations, within the EU, on the CO2 emissions of heavy goods vehicles, together with the volumes, dimensions and tyres. .

Renault Trucks Press Release / June 28, 2017 Renault Trucks' Xtrem Days have been held in Marrakech from 9 to 15 April 2017. This event, which marks the launch of the K Xtrem in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Algeria, Morocco and Turkey. Designed to resist very heavy wear on the most extreme terrains, the Renault Trucks K Xtrem is distinguished in particular by its reinforced chassis and the semi-automatic Optidriver Xtrem transmission, with mechanicals reinforced for severe applications. Invited transport professionals and representatives of construction industries will be able to meet with Renault Trucks experts, attend workshops and try out the C and K range models. .

US Researchers Studying Wireless Transfer of Electricity to Vehicles Transport Topics / June 29, 2017 Scientists at StanfordUniversity have succeeded in wirelessly transmitting electricity to a nearby moving object, the wide-ranging implications of which could affect the recharging of electric cars and trucks, robots and cellphones, university officials said. The research was published first in the June 15 issue of Nature. Some transportation experts envision an automated highway system where driverless electric vehicles are wirelessly charged by solar power or other renewable energy sources, the Stanford, Calif.-based university noted. The goal would be to reduce accidents and dramatically improve the flow of traffic while lowering greenhouse gas emissions, university officials said. “In theory, one could drive for an unlimited amount of time without having to stop to recharge,” Shanhui Fan, a professor of electrical engineering and senior author of the study, said in a statement. “The hope is that you’ll be able to charge your electric car while you’re driving down the highway. A coil in the bottom of the vehicle could receive electricity from a series of coils connected to an electric current embedded in the road.” Currently, however, the power levels being tested would not be enough to support an electric Class 8 truck, Fan told Transport Topics. “At present, the experimental demonstration is at a power level that is far lower — several orders of magnitude lower — compared with what is needed to charge a truck,” he said. “The principle we demonstrate should be scalable to higher power, but we have not done that yet.” He noted, however, that the speed of a Class 8 truck traveling a highway would not be an issue. The researchers at Stanford built on existing technology developed in 2007 at MIT for transmitting electricity wirelessly over a distance of a few feet to a stationary object, the university said. In the new work, the team transmitted electricity wirelessly to a moving LED lightbulb, it said. That demonstration involved only a 1-milliwatt charge, whereas electric cars often require tens of kilowatts to operate. The team is now working on greatly increasing the amount of electricity that can be transferred and tweaking the system to extend the transfer distance and improve efficiency, according to Stanford. The research also may “untether robotics in manufacturing, which also are on the move,” Fan said. “We still need to significantly increase the amount of electricity being transferred to charge electric cars, but we may not need to push the distance too much more.” .

It depends. For example, if it's a Ford design flaw and the supplier produced the component according to the design drawing, then Ford is responsible. This example is yet another case in a long list at Ford where they took a proven Ford global market product, reconfigured it for the US market, and created problems where there were none. I can tell tell you that the Transit in the global market is a trouble-free vehicle.

The Fix Is In: Car & Driver Tests the Software Update for Cheaty VW TDI Diesels Car & Driver / June 2017 Throwing money at problems is how corporations make them go away. Pay for more lawyers, pay for more public relations, and certainly pay for more marketing in the hopes that the world will believe your new promises. For Volkswagen, those invoices have recently been supersized, befitting the scope of the diesel cheating scandal that has engulfed the company and prompted the recall of approximately 590,000 vehicles in the United States. Yet, its attorney bills and the costs of hiring extra PR staff must seem like little more than a few padded expense reports to the accountants in Wolfsburg. Since a group of West Virginia University scientists announced in May 2014 that they had found unexpectedly high emissions from VW’s TDI vehicles—which led to the uncovering of the company’s conspiracy to cheat government regulators and defraud consumers—Volks­wagen has committed to spend at least $25 billion in the U.S. in legal settlements alone. As the world’s largest car company bleeds, TDI money now begets its own economy [see “TDI Profiteering”]. VW even has had to create a subsidiary called Electrify America to ensure the spending of $2 billion on brand-neutral electric-vehicle infrastructure. Not coincidentally, Volkswagen says that it has quit the “clean diesel” business for good, at least in the U.S., to focus its green efforts on EVs. Except that as of April, the company owns more than 237,000 used diesels acquired through its court-mandated buyback program. And inventories are growing, with 15,000 more vehicles being turned in each week, according to reports. Without the joint blessing of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, these cars are to remain parked in places like the lots that surround the shuttered Pontiac Silverdome, the former Detroit Lions football stadium 30 miles north of Detroit. That’s where Volkswagen found our test vehicle, a 2015 Passat sold new in Texas and now showing 25,000 miles on its odometer. One of the so-called Gen 3 diesels that clean up waste gases with catalytic converters, particulate filters, and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), it is among the first batch eligible for a fix—in this case, a software update to both its engine and transmission computers. This is per the emissions-modification proposal that CARB and the EPA approved on January 6, which also covers 2015 Beetles, Golfs, Jettas, and Audi A3s with 2.0-liter TDI engines, some 67,000 total vehicles. A second phase of the third-gen recall will involve dealers fitting replacements for the entire emissions system, including a new diesel-particulate filter, diesel-oxidation catalyst, and selective ­catalytic-reduction converter. A second NOx sensor downstream of the catalyst also will be added, allowing the emissions system to operate in an improved, closed-loop mode thanks to another forthcoming software update. These new parts should ensure that the system functions correctly for at least 150,000 miles, and it will be monitored by the EPA and CARB through further testing over the next five years, an extension of the one year VW would normally be required to conduct an In-Use Verification Program of spot-checks of randomly selected customer vehicles. Owners will benefit from a transferable emissions warranty that is extended to the greater of either 11 years or 162,000 miles from new, or five years or 60,000 miles from the date of the recall service. Volkswagen needs some manufacturing lead time, so the second phase of the recall won’t start until early 2018. But in late March, Volkswagen got the go-ahead for its dealers to resume selling 2015 TDIs equipped with the new software, including some brand-new leftovers. Shortly thereafter, we conducted our testing—with VW’s blessing—seeking to determine whether the fix carried any downsides or performance penalties that might be felt by owners of repaired cars. Stopwatch Says Since Volkswagen is legally prohibited from allowing any of these TDI buybacks back on the road until their software has been reflashed, our Passat was delivered with the new software. Subjective driving detected no anomalies in its operation—not that we anticipated finding any. VW is telling owners to expect few to no driving differences outside of improved accelerator response and slightly different shifting behavior on automatic vehicles. Neither fuel economy nor performance should be affected. However, owners are warned of the possibility of up to 14 percent higher consumption of DEF, depending on driving style. That’s the most appreciable change brought about by the software, which will also have been stripped of the defeat device code that triggered different emissions calibrations for dyno emissions testing and on-road driving. “For the most part, it’s the dosing strategy for DEF” that allows cars with the new software to reduce emissions, says VW senior manager of regulatory affairs Rob Sutschek. No changes were made to other engine operating parameters, he says, specifically naming boost pressure, exhaust-gas recirculation scheduling, fuel-rail pressure, and injection timing. Which would indicate that at least for the third-generation diesels, the main benefit VW gained by cheating was merely stretching the DEF refill interval to coincide with a 10,000-mile oil change. It’s worth noting that the fixed Gen 3 cars will not, in fact, be certified to the same emissions standards (federal Tier 2 Bin 5 and California LEVIII ULEV125) that they were originally supposed to meet. Rather, the court has created a new standard that resembles the current federal Tier 3 Bin 160, which is less stringent for lower-speed operation but allows fewer NOx emissions at highway speeds. Regardless of which emissions standard the fixed cars now adhere to, the broader environmental concern was the potential impact of junking so many vehicles. As Sutschek says, “The EPA wants these vehicles in service.” At the proving grounds, we ran a modified version of our typical acceleration test, first with the new software and then again after the car had been reverted back to its “dirty” code by two Volks­wagen technicians. (Although they used a laptop plugged into the OBD II port, they stressed that VW dealers and others authorized to upload the new software would use a system that will not allow a car to be reverted to any earlier code.) In both zero-to-60 and quarter-mile tests, we recorded identical results: 9.3 seconds and 17.2 seconds at 82 miles per hour. Extra test equipment in the back seat and a passenger aboard mean these numbers cannot be compared with other C/D test numbers, nor should they be considered absolute. But the comparative fact stands: We found no notable performance differences between the car with its original dirty software and the same car after the fix. The filler neck for the Passat’s DEF tank is located in the trunk, with the tank extending out of sight such that we were unable to accurately assess DEF consumption during testing. Nor were we able to do much fuel-economy analysis, although according to the Passat’s onboard trip computer there was no significant change during steady-speed cruising after we switched software. We did employ a portable emissions-measurement system [see “Sniffing Around”] during testing. The data we collected with this device do not directly correspond to any measurements made during federal emissions testing, both because of the nature of the testing equipment and because our flat-out acceleration runs have no analogue in the federal procedure. We saw small amounts of NOx emissions present during steady-speed cruising at 90 mph reduced to zero with the clean software, which seems significant in that it indicates cleaner operation even beyond the speeds at which federal emissions testing is conducted. And of course, the tailpipe sniffer did in fact prove that the same car produced different patterns of NOx emissions depending on the software. Within the limited scope of our testing abilities, we considered this sufficient proof that Volkswagen was not perpetrating any further deception. C/D Test Results DIRTY CLEAN Acceleration 0–60 MPH 9.3 sec 9.3 sec 1/4 Mile @ MPH 17.2 sec @ 82 17.2 sec @ 82 30–50 MPH, Top Gear 5.0 sec 5.0 sec 50–70 MPH, Top Gear 6.7 sec 6.6 sec 30–90 MPH, 4th Gear 22.3 sec 22.8 sec 0–100 MPH, Standing Start 27.1 sec 27.7 sec More to Come Volkswagen has also submitted two other proposals covering the rest of the recalled four-cylinder diesels. While company officials would not comment on specifics, some details of the modifications to these cars can be found in the consent decree under which Volkswagen is currently operating. Engine design for the generation-two TDIs, or 2012–2014 Passats, differs from the third generation’s but still uses DEF to curb emissions, so the fix for those vehicles will likely follow the same path as the 2015 models, relying on greater DEF dosing to lower NOx emissions. All the diesels should eventually get completely new emissions hardware. In fact, this is required by the consent decree for the first-generation TDIs, or 2009–2014 Jettas, 2010–2014 Golfs, 2013–2014 Beetles, and 2010–2013 Audi A3s. These earlier models do not use DEF, however, which makes the fix more challenging. These cars employ a NOx trap that requires periodic purging; this is accomplished by running a rich fuel mixture, which will likely result in reduced fuel economy. Had Volkswagen been willing to make that trade-off years ago, it might have sold fewer cars, but the consequences of this crisis would surely have been averted. Since the emissions scandal was uncovered, VW’s annual sales in the U.S. have dropped by 21 percent—or nearly 85,000 fewer vehicles in 2016 than in 2013—at a time when the rest of the industry was up 12 percent. This year, however, its sales are showing signs of rebound, with first-quarter numbers up 10 percent. We can only imagine that this first fix, which puts thousands of Volks­wagen diesels back into service, will help bolster those numbers. Money can make problems disappear, but it is no substitute for fixing them. TDI Profiteering How some savvy wheeler-dealers cashed in on Dieselgate. As get-rich schemes go, this one was fairly foolproof. All it took was a close reading of the Volkswagen settlement and some capital for a few astute individuals—and, rumor has it, a handful of non-VW dealerships—to cash in on the TDI buyback program, creating a homegrown VW diesel trade that fattened a few pockets. Several months ago, you too could have picked up a used diesel-powered VW for well below book value, then sat on it for a bit before turning it in to VW for the buyback money. Sometimes the payoff would be only a few thousand dollars, but one buyer who got the system wired, and who talked to us only on the condition of anonymity, claims to have made around $20,000 on some vehicles. The $10 billion buyback and restitution program kicked off in November 2016, part of Volkswagen’s larger $15 billion TDI settlement that also includes fines and environmental remediation. The buyback is meant to put cash in the pockets of aggrieved VW customers. However, it also requires those owners to read and comprehend a fairly arcane system that calculates how much VW will pay for the car plus a second compensation payment, both varying based on model, year, and mileage. This has translated into opportunities for those paying attention, as the amounts work out to well above what these cars would fetch on the open market under normal circumstances. Our anonymous source, whom we found through a Reddit thread, says he bought scandal-affected VWs and Audis from all over the country, mostly from dealers and auctions, collecting 27 vehicles. “I was the original owner of a 2011 2.0, and that’s what turned me on to it,” he says. “In June of last year, I started reading about the buyback and it looked like a good opportunity, so I borrowed whatever money I could get my hands on and started buying the cars. “I have more than $400,000 invested, and the profits are variable, but my overall profit margin is going to be between 45 and 50 percent,” he says. As shady as this might sound, it’s legal according to the Federal Trade Commission. Unless, of course, the buyer lies to the seller about the details of the buyback program to get a lower price. That’s fraud. Our source says he checked with his state’s department of motor vehicles to make sure he is aboveboard with state regulations. Because he’s treating diesel trading like any other investment, a CPA ensures his tax compliance. Before you cash in your 401(k) to become a TDI flipper, understand that if you’re just learning about this now, you’re too late. Although it’s still possible to buy a TDI and submit a buyback claim before the September 1, 2018, cutoff, the cheap cars are gone, and the money-making days are well over. —Benjamin Preston Sniffing Around To reduce the chances of another TDI fiasco, carmakers and government regulators alike have expanded their tailpipe-emissions measurement capabilities, moving out of the lab and onto the road. Gathering real-world insights regarding how cars behave in customer hands has necessitated a new category of tools called portable emissions-measurement systems (PEMS). Some of this gear is cumbersome and expensive, while other units—including the analyzer we borrowed from Infrared Industries for this test—are more wieldy. The company’s FGA4000XDS PEMS is a nine-pound box containing non-dispersive infrared and electrochemical-cell sensors capable of quantifying concentrations of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and oxygen in the exhaust stream. It can also display air-fuel ratio and engine rpm when connected to the engine’s ignition system. It is factory calibrated and certified to comply with international standards. After a five-minute warm-up and the insertion of a sample line into the tailpipe, this device is able to quantify the ingredients in practically any exhaust stream. —Don Sherman