Report: Opel Secretly 'Fixed' Cheating Zafira Diesels
A Dutch journalist said Opel dealers are secretly updating emissions control software to bring into compliance cars equipped with the 1.6-liter diesel engine, disguising the fix as an unrelated software update.
Opel issued a statement strongly denying that it was changing emissions of its cars.
Dutch news site VRT News said it tested two cars with and without the updates and said emissions of nitrogen oxides were significantly reduced — more than half in one car and by three-quarters in another car.
In its report, VRT News said that dealers were initially acknowledging that the update was because of the over-polluting engine. In later footage, taken with a hidden camera, dealers said the update had nothing to do with emissions.
The 1.6-liter diesel engine in the Zafira has been repeatedly targeted by environmental groups as being particularly dirty.
Last October, a German environmental group, Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), claimed that the Opel Zafira diesel polluted up to 17 times the Euro 6 limit for nitrogen oxides, which GM denied at the time.
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Aaron pssst: Belgians have their own country. It's hard I know.
That's a darned nice looking car. Too bad GM assumes US buyers won't support the "compact MPV" format. I hate to use Vulpine's argument but maybe we would buy them if they were here to buy. Gas engined, of course. Even though its roof was lowered a while back the Zafira is still a tad over 64" tall. Old people would smile.
CLEAN DIESEL*
ahh, not correct the dutch Belgian… that action the guy is referring to is no software update, but the exchange of the controller for the ad-blue-stream. It looks like short after the upcoming VW-scandal Opel set up a fast measure to reduce the nitrogen oxide of his two ad-blue-diesels (begin of measure: november 2nd). But that has nothing to do with the defeat-device-issue – the measure didn’t affect the motor controller/management.