Any ‘smoke and mirrors’ behind VW’s EA189 ‘fix’?

Does everyone understand what really lies behind VWs powertrain engineers’ implementation of their ‘fix’ for the EA189 engines? What is really implied in the ‘fix’?

VW on the ropes as 'cheating' issue grows

Volkswagen shares fell some 18 per cent on the first full day off trading following the EPA finding that algorithms on some VW Group cars could manipulate emissions limits.

VW to make 600 a day at new engine plant

Volkswagen Group has opened its new engine plant at Kaluga in Russia.

First Golf1 rolls from VW’s Puebla plant

Production of the new Volkswagen Golf1 began today at the Volkswagen plant in Puebla, Mexico.

VW’s future plans call for further models from the Golf family for the North America region to be built at Puebla.

EA888 to replace VW’s five-cylinder engine

According to Carscoops.com it is the end of the road in the US for Volkswagen's venerable 2.5-liter five-cylinder gasoline engine as the German carmaker has announced it will gradually replace it with a new 1.8-litre turbocharged and direct-injection gasoline four-cylinder TSI in Jetta, Beetle, and Passat madels.

As already reported in these pages, the EA888 is being ramped up in a new VW assembly plant in Silao, Mexico.

The engine delivers the same output as the 2.5-litre unit at 170hp, though peak torque is improved slightly by 7 lbft to 184 lbft. However, this torque is delivered much lower in the rev range. The German automaker says the engine also offers significant fuel mileage gains - up to 17 per cent on the highway in the Beetle application, for example.

VW confirms EA888 has CGI cylinder block

Volkswagen AG has confirmed that the latest version of the EA888 engine, production of which has just started at the company’s which new engine factory in Silao, Mexico, does have a cylinder block cast in compacted graphite iron (CGI).

Wolfsburg officials decline to name the foundry but most likely it is Tupy SA, in Joinville, Brazil, the world’s leading supplier of CGI cylinder blocks. Tupy already sources CGI blocks to Audi, a VW subsidiary. Tupy SA uses SinterCast's CGI process control technology to achieve high standards of materials consistency and quality. For this contract, Tupy will source the CGI castings from its foundry in Saltillo, Mexico where SinterCast installed two of its lines earlier this year.

Officials at the German automaker also remain tight-lipped as to just how many of the engines it is currently building at the brand new plant.