Hacker News Reader

I don't doubt it's this big mess you are describing, but if the engine is actively looking for test/not test and does things like turning off particle filtering after 30 minutes of driving because it knows any test will be over, it seems to me the intention is in fact to lie about the real emissions.

View on HN

The thing is that detecting test situations is good, certainly useful, perhaps necessary.

E.g. detecting you are on a test stand, you might

* deactivate plausibility checks which would normally limit engine power * deactivate air bags and other inherently dangerous systems * ensure correct system behaviour even if sensors give conflicting information * suppress error logs for certain failed plausibility checks

The only illegal thing is switching to a "massaged" parameter map under these conditions. And presumably a single person controlled this switch.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com