I think the bootnote makes the most salient point of the whole article here. The media seems focused on the "shocking revelation" that VW cars contain software to detect when they're undergoing an emissions test, but the truth is just about all modern cars have to use similar software.
In a "normal" driving situation, a car with traction control, ABS and all that gadgetry would flip its nut if it saw the front wheels spinning at 50 mph with the rear wheels stationary, assuming a catastrophic loss of traction.
So *all* car manufacturers have to program a "testing mode", which determines how the car behaves when it thinks it's undergoing a test. Given the behaviour in this scenario is entirely arbitrary, why would any manufacturer choose to program this mode to produce suboptimal emissions?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
