> Lord knows what sort of magic they stick into 'Energy Star' appliances.

I had a phase a few years back where I monitored all my appliances and office stuff to see how much solar I needed and I found the energy star ratings to be more or less correct with my appliances except for my moms Samsung stove

Well, easy in case of VW: If the optimization involves checking "steering wheel has never moved out of 0 position since engine start" and "intake air is at exactly 293K", then it illegally optimizes for a test.