Edo-aire Mitchell 1c469-6-579 Servo on 2040-parts.com

SEMA 2008 show report: Mercedes GLK

By Ben Whitworth First Official Pictures 04 November 2008 10:30 Mercedes set an all but impossible challenge for tuners at this year’s SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas – to turn its gut-wrenchingly ugly GLK off-roader, which makes its formal American debut at the show, into something desirable and cool. The best four submissions – the Brabus Widestar, Urban Whip, Pikes Peak Rally Racer and Rock Crawler - were displayed at SEMA. And presumably scared a lot of showgoers senseless.

Nissan Juke gets revised 1.5 dCi diesel engine

The best selling Nissan Juke n-tec gets a revised 1.5 diesel engine. The Nissan Juke – the funky little urban SUV – has been around for three years, and its combination of rugged looks that make it look like an armoured insect, high riding stance and decent economy have made it a popular buy as a compact urban warrior. More than 19,000 Jukes have been sold in the UK since it launched in 2010, and around a third of those have been powered by Nissan’s 1.5 litre diesel engine.

First Sight: Mercedes-AMG GT

“If I was to buy any sports car that wasn't a Mercedes, it'd be a Porsche 911,” says Mercedes' head of design, Gorden Wagener. “But when you see the two cars together, we think ours has the edge.” He's talking about the new Mercedes-AMG GT, a front-mid engined, two-seater sports car that's unashamedly aimed at higher-end 911s, and we've come to see it at Mercedes' Sindelfingen studio.  The GT replaces the larger SLS, and is seen by Wagener as the best example yet of his 'sensual purity' design philosophy: “The SLS is very much [he gestures] line, line with a surface in between. With the GT we started with the surface and worked to refine and reduce the number of lines.” Elements of the SLS's platform have been carried over, so the GT measures the same 1,939mm wide.