Mercedes W203 Strut Top Shock Retaining Nut Socket Tool on 2040-parts.com

Chevrolet at the Paris motor show 2008

By Guy Bird Motor Shows 02 October 2008 18:40 General Motors’ Chevrolet stand was buzzing at Paris with two world debuts – the Chevrolet Cruze production saloon and Chevrolet Orlando seven-seater show car – plus two important European production unveils: the electric Volt and Camaro muscle car. All Chevrolets from now on will be global models and reflect a new ambition for quality, as GM’s global vice president of design Ed Welburn told CAR. 'Chevrolet is raising the bar where it matters the most – in the value segment.' The Cruze is a Skoda Octavia-sized four-door on the new Astra platform with reasonable exterior styling and a genuinely high standard of interior fit and finish.

Jaguar hybrid cars due in 2013-14

Jaguar will launch its own hybrid vehicles soon after Land Rover, CAR can confirm. Parent company Jaguar Land Rover is developing battery-assisted hybrid versions for both brands but its strategy puts part-electric Land Rovers first on the launchpad in 2013.Hybrid Jaguars – set to include the XJ and XF, but eventually every model – are therefore likely to be on the market by 2013-2014, using a similar eight-speed ZF hybrid transmission to petrol-electric BMWs.The staggered roll-out of battery Jags and Land Rovers makes sense: heavy 4x4s have come in the firing line from green protestors who label them Chelsea Tractors. Hybrid Land Rovers will trim emissions and – in plug-in hybrid mode – enable even big bulky Range Rovers to drive in zero-emissions mode into central urban areas emitting nothing more unsaintly than an electric whir.So which Jaguars will go hybrid first?It's likely that the largest models such as the XJ will receive the hybrid power packs first; large cars reap the greater benefit and can more easily swallow the additional cost, put at around £10,000 in today's money.JLR's Midlands engineering bases in Whitley and Gaydon now employ 100 engineers in the expanding hybrid powertrain business unit launched 18 months ago.

Brabus upgrades Mercedes-Benz SL Roadster

German tuner Brabus has added the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL Roadster to its stable of upgradable cars. The horsepower wizards from Bottrop, Germany, wrung 520 hp from the SL's 4.7-liter bi-turbo V8, which should be good enough for a top speed of 186 mph. The Brabus B20 PowerXtra module is responsible for the 85-hp increase and the 88 lb-ft of extra torque.