Standard Motor Products As194 Turbo Boost Sensor on 2040-parts.com

VW’s big jump in profits shows the cost for ‘Premium’ badges

Volkswagen’s profits jumped by £5.7 billion to £25.5 billion with sales numbers up by one million. But the big profits come from ‘Premium’ badges. What’s in a name?

New Mercedes SL 400 replaces SL 350

The new Mercedes SL 400 (pictured) replaces the old SL 350 It’s a little over two years since the latest Mercedes SL arrived, and Mercedes has now decided to add a little zest to sales by dropping the old SL 350 and replacing it with a new Mercedes SL 400. The new SL 400 gets its power from the new E400 which means a twin-turbo 3.0 litre V6 with 328bhp and 354 lb/ft of torque – 26bhp and 81 lb/ft more than the old SL 350 – enough to let the SL 400 scoot to 62 mph in 5.2 seconds – 0.7s better than the 350 -= and on to a limited top speed of 155 mph. The new SL 400 has to make do with Mercedes tried and tested 7-speed auto – despite a new 9-speed now being available in Mercedes’ arsenal – which gives the SL 400 official economy of 38.6 mpg and emissions of 172g/km – not that you’ll come close in the real world.

Porsche 960 supercar confusion

Porsche 960 - will sit below the Porsche 918 Spyder The Porsche 960 is a mid-engined Porsche supercar heading for production in 2015 and aimed at the Ferrari 458.  Now firmly in the bosom of the VW Group, Porsche is forging ahead with its plan to dominate every expensive ‘Sporty’ niche on the planet – a bit like Audi, but at a higher level. One of the new models we know about – or are almost certain we know – is on the way is a Ferrari 458 and McLaren MP4-12C competing Porsche 960. The venerable Georg Kacher talked about the Porsche 960 in Car Magazine last year and his utterings made much sense.