Memphis 15-c310d4 10" Dual 4 Ohm C3 Cast Series Subwoofer X2 (pair) on 2040-parts.com

First Sight: Mercedes-Benz SL

The new high-tech, low weight Mercedes SL roadster receives its official global unveil next week in Detroit but Car Design News got an early peek of the final production car and had a chat with its designers at Mercedes' US advanced design studio in Carlsbad, California back in November. "We want to get back to clean, long-lasting design," director of Mercedes global advanced design and SL project leader, Steffen Kohl told CDN at the exclusive preview of the sixth-generation model. "So the new SL is long, sleek and still full of tension in the feature lines but less wedgy." In a short presentation Kohl felt all SLs became successfully iconic in their times because they followed two key rules – ‘sensuality' and ‘cleanness' – but alluded that the first rule may have been lost in more recent eras.

Nissan LEAF hits 3000 sales in the UK

Nissan LEAF hits 3000 sales in the UK What can probably be considered the first properly convincing electric car – the Nissan LEAF – has clocked up 3,000 sales in the UK since it was launched in 2011. In terms of overall car sale in those two years it’s an insignificant fraction, but in terms of making the electric car a viable form of transport it’s a big milestone. The second generation LEAF – launched earlier in 2013 – moved Nissan’s EV game on a bit with a raft of improvements, and has sold 1300 in the UK in just the last six months,.

BMW Concept X5 eDrive (2013) plug-in hybrid at Frankfurt motor show

Sharing the stage with the BMW i3 at the Frankfurt motor show is the BMW Concept X5 eDrive. The plug-in hybrid X5 is set to re-write the SUV rulebook with its four-cylinder petrol-electric drivetrain producing claimed figures of less than 90g/km of CO2 and a tree-hugging 74.3mpg, smashing the Lexus RX450h which produces 145g/km and 44.8mpg. What’s more, it’s better than the most efficient 3-series currently on sale, and far more frugal than the V8-powered BMW X6 Active Hybrid that was axed in late 2011.