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摘要

In the June issue of Automotive Engineer I said that Mercedes S-Class customers wouldn't accept four-cylinder engines for at least a couple of years. This is the benchmark luxury sedan after all, and therefore six-cylinder refinement would be higher on the list of priorities than CO_2 emissions. Only four months later, and visitors to Daimler's stand at the Paris show would've been able to see for themselves just how wrong I was. The S 250 CDI's 500Nm diesel, combined with the firm's latest seven-speed automatic, means that this limousine's four pistons compress only 5.7 litres of fuel every 100km, giving it best-in-class emissions of 149g/km. The week after Paris, delegates at the Aachen Colloquium were able to test drive Passat estate cars fitted with Mahle's heavily boosted 1.2-litre three-cylinder gasoline engine.