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Afaik 386SL was in fact not a 386, but a cutdown 486. This might explain the difference in transistor count.

No, if you look at the die, the 386SL is nothing like the 486. The 386SL more-or-less has a 386 inside it, taking up about 1/4 of the chip. See this floorplan diagram: http://www.bitsavers.org/components/intel/80386/240814-005_3...