The most unusual vehicle in the fleet is an E-Class taxi from Paris, which will accompany the convoy for the entire distance across eight national borders and six time zones. Altogether the 33 diesel saloons will cover around 450,000 kilometers within 26 days, corresponding to eleven and a half times the orbit around the earth on the equator. Their arrival at Beijing is planned for November 17. “70 years after Mercedes-Benz as the first car producer introduced the diesel engine in passenger cars, we now want to underline the performance of our modern diesel technology with the long-distance drive from Paris to Beijing”, explains Dr Thomas Weber, member of the board of DaimlerChrysler AG and responsible for Group Research & Development at the Mercedes Car Group. As fuel prices increase, independent experts forecast an accelerating worldwide trend towards diesel cars. The latest JD Power study “Global Outlook For Diesel” forecasts that the worldwide market share of diesel will increase from the present 18 to around 30 per cent by 2015.

Retracing the route of the first transcontinental car race in history

The route of the “E-Class Experience” substantially follows that of the first transcontinental car race in history, which was held from Peking to Paris 99 years ago. The aim of its French organizers was to demonstrate the technical superiority of the automobile over the horse. The winner was the Italian aristocrat Scipione Borghese, who reached the finishing line in Paris after 62 days – his rivals arrived three weeks later.

In contrast to the historical event – and despite the ambitious schedule of just 26 days – speed is not the most important consideration during the long-distance E-Class journey. Instead, the sporting challenge for the participants is to achieve the lowest possible fuel consumption for the separate stages and the overall distance. Despite a high output of 165 kW/224 hp and a maximum torque of 540 Newton meters, the usual fuel consumption of the E 320 CDI is impressively low at 7.3 to 7.6 liters per 100 kilometers.

In May 2005 the economical and clean Mercedes-Benz V6 diesel engine had its debut with an extraordinary endurance test. In three series-production E 320 CDI cars, the engine completed a failure-free, 30-day test marathon on a high-speed circuit in Laredo, Texas. The results were three FIA-acknowledged diesel world records over 100,000 kilometers at an average speed of 225.903 km/h, 50,000 miles at 225.456 km/h and 100,000 miles at 224.823 km/h. Despite the extraordinary stresses, the maintenance-free diesel particulate filter worked without any losses over the entire record distance – clearly demonstrating the reliability and durability of this exhaust technology.

For updates on the "Paris-Beijing" E-Class experience including Google Maps showing real time positions of the vehicles, go to: www.e-class-experience.com.

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