(from DaimlerChrysler Press Release)
Lanzhou – The participants of the fourth and fifth “E-Class
Experience“ group spent their last day of rest from the final
stretch to Beijing in the Chinese metropolis Lanzhou on the banks of
the Yellow River. The car keys were exchanged at a traditional
Chinese dinner. Thus far, the marathon fleet has already covered
432,000 kilometres. At the end of the fourth leg the meter of German
taxi was at around 16,000 euro.
The most exciting news
was brought to Lanzhou by Johannes Reifenrath, Head of Global
Communications at Mercedes Car Group, from the Stuttgart
Mercedes-Benz Headquarters, who during the group dinner cheered the
participants of the fourth and fifth leg with the promise: “We will
have another drive from Paris to Beijing next year.“ The joy was
great, but didn’t t last long: “However from Paris, Texas, in the
USA to Peking, Illinois, USA “, he said with a quizzical smile. The
distance is only 1 500 miles and can be travelled painlessly in two
days. “But then we’ll take only BLUETEC vehicles“, said Reifenrath,
awakening new interest in the group.
Previously many
participants in the long distance drive had used the last day of
rest with a change in transport: They took a boat to the Buddha
caves at Bingling Si, which can only be reached by water. Over a
stretch of two kilometres 34 caves and 149 niches are cut into the
rocks, which hang approximately 60 metres above the waters of the
Huang He (Yellow River). The Buddha caves conceal about 800
remarkably well preserved figures carved directly from the rock or
modelled from clay, as well as around 900 square metres of wall
paintings. The main attraction of the site is a 27 metre high seated
Buddha.
The alternative options
were two city tours in Lanzhou: The view over the metropolitan city
from the White Pagoda Mountain showed the Yellow River dividing the
city into a northern and southern half. The visitors trekked across
the Mister Sun Yason Bridge, which was developed by a German
designer and is generally considered to be the most beautiful bridge
over the Yellow River across China. Large water wheels serve as a
reminder of the way the local people have used of the flow of the
Yellow River for electricity production for many decades.
Those who chose to
branch out on their own could admire the ubiquitous construction
activities and take up contact with the local people, who watched
the “long nosed“ strangers with giggling curiosity: ”We were viewed
as creatures from Mars wherever we went“; recounted Lothar Fesser,
department management of Motor and Traffic News at the newspaper
”Leipziger Volkszeitung“. He also admired the Chinese propensity for
service: “Although there were only four of us, at the restaurant no
less than nine waiters advanced upon us and brought every one a
beer.“ Another remarkable occurrence: at many corners on the
sidewalks stood yellow painted fitness equipment that at first
glance appeared as monkey bars at a kid’s playground. In actual
reality, however, they were manned by adults who now and again would
let the passers by see a sample of their craft: a full swing on the
bar balancing head down. That sure deserved respect!
Lanzhou, the capital of
the north western Province of Gansu in the Upper Yellow River,
played an important role over the centuries as a garrison city.
Moreover, this was a crossroads of the trading routes to Lhasa,
Siberia, India and central China. The industrialization of the
1950s, mainly in the areas of petrochemicals and non-ferrous
metallurgy as well as construction of crude oil refineries, marked
the beginnings of strong economic development which was accompanied
by the rapid growth in commercial space.
Today, Lanzhou extends
around 45 kilometres along the bank of the Yellow River. Looking at
the city from the east shows a great number of construction cranes
erecting one apartment complex after the other, which provide simple
living quarters for the influx of settlers from the country regions:
In just a few years, the population has grown from 2.5 million to
its current level of around 3 million residents.
Still captivated by the pulsating metropolis, the seasoned China
drivers had to bid farewell to the long distance drive and make way
for the punctual start of the fifth group on the last leg. The car
keys were exchanged in the traditional noodle restaurant “Dong Fang
Gong“, where the most economical drivers of the fourth group were
awarded at a dinner of eight or more delicacies and some spectacular
show cooking. The victory went to the favoured Ebay team from
Germany. Despite the stormy sand passages and their fast driving
habits Martina Schollmeyer and Klaus Armbrüster’s performance of
7.06l/100 km was well deserving of the two bottles of champagne.
A taxi drive would have
been significantly more expensive: As waiting times and breaks are
also counted, after around 12,000 kilometres, the meter of the
German taxi had climbed to around 16,050 euro. The tour in the Paris
tax would have been even more costly: Here, the metre of the taxi
showed 34,090 Euro.
Finally, there were two
other records to celebrate. With the departure of the jolly
Hans-Friedrich Fuge the long distance drive lost its tallest member
(2.07 metres in height). At the same time, the charming Denise
McCluggage from the USA (age 80) took over for the last leg as the
oldest member of the rally.
Big Reception in Hohhot
-
Official reception
by the government of Inner Mongolia
-
23d Day’s drive over
611 kilometres
-
Weather: Sunny, -3–9
centigrade Celsius
Hohhot – The 23d day’s
drive proceeded under optimal climatic condi-tions and pure sunshine
through fascinating steppe and desert land-scapes to the capital of
Inner Mongolia without any hitches. Along the way, the participants
of the E-Class Experience visited a unique natural attraction, the
“Singing Dunes”. The province capital Hohhot was the destination of
the longest day’s drive of the fifth leg.
At the cocktail reception Secretary General of Inner Mongolia, Yun
Daping, greeted the participants of the Mercedes-Benz long distance
drive in their hotel in Hohhot. Against the backdrop of the typical
country décor, the secretary general made a reference to the
economic development of his province, giving special praise to the
commercial vehicles commitment of DaimlerChrysler AG. It is also
urgently needed: In this area, exhaust-reduced trucks are just as
un-known as modern filter installations for power stations and blast
furnaces. Sec-retary General Daping expressed his special joy about
the day’s route of the E-Class Experience of Paris to Beijing
through Inner Mongolia in this way: “Please take as many positive
impressions as possible home with you, so that we may greet more
people from their native countries as guests in the future”.
The route through the
fascinating steppe and desert landscapes proceeded on roads of very
different quality and partially off-road due to road construction
work. Detours in China are generally dealt with as everywhere else,
in a very pragmatic way: Off the road and onto the field. The E 320
CDIs sported their special strengths on sand and gravel surfaces
with the permanent all-wheel drive 4MATIC. In addition, the chassis
of the E-classes repeatedly demon-strated their balance during the
day. Werner Liedkte, seasoned road warrior and Ebay participant,
said with appreciation: “The E-Class offers fabulous chassis frame
calibration with an optimal compromise between sportiness and
comfort.” The performance features of the six-cylinder CDI made a
believer out of Liedtke. His team partner Anja Laufs added: “Here we
are experiencing a unique journey through China and come to places
that one would not reach at all alone. And the greatest thing of all
is that one can travel independently in the process.”
In the Mongolian steppe,
the infinite vastness going up to the horizon drew the participants
of the long-distance drive along. While the flora was characterized
by great scarcity, the fauna of the Mongolian steppe offered more
change: next to cattle, sheep and goats, donkeys, horses and camels
were particularly popular and patient photo studies. In contrast,
the occasional overland power lines and omnipresent masts of the
mobile radio antennae provided clear signs of the intense efforts
for economic promotion and development of the remote provinces. The
cell phone is becoming the standard equipment in Inner Mon-golia.
A special highlight on
the way after Hohhot, the cultural and political centre of the
region, was provided by the so called ”Singing Dunes”. At up to 110
meters they are the highest sand dunes of China and for more than 20
years one of the most popular tourist attractions. This fascinating
desert landscape owes its name to special winds or wandering dunes,
which activate these noises. Ac-cording to the legend their song is
supposed to drive travellers far into the de-sert thus causing
perdition and death by starvation. Luckily, they remained silent on
that day.
However, some of the
participants took a cable car to the "summit” of the dune. Among
other things, it was possible to sled down the slope on wooden
bobsleds. The two Olympic champions in the double kayak, Tim
Wieskoetter and Ronald Rauhe, did not let this opportunity pass them
by. The two top sportsmen who are underway to Beijing with the
golden “Bambi” E-Class, de-nied considering a change in discipline
after their dune decent. However, they admitted candidly: “It was a
great experience.”
The Goal is in Sight
-
Last station along
the Great Wall before the great finale in Beijing
-
24th Day’s drive
over 463 kilometres to Badaling
-
Weather: partly
cloudy, -3.5 - 9 degrees Celsius
Badaling – The next to
the last day’s drive of the ”E-Class Experience“ led over
Zhangjiakou (Kalgan). This is where the participants in the first
automobile rally in world history made a stop on their way from
Beijing to Paris 99 years ago. The participants spent their last
night before the final arrival of the
“E-Class Experience” in the Chinese capital in Badaling at the foot
of the Great Wall.
In Hohhot, the capital
of Inner Mongolia, the teams of the “E-Class Experience” initially
started under cloudy skies. Nevertheless, the good spirits of the
international participants from 21 nations were not dampened as the
group has attracted continually high attention from the Chinese
people since their start in Lanzhou. Wherever the colourfully
painted E-Classes go, crowds of curious onlookers form within
seconds. Children in particular often show great joy over the
unusual visit. Even the numerous people in uniform working on the
street generally greet the passing marathon drivers quite cordially.
The day’s route passed through the city of Zhangjiakou, which is
called Kalgan in Mongolian, and some hundred years ago was the site
of a remarkable automobile adventure: At the time, the
globetrotters, who shortly before had started on the first long
distance drive in automobile history on 10 June 1907 in Beijing,
made a stop in Kalgan. On the way there, Prince Scipione Borghese,
who two months later won the race in his 40 PS Itala, noticed that
other travellers made greater strides on the badly constructed
roads: the Italian aristocrat was frequently taken over by horse
buggies, speedy government couriers and wealthy merchants carried on
palanquins. Ninety nine years later, the situation is nearly
reversed: With their E 320 CDIs, the teams of the long distance
drive from Paris to Beijing are among the most powerfully motorized,
safest and cleanest vehicle drivers to be seen on Chinese roads.
This was confirmed by
Dominique Kracht, graphic designer from Switzerland, who praised the
quick response of the powerful diesel saloons: “There is absolutely
no turbo lag to be felt,“ she said knowingly. She was also
enthusiastic about the automatic interval control system DISTRONIC,
which renders driving safer and more comfortable. Her team partner
Jeremy Cox drives a C 270 CDI as T-Model for his personal use. The
frequent driver from the area of Birmingham (Great Britain) liked
the low fuel consumption and low noise level of the V6 diesel engine
of the E-Class.
Shortly before Badaling,
the destination city of the day, loaded trucks blocked the road
bringing traffic to an 18-kilometre halt, in which the teams got
stuck with their E-Classes. Thanks to quick information assistance
on the local conditions, the drive quickly continued on side country
roads, which were partly unpaved. Along the way, the drivers passed
by a new residential development with unusually designed houses
built according to western construction standards. The name of the
settlement, which was written on a wooden gate in Latin letters, was
telling enough: Jacksonhole.
Dr. Dieter Zetsche,
Chairman of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler AG and
responsible for Mercedes Car Group, travelled to Badaling in the
evening. He greeted the participants at the group dinner and thanked
them on behalf of all marathon drivers for managing to arrive safely
in the vicinity of Beijing with all their 36 E-Classes over the
great distance of nearly 14,000 kilometres.
Final Destination in Beijing
November 17,2006.
Beijing – The longest diesel marathon of all times ended
successfully in Beijing today. The 36 Mercedes-Benz E-Class cars,
which left Paris on 21 October on a transcontinental rally covering
about 14,000 kilometres, arrived safe and sound in the Chinese
capital after traversing Europe and Asia. Through this endurance
test under extreme conditions Mercedes-Benz has once again
demonstrated the outstanding performance of its modern diesel
engines in terms of emissions, fuel economy and reliabil-ity. Proof
of this is also the fuel consumption of the victorious “Ebay” team
which won the fuel economy contest with an average of 7.19 l/100 km
diesel. The best result on a daily leg was as low as
5.5 l/100 km.
”During this endurance
test for a total of more than 500,000 kilometres, the 33 E 320 CDI
and three E 320 BLUETEC impressively showed the potential of our
high-tech diesels . They proved that driving enjoyment, great fuel
economy and environmental compatibility are not mutually exclusive”
said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of
DaimlerChrysler AG responsible for the Mercedes Car Group. ”At the
same time, the long distance drive from Paris to Beijing rendered
the qualities of the new E-Class generation more tangible. The
E-Class has lived up to all the promises that we had previously made
to the participants and our customers.“, he added. Today’s grand
finale of the long distance drive took place at Beijing’s historic
Yongding Gate, the southern access point to the “Holy Axis” of the
Forbidden City.
During the five legs of
the ”E-Class Experience" more than 360 drivers from 35 countries
took turns at the steering wheels of the diesel sedans. In only 25
driving days they passed through nine countries under partly extreme
condi-tions, such as snow and ice, as well as unpaved roads. The
average daily driv-ing distance was about 560 kilometres. Together
with the 24 escort vehicles, which ranged from the G-Classes of the
Mercedes-Benz crew and technical trucks to the mobile Aral diesel
service station, the marathon entourage cov-ered a total road
distance of about 840,000 kilometers. This corresponds to the
21-fold circumference of the earth at the equator.
Five legs from Europe to Asia
After the start in the
shadow of the Eiffel Tower on 21 October, the route of the ”E-Class
Experience” initially led through France, Germany, Poland and the
Baltics to St. Petersburg, where the first change of drivers took
place after seven days. In this case, the route followed the path of
the legendary first transcontinental automobile race held 99 years
ago, which ran in the opposite direction from Beijing to Paris and
wrote automotive history.
The second group steered
the E-Classes through Russia and over the snow-covered Urals to
Yekaterinburg, while the third group drove through the hot,
late-summer weather in the steppes of Kazakhstan to Almaty. The
high-point of this leg of about 2500 kilometres was the overnight
stay with Kazakh guest families in the small town of Balchasch -
organized by the local mayor.
In many places the
convoy was spontaneously surrounded and joyfully greeted by local
people who appreciated their striking and unusual design. All
participating E-Class cars are decorated with the flags of the
participating nations, in order to underline the internationality of
the long distance drive.
Through the Taklamakan Desert onto the Silk Road
Last Wednesday the
diesel marathon crossed the barrier between Kazakhstan and our
destination country, China, as the last of eight border crossings
along the route. The final change of groups took place in Lanzhou on
the Yellow River after crossing the Taklamakan Desert and driving
about 1000 kilometres on the legendary Silk Road. From there, the
last 1700 kilometres led to the south of the Gobi desert and through
the grass steppes of Inner Mongolia. Yesterday evening the teams of
the
"E-Class Experience" spent their last night in Badaling at the
Chinese Wall.
Record breaking consumption
figures: 5.5 litres/100 km and 5,300 ba-nanas
The Ebay” team in car
number 3 won the fuel economy contest over the entire distance with
a consumption of only 7,19 l/100 km. Thanks to their economical
driving style, the ”German Taxi" team only needed 5.5 liters of
diesel for every 100 kilometers on the 616 kilometer-long drive from
Lanzhou to Wuhai. The figures are especially remarkable because all
participating cars are standard production E-Classes with 165 kW/224
HP. And: The luxury sedans didn’t have it easy. They where fully
loaded with up to three passengers and numer-ous pieces of luggage.
Because of the anticipated bad road conditions and cold weather all
cars were equipped with winter tires and a suspension that was
raised by five centimeters.
With a low total average
consumption of 8.32 l/100 km diesel fuel for all 36 Vehicles the
goal of demonstrating the diesel engines’ superior fuel efficiency
was clearly met on the individual legs as well as over the entire
distance. In total the fleet of 36 vehicles consumed about 40,530
liters of low sulfur Aral super diesel fuel. That is about 20
percent or 10,000 liters less than originally estimated. The
participating 18 rear-wheel drive vehicles consumed only 8.10 l/100
km diesel, while the 18 4MATIC models with four-wheel drive ended up
with a slightly higher average of 8.53 l/100 km.
The 360 participants and
40-person support team had relatively higher con-sumption: In
addition to breakfast and dinners, between Paris and Beijing they
consumed about 8,200 lunch sandwiches, 5,300 bananas, 4,000
chocolate bars and 9,600 bottles of mineral water. All participants
endured the strains of the marathon - apart from occasional upset
stomachs - in good health, which luckily left the two-person
physician team accompanying the entire tour with hardly anything to
do.
Five fender benders but no
dropouts
The 36 diesel sedans of
the participants and the nine E 320 CDI of the crew proved to be
both safe and reliable over the total covered distance of 640,000
E-Class kilometres. Despite the partly extreme road and traffic
conditions there were no serious accidents, and only five fender
benders occurred in traffic. Thanks to this, all cars which started
in Paris reached their final destination in Beijing. The spare parts
needed for the entire drive consisted of only three bumpers, two
fenders, an alloy wheel, four windshields, and a rearlight. In ad-dition
the list mentions twelve electric bulbs, an alternator (following a
coura-geous water passage away from the planned route) and 20 tires,
which were changed with breathtaking speed by the traveling Michelin
service team. Oth-erwise, the technical crew had ”no special
incidents” to report, except for two more figures for the
statistics: a total engine oil consumption of just eight liters and
the use of over 110 liters of window cleaning fluid.
Extensive logistics behind the
scenes
The success of the
diesel-marathon depended on extensive logistics. As part of the
preparations, nearly 5,000 hotel rooms in 27 cities had to be booked
in advance, hundreds of visas obtained, flights booked and materials
transported into the most remote of Russia, Kazakhstan and China.
Even the diesel fuel for the fleet was distributed in advance among
the stations along the route. The low-sulfur diesel needed for
modern engines is not available on more than 10,000 kilometres of
the route110,000 liters of Aral super diesel were allocated in daily
rations and sent in containers along the journey. The fuel for
Russia was imported via Finland because of the simpler customs
procedures, while the diesel for Kazakhstan travelled through Poland
and Belarus. The contain-ers for China were initially shipped to
Shanghai, from where they were taken by trucks to the intermediate
stations along the 5,000 kilometer long route through the Middle
Kingdom.
The world’s cleanest diesel
engines
The E-Class fleet that
had started in Paris on 21 October is comprised of 36 serial
E-Class models with clean diesel engines, half of which are equipped
with the all wheel drive 4MATIC. In addition to the 33 E 320 CDI,
three E-Classes with BLUETEC went into the field. This new
technology turns the Mercedes-Benz sedan into the cleanest diesel of
the world. The E 320 BLUETEC has the first and only diesel engine
worldwide that can outperform the current “BIN 8” US exhaust
emission standard, particularly with respect to its nitrogen oxide
emis-sions. The E 320 BLUETEC will initially be offered in the USA
(in 45 states) and Canada and consumes up to 30 percent less fuel
than comparable vehi-cles with gasoline engines in North America.
Thanks to its enormous range of up to 1,200 kilometres on one fuel
tank it is the ideal car for a marathon such as Paris-Beijing,
something of which the alternating drivers could personally convince
themselves.
A taxi trip for 40,000 Euros
The most unusual
vehicles in the fleet were the two E-Class taxi cabs which
accompanied the convoy over the total distance. In this case, the
competitive comparison showed clear cost differences. The fare in
the German taxi came to 16,050 Euros at the end of the fourth leg
after just 12,000 kilometres. The trip in the Parisian taxi would
have been clearly more expensive: At that point, the meter already
displayed the proud amount of 34,090 Euros. Until the arri-val in
Beijing, the total will have come to nearly 40,000 Euros.
